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worked on stud farms across Ireland and England, I can tell you it is anything but. Animal welfare is an issue that is rightly raised. For the vast majority of us, these animals are treated as an extension of our own family. The children the Minister of State … child, and the pride you would have walking back in with your winner. Most of those greyhounds lived in our house half the time. They spent the last days of their lives on the end of our beds. They were like an extension of our family. We need

pleased that we have managed, as an Oireachtas, to facilitate that. I am obviously committed, as I know everybody in this House is, to realising the full potential of the Good Friday Agreement for all the people of this island. At the core of that agreement … workers continue to navigate different regulatory systems, qualifications, tax arrangements and employment frameworks. We have a porous Border where people move, quite rightly, across the island but they do not do it with absolute ease and there is a number of regulatory, taxation and employment challenges that

raising the matter. He is right, in that it is a very important road. I am not going to read the full script setting out the history of the project because it is well known to all of us in the House. We recognise the importance … million, and the finalising of the design and evaluation phase deliverables is ongoing. I reiterate our disappointment with the outcome. As the Deputy rightly said, the aim of the A5 western transport corridor, with the Northern Ireland Executive, is about improving the dual carriageway and links between

charity when they are fundamental human rights. Maybe that best encapsulates what is lacking in this budget which is context. I said yesterday there is no context in terms of climate change. There is also no context in terms of the housing crisis that is being created … indication of the extent of the crisis as we play around with extra pieces for a jigsaw without an overall vision. Of those houses, a total of 23,205 have been empty for ten years, while in excess of 65,000 have been empty for more than

with dignity, autonomy and security; — Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) recognises the equal right of disabled people to live in the community, with choices equal to others; — each adult with an intellectual disability is a unique individual, with … crisis, as many disabled people and their families do not know that they are required to be on a local authority social housing list to be recorded within housing need; — at the end of quarter 2 2025, HSE data recorded 1,389 applicants for new residential services

West. We are militarily neutral, and rightly so. We have very little to offer militarily to any third force if we were so minded. I just want to reiterate what my colleagues have said on this side of the House. The suggestion that any party in this Dáil

that we get the legislation and policy right. In the face of what report after report expose as an epidemic of violence against women and girls, I do not accept incremental change as good enough. Legislation will pass in the Houses tomorrow on the callous use of counselling

that the public has a right to know. They should get this information. I made the point on Committee Stage that, with NAMA there was a massive lost opportunity in terms of what could have been delivered in affordable housing for people. NAMA took on 60,000 individual

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

chance to speak. Deputy Gould is right in relation to dereliction and vacancy. It is also factually correct to say that we are making substantive factual, statistical progress on that. It is also that we have now appointed and funded vacant housing officers in each local authority

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

strikes me that we get, and rightly so, incredibly exercised about events in Israel, Gaza and Palestine. This does not need to be binary. However, there seems to be a real lack of understanding in certain parts of the House on the actual necessity to engage with

rental stock. The Deputy is right to say that the ESRI has completed valuable work on this matter. It has stated that four in five rented dwellings currently have BERs below B and the estimated cost of upgrading the housing stock in the rental market is between

right thing to do. It sends the right message as a health policy - that we as a State will do everything in our power to support people to take part in national screening programmes. We commend this Bill to the House

future. If we get this right, we can benefit all of the people of the island into the next century. We must correct the regional imbalances created by decades of bad planning. This review could also help to unlock housing along the lines through transport-oriented development. There

travelling to Dublin to sleep outside Leinster House in order to be heard. We need a proactive education system, not a reactive one. I am glad the review recognises this and I support its recommendation to legislate for the legal right of access to preschool. All children should

people in the process of building their houses to get those completed, get back into their homes and stop having to pay huge rents when there are not rentals available. This is a solution to the situation people are in right

Chamber is a talking shop that achieves nothing. It is incumbent on all of us to change that perception and to make the House more relevant to those who feel excluded. If elected, I want to engage with all Members to explore the options available … conduct our business so that ordinary people feel their voices are being heard. The constituents who elected us have a right to see a fair and transparent democracy in action every time they observe our parliamentary debates and legislative work. In the previous Dáil I served

Taoiseach said, the Kenova Report is a difficult read but it is an absolutely essential one for all of us in this House. Everyone must face up to the wrongs of the past honestly and squarely if we are to achieve lasting peace and reconciliation on this island … reassure the House. Stakeknife's personal role in the violence carried out by the Provisional IRA is shocking and grotesque but it should not obscure the wider reality that Kenova's casework covered a total of 101 murders and abductions by that organisation. Kenova has rightly framed

agree with the Deputy and the committee on the child and family homelessness prevention plan. It is committed in the Government's national housing plan. It will be published before the summer recess. I will make sure the points in that committee report, if they are not already … relation to new tenancies and a no-fault eviction ban except for some small landlords. That was an attempt to get the balance right between increasing renter and tenant protections and supply. We also expanded RPZs and brought in six-year tenancies. They are practical measures. Next week

health, housing, education, water, transport and the social fabric of our communities. It must also look at the impact of lifting the cap on other airports and regional and local economies on the island, and aviation policy more generally. As the UN special rapporteur on the right

those babies dying. Europe cannot continue with business as usual. The EU-Israel Association Agreement, which was built upon mutual respect for human rights and democratic values, must be reassessed. Israel has absolutely breached those contractual obligations. Those values are not being upheld - not even remotely. Therefore … this House must give serious consideration to the occupied territories Bill as soon as possible. This legislation would prohibit the import of goods from illegal settlements in occupied territories in an Act that aligns with international law and Ireland's long-standing commitment to human rights

course we are currently on, of descent into ecological breakdown, a world marked by war and genocide, the rise of the far-right, authoritarianism and fascism. They are the people currently out working, paying taxes, able to join the army and not permitted … made. They are the ones who on the current trajectory are going to be forced to emigrate, because they cannot afford to get housing here. They are the ones affected by all of it and they are fully mature. I will come back to the point on maturity

will happen to my child when I’m gone?" These families have spent years navigating services that are fragmented and under pressure while housing supports remain inadequate. Families have also raised concerns about the growing reliance on private, for-profit residential services. They want something different. They want … with choice, dignity and personal autonomy at the heart of every decision. Ireland has committed to the principles of the UNCRPD, including the right to independent living and community inclusion, but there remains a gap between those commitments and the lived reality of too many families. That

approach to housing on our islands. We have seen the success in some of the Scottish western islands where they have introduced gateway housing. This is an opportunity whereby a certain small number of units the island can accommodate are built. That gives an opportunity for people … that gives families the opportunity to choose island life and, therefore, fill the schools. Deputy Collins referenced Cape Clear earlier. He is obviously right to highlight that issue. We have a situation where the school, unfortunately, is reducing its numbers. There has to be a concerted effort