I am glad the Minister of State has visited the training board at St. Andrew's in Dublin. Having gone through the points race in the leaving certificate, apprenticeships were never really an option and were not discussed among my peers because we were not shown and educated about the trades route. I now see a lot of people going into it when they move abroad, or if they come up, but they need to be shown more. We need to do more advertising to show people because with the development of housing or offshore renewabl…

It is great to see that. I welcome the engagement the Minister of State has had with me so far. Especially for my constituency, and from speaking to young adults, it would be great if we could continue to see the investment she mentioned into more apprenticeship programmes. There are a lot of derelict sites in north Dublin that could be upgraded and used as an apprenticeship college. There are ones we could invest in. We need to show, north Dublin especially, that there are other options for these kids and future a…

Ba mhaith liom ceist a chur ar an Taoiseach faoin flooding we saw in Clontarf yesterday. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Boxer Moran, for coming down and sorting out the dreaded sandbags, but households and businesses were very worried yesterday. I had tens of people-----

Clontarf. Does the Taoiseach not know I am a Clontarf man? The flood defence is critically needed. Will flood defences be included in critical infrastructure with the recent announcement last week? This needs to be fast-tracked and people and businesses need assurance.

I concur with some of the other younger Deputies. I was brought up with this. I remember going to school when the first phones came out and growing up through the smartphone era. I remember my first time having that urge to check the phone and feeling like I was tied to it. I currently have a blocker on my phone that restricts my social media access but kids are not very aware of what they are doing. We also have to put parents on notice not to give their children phones at such an early age. I do not encourage ano…

I thank the Minister of State for her visit to the CRC in Dublin Bay North. It was great to see her and long may her visits to north Dublin continue. This topic was one of the first things I spoke about in this House as well. When we were in discussions on government formation as regional Independents, it was big part of our negotiations. We made a clear commitment in the programme for Government that every child in this State deserved timely assessment, timely intervention and the right support to thrive. The Mini…

I wanted to raise this as well to ask the reason a graduated-----

Sorry, I am still new to the House.

I would support a graduated tax system based on business size and turnover - a tiered system, like in other EU countries. I would particularly support small family-run SMEs. Is the Department examining such an approach to providing meaningful relief for community businesses? Are alternative measures being developed to ease the VAT burden on smaller enterprises? The Minister referred to this in his statement. I also raise the issue of the burden of the cost of renewing the general employment permit after two years. …

I am not asking for more supports. I know there have been a lot of them, and I am proud of some of the supports in the budget. I am asking whether the Department is examining a tiered tax system based on turnover per business, say, €300,000 to €400,000, based on the differentiation in their turnover. The Minister spoke about supporting entrepreneurs. The current wage subsidy scheme needs to be reviewed for self-employed people with disabilities and self-employed entrepreneurs who are employing people with disabilit…

Cuirim ceist faoi fhorbairt an phobal Gaeltachta. Cé go bhfuil an tAire le moladh as an ardú suntasach a baineadh amach i mbuiséad 2026 don Ghaeilge agus don Ghaeltacht, an bhfuil socrú déanta i dtaobh an €2 mhilliún a gealladh d’Fhoras na Gaeilge?

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. Tá sé go deas é sin a cloisteáil. Maidir leis an maoiniú le haghaidh Foras na Gaeilge, ba mhaith liom míle buíochas a ghabháil ar son mo Dháilcheantar agus ar son muintir na Gaeltachta. Bhí mé ag caint le hionadaithe agus tá siad an-bhuíoch. An féidir leis an Aire an €2 milliún atá beartaithe d’Fhoras na Gaeilge ó mhí Eanáir ar aghaidh a mhíniú? Can this funding be channelled directly through Foras na Gaeilge from that date? What interim or alternative solution has been designed so th…

Ní raibh mé ag an gcruinniú sin; bhí mé ag cruinniú eile. Táim fíorbhuíoch as an €2 milliún sin d’Fhoras na Gaeilge. Bhí mé ag caint le hionadaithe aréir nuair a chuir an tAire an fógra amach. Gabhaim buíochas leis as sin. Agus muid ag caint mar gheall ar an nGaeilge agus Foras na Gaeilge, ba mhaith liom ceist eile atá ag goilliúint ar phobal mo dháilcheantar a ardú. B'fhéidir nach bhfuil an tAire in ann caint faoi. Tá mé ag caint faoi deighilt a dhéanamh idir an bhéalscrúdú agus ceist na gramadaí. Tá go leor daoin…

Tuigim é sin.

Táim fíorbhuíoch as a bheith sa Chamber arís. Táim chun ceist a chur ar an Aire faoin Clondalkin Irish language network agus Gaeilge 365 idir 2025 agus 2028 agus faoi na targets, the number of innovative projects to be developed each year, the number to be mainstreamed agus an líonra atá ann idir na ceithre local authorities i mBaile Átha Cliath. When talking about giving constituencies stuff, I urge the Minister not to forget north Dublin.

Táim fíorbhuíoch as sin. Tá na daoine atá ag obair le Gaeilge 365 ag déanamh obair na gcapall. Maidir leis an rud faoina raibh mé ag caint leis an Aire níos luaithe, níl sé greanta i gcloch. Tá a fhios agam nach bhfuil an tAire sa Roinn oideachais ach tá go leor eolais aige mar gheall ar an ábhar seo. Táim ag iarraidh an rud a dúirt mé a shoiléiriú. Nílim ag iarraidh dhá ábhar. Táim ag iarraidh an t-ábhar a athrú. Tá a fhios ag an Aire nach bhfuil an Ghaeilge i leabhair. Tá pop-up Gaeltacht sa teach tábhairne, tá F…

Tuigim é sin. Tá brón orm ach tá go leor eolais ag an Aire faoin ábhar seo. Tá fearg orm faoi. Táim 27 mbliana d'aois. Tá glúin nua ag teacht anuas agus iad ag foghlaim an rud céanna a d'fhoghlaim mé féin. Ní bheadh Gaeilge agam gan mo dheirfiúr. Nílim ag cur aon shade ar fhilí. Is file í mo dheirfiúr ach caithfimid an rud a athrú. Tá sé sean. Níl sé don ghlúin seo. Bhí mé ag caint leis an Aire faoi seo. Má fhéachann tú ar an teanga nádúrtha sa Bhreatain Bheag, is léir go bhfuil siad ag déanamh an rud ceart. Tá sia…

Tá.

Gabhaim buíochas as sin. Is infheistíocht an-mhór é €4 milliún. Táim fíorbhuíoch as sin. Tá an tAire ag cur go leor airgid i mBaile Átha Cliath thuaidh so tá sé iontach é sin a fheiscint. Is iarmhac léinn mé de chuid Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath. Bhí mé ann dhá bhliain ó shin. Tá sé iontach. Bhí mé sa Chumann Gaelach ann. Tá mé fíorbhuíoch as sin. Mar a dúirt an tAire, tá mic léinn a thagann go Baile Átha Cliath ó gach tír in ann an Ghaeilge a fhoghlaim. Tá sé sin iontach a fheiceáil. Táim fíorbhuíoch as si…

I congratulate the Ceann Comhairle on how yesterday was dealt with. Fair play to her. Bhí sé iontach. We all know that families are struggling and I heard from across the House, when I was upstairs in my office listening to this debate, about the soaring energy costs and the thousands of people in arrears. I want to push something towards the Minister of State. I am on the climate and energy committee and EnergyCloud came before it. EnergyCloud will try to use the surplus or wasted renewable energy on the grid to h…