I welcome this debate on an issue with which we are all very familiar, either as parents or as public representatives. Back-to-school costs are a major source of anxiety for parents every year, particularly when uniforms demanded by some schools are at the higher end of the cost scale. It was noted on First Stage that the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and Barnardos have indicated that back-to-school costs average €725 for primary school and €1,000 for secondary school pupils. It is concerning that …

I am delighted to have this opportunity to speak on such an important issue. It is welcome that we are discussing this. I find it odd, and it is noticeable, how little we discuss men's health in this House. Maybe that is something we all need to work on to make sure we bring the issue more to the fore in the Chamber. It is an issue that needs attention. It is certainly one form of gender imbalance that we need to address, given it is discussed so little in the House. There seems to be a preference, unfortunately, t…

I am delighted to have an opportunity to speak here tonight on the tillage issue. I spoke to and engaged with the IFA on this matter on a number of occasions prior to the budget. Many of the concerns and challenges relate to the significant structural pressures and extended economic factors the sector faces, including increased importation of grains and elevated input costs. While we accept that production figures for 2025 show a modest yield increase, this has not translated into sector stability. This is of great…

I wish to raise reimbursement support for continuous glucose monitoring sensors. The scheme is currently only available for people who have type 1 diabetes, so patients with type 2 diabetes are excluded. I am concerned at the increased volume of emails I receive on this issue from my constituents. In particular, I was alarmed by a case where a man was undergoing treatment for cancer who happened to be a type 2 diabetic. He applied to the medicines management programme in the HSE and went through the appeals mechani…

Tá áthas orm deis a bheith agam labhairt ar an mBille seo anocht. Housing and the cost-of-living challenges remain to the forefront of people's concerns. It is, unfortunately, gone beyond an emergency. It is a crisis on steroids and one that is locking thousands of children into near-permanent states of homelessness every day of the week as an indictment of ineffective Government policy that stands head and shoulders above all else. I accept that the Bill seeks to increase the agency's funding to €13.5 billion from…

I am delighted to speak on this motion, which I fully support. I particularly support the call on the Government to develop and introduce a cost-of-disability payment. We all know that the cost of living with a disability is significantly higher than the cost of living for a non-disabled person, but emotional and psychological costs also have to be borne. They are much more difficult to quantify, but they are no less real for that. I will focus on one particular area, however, which is the ongoing issues around acc…

Communities have been waiting for many years for the publication of the revised wind farm guidelines. Will the Minister pause all wind farm developments until the guidelines are published? When will we see these guidelines published?

I am disappointed that more has not been done in terms of protecting the rights of communities. We are awaiting revised guidelines. The current guidelines give too much leeway to wind energy companies, which do not respect many communities. I commend everyone involved in the campaign relating to Mongan bog, which is a heritage site in my constituency of Offaly. This heritage site has links to the monastic site Clonmacnoise in County Offaly. A planned wind farm there is just ludicrous. The Minister of State mentione…

I know the Minister of State mentioned public consultation but many people do not take that seriously because their experience of public consultations is that they have not been respected. Constituents from north Offaly where there are issues with sound have contacted me. They have to move livestock in their fields. These people feel they are not listened to. If we are talking about public consultation, the number one priority is that it has to be meaningful. The second thing is that we have to ensure that communit…

Tá áthas orm an deis a fháil labhairt ar an mbuiséad seo anocht. I welcome the opportunity to speak on some of the measures outlined earlier today. However, it is also important to highlight what did not happen today. For me, this is the budget of a Government that lost its nerve, a budget of half-measures and lip service. Yes, the income disregard for the carer’s payment will increase to €1,000 for a single person and €2,000 for a couple and, yes, the domiciliary care allowance will also go up by €20 to €380 per m…

I am delighted to contribute to these statements. There are great examples of social enterprise organisations throughout the country, all of which are doing fantastic work, including Offaly Local Development Company in my constituency of Offaly. The company, which we in the county are fortunate to have, supports voluntary groups and individuals all across Offaly who are already running or thinking of setting up a social enterprise. These supports come in many formats, from individual staff or board member mentoring…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 and to provide for related matters. At the outset, let me express my sincere thanks to Karen O'Brien in the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers and Owen Garvey, assistant parliamentary counsel, for their invaluable research and drafting assistance. Also, my thanks to Luke Norton in the Bills Office for his assistance, as well as Jill Gray in the Ceann Comhairle's office. I also sincerely thank …

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

I welcome debate on this critical issue. It is a long time coming. The then Minister, Heather Humphreys, pointed out a number of years ago on Second Stage that auto-enrolment had been spoken about in Ireland for 25 years since the former Minister, Seamus Brennan, first raised it. That being said, I think that a lot of concerns remain around the new regime and how fair, costly or impactful it is actually going to be in practice. There are a number of issues around workers who are earning just over €20,000 losing mon…

The lights are on but for far too long no one seems to be at home when it comes to the factors that have made Irish households absolute outliers in European terms regarding the cost of energy. The State is generating hundreds of millions of euro through a ridiculous carbon tax that I opposed and is damning people to energy poverty only to then redirect the tax revenue back to them through the welfare system. That is like some Alice-in-Wonderland version of the circular economy. It is not just the cost of energy, wh…

There are countries in the world where if you voice your opposition to massively destabilising levels of illegal immigration, you can and will be shot and killed. It does not appear to matter how respectfully or constructively you may seek to argue for stronger borders, national sovereignty, or just a decision to put your own people first. Then there are countries in the world, such as our own, that have mercifully not reached this point yet, but that does not mean you will not be silenced in other less obvious or …

We want our country back from the grip of rampant illegality. We want order and stability.

Tá áthas orm labhairt ar an rún seo anocht. Beidh mé ag tacú leis an rún, a bhaineann le hoideachas speisialta. I will support the motion, in particular the call to establish a timebound school building delivery task force with a mandate to ensure the quick and priority delivery of special schools and classes. This is an aspect of the school accommodation crisis more generally, on which I have repeatedly focused over the years. I have raised the issue a number of times here. I have, of course, raised the issue with…

I welcome this motion. It is timely and is there to address the frustration and chronic pain too many women have to endure unnecessarily. I welcome the visitors to the Gallery. It is great to have them all here. They should not need to be here because this is an issue that should have been addressed long before now. I certainly will be supporting the motion. We urgently need to rapidly increase the level of support and the diagnostic pathways for women experiencing endometriosis. I know from the vast amount of corr…

In June 2023, a scoping report on the sexual exploitation of children in State care by UCD academics, Dr. Mary Canning, Dr. Marie Keenan and Ms Ruth Breslin was published. The Sexual Exploitation Research and Policy, SERP, Institute report clearly outlined in horrifying detail the predatory behaviour that these young people, mainly young girls, were being subjected to on an ongoing basis, which was totally disturbing. We were told how some of the most vulnerable children in this State were going missing or running …