We meet at a moment of enormous change in our economy, workplaces and society. Across every sector from manufacturing to medicine, construction to finance, agriculture to creative industries, technology is transforming how we work, learn and live. Artificial intelligence, automation, digitalisation and the green transition are not future challenges, they are present realities. While these changes bring enormous opportunity, they also bring understandable anxiety for many workers, families and communities. The quest…

A significant number of people across my county of Cork are growing increasingly frustrated by the slow progress on public transport delivery, in particular when it comes to BusConnects and next generation ticketing. I commend the Minister's Department, Irish Rail and Bus Éireann on the improvements have been made because they must be recognised. My job as a Deputy for Cork is to try to progress that even more, in particular regarding BusConnects and next generation ticketing. BusConnects was presented as a major t…

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion on the cost of disability. It is something that has been raised on a consistent basis since I entered this Dáil Chamber over 18 months ago and it has been brought to my attention on a number of occasions in that time by many people, including parents, those living with disabilities themselves, schools and grandparents who have come into the constituency office who are obviously fearing for their grandchildren who may have a disability or their adult grandchildren w…

Hear, hear.

Yesterday I visited the proposed site of the national children's science centre at Earlsfort Terrace. I walked through the derelict north wing of that building with members of the board. It is a space that is full of potential but today it lies idle in the heart of our capital city. The Taoiseach stood on the site in December 2022 and announced, to be fair, the great redevelopment of the National Concert Hall. The fear now is that unless both projects proceed in parallel, the new concert hall will face closure for …

Yes, on the same site.

Yes, absolutely.

I am not saying-----

The National Concert Hall might have to close if construction was to begin again on the science centre.

It is on the same site.

That is not-----

I am happy to share my time.

Today we must recognise the immense pressure that our nurses are under in this country, but also other front-line health professionals across Ireland. This morning, I met with paramedics outside Mallow General Hospital who do not take this strike action lightly. Listening to them this morning, it was clear that this dispute was more than pay and grading. It is about burnout, staffing pressures, retention and a workforce that feels ignored for far too long. Last night, I spoke with nurses from CUMH and CUH who are g…

I appreciate that. The Minister will be acutely aware of the level of concern among families and students to the news that there is a possibility that the incremental decreases in student contribution fees will not go ahead. The Minister mentioned that this must be done in a financially sustainable way, which is something that is not spoken about perhaps in the media or by other spokespeople. The Department might be financially sustainable, but why should students or the Department cover the cost for other Departme…

Is there a date on which that paper will be made available? Those costings will be very important to politicians in this Chamber but also extremely important to the very students who we profess to represent in this Chamber regarding to the amount they will have to pay for the coming academic year. I represent the students across this country and the important issue for them is that there was a commitment in the programme for Government to reduce the student contribution fees, albeit in a financially sustainable way…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire.

I wish to ask about the Minister's engagement with University College Cork and the Munster Technological University in Cork on the housing crisis and the impact on student accommodation in Cork. This is something that has been spoken about at a consistent level by the Labour Party and by me and my colleagues, Senator Harmon, and an Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, Deputy Sheehan.

I appreciate that there have been developments in student accommodation. However, Cork, as a county with a huge university city, has the lowest proportion of public student accommodation beds available at 18%. In February 2026, a report by Sherry FitzGerald showed that the State needs at least 38,900 beds to keep up with the demand. The report says that for every 13 students across the south-west region, which is inclusive of Cork and Kerry, there are ten beds, and that with roughly 30,300 students enrolled, there …

In relation to what my colleague, Senator Harmon, has said in relation to the technological universities being allowed to borrow to build student accommodation, is it something that the Minister and the Department are taking seriously? There would be an appetite there from MTU. In relation to private rented accommodation, we have had many debates across this House on private rental student accommodation, particularly in Cork city where a lot of the time, in a lot of the situations I have come across, the accommodat…

Will the Minister explain why the Government has chosen to impose expenditure levies on Departments given that the State is currently running a surplus of more than €9 billion? The State has run surplus budgets for 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, all while the top 10% hold nearly 50% of total net wealth in this country and the number of super rich has doubled in the past five years. Successive Governments did not apply this approach to the Department of Health, despite repeated overruns and Supplementary Estimates year …