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Church of the Holy Spirit in Ballyroan. WB Yeats was also a constituent, though just slightly before my time. We in the Labour Party are deeply proud of our record in this space. It was Michael D Higgins as the first Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht … recognise the opportunities of AI. It has the potential to at least improve productivity or accelerate research, submit parliamentary questions and so on. Like Sinn Féin, the Labour Party is not opposed to innovation. We support responsible AI development, but innovation cannot become a licence for exploitation. There

could be paying anything up to €32,000 just to put their child through what is supposed to be free education. The Labour Party is clear that free education means free. It does not mean voluntary contributions, State examination fees or €700-plus on laptops or tablets. Uniform … costs are putting financial pressure on working families who, in most cases, do not qualify for the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance. Parents contacting my office tell me they are forced to go to one supplier due to the requirement for school branding. These parents

very direct concern on behalf of many small towns and villages across my county of Offaly and the wider midlands area. We cannot allow a situation where preferential treatment for designated key towns ends up diverting resources, planning capacity or infrastructural investment away from the smaller communities, communities … planning processes, I must contrast that ambition with the massive and escalating backlog within Tailte Éireann, an issue I have repeatedly exposed through parliamentary questions. We are all given an Oireachtas email to correspond with Tailte Éireann, but, as far as I can see, it is an absolute

statutory undertaker in the first instance, but does not alter the requirements or predetermine the outcome of the planning process itself. All relevant parties, including landowners, will still retain their existing rights to participate in the planning process. Another example is section 53, which makes an amendment … where it is considered only by An Coimisiún Pleanála, as may otherwise be applicable. The Bill will also make amendments to allow for the modification of an existing permission in accordance with appropriate apartment design standards. The agile application of these criteria to permissions already granted including, where

concerned about animal welfare. If animal welfare really was a top priority, however, people would not be capturing hares from the wild and allowing dogs to run after them. Let us get real about what sort of regulation we are talking about and what hare coursing involves … happens, because the membership will push them to do it. It is really about finding justifications for not going in line with the party's membership, assuming that the vote on fox hunting and hare coursing would be very similar and not in line with the majority

waste is collected and regulated across every county in this country. In that context, I am very proud to see our Labour Party Bill proceed to Second Stage in the Dáil today. The Bill is the Waste Management (Single Household Waste Collection Service) Bill 2026. This … exclude local authorities from making waste collection arrangements in their area. Ironically, every time I submit a written parliamentary question to the Minister, and when I ask about waste management and local authorities, the Minister tells me that the statutory responsibility for decisions on waste collection arrangements, including