Yesterday, Uisce Éireann announced that areas in 12 counties, from Donegal to Wexford, are officially suffering a water drought. This is at a time when we have seen tragic flash floods in Texas, wildfires outside Marseilles and an extended heatwave in many countries across Europe that is about to hit Ireland. Before I came in here, I got an alert on my phone from Met Éireann that it has issued a hot weather warning. Do not get me wrong, the bit of sun is great, but we need to recognise that this is not normal for I…

I am glad to hear about the Government's focus on accelerating what we are doing. However, the fact remains that we are not meeting our climate targets. While there was a 6% reduction in emissions in 2023, there was only a 2% reduction in 2024. The EPA is saying we are going backwards. This is because we are seeing significantly slower progress than needed on many fronts, like onshore wind, offshore wind, electric vehicles, district heating and the use of biomethane, not to mention the impact of the new LNG fossil …

I am conscious we are discussing domestic, sexual and gender-based violence on the day we learned George Gibney will be extradited from Florida to Ireland to face 79 charges of sexual offences against children. Gibney was a high-profile Irish Olympic swimming team coach in the eighties and nineties who abused his position of power and trust. He was previously charged with, but not tried for, numerous sexual offences. Fortunately, our legal norms and laws have changed since the nineties and it is now possible to pro…

All too often the State approaches litigation against it in the same way any private corporate entity would. It is a war of attrition against each individual plaintiff who dares to sue it. That approach must change, not least because it is hugely discriminatory against those who do not have the time, resources or mental fortitude to fight a case like that. We must also consider the appropriateness of the State pursuing unsuccessful litigants for costs in certain situations, for instance, where a case that is of con…

I commend my colleagues, Deputies Sherlock and Wall, for tabling the motion. All of us in the House were outraged by the "RTÉ Investigates" programme, which showed the appalling levels of abuse and malpractice in older people's care settings. These are some of the most vulnerable people in our society. They depend on the help of others to meet their basic needs, as any one of us here might well need some day. To see the conditions these older people were living in, and the routine violation of their human dignity, …

I am delighted to speak on the all-island rail review. We need to see a major modal shift in how we get ourselves from one place to another on this island so that we are not so dependent on our cars. Rail will obviously play a huge role in that. We have a somewhat sorry history in this country when it comes to rail infrastructure. What was once a fairly comprehensive rail network in the early parts of the 20th century was progressively ripped up as time went on. There are a number of reasons for this but it was mai…

Hear, hear.

In response to a question I put to him a number of months ago regarding autism supports and services for children in my constituency, the Taoiseach said he was of the view that many of these services should be provided through schools, and I agree. That being the case, why are so many schools in Dublin South-West being denied additional special needs assistants, SNAs, despite a clearly identified need? I have been contacted by many schools in my constituency, such as Firhouse Educate Together, Cnoc Mhuire Senior Sc…

I am addressing these motions on behalf of my colleague, Deputy Kelly, who is chairing a committee at this time. As we debate these motions we cannot be blind to their history, and our thoughts are with the families of the victims of the Omagh bombing and all those who are victims of organised crime and terrorism. It is important to stress the motions are not about the Special Criminal Court or renewing or confirming the existence of that court, which has been in place since 1972. These motions relate to the need f…

I think it is the first time I have addressed the Minister of State in the Chamber. I congratulate him on his appointment and wish him the best of luck with it. The Labour Party has long supported the extension of the voting franchise. We feel it goes to the heart of our democracy. I thank Sinn Féin for tabling this motion, which we will support. Many proposals on voting rights, especially for our diaspora, have come before this House. That is particularly linked to a history of emigration. The right to vote in ele…

What steps has the Minister taken to ensure the safety of drivers and passengers on Dublin Bus in the aftermath of the very serious incident at Mountjoy Square in April in which a man threatened a bus driver with a gun? Will he outline his plans for a dedicated transport police force?

It is good to hear that work is under way. We would like to see a separate division of An Garda Síochána rather than a separate policing force. I would like to understand the Minister's thoughts on that. Antisocial behaviour and violence on public transport happens in all of our constituencies, not least in my own constituency of Dublin South-West. It does not often get too much public attention. I am thankful that our community in Dublin South-West is working constructively to reduce these issues. We hold monthly …

I will press the Minister again to provide a more defined timeline for this. When does he think it is going to be done? Has the Minister looked at the Travel Safe policy document prepared by SIPTU? Has he met SIPTU or any other interested parties yet? I suggest that he do. There is one proposal from SIPTU I was particularly taken with. It related to public transport assistance units. These would be social care intervention officers specifically trained to deal with those causing a public disturbance on the public t…

I thank Deputy O'Gorman for bringing this motion before us. The Labour Party will gladly support it. I do not think there is a word in it that I would fault. The Green Party, to be fair, kick-started much-needed investment in our public transport during its time in government, following decades of neglect and underinvestment. It achieved fare reductions on public transport and enhanced Local Link services, investing record amounts and achieving a record 328 million public transport journeys last year. That was a 10…

My question is the same. I am happy for the Minister to answer about how the gap is widening.

The Minister referred to moving faster and we agree with him. He mentioned 1990, 1995 and 2005 figures, but these are irrelevant. The only figures that we are concerned with in this House anymore are the 2018 base levels. We need a 51% reduction from them by 2030. We are miles away from it and we are getting further. Is the Minister worried about the gap between promise and delivery? Can he tell us once and for all whether he has given up on the 51% reduction target by 2030? His own climate action plan for this yea…

Not only is the Government failing in this regard, it is also regrettably going backwards. Only last year, it was predicted that the State could reach 29% emission reductions. This year, it was reduced to 23% by the EPA. Our target for 2030 is that 80% of our energy will be renewable. The EPA is telling us that now only approximately 68% will be able to be renewable by 2030. When it comes to transport, the Minister referenced the number of EVs on the roads. The EPA is not even bothering with the previous goal of al…

The most senior official in the Department of environment and energy said today that we will have to decide between building more homes or expanding our data centre capacity because our energy infrastructure cannot handle both. This is an extraordinary intervention. The Labour Party has long been sounding alarm bells about the scale of data centre construction. We have serious concerns about their energy consumption, the pressure they are placing on our grid and the dirty fuels they will have to use going forward b…

I will put the Labour Party environment spokesperson hat on and raise a specific issue with the Whitechurch flood relief scheme in Rathfarnham in my constituency of Dublin South-West. I do not think any of us would deny that some flood relief interventions were required for the Whitechurch stream. There was a serious incident of flooding on Whitechurch Road a number of years ago now. While it may have been partially due to unauthorised developments and culverting along that road, that is another matter. I understan…

I wish to raise water infrastructure and, in particular, issues that have been experienced by residents in Dargle Wood, Knocklyon. There has been a marked increase in water outages over the last few months. The residents have had eight separate outages since the beginning of this year alone, but such outages have been a persistent issue for years now. There have been 23 water outages in this estate since 2022, some lasting days at a time. I have been contacted by some residents who have lived in that area for decad…