The school contacted me this afternoon to acknowledge that contact had been made with the Department. It is working through it. I discussed whether the school wanted me to continue to raise this issue tonight and it indicated I should because this is a wider issue that will continue. The Minister of State stated that schools have the flexibility to use their capitation grants. Schools are bending over backwards multiple times to be as flexible as possible to stretch the money they are getting to ensure the light an…

While an awful lot of attention has been focused on the deteriorating security situation in Europe, less focus has been placed on the appalling action of the Trump Administration in the freezing of the USAID programme, which accounts for 40% of all global development aid. Vulnerable, sick and poor people all over the world are struggling to access programmes, including HIV care, tuberculosis care, and famine prevention programmes. Medication is locked in warehouses. While Europe is discussing more bombs and bullets…

On that issue, the Labour Party and other groups in the Opposition have submitted a private notice question under Standing Order 44 to ask the Taoiseach to explain the actions of the Government Chief Whip at the Dáil reform meeting last Wednesday, actions which were incredible for those who were there. I have just found out in the past two minutes that this request has been rejected. I am upset by that, and I think others will be. I would like an explanation as to why it was rejected. There is also the matter of ou…

A Cheann Comhairle agus a Theachta Ó Snodaigh, tá brón orm mar níl go leor Gaeilge agam chun óráid iomlán a dhéanamh. I would like to talk about education planning in the provision of schooling through Irish. In my town, Swords, we are lucky enough to have a fantastic Gaelscoil, Gaelscoil Bhrian Bóroimhe. In Donabate there is Gaelscoil na Mara, and in Kinsealy there is Scoil an Duinnínigh. The problem is that for students who have been lucky enough to get into these schools, the choice at second level becomes a lot…

I return to the issue of reduced capacity on Irish Rail's northern commuter line. My colleague Councillor Corina Johnston and I have been inundated with reports from people who have been left on the platform at peak time. My colleague received a response from Irish Rail today apologising for what has happened but stating it will happen again tomorrow and on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of next week. Given that the population of Donabate is due to grow by 25% in the next two years, it does not have a direct, regular…

I congratulate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on his election to his position. We were seven-plus months seeking a debate in this House on this matter, which is incredible. I hope the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, in his role, can assist all Members who request speaking time so they do not have to wait seven months for a debate on something so important as the Housing Commission report. I would like to use my time to focus on the tenant in situ scheme. There are a couple of elements to it. The first is the most pressing: there…

I will be sharing time with my colleague, Deputy Robert O'Donoghue.

I acknowledge and thank Ambassador Gerasko and I welcome members of the Ukrainian community to the Gallery today. For three years we have seen horrors in continental Europe that we hoped we would never see again. In 1918, we hoped we would never see trench warfare again. In 1945, we hoped we would never see tanks roll across the sovereign borders of another European nation. We hoped that we would never see the ethnic cleansing happen again that we saw in the Balkans in the 1990s. Unfortunately, all three and more a…

Notwithstanding the arrangements we have for Dáil reform this week and then next week, given the deteriorating security in Europe, the Arts Council issues and the overspend on the children's hospital, I think we need to expedite the setting up of the Oireachtas committees. I do not think there is any reason we should delay any further, because there are a number of issues that we need to tease out. I sincerely ask if we can work together to get that done as soon as possible.

I am glad it is the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, in the seat for this debate. I know it is the luck of the draw but the matter I raise - pensions - relates to her Department, the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. I would like her to take account of the contributions from me and my colleagues, Deputies Wall and Kenny, over the next 15 minutes. We are having statements on the programme for Government. What I will be speaking to is what is not in the programme for G…

They are not agreed.

Given the unprecedented number of junior Ministers being assigned by this Government, and also in trying to start this Dáil on somewhat of a better foot, it is a poor precedent to have pre-legislative scrutiny waived in respect of this Bill. On another note, with regard to the restoration of Bills, we received the list some 20 minutes before we sat but we really should have received it a lot earlier, notwithstanding what happened in the past couple of weeks.

I thank Sinn Féin for introducing this motion, which we fully support. That the last Private Members’ business of the Thirty-third Dáil, a motion by the Social Democrats, and the first Private Members’ business of the Thirty-fourth Dáil are on the issue of Palestine sends an important message out from this Parliament on how important the issue of genocide in Gaza is to the Irish people and their Parliament. In the debate on the last item of Private Members’ business of the Thirty-third Dáil, my then colleague Brend…

It needs to be said that at the Business Committee yesterday, all Opposition members registered their dissent to the arrangements and to the matter of the speaking rights for the technical groups. The proposal is for us to come back on 5 February, in two weeks. That proposal cannot proceed until we have resolved the issue of the technical groups' speaking rights. Notwithstanding what she said in her few words before we heard from the Government Chief Whip, I ask the Ceann Comhairle to state on the record of the Dái…

They are really angry about it. I would like the Ceann Comhairle to commit to a deadline as to when she will make an adjudication on the joint submission from the Opposition on this matter and to make a decision that is for the good of the entire Parliament and every Member of this House. We in the Opposition believe there is only one answer to that question.

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this very important motion to the Dáil this morning. The Labour Party believes in a society that values care and invests in it from cradle to grave, so that people have access to the services they need when they need them. In our election manifesto, we will outline our proposals for a new social care contract to support family carers and care workers. For many years, the Labour Party has campaigned for family carers and care workers, with motions passing in the Dáil and Seanad in 2023…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: acknowledges that: — understaffing in the public health service is impacting the ability of staff to provide safe care and this will put patients at risk and damage efforts to retain existing staff; — the health recruitment moratorium has continued through new recruitment caps, and positions are being left vacant in acute hospitals and community care; and — thousands of frontline health positions that were suppressed during the recruitment moratorium were "decommissioned" by the Pay and N…

I wish to raise the issue of the lack of bus services. BusConnects, which has gone through multiple public consultations, is now in its implementation phase. However, there are still pockets of areas that are not being served by the BusConnects plan, even as it is being rolled out. This is particularly the case in north County Dublin and I want to raise the area of Holywell in Swords. At present, Holywell is only served by a private bus service, Swords Express, for journeys into town. It is a huge residential area …

The Labour Party will be supporting this legislation, as we have previously. Risk equalisation, which the Bill provides for annually, ensures costs will be constant across a lifespan for an individual. It seeks to ensure that, where possible, age, gender and health status will not influence the cost of an insurance product. Let me be clear, though. Our support for this Bill is not an endorsement of the current two-tier system, where so many people are reliant on private health insurance for their basic health needs…

I thank Deputy Ó Broin of Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. When it comes to housing as a public good, the Labour Party believes in three pillars of a housing system that will work for all. The first is social and truly affordable housing, the second is security of tenure for renters, and the third is a truly ambitious home building programme. The marker for us of the success or failure of the Government's Housing for All policy is whether it strives to achieve those three aims and, of course, whether it …