It is not insulting to us as such, but to the families, the parents, the SNAs and the activists in the Gallery, outside and throughout the country. It is insulting to the 126 children who are without a school place now, one of whom, Frankie Edgeworth in my constituency, has been refused 83 different forms of education from preschool to primary school. He is six years of age and severely autistic with intellectual disabilities. He has a huge array of ancillary needs and is still without a school place. It is not the…

The proposal for a so-called housing tsar will be one of the most egregious of this Government. The details in the programme for Government stated it would be under the Minister for housing but it is emerging that the pay would come from the Department of Finance. We are still unclear as to the remit or powers this new, well-remunerated role will have. As the Government dragged its heels on setting up committees and we probably still will not have them in two weeks, we think there is an urgent need for clarificatio…

I am sharing time with my colleague, Deputy Marie Sherlock. I was taken with the comments of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, in his contribution earlier. The Minister has been Minister across the finance briefs for many years, through a number of crises. His general approach to things is one of calm. He is not one for hyperbole. He spoke about global economic activity increasingly fragmenting along political lines, about storm clouds and about how tariff-related issues will interact with other structural …

There is no excuse as to why we cannot roll out the committees this week, and I fully support that.

I turn to CHI. The HIQA report published today is a matter of historical significance. We will now enter a two-week recess for Easter, and we think we should have a full debate this week on the HIQA report into CHI, the subsequent resignations and all the associated issues.

Last night Donald Trump took aim at every traditional ally of the United States with a blunt and destructive economic weapon. The tariffs his administration has imposed worldwide risk plunging us all into a global recession. In his Rose Garden address, Donald Trump exhibited zero economic rationale for pursuing such an approach but perhaps proved why he is one of very few people in the history of the planet that ended up bankrupting a casino. The President accused states, both friends and foe, essentially of fiscal…

It might be somewhat optimistic to think last night was a moment and now we can move on to negotiations. My fear is we will have more moments like this from the President of the United States. EU unity is easier on trade because it is the raison d’être of the EU. It is essentially a trade agreement between European states from which peace and prosperity will flow. Therefore, unity is strong and we should ensure that continues, without doubt. However, we can do things in Ireland, such as a short-term work wage subsi…

I was aghast to read in the Mail on Sunday that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael backbenchers are absolutely livid at the breakdown of time for other speakers.

In the interests of fair parliamentary order, and it being clear that backbenchers in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, with whom I have deep sympathy, who are sent out to bat, (a), did not have a clue what they were arguing for; (b), had no idea ultimately what they were voting for; and (c), were ultimately clueless as to the impact, having been utterly misled by their own Whips, I ask that we convene that Dáil reform committee and do away with this, which is not working for the Opposition or Government, and indeed is br…

That makes no sense.

Here.

On the eve of what we are expecting tomorrow, I would like an update on our engagement with the US Administration on the proposed tariffs that are coming into play tomorrow.

The complexity of global supply chains is not lost on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. I am sure it is not lost on the other side either, even though the policies that the US Administration intends to introduce will be blunt and damaging. Approximately 77,500 people are directly employed in the pharmaceutical and medical devices industry in this country, although it is not going to be the only industry impacted if the tariffs go ahead. We have a concern about our drinks industry as well as many others. Key to the s…

In fairness to the Tánaiste, I recognise his productivity in engaging on Irish exports to the US economy and on putting such an effort into the St. Patrick’s Day visits over the course of a week in the US. Across all levels, from local government right up, this has been very important. There is no appetite for hysteria here regarding what is going to happen tomorrow. No one wants that. However, we will need to be very reactive to it. I am aware that the Tánaiste is to have meetings on Friday. Does he have anything …

I extend my thanks to the Social Democrats, and to Deputy Gibney in particular, for bringing this motion forward. In Ireland we have a unique position. As a small European nation with a large global footprint, it is both our neutrality and our commitment to development aid which have given us a distinctive voice on the world stage. While many states, including our European partners, are reducing their development aid and while some have renounced their neutrality, we have remained committed to our development aid, …

It is not the first time it has happened to me. I wish to focus on the massive move towards militarism within the European Union and reflect on what the Taoiseach presented to us. He referred to the loosening of the purse strings in Europe in terms of rearming countries at a time when we have so many crises, including the housing crisis. During the European elections last year, our candidate in Dublin, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, as well as our other candidates, strongly focused on the need for housing and a housing commiss…

I welcome these statements. I made a request for them at the Business Committee two weeks ago and they were very quickly put on the agenda, which highlights the regard in which we hold this issue in the House. The 1989 academic paper "The End of History?" by Francis Fukuyama, and the subsequent book, The End of History and the Last Man , 1992, make the central argument that Western liberal democracies have won out and their universalisation has brought a natural end to centuries-long evolution in how humans govern …

I commend my colleague, Deputy Wall, whose commitment to carers neither begins nor ends with this motion. He has done, and continues to do, wonderful work. I also commend the young carers who are here. Nowhere in this country does the State get better bang for its buck than the money it gives to carers. That is compounded even more by young carers who get nothing. With what they give, and what they save the State, it is absolutely abhorrent that this system continues. This is not the first time, nor will it be the …

I will continue from where my colleague, Deputy Sheehan, left off. What the Government intends to do if it implements all the recommendations from the Department of housing is turn a scheme, albeit an imperfect one, that was keeping people out of homelessness into a zombie scheme. It will be a scheme that exists in name but that is not practical and does not help people stay out of homelessness. The plans afoot for the tenant in situ scheme are disgraceful. The scheme, as it has existed for the last number of years…

On a positive note, this is my first Topical Issue of this Dáil term. In the last term, too many Topical Issues would have been taken by one Minister of State. What we have tonight is a selection of Ministers and Ministers of State who are directly related to the topic. I hope that continues as much as possible through this Dáil term. It is something we brought up at the Dáil reform committee in one of its rare outbreaks of constructive discussion so far. I would like to raise the matter of the financial constraint…