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barriers are all advantages and allow State bodies to plan for infrastructure, higher education and skills delivery on an all-Ireland basis. However, the non-financial obstacles are equally severe. There are two parallel administrative systems. There are the healthcare services that others have referenced. Obviously, people … Service. Merging that with our health service in terms of Sláintecare will require a huge amount of money. The other angles would be the democratic implications of a vote. As I have mentioned in the House before, if a border poll passes by 52% to 48%, the legal

service plan has to be drawn up and the liaison officer is then supposed to arrange the delivery of services. This is where it really gets difficult because next you have to do battle to try to get these sessions. I can tell the Minister of State that … action, make the funding available and set specific target dates by which the Government can comply with its legal obligation and deliver long-term solutions. As the Minister of State knows as well as I do, that needs workforce planning. We need to start training and recruiting people

through State investment and legal safeguards, not simply reduced. However, I acknowledge that it has been significantly reduced. I understand the Minister of State's concerns about tying the hands of clinicians, as she said before, but their hands are tied if their services have not been resourced

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 … 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

created by the State of Israel in the occupied territories. This includes both goods and services. In 2025, the Oireachtas foreign affairs committee unanimously recommended that services be included in a ban on trade with the illegal occupied territories in Palestine. There is no legal basis

professionals in the services but also those who speak on behalf of patients. We do not want to have somebody fall through the cracks because we are saying 28 days is the transition period. I ask the Minister of State to ensure the legal rights of individuals, whether

moving towards a model where the State becomes a minority partner in strategic property development? If so, what are the implications for control, risk and long-term planning? What risks does this create? Joint ventures can expose the State to financial, legal and reputational risks. DACs in particular … term vision for industrial property development here? Ireland faces significant challenges in providing serviced sites, advanced manufacturing facilities and green energy infrastructure. Are joint ventures a temporary measure or a permanent restructuring of the State’s role? The Bill does not say. The Bill will also amend

Convention, dare I explain again, makes it crystal clear that where genocide is suspected or claimed, there is a moral and legal obligation for a state to make good on its utterances, to bring that to its logical and practical conclusion and to take that claim further … Government, the leadership of the Central Bank, the citizens of Ireland and all of us in this House to comprehend that our financial services regulator, the Central Bank, is, whatever way we interpret it, a critical cog in the wheel funding the Israeli state, which is carrying

advise the CBI that by acting as the enabling cog in Israel's fund-raising machine in the EU it is putting the State at risk of a charge of complicity in genocide; — insist that the CBI immediately end its facilitation of the sale of Israel Bonds … motion asks it to do. There are no excuses not to act. Legal advice from the Office of the Parliamentary Legal Advisor concludes that we can provide restricted access to financial services based on public policy grounds, rooted in Ireland's pursuit of its international obligations

suffering that was endured but we can do better and we can learn. The report illustrates clearly that the Irish State, through its laws, its services for children and its sex education and awareness but, more than anything else, its combined culture of protecting the powerful, was blind … shock and confusion of abuse. I note that the report also recognises that changes in legislation, services, and understanding of child exploitation have been profound. The approach of statutory services has changed beyond recognition. I also want to say that those changes came many decades later

What action does the Department intend to take to address the serious shortfalls in the services for children with additional needs at Le Chéile national school in Limerick? The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, visited this school with me last week, and I have raised … 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

fleet, legislation is being passed that will enable Naval Service personnel to board them or our naval vessels to intercept them. They will also be able to put queries to the operators of these ships regarding their legality and a whole range of other issues. There … disrupted by a number of EU member states. They have been boarded and so on. The idea was to try to disrupt the modus operandi of the shadow fleet and to make it less efficient in terms of its service to Russia during these times. Deputies Ó Cearúil

opinion. This did not have to happen. The issue of services was introduced by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael after the 2024 general election. The concern about services did not originate in the legal advice given by the Attorney General to the last Government. This is a political … everyone here accepts that action at an EU level on restricting trade for goods and services with the occupied territories is the better approach, and I welcome the statements the Minister of State, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Taoiseach have made, we have no certainty of success

here every year to talk about the issues with services for children with additional needs and children awaiting an assessment of need. The average waiting time in Cork at the moment is 27 months, notwithstanding the legal requirement that all children should receive their assessments of need … within six months. I spoke to a woman yesterday who had received a letter stating that her child would be waiting 36 months for assessment, which is six times longer than the legally permitted time. Government members come into this Chamber trying to cod the people. They

tonight that more than 330 special classes have been approved this year, with more to follow in the coming weeks. As Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion, I continue to meet officials of the National Council for Special Education, along with senior officials … This education therapy service will provide a multi-tiered model of support for children, parents and school communities. The service will focus on education-relevant goals, supporting children to fully participate in their school environments and maximise positive outcomes. During the debate, legal cases were mentioned. The Department

without prejudice to any grounds other than a claim of legal professional privilege that could be relied on for non-disclosure of legal advice. We are again careful not to be overly prescriptive and, as I have said, there is no requirement that the advice must be published … passed in full, covering goods and services. It is not helpful that it appears we cannot see the Attorney General's advice. All too often this has been used as a cover, in my view. The Minister of State said it is a long-standing practice

legal sense. The Government is breaking the law in respect of these children, and despite the assurances the Minister of State and others have provided to us, this has real-life implications. Many of these 634 children are being denied access to other services because their assessment

well as goods. I supported that recommendation. The ICJ's advisory opinion draws no distinction between goods and services, and there is no moral distinction either, but the legal advice is clear. The 2015 EU basic import regulation provides a public policy exception for goods. There … equivalent for services under EU law. A Bill that includes services would face a real risk of infringement proceedings without solid legal ground to stand on. I have come to the view that a Bill which takes effect from day one and does what it sets

objectives in achieving these milestones. I recognise the work they do every day to try to achieve value for money across our public services. The Government has in place a range of oversight mechanisms pertaining to public expenditure. I would like to put examples of these frameworks … code of practice of the governance of State bodies; public financial procedures; public procurement guidelines; arrangements for oversight of digital and IT projects and initiatives; and internal and external audit processes that provide validation of public expenditure. It is the legal responsibility of Departments to ensure that they

will have to offer a repair service beyond the legal or commercial guarantee period, either directly or subcontracted. The manufacturer can offer the repair service for free, or for a reasonable price. The length of time the repair service needs to be offered for will depend … initiatives will be able to include their details on this site to enable consumers to find the most appropriate repair service. Article 13 states that member states will have to take at least one measure promoting repair, and this must be reported to the Commission five years after

legal advice. That distinction only arose in the programme for Government that was signed in January 2025. The argument that there is a public policy justification to limit goods but not services does not stand up. There is a clear provision within EU law where member states

State and for providing essential services that prevent hospital overcrowding and delay the need for residential care. We in the Social Democrats have long advocated for a rights-based model of care. That means putting people first, not processes. It means making home support a legal entitlement

legal authority to do so. Only the Government can dismiss someone at that senior level of the Civil Service. The Minister acted alone. Her actions were not legal and were not constitutional in any basis whatsoever. Worse still, the dismissal relied purely on a disciplinary investigation … person about whom the complaint is made or who has perpetrated the wrongdoing. Meanwhile, this State uses its vast financial resources to power itself and spends endless resources in legal fees, all to destroy the whistleblower. A whistleblower cannot do the same. That imbalance tells a story

home for the selling of war bonds that assist Israel in carrying out the genocide. No assistance should be given to the terrorist State of Israel. It is inconceivable to assist Israel at a time when its forces are engaged in terrorism, genocide and ethnic cleansing in Palestine … side. The Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers has advised that this can be done. I commend the Labour Party on putting forward this motion, but we need to go much further. We need to: pass the occupied territories Bill and include services and goods in it; stop

legal prosecution in Israel. I urge the United States to adopt a more assertive role, not just in brokering a ceasefire, but in guaranteeing it. The world cannot continue to look away. The suffering of Gaza's civilians, the ongoing displacement and the deliberate targeting of essential services