Before I begin, I want to congratulate new the Deputies, Daniel Ennis and Sean Kyne. As a by-election veteran myself, I wish them the very best, although I was elected during Covid so I missed out on the handshakes, hugs and lovely warmth they got. Recent lay-offs in the tech sector are causing huge stress and anxiety for those receiving redundancy notices, those seeing their colleagues being laid off and the communities affected. My constituency, Dublin Bay South, is home to many tech companies and to the workers …

I agree with the Taoiseach that it is not either-or. SMEs are certainly the backbone of our economy but what we have seen is an over-dependence on a handful of small tech companies and that is the concern. Yes, of course, there are many SMEs that are working with them and are in the supply chain but the problem, as the Taoiseach said, is the lack of scaling up of SMEs and the lack of investment in indigenous start-ups. That is a real concern. We need to diversify the economy. It is not just the Labour Party saying …

Tech companies are making huge profits while saying that they need to cut costs.

Just an hour ago, the special advocate for survivors of institutional abuse, Ms Patricia Carey, strongly condemned what she describes as State failures in providing redress to victims of institutional abuse. She has recounted the negative experiences of survivors engaging with the Government's statutory schemes, including retraumatisation and exclusionary terms of reference. Survivors have spoken of a pattern of exclusion. I urge the Taoiseach to engage with Ms Carey at the earliest opportunity to see that survivor…

I am not, but-----

Yesterday, I raised the plight of renters with the Taoiseach in this Chamber. I hate to say I told you so, but today's daft.ie report confirms the recent record surge in rents and a particularly sharp rise in Galway, proving again just how badly the Government is failing renters. Today, I wish to raise a different matter with the Taoiseach, a serious matter, namely, the epidemic of violence against women in our country. Yesterday, former garda Paul Moody was sentenced to prison for a terrible prolonged campaign of …

I thank the Taoiseach for his response and his commitment to strengthening supports further. The reality is the institutions of the State, in too many ways, are still not supporting victims of abuse. I will give two examples. First, hours were spent at the justice committee yesterday debating laws on the disclosure of counselling notes in rape trials when we all know that simply should not happen. Deputy Kelly has been working with the Minister and putting amendments on that, and indeed working with the Rape Crisis…

-----to support victims and survivors. We are very happy to work with the Government on this.

The Government says its VAT cut will save the hospitality sector and protect small restaurants and cafes from closure. The reality is that the big winners will be the burger chains. McDonald's alone will make €20 million as a result. The irony is that in my constituency, it is apparently a Government decision bringing about the closure or a successful independent cafe, which is the wonderful Silk Road Cafe in the Chester Beatty Library at Dublin Castle. On Monday, I met the cafe proprietor, Ibrahim Phelan. He and h…

I thank the Taoiseach.

I welcome Austin Appelbee and his family. Austin, you inspired us all with your immense courage. Well done. In March, reports emerged of mass evictions across the country as a result of the new Fianna Fáil rent law. When I raised this with the Taoiseach at the time he told me that the facts did not bear out any connection. However, the latest figures from the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, confirm exactly what we previously warned him about. The botched so-called rental reforms have indeed triggered what has now…

The Taoiseach cannot have it both ways.

With respect, what I have heard from the Taoiseach just now is Alice in Wonderland logic or Micheál in Wonderland logic. The Taoiseach is telling me the Government has introduced protections for renters and that these have, somehow, generated evictions, so which is it? He made claims about construction figures that he needs to go back and look at again. He used the word “churn”. That is deeply hurtful to those families, like the family I described, like the family I met in Oranmore, and like families we are all mee…

It is not the case for people living the reality-----

No.

I express my deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Yves Sakila and express my concern at the incident last Friday evening on Henry Street in Dublin city centre that resulted in his death and the injury of an older man. I also express condolences to the Congolese community here. It has been reported that Mr. Sakila was an IT professional originally from Congo who had been living in Ireland for some 20 years. A video has been circulating of the minutes leading up to Mr. Sakila's death. I viewed this and for…

The comments of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern are deeply disturbing. Particularly alarming was the way in which he singled out specific ethnic, religious and national identities. More than being just offensive and irresponsible, his language was dangerous and inflammatory. For a politician who devoted so much of his career to finding a resolution to the Troubles - a conflict based on religious division - it was shameful to hear him refer to a child's religion, Islam, when he said he is worried about the next genera…

Meta has failed to take responsibility for the hate speech it is facilitating. The former Taoiseach, Mr. Ahern, remains a member of the Council of State. He is more than just a private person making ignorant remarks at a doorstep. As he should know, discourse around migration must be rooted in facts, humanity and respect. That is why the Labour Party, just last month, launched the Together We Thrive campaign. Our promotes the urgent need for a fair, fact-based national conversation on migration that highlights the …

I thank the Tánaiste for his comment that Bertie Ahern's remarks were not appropriate and were wrong. Will he go further by calling them out and calling on Mr. Ahern to apologise? It is ironic, as the Tánaiste will appreciate as Fine Gael leader, that Bertie Ahern should have the temerity to fuel rhetoric that blames immigrants for systemic problems in Ireland. This is the man whose policies brought about the worst financial crash in the history of the State. Since that crash, migrants have played a pivotal role in…

-----but we hope that will change.