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people who make decisions in respect of migration policy. Amendment No. 3 states that the Government would provide a report to the Houses. It is interesting to note that the Minister mentioned the forerunners to the EU asylum and migration pact. He is correct. We signed … opposed on this occasion. At an EU-wide level, we signed up to the forerunner for information sharing, Eurodac, and the forerunner of rights to reply, the Dublin regulations the Minister of State mentioned. We have never signed up to an EU-wide system in respect

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 €69 million … thank Deputy O’Rourke and Sinn Féin 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

broadly welcome that the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025 is finally before the House. Families have waiting for far too long for even the small improvements contained in these pages. Any step, no matter how modest, that puts … respect that the people living in crumbling homes deserve. The Government should send this Bill to the proper select committee and do the right thing. Independent Ireland has been very clear. When legislation affects thousands of families whose lives have been devastated financially, emotionally and mentally, the Government

obviously, a very serious issue. The issue in relation to Garvaghy is receiving, as it rightly should, attention at all levels of government, right up to the most senior levels, and at all levels across officialdom as well, including the engagement of Irish officials on the ground, including … that has been hard won go backwards or be lost in any manner or means, and the Deputy has highlighted and reminded the House of the very serious trauma and loss of life that has been experienced in the past. The North is at a very different place

ghnóthach sa réimse seo. I understand the intention and I thank Deputy Whitmore and the Social Democrats. Bringing this to the House is what we should be doing. We need to speak about everything to do with energy and what we can be doing. I know from listening … lower bills and, of course, we also need to introduce an emergency measure that copies what we did in 2022, which is the right way to achieve that. From the negotiations, the legal basis on which the Minister of State is arguing needs to be examined

House will know, the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland recommended the consolidation and modernisation of Garda powers to search, arrest and detain persons. Underpinning those recommendations was the need to ensure public confidence in our policing system, which is fundamental to a healthy and functioning … this Bill are, therefore, most welcome as they help to ensure that policing powers are exercised clearly, legally and in relation to fundamental rights. Importantly, the Bill also provides greater legal certainty to members of An Garda Síochána in carrying out their duties. Gardaí need to know clearly

which contains sexually explicit material and was promoted to children by Children's Books Ireland and RTÉ. It received significant publish backlash, and rightly so. It has been reported that a teacher raised concerns with the Department in an email back in March 2023, and indeed the former … children. Very plainly, what has the Department done since this controversy broke? What review has happened? Can the Minister outline to the House the results of that review, if it took place

been engaging with all the public representatives, including the Deputy. He has mentioned it a considerable number of times in the House. There is a number of issues. We are trying to make sure that we have the best possible provision across the Dublin community. Dublin continues … building, comprising of 16 mainstream classes. We are looking at other school communities to make sure we have a balance right across the system in it. Deputy Heneghan has raised it a number of times but I assure him that we are looking at every single piece

Tullamore. If people are commuting, they should be heading westwards rather than eastwards. I have said that. There is a pressure on housing and we need to address it. However, we will not address it by looking at making it harder for vulnerable people coming here from Ukraine … better way of life. That should be done through the work permit system. I welcome the extension to 2027. It is the right thing

error. I was sent an image an hour and a half ago when people were looking at the vote going on in the House and seeing that every single TD who supports Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Independents in government voted to oppose a reduction … price of €2.35. The message under the image said "What planet are these guys living on?". That is the sentiment I am hearing right across the board, namely, that the Government simply does not get it. My amendment has been ruled out of order and I accept that

First of all, I do not believe €750,000 is right, proper or appropriate in terms of 14 steps, but it seems to me the scheme that was completed by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council was not just about 14 steps. Nonetheless, the cost is excessive … Féin could take the example of Deputy Albert Dolan here in front of me, who has done more than most Deputies in the House to shine a light on public expenditure with his online facility and so on. He is a Deputy who is doing the work Sinn

Certainly not. We might learn a few lessons from it though. I also thank colleagues across the House for their kind words today and messages during, before and after my treatment. I also thank the thousands of members of the public who sent very kind messages. They were … cancer services, in my case in St. Luke's Hospital, and the eye and ear hospital. There are similar people providing cancer services right across the country. They asked me to raise particular issues about the need to properly resource and support cancer services in this country

called a threat to social cohesion. You will be portrayed as a villain out to undermine democracy and the unlimited so-called right of the entire world to arrive here on our doorstep, whether or not they have a passport – often they do not. The facts are clear … people, when asked, express a clear desire to dramatically reduce the flood of people arriving here in the middle of a housing crisis. They are often ignored and vilified, treated as working-class scum. This untrue and unfair view that is often expressed is rampant in society

Equality Commission, IHREC. IHREC is an independent public body that accounts to the Oireachtas with a mandate established under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014, for which I, as Minister, have responsibility. The 2025 gross allocation for IHREC is €9.81 million. Following the formation … youth affairs functions have been transferred to the Department of Education. The Revised Estimate of Expenditure for Vote 40, which is before the House today, provides for the transfer of the corresponding financial allocations. Accordingly, it reflects the fact that €2.046 billion associated with migration functions is transferring

delighted to again have the opportunity to speak on GAEC 2, which was raised in the House earlier. As a reminder, GAEC 2 is a baseline requirement under the CAP regulations for the protection of carbon-rich soils. It is legally required to be put in place … submitted to the European Commission for approval aims to strike a balance between the vital protection of peatlands and wetlands and farmers' rights to continue with agricultural activity on this land. With regard to the Deputy's question on the inclusion of some mineral soils, conditionality requirements must

means is we are refusing to nod along to misinformation. There has been no shortage of debate, be it in the media, the House or the committee chamber. We looked at the international protection Bill 2025 for over seven hours without much in the way of Government contribution … defending poor speech, speech that confuses facts, blames the wrong people and hides his own failures. That is the issue here because far-right actors and, believe me, there are far-right actors, do not win when they get the type of people who would like

something I have spoken about since entering this House, which is water quality in Dublin Bay. I have heard multiple TDs across this House mention it and many of my constituents in Clontarf, Raheny, Sutton and Howth have emailed me about getting sick due to swimming in Dublin … Tolka, the Santry, the Liffey and every tributary. We need to look at the whole system or we will never fix the bay. Right now, and the Tánaiste has spoken about judicial reviews, there is a judicial review going on the wastewater treatment plant. Judicial reviews are there

relatively straightforward concept in terms of the payment covering the roof over their head and the ability to use the amenities in the house or the apartment. For some, the lack of a definition of rent has been exploited by landlords to put in vague concepts of additional … level of desperation on the part of renters out there that they are paying whatever they are being charged but it is not right. It is pure greed on the part of the REIT. I have a second example of a woman who came

clerks for their tireless work, which does not go unnoticed. Sometimes, from the outside looking in it does, but from within this House it definitely does not go unnoticed. I also thank all the stakeholders for coming to the hearing and giving us valuable insights and input that … committee, through engagement with stakeholders in the area, that the current system is not working. As a result, people have been denied their right to timely justice. This urgently needs to be addressed. The report has 30 recommendations, such is the scale of the reform needed. Adequate

changing demographics, and that is a good thing, but it is also due to more awareness within families and among parents exercising their right. Parents - I am sure the Deputy is the same - do not want to know the why; they want to know what we are doing … Minister, Norma Foley, and I brought to Cabinet this week a Bill on the assessment of need, which will be debated in this House next week. It is about making the approach more efficient, more effective and more standardised. From a policy perspective, the HSE is introducing

vicious cycle to continue and leaving homeowners vulnerable to further trauma in the future. I know for a fact that today, there are houses in Donegal being built with defective concrete. We keep on continuing with this madness. We are supposed to be moving on from this crisis … hope of ever seeing an end to this. Impacted homeowners trust in the system and trust in the Government to do the right thing but this has been completely broken over the years. Families are pushed to the brink emotionally, mentally and financially as they navigate through

Irish artists of the ability to earn a living and will replace them with a cheap soulless imitation. Irish artists need this House to protect the copyright and income of artists with a fit-for-purpose framework, building on the calls of the European Parliament. They need … This motion seeks to remedy that, and there is a real urgency in the need to rectify this. For a State that is rightly proud of producing so many world-renowned writers, musicians and artists, and which has acknowledged their positive contribution to the Irish economy, this State

athletes should not be allowed to compete in the World Athletics Championship or the Olympic Games. These are all measures that were imposed rightly on Russia when it invaded Ukraine, yet Israel seems to be outside that kind of cultural and sporting sanction and boycott. We will … foreign affairs committee and was involved in the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill. There is support across the House, including among the Government backbenches, to move this quickly and it should be done. The Government could decide to support the Global Sumud Flotilla. We could

what the position is, that is not a position that would please anybody. Sinn Féin needs to stand up and make the right decision, which is to ban hare coursing here, just as it is already banned in the North. There should be no more partitionism on this … country and it should be listened to by the Government. The supporters of hare coursing may prove to be a majority in this House but they are a tiny minority of the population. It speaks to how out of touch this place is with public opinion. What

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 … 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’ nominations required, it has actually become easier to get on the ballot paper. I am open