Bipartisanship, the political process by which opposing political parties find common ground through compromise, has, as we all know, been dying a slow death in the US to the point where it does not exist anymore except, remarkably, on St. Patrick's Day. Republican and Democrat Senators and Congressmen and Congresswomen vie with each other to participate in the events relating to what is a unique political day and to make themselves available to Irish politicians of every political hue, North and South. Does the Ta…

Hear, hear.

I know the Taoiseach would agree that the previous Government had a vibrant school building programme at primary and post-primary levels, with multiple projects in my constituency of Dublin South-West as an example. Where does the Taoiseach see the emphasis at primary level over the coming years in terms of the school building programme? Does he agree the needs of those developing areas should be monitored closely? Would he also agree with me that one of the issues that emerged in this general election, which would…

What about-----

How much time do I have?

Rather than repeat or echo-----

I was told I have seven, actually.

The Lord giveth. Rather than repeat what Deputy Cleere said, I want to echo his comments, in particular about the ambition of the programme for Government and its emphasis, in stark contrast to what went on in opposition today, on delivery and the aims of objectives of the programme ahead of us. We come to Government and the Thirty-fourth Dáil at a time of great turbulence internationally. Globalisation, which most of us had never heard of 25 or 30 years ago, has become very much part of our vocabulary and way of l…

Have I even more latitude?

I will let Deputy Timmins in. I was coming in to land at that point.

I will raise a local public transport issue. Buses that appear due on the app are being cancelled minutes prior to their scheduled arrival with people at bus stops waiting for them. The next scheduled bus does not then meet the schedule, arrives late and is too full to take on board any other passengers. These are very regular experiences of my constituents in Dublin South-West, especially with the new S4, S6 and S8 routes. These buses are meant to ferry people to college, work and family commitments. My question r…

For the public who may be watching, this debate was scheduled for later in the evening but, obviously, business moved quickly, and it is concluding now. I am very grateful for the opportunity to speak on it. I will not be supporting any motions on this next week. While I understand why Deputy Kenny is doing that and bringing it forward, because he has very much championed the whole process, there is an awful lot more teasing out to be done. Certainly, the public needs to be involved in a very real way. I certainly …

I thank the senior Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, for coming to the Chamber for this Topical Issue. I appreciate it. As he will be aware, I live alongside the M50 in Scholarstown. When I hear the sirens of emergency vehicles early in the morning travelling along the motorway, I know there is going to be traffic chaos, as there has been an accident. The traffic chaos will stretch out into Knocklyon, Ballycullen and as far as Oldbawn, the N81 and back to Ballyboden. There has been significant residential development in…

I made the point that we can do both. The Minister mentioned leadership, which is why I raised this issue with him today. I would like him to write to South Dublin County Council to initiate a task force involving not only the council and the NTA, but also local community stakeholders, such as schools and businesses. These roads are not half as congested when schools are not open. We need a conversation locally about how we can all work together with all the stakeholders and the leadership of the local authority an…

I add my voice to those saying any firing by the Israel Defense Forces on UNIFIL positions or facilities is an incendiary and reckless move. I absolutely support the stopping of that and a strong response. Extra examination time is already the standard in many European countries for students with dyslexia and other learning difficulties, but in Ireland, students with dyslexia receive extra time just at third level. I know the Tánaiste will agree that extra time in second-level examinations is essential for students…

Deputy Kenny and I were councillors on South Dublin County Council at the same time. While the mental health of politicians is not more important than any other profession in life, a section of the people who impact the mental health of politicians are other politicians. Something we should bear in mind is the low levels politicians stoop to and the level of personalised attack. The abandonment with which people throw out comments and phrases completely disregards the potential impact they have. It happens more in …

I see the Minister for Justice is here so she might be able to respond to this. I raised with the Taoiseach a few months ago, before the Dáil recess, the issue of individuals or groups wearing masks during protests, thereby preventing identification by CCTV, Garda body cameras or eyewitnesses in the event of criminal behaviour being alleged against them, or even detection by An Garda Síochána and follow-up with prosecutions. The Taoiseach shared my concern at the time. However, I have read some media reports lately…

I thank the Minister for taking the question. On a similar theme, Members may be aware that I chair an informal all-party Oireachtas committee on rare diseases. We held one of our regular meetings yesterday. Ireland used to be a world leader in newborn blood screening, or the heel-prick test as Deputy Tully referred to it. Countries in eastern Europe seem to have leapfrogged us notwithstanding the work we are doing. I very much welcome the significant increase in the number of diseases that are tested for. Some cou…

I will continue where Deputy Flaherty left off. My focus is on what my constituents would like to see on the issue of migration and the enforcement of rules, and what kind of system in Ireland would give them confidence. Our parliamentary party had detailed discussions on this a few months ago and came up with a lot of suggestions. They were humanitarian-based, reasonable and formed the basis of a party paper on the issue, much of which has been adopted by the Government. Migration looks like a fact of life here to…

I support the Tánaiste's position. I remember as a young man sitting in the Gallery when the late Brian Lenihan senior, a former Minister for Defence, introduced the legislation that allowed for PDFORRA and the representative piece. Many of the same arguments were being made then about allowing the Army a representative voice on general human resource issues, conciliation issues and any matters that could be proscribed by the Minister for Defence. The arguments then were similar. The thought struck me that if any o…