I thank Sinn Féin and Deputy Michael Collins. Each and every one of us knows what harm the Israelis have done all over the world and continue to do. We do not support that. I am concerned about stopping our Irish team from playing a game and I wonder whether it may have far-reaching repercussions for them. The players have trained and come this far. Will it be just this game they forfeit? How many points will they lose? Will they be thrown out of the competition? I am worried about all those things. I would like to…

As the Tánaiste is aware, many young people between the ages of 25 and 33 are leaving our shores. Many of them were in good, settled jobs. These are gardaí, teachers, mechanics and people with different trades. They are valuable individuals, and they are leaving because they simply believe that they cannot buy or build a house for themselves. They say that if they were not working at all or working only part-time, they would qualify to get on the local authority list and, eventually, get a social housing unit. In o…

The other thing is that the birth rate is falling yet our population is going up with a population increase of over 500,000 in recent years. This is putting pressure on house availability. With many vacant houses, there is no real incentive available to owners to rent them out but there is an incentive there that is working for the Ukrainian people, namely, a tax-free payment of €600 to the landlord. If we could do something like that for some of our own people, it would be great for them. People coming from other …

They are costing us as well.

During the recent fuel protests, it became clear that we do not have enough oil reserve capacity. In the early days, there were mutterings that Europe could facilitate up to 12 months. There was no more about that then. What is the position regarding the massive storage tanks in Whiddy Island? We can all see them from the road from Kilgarvan to Bantry. What is inside those tanks now? Is it water, bird seed or what? Did the former Minister Eamon Ryan fill them with concrete? If he did, he should be given a lump hamm…

First, I thank Deputy Stanley for bringing forward this timely and important motion to allow us to say what we want in Dáil Éireann regarding neutrality. It is most important that we retain our neutrality and the triple lock. If the Government wants to change it, by all means it should put it to the people of Ireland. It should put it to the country. There is nothing to be afraid of. At all times, the people of Ireland have given their opinions on the different referendums put before them and we in this Chamber dul…

-----the world. I certainly do not want to see a European army we are part of.

The square in Kenmare town has been flooded many times over the years. To that end, I thank the Minister of State with responsibility for public works, Deputy Moran, for going down there and taking stock. A scheme is promised to deal with the situation. However, a sewerage pipe is crossing the eye of the courthouse bridge which collects debris and trees and practically blocks the river. This is what causes most of the flooding. I am asking if that sewerage pipe could be removed in the interim. To facilitate this ha…

It would save people’s businesses from being destroyed and ruined as has happened many different times before.

I am glad to get the opportunity to say a few words. As many others have said, those ten years were an awful time in the lives of many people in our country. Many people lost their homes and lands and, worse than that, they lost their marriages and some of them lost their children. They lost everything. Some even lost their lives. It was a terrible time and NAMA was a word many people regretted and resented. I refer to the liquidators, vulture funds and the things that happened. As I said, homes were taken. The thi…

I just want to inform Deputy Heneghan that I welcomed four young hares into my field the other morning. They were grand specimens. I thank the local community groups, the Tidy Towns committees and the rural development companies for the great work they do enhancing our environment around all our towns and villages in the county of Kerry. We are facing a massive challenge with our wastewater treatment plants. Our local authorities and Irish Water have been starved of funding to deal with these plants. We have towns …

I thank Sinn Féin for this very important motion. I was against the rule the Minister brought in a number of months ago from 1 March that people would have to rent their houses out for six years. The news that was coming drove many people out of the market. Since some time early last year, many people have come to me who were after getting their notice to quit and their hearts were broken because they did not know where to go. It was hurtful. That was the reason. I voted against that because I feel very strongly ab…

On a point of order, I want to register a complaint about the Minister and the Minister of State. We spoke for eight or nine minutes and they did not listen to one word that we said.

They were talking. They are ignorant and arrogant and they will not listen but they will get their answer when they go to the doors.

I have listened to this debate continuously this morning. Indeed, I remember it so well eight and nine years ago. I suppose I have to say I am pro life and I think that when a baby is born, it is the most majestic, natural and beautiful thing in the world. I am lucky that, in my time, Eileen and I have had six children, and now we have eight grandchildren. We have to think of the baby in the situation they are in and we have to talk about them. I believe they have a right to live, and to wait three more days to giv…

I am glad to get the opportunity to say a few words on this Bill. I will give the Government the benefit of the doubt because, for too long, this country has been starved of infrastructure. We are strangled and tied down and I cannot see the benefit of this amendment by insisting that we are to go through this Chamber. I realise all the different political views that different Members have from different counties. We would finish up without agreement on anything important that we need for our counties. Each of us w…

It was not my phone.

Why do Members always look at me?

I am glad to get the opportunity to raise my satisfaction and appreciation of all the nurses in Kerry and around the country, especially the nurses with whom I have had the occasion to deal with many times, both in the past and recently. I am especially thinking of staff in University Hospital Kerry but also those in the district hospitals in Killarney, Listowel, Cahersiveen, Dingle, Valencia and Kenmare and the hospitals that Kerry people go to, such as the one over the head in Bantry. Many Kerry people also use t…

First, I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this very important Bill. As I have said in the Chamber several times, it is a fact that the cost of electricity has gone up every day since we closed down Bord na Móna. Reflecting on it now, that should not have happened but Eamon Ryan and the Greens were in a hurry. It should not have been closed down until we had at least made some preparations or had enough wind power or energy from other sources to replace it, although I fervently believe there was nothing wrong wi…