Agus mé i m'oifig, bhí mé ag éisteacht le go leor daoine ag caint faoin ábhar seo. Mar is gnáth, táim an-bhuíoch de dhaoine a thagann isteach anseo le solutions. Níl na daoine atá ag tabhairt amach ag rá aon rud a bhfuil muid in ann a dhéanamh faoi láthair. Táimidne sa Teach seo anseo ar son daoine na hÉireann chun a saol a fheabhsú. Tá daoine áirithe sa Teach seo ag díriú isteach ar political point scoring seachas ar solutions. I think everyone in this Chamber knows that the current price of oil and fuel is being …

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit ar ais tar éis an tsamhraidh. Is deas é a fheiceáil. There are parts of this Bill I really welcome, particularly moving towards better digital records. That is something I have continuously pushed for in this House. I congratulate the Minister of State and the Department staff for all the work that went into this. However, it will be better if I say what I do not like and what I want to see improved - namely, enforcement. I spoke in this House yesterday about supporting gardaí befo…

I thank an Teachta Gogarty for describing me as eloquent. I thank People Before Profit for bringing this issue before the Dáil. Electricity and electricity affordability is probably my favourite topic to discuss. I studied engineering in DCU for five years and my thesis was on waste heat utilisation from data centres. Sometimes I hear people in this House speaking about data centres and the water they use. They are not looking at the statistics. I am not defending that they do use a lot of water but I note the rece…

Ba mhaith liom chomh maith a thabhairt don Teachta Michael Healy-Rae agus a deartháir, atá anseo anois, my support. I wish Michael a speedy recovery. The Healy-Rae brothers have been nothing but welcoming to me since I was elected to this House and I see how hard they work. It is not fair that any public representative, male or female, should face violence, and my thoughts are with Michael's family. I welcome the Bill. I never stop telling the Minister that my dad was a garda, my grandfather was a garda and my grea…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an bPáirtí an Lucht Oibre. This highlights what many families are experiencing right now. Many people have been in contact with me. Even today, I met parents who were under enormous pressure because of the cost of uniforms, books, transport and school activities. Many families are being told that they must now spend hundreds of euro on a Chromebook, laptop or other digital asset, and it is still not something that they can afford. Over recent weeks, one parent told me that their school insiste…

Anois sa choiste fuinnimh táimid ag caint faoi plug-in solar. In 2024 there was a consultation done by the Department in which Bord Gáis Energy said that plug-in solar systems should be mounted on roofs where possible and hardwired into a dedicated circuit. The whole reason for plug-in solar is for people living in apartments who do not have access to rooftops to be able to install a system that costs €500 and has a payback period of two years. If there was a Government grant, it could be less. When a semi-State co…

I refer to the hundreds of vacant spaces over shops in Dublin, the capital city in which I grew up. I welcome the above-the-shop grant but could we re-examine it in terms of microcompanies or SMEs availing of that grant? It can be difficult for them to avail of the above-the-shop grant. The jump between what can be given for the first, the second and the third floors is not acceptable. If we are trying to bring people into the city for passive surveillance and into a liveable city, we need to examine making it easi…

On my way into the Dáil today, I walked into my local shop and I could buy an apple-flavoured vape. I could inhale it. I could also buy 20 cigarettes. I cannot, however, go in and buy raw milk easily. I know I am out of my depth as a Dublin TD asking this question, but why is it not possible to get raw milk in a Dublin shop? Why do my constituents sometimes have to travel to the North to get raw milk when adults should be able to make decisions on what we want to consume? I understand that the Minister is going to …

My granny drank raw milk and she lived to 98. We need to look into alternative ways to have locally sourced food. In that regard, I will point to what is happening at EU level and how it ties into this. Brussels is trying to harmonise the upper limits of food supplements such that parents or adults should be allowed to decide what they have. Individual needs are, as they say, individual. If vitamin D is harmonised, that is unfair to stores in Ireland because someone in the south of Spain will not need as much addit…

I appreciate that. I look forward to having some tartare and raw milk with the Minister some day. A lot of people these days are getting very sick and very obese. We allow multinationals to come here and sell us cans of carbonated drinks with 40 g of sugar but we do not allow someone to get a glass of raw milk. There is something fundamentally wrong in that sense. I am very grateful for Irish food standards. They are world renowned. I had not known about the increase in value from €10 billion to €20 billion, which …

Gabhaim buíochas leis na Social Democrats as ucht an rún seo a chur os comhair na Dála. I thank the Minister of State for coming out to my constituency and visiting some of the service users in the Irish Wheelchair Association, IWA, and the Central Remedial Clinic, CRC, and for the work she has done since in her role. I met many families living with constant uncertainty about what will happen to their sons and daughters. I met a lot of them personally in their kitchens. Looking into the eyes of those parents, you c…

Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin Bay North, my constituency, is more than just a regular school. It is one of Ireland's greatest success stories. U2 began there and the school is synonymous with creativity, culture and opportunity for students. Today, its arts and performance hall is facing demolition as part of redevelopment. Nobody opposes development of the school building or hall, but the concern raised with me by past students and parents is whether the hall can be retained for refurbishment or adap…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as an obair ar fad atá déanta aige agus as an obair a rinne sé le cabhrú liom nuair a bhí mé sa phriosún. This is a very important amendment as it gives that guaranteed timeframe for the implementation of the postcodes and allows people to know it will be done. I have no doubt from speaking to Minister of State that it will be done but it would be great if it could be brought in in order to guarantee that when we bring in this law, it will be implemented and has the desired effec…

I am delighted to have this opportunity to talk on this. On 18 June 2026, I raised a Topical Issue about the proposed closure and relocation of Harmonstown delivery sorting unit. I welcome the work in the Bill but I would appreciate if the Minister of State could look into this for my constituents. I have started a petition that has over 1,200 signatures online and there are over 800 in relation to post offices and the uncertainty that this has brought to my constituents. I welcome the engagement on this and that t…

Is as an gcathair dom. Tá sé sin soiléir. Tráth dá raibh, áfach, bhí giorriacha in Dollymount Beach. When we look back at the hare and how it has evolved on our island since the Ice Age, with the retreat of the ice caps, giorria, fia, the small deer, it is intrinsically linked to our culture. The hare featured on our old currency. It is a beautiful animal but, sadly, there has not been any on Dollymount Beach in my constituency since 2017 or 2018, due to illegal lamping and the illegal use of vicious dogs. The two …

They are crowded together, bringing and spreading disease at a higher rate than they would naturally in the wild. They suffer broken legs and dislocated hips - some of the footage I have seen is quite gut-turning, to be honest. I am a man who has always loved my animals, from growing up. I cannot imagine that being done to one of my pets. This practice is cruelty with a licence. The species, the Irish hare, is one of the few mammals that is uniquely our own, as well as the red squirrel and other native species. It …

I thank Aontú for bringing forward this motion and giving me the chance to speak on it. I have spoken about the cost of living multiple times, including when speaking to my constituents. I have spoken 41 times in the Dáil and committees about plug-in solar, and I want to bring it up again. As we know, Ireland is one of the most data centre-dense countries. I brought in a Bill three weeks ago regarding the Electricity Regulation Act, and I look forward to working constructively with members of the Opposition and the…

I move: That, pursuant to Standing Order 205, the Seller's Legal Pack for Property Buyers Bill 2021, which lapsed on the dissolution of the 33rd Dáil, shall be restored at Order for Committee Stage and notice shall be published pursuant to Standing Order 37, and Deputy Barry Heneghan be designated the member in charge of the Bill.

I want to bring the Minister of State back to something specific which matters more than the amendment I tabled. During pre-legislative scrutiny, the joint committee made a recommendation which states: The Minister shall authorise a transparent and publicly available cost-benefit analysis not less than 60 days prior to any decision which shall inform the approval process of the proposed development. It recommended that this analysis should have regard to the adopted carbon budgets and sectoral ceilings under the Cl…

As we are all in here in our suits, sitting on these leather chairs, the weather outside is gradually getting better, and people in my constituency will be going to the beach. Four young people from my constituency, 17-year-old Aoibheann Conlon, Laura Daly, and brothers Oisín and Gavin Weadick, Clontarf Sea Scouts, saved the life of a swimmer recently who was struggling to swim. I asked the Taoiseach to meet them and I am asking the Tánaiste if he will meet them because these young people represent an issue, the un…