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concerns left completely unresolved. How many times must people come before us describing the same culture before we accept that legislation alone will not be enough? A reporting channel means very little if people cannot trust where the report will end up. A protection means very little … Detective Brian O'Reilly. They are people of huge dignity. As a result of their stance, they are now living on social welfare. That cannot be allowed to continue

Limerick city and St. James's Primary School in Dublin, who contributed to the committee's work. Their input was invaluable. Their lived experience, expertise and insights were central to the development of the report and its recommendations. While reading the report, I encourage the Minister of State … that education does not end at the school gate. The programme embeds counselling, therapy and family support services within the school environment, thus allowing pupils and parents to access help that would otherwise be difficult for them to navigate. It is a model that could be looked

rent freeze or a ban on eviction and very little in the way of strengthening renters' rights, such as implementing model tenancy agreements, allowing tenants to rent unfurnished properties and not forcing them to pay more than a month's rent as a deposit. That is something … Bank analysis that these schemes disproportionately benefit people on higher incomes. The Labour Party believes in an active State because the private sector alone does not have the capacity to deliver the homes we need. The Davy report states we will need 93,000 homes per year

Many of these households are doubly affected because they also have members who care on a 24-hour basis on a carer's allowance of €260 per week or €1.55 per hour. It is not unusual therefore for carers themselves to become ill from stress, overwork and isolation … fully agree with the motion put forward by Sinn Féin this evening, which calls for the immediate introduction of a weekly cost-of-living payment and a lump-sum payment before Christmas in recognition of the additional costs. I want to return to the fundamental issue

fisheries sector, for the nearly 17,000 people who work in it, who are just trying to do their best, make a living and support their communities, is completely swimming against the tide at this point. I will speak on two deeply connected issues affecting our coastal communities … catastrophic for Ireland. That agreement will result in an estimated €94 million in losses for the fishing industry in Ireland in 2026 alone. The second issue is the recent announcement of a €27 million investment under the fishery harbour and coastal infrastructure development programme. Both these issues

direct result of Government neglect. I was on a Zoom call last night with up to 20 parents from west Waterford alone. In Ballymacarbry, 11 children have been refused tickets to get a school bus to Dungarvan. Parents found out just before term began and appeals were dismissed … Local Link bus because the Minister of State’s Department will not implement its own review. Families already struggling with the cost of living are in many cases forced to pay fees far in excess of a bus ticket for a private Bus Éireann service. In Lismore

facts and not blinded by emotion or ideology. There has been 356 incidents of settler violence in the West Bank this year alone. Entire Bedouin communities have been displaced. A total of 431 Palestinian structures have been demolished. This is not how peace is built … role in peacekeeping from the Congo to Lebanon. We understand conflict. We lived through our own Troubles. We also understand that peace is not made by shouting but by listening. This is our chance to live up to the promise of our neutrality. We should not sit idle

important for me to say clearly that this Government recognises the value of those contributions. The people who have chosen to make their lives here have helped to shape the modern Ireland we know today and they will continue to play an important role in our future development … simultaneously. It must support economic growth and competitiveness by enabling Ireland to attract the skills and talent that our economy requires. It must allow us to meet our humanitarian and international obligations to those fleeing persecution, conflict and instability. It must maintain secure borders and robust immigration procedures

workers benefit from each new technological breakthrough. One of the key challenges will be to ensure that a system is in place to allow the gains of AI advancement and proliferation to be fairly distributed rather than being concentrated at the top. AI in the workplace must benefit … ordering a takeaway, getting shopping delivered or a taxi home from a night out, online platforms have transformed the way we live. Platform work must be regulated in line with the EU platform work directive, and gig and platform workers must have access to information about their

against in accessing healthcare, legal documents, passports with their own identity, and more. Second, for a person born with intersex characteristics, it would allow a parent or a qualified informant to put an X on a birth certificate, meaning parents would no longer be forced to immediately choose … intersex trait. For comparison, 2% of people globally have green eyes. There may be as many as 90,000 intersex people in Ireland alone. Intersex identities have been portrayed as a newfangled development. In fact, in all ancient civilisations, there was a recognition of many genders, including

full licence, in fairness - without ever having done a driving lesson. It makes no sense. I have an agricultural background. People know I live on a farm. The tradition in agriculture is that many people go in straightaway at the age of 16, not 17, to get their … Carrigtwohill project. I could list them. About 44 projects, I think, were caught up in funding uncertainty last year alone. This should not be allowed to occur. I ask that the new Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, carry out the commitment - it was one I sought

have seen Garda stations close and Garda resources stretched. I raised the fear that rural crime causes, particularly for elderly people and those living alone, and I have called for greater support for community alerts and other measures to protect them. I have also repeatedly raised the tragic … necessary resource be given to the Garda serious crime review team and to the local Garda investigation unit based in Bantry. That case alone shows why gardaí need the proper powers, technology and resources to investigate serious crime but there must be safeguards as well. A person

everyone to hear the conditionality attached to the permission that works must stop if human remains are found on the grounds. That alone should be a cause of immense concern to anyone who has read anything of the history of Bessborough. Ten days ago, I visited the site … wrong from happening because there are babies unaccounted for and living survivors, like Terry Meyer in today's edition of the Irish Examiner, telling us that they witnessed burials on the grounds of Bessborough. This is a live issue, and we still have time to do the right

reduce their energy bills permanently. This year, I secured a record allocation for fully-funded and granted-assisted retrofits of €640 million which allows us to target 73,000 home energy upgrades this year. That will be added to in excess of 240,000 that have already received … reduce their energy bills permanently. We need to accelerate the deployment of those grants as well as the grants to businesses. Last year alone, we saw 4,000 businesses avail of energy retrofit supports which reduces their energy use and to look to alternative uses of energy

water tanks. Last year alone, more than €420 million worth of wind energy was effectively earthed. This is enough to provide real relief for thousands of families struggling to keep their homes warm. At the same time, more than 550,000 households live in energy poverty. This … taxpayer. Instead, it simply ensures that we use what we are already generating, but is currently going to waste, to improve lives. Let us recognise the opportunity here. Ireland has the chance to lead the world in how we use renewable energy to tackle energy poverty. We have

taking this important Topical Issue. I raise this issue today because there is an urgent need to finally close the loophole that allows drivers to continue renewing learner permits indefinitely without ever sitting a driving test. Of course, this is not a new problem. It was identified more … issue of multiple successive learner permits remains a glaring gap in our road safety framework. I acknowledge all those who have lost their lives this year - 147 people. I also think of their families today. I also want to acknowledge the work of PARC, the road safety advocacy

process as we are part of the European Union, and as such threats are existential for the way in which we live our lives across the European Union. Ireland’s values and our commitment to the rules-based international order and multilateralism have not changed. However, these commitments … These projects help us ensure maritime security. We have seen significant increases in our defence spending in the past few years. This has allowed us to procure much-needed capabilities to provide for Ireland and the Irish people. The 2022 Commission on the Defence Forces report recommended significant

modern Ireland. For years, we watched technology outpace our laws but today it is outpacing our own sense of human dignity. We are living in an era where nudification has become a service and predators do not even need a camera to destroy a life. All they need … design. Grok is not alone in the production of this material. Merlio AI, Soulgen, nudify-online, undress AI, DreamGF, deepnude.cc, Promptchan AI and Candy.ai all facilitate nudification tools. One video generation tool, owned by the Chinese giant Alibaba, allows for this material to be created. It allows anybody

much as it is a question of our climate obligations and the cost-of-living implications of this strategy. The Government must be honest about the consequences and costs of allowing more and more of our energy to be used by data centres. It must be honest that … interests. That is why we are calling for the introduction of a levy on data centre energy usage. It is about fairness. Not alone are data centres pushing up prices for everyone else but we have a ludicrous situation where they are actually paying less than your average

time of global challenge. This investment will not alone increase the potential of our economy, it will boost growth and job creation in the short and medium term. This, in turn, will further safeguard and improve the lives of our citizens. Our Public Finances Due to the hard … future budgets are sustainable and affordable and keep our public finances and people safe. Reliance and Resilience Our corporation tax revenues have allowed us to respond to challenges such as the pandemic and the cost-of-living challenge. However, we all know the degree of our volatility

average rental price in Dublin is over half the industrial wage. If we take into account all the cost-of-living increases, particularly relating to food, they have been well discussed. We have brought forward motions in relation to this. My colleague, Deputy Nash, has done great work … issue of increased food costs. However, some households are worse off to the tune of €3,000 per year on food costs alone. If we look at beef, there was a 23% increase in beef prices in four months earlier this year. We are not talking about fillet

accept that inflation hits the least well-off the hardest. That is why the Government has been so proactive in introducing cost-of-living packages and attempting to ease burdens on households and businesses. While the annual rate of inflation last year averaged 2.1%, which is down from … part of budget 2026, the Government took action and provided significant supports to enhance energy affordability, including an increase to the fuel allowance, as well as broadened eligibility for the payment; an extension of the reduced VAT rate of 9%, which is applied to gas and electricity

children. Today, however, I want to talk about one particular group that faces massive barriers when it comes to accessing housing or living with the risk of homelessness. I refer to one-parent families. Since becoming a TD, time and again I have heard the stories of single … their jobs, their children and the pressing need to find and keep a roof over their heads, and they are doing it all alone. Focus Ireland found that 57% of homeless families in this country are one-parent families. One of the parents interviewed for that report

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 … 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

involved in killings. The British state knew, and it protected him. It allowed violence to continue in order to preserve operational advantage. Victims were not warned, families were left in the dark, lives were treated as expendable. This was not an error. It was not a failure … persistence have been extraordinary. They engaged with Kenova in good faith, often at immense personal cost, reliving the most traumatic moments of their lives in the hope, not the certainty, of truth. All families are entitled to truth, justice and acknowledgement. That is not a political demand