I was going to say I welcome the Bill, but I do not welcome it; it is a necessary evil. Its purpose is to secure the provision of energy to this country in the long term, at a time when the provision of energy and resources to generate energy are tremendously volatile and precipitous in terms of our access to energy. I listened to Deputy O'Gorman say security of supply should be achieved by domestic generation. I would fully agree with that statement, but for the fact that we are not capable of generating everythin…

I thank the Minister for coming in to take this issue. It is important, particularly in this week of Pride, that we acknowledge there are still issues concerning the LGBT community and the confidence it might have in the prosecution of offences or the following up of allegations related to events that clearly have a hate motivation to them. In June 2024, when I was a Senator, I raised an issue in the Seanad about two young men who were pursued through Phoenix Park with hammers and knives and who were very frightene…

I thank the Minister and appreciate the acknowledgment that this behaviour is ongoing. It is important to say clearly that there is a problem. I also appreciate what the Minister said about the legislation that was passed and commenced in 2024. However, I am not convinced that it is sufficient. What it does is to give greater discretion to a judge to consider a particular hate element to be an aggravating factor. There is certainly a part of me that would have thought it should not have been necessary to put that i…

I am very pleased to be able to speak on this issue. It is hugely important. There is so much to be said about Pride and the importance of expressing pride and of facilitating that expression of pride but I will focus on two particular issues. The first is conversion therapy, which is not banned in this jurisdiction. This practice is there to "convert" or "cure" people of their sexual orientation or gender identity, or tell them that it is wrong, and essentially convince them of the opposite. It is appalling. The U…

I welcome the Bill. Regulation in this space is perhaps more important than any other regulatory Bill we will pass in this House this year. Any new technology poses problems, difficulties, challenges and threats and, undoubtedly, that is true of artificial intelligence. It does not mean we cannot regulate to protect ourselves and it does not mean we cannot put measures in place to protect ourselves and our children. There is a concern about the notion of over-regulation, that we will therefore stifle innovation or …

I broadly welcome this Bill. It is, however, correctly contentious and controversial in circumstances where we as a country and as a planet face an extraordinary challenge in terms of reducing emissions and dealing with the consequences of climate change, which we see today as we all schlep around here in suits, sweating. I do have reservations about the de facto setting aside of the climate action legislation in the context of this removal of the cap, and also later this week in the context of the gas reserve Bill…

The terrible thing about this subject is that it comes down so much to economics and it should not. It should come down to individuals and everything that we can do for them. I want to echo what many speakers have said in this debate about how we need to accelerate the progress in relation to the provision of treatments for rare diseases. The fact that they are rare diseases should not mean that people do not have access to the treatments they need. I have listened to some of the comments on how we need to have a p…

I acknowledge that the Minister is here in person. It does not always happen for Topical Issues but I am grateful for the fact that she is here. It is probably a reflection of the fact that she is getting the same emails I am getting from people in our constituency who are affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy. I am sure the Minister already knows about it but Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a condition that affects muscular restoration and muscular development, mostly in boys although not exclusively. It occurs f…

I thank the Minister. I join with her in thanking the HSE for the work that has been done and also acknowledge her commitment to this. Anybody who has dealt with families who are suffering with this disease understands both the heartbreaking nature of it and the urgency involved. Listening to what the Minister has said in relation to the progress and the managed access protocol, do we have a timeline for when it will be available? I accept entirely what the Minister has said about the clinical criteria for the appl…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an mBille seo. Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Aire freisin as ucht an luais a bhí leis. Nuair atáimid ag labhairt faoin dlí ag an leibhéal Eorpach, is gá dúinn na rialacha mar sin a chur sa dlí sa tír seo. Déanaim comhghairdeas leis maidir leis sin. Ag an am céanna, bhí mé ag éisteacht leis an díospóireacht anseo freisin. Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil daoine sa Teach seo a bhfuil imní orthu faoi rudaí atá sa Bhille agus ceisteanna atá fós le freagairt ag an Aire. Labhróidh mé fúthu siúd ar feadh tama…

I support the Bill. This is not an issue to which I am a stranger. I have spent quite a lot of time in the occupied territories in the West Bank and Gaza. I have witnessed the way the Israeli Defence Forces have behaved. I have thankfully never been a direct victim but I have had stones thrown at me by Israeli settlers in Hebron, so I have seen first hand what is there. I have seen sonic bombs being flown over Gaza city. I understand what is happening there. I have consistently over 25 years been appalled by the ma…

I will start by saying something relatively controversial. I do not think RTÉ does a bad job; I think it does quite a good job. As a public service broadcaster, the difficulty it faces is that it is so often compared with international counterparts like the BBC, which is not perfect and which receives funding vastly beyond what RTÉ could ever expect to get in a small jurisdiction like ours. On the whole, I think it does a good job. RTÉ does a good job in the public service broadcasting space. I agree with Deputy O'…

I agree with much, if not everything, that has been said in the course of the debate by those on all sides. Balancing our skills need and development is important. I want to come at this from a slightly different angle, however. I am chair of the European affairs committee, and a delegation from the committee recently visited Luxembourg and met some of the people involved in the European institutions there. We know they exist throughout the European Union, including with Eurofound, which celebrates its 50th year in…

I welcome the Bill. The expansion of the terms in the legislation is welcome. We have to recognise that those who seek to access Dublin are not just necessarily from the county of Dublin or the immediate area, but come from further away. I am not sure about the wisdom of placing two Dún Laoghaire constituency Deputies one after the other because I listened to Deputy Devlin's speech and he hit on many of the issues that are important for our area. I, too, feel very strongly about them. One would think a place like D…

This is an issue that I have raised previously relating to a gap in the provision of the passport services. We are very lucky with the Passport Office. It does amazing work. I know from the work that my office does that the response that we get from the Passport Office is consistently excellent, co-operative and helpful. The Passport Office does not decide what goes into the passports insofar as a statutory regime provided for under the Passports Act 2008 dictates what should be in a passport. That is also in line …

I thank the Minister of State very much. I know he is providing the House with a response that has been prepared on behalf of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. He has described it as an "update". It is far from an update. I read through the transcript of what was said in the Seanad on 7 March 2023. There are so many similarities as there to be no update whatever so ever. It is exactly the same issue about what is required. The Minister of State said in his response is that it is not required by the Act. S…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I join Deputy Aird in acknowledging the work that is being done by people. He mentioned a number of different projects; bees were one of them. That kind of apiculture is really important. We know how much danger there is associated with the native Irish bee. There is an organisation in my own locality called Open Hive, which not only locates hives in places where they might not otherwise be - on private land, on top of apartment buildings and other places like that to…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as teacht isteach chun déileáil leis an gceist seo. In the election in 2024 his party and mine made a commitment to reduce the cost of childcare. This is an important tenet and in the Dún Laoghaire constituency childcare was one of the major issues people were talking to me about. They were essentially paying a second mortgage to put their children into childcare. It is an enormous cost and an enormous burden on households. The proposed reduction we promised in the election was t…

I thank the Minister of State. I do not doubt his bona fides on this topic. I started by acknowledging the work that has been done. I believe the commitment to reduce the cost of childcare was a serious and sincere one. Insofar as I have had any dealings with the people who fund the programme for Government, I believe that. I recognise the progress, the increased funding and all the rest. However, I will say two things. First, the Minister of State said a small number of facilities have exited the scheme. I would b…

Baineann mo cheist le fostaíocht san Aontas Eorpach. Tá gá orainn níos mó a dhéanamh chun eolas a thabhairt do dhaoine, go háirithe anseo in Éirinn, faoi na poist atá ar fáil agus an bealach ar féidir iarratas a dhéanamh orthu le go n-éireoidh leo lena gcuid iarratas agus na poist sin a thógáil. Tá sé sin thar a bheith tábhachtach, go háirithe an tseachtain seo nuair atá Lá na hEorpa á cheiliúradh againn Dé hAoine. Caithfidh muid a bheith in ann a rá i rith Uachtaránacht an Aontais Eorpaigh go bhfuil muid ag déanam…