Dublin has a long-standing cultural tradition of proper urban horsemanship. Horse-drawn carriage rides are a well-known part of the south inner city and in and around the Liberties. It goes back centuries. In fact, I was going through the 1911 census and I was very surprised but delighted to see I had relations back then who were horse-drawn carriage drivers in and around Dublin. It is disappointing to see this tradition being undermined by gaps in regulations and archaic Victorian legislation. Right now, we have l…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

Irish citizenship is something to be valued. It represents membership of our nation, carries rights and responsibilities and should reflect a genuine and lasting commitment to Ireland. When I first heard the Government was looking to change citizenship rules I thought it was just a smokescreen to hide its failures on migration in general, and nothing I have heard since has led me to change my mind. The Government is just looking to go after low-hanging fruit. It is going after people who have migrated to our island…

I thank the Minister of State. Sinn Féin welcomes legislation that will provide greater protections against strategic lawsuits against public participation, SLAPPs. The judicial system is a foundational pillar of the State and society. As with any such pillar, that there is faith and confidence in its fairness as to how it operates, but also that it operates consistently and without favour, is of paramount importance. There is much we can and should do to support such faith. One such area is access to justice. Sinn…

The Government wants people out of cars and on to public transport, and I agree with that. I have no issue with it whatsoever. In theory, it is good, but in practice, it is simply not working. To encourage people out of cars, the first thing that needs to be done is to make public transport more accessible. The last thing that needs to be done is increase the cost of public transport in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. It is also bad for the environment and the ever-increasing traffic congestion around Dublin…

I welcome that Government MEPs and Senators are finally starting to speak out about the dangers and harms of nitrous oxide. I hope Government will start supporting my legislation. My Bill is due to undergo pre-legislative scrutiny in November, following a nine-month delay imposed by the Government. In those nine months, we have had 14 cases of spinal cord damage in Beaumont Hospital and €3 million spent on storage of nitrous oxide canisters seized by customs, a matter which I raised with the Tánaiste at the finance…

Parents being left waiting for assessments of need for their children is a huge issue in my area. To me, what the Government is trying to do here today is typical smoke and mirrors. It is going back to its usual three-card trick by moving children from list to list without them getting the proper therapies that they need at the end of it. I represent the same constituency as the Minister of State with special responsibility for disability, Deputy Emer Higgins. We both represent children who are a waiting list for a…

The majority of the provisions in this Bill are procedural, and, as Deputy O'Reilly said already, we will not oppose them. However, section 8 of this Bill must be removed. It must be made explicitly clear that a person should have access to any service available without using a public services card other than the Department of Social Protection. This must reflect the current legal position arising from the agreement between the Data Protection Commission and the Department of Social Protection. If enacted, section …

I welcome the opportunity to speak on road safety. It is an issue and concern for so many people. We have seen the recent horrific incidents on the M50 and the M9. Such is the fear in this regard that we have had reports since then of 75,000 fewer people taking the motorways in recent weeks. I too am a member of the justice committee. This week, we heard from members of An Garda Síochána. They confirmed to us that there is not one garda in the State, as I speak here today, who is trained in pursuit. If I know this,…

Yesterday at the justice committee, we heard that not one garda in the State is trained in pursuit driving. We heard this from the AGSI, the GRA and Garda management. In 2026, I find this absolutely shocking. From speaking to members of the public after yesterday’s meeting, they also find it absolutely shocking. During the meeting, one of the Garda representatives pulled out a policy document from 1988 which stated Garda members were to get pursuit training. Since Ray Houghton put the ball in the England net that y…

Sinn Féin welcomes the fact the Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2026 codifies Garda use of powers of stop and search, arrest, searches, seizures and detention. This was proposed by the Commission on the Future of Policing in 2018 and should not have taken this long to be implemented. The debate on this Bill is taking place at a time of new revelations in relation to the treatment of whistleblowers in An Garda Síochána due to be aired on "Prime Time" tonight. The Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, which r…

Dublin.

Last week, the Dáil debated Irish unity during Opposition time and today, the conversation continues on Government time. This is a welcome and positive step. The conversation about our constitutional future is moving forward and it is right that the Government begins the serious work of planning for constitutional change now. Across Ireland, more and more people are engaging in this discussion and asking what a united Ireland could mean for their families, communities and future generations. The national conversati…

I thank Deputy Sherlock for bringing forward this legislation to bring bin collections back to public control. I am disappointed but not surprised that the Government is opposing this legislation. Fine Gael has a long history and policy of privatising public services. It has not worked in housing, water or transport and it definitely has not worked in waste management. By his own admission, the Minister of State knows there is a problem here because he would not have commissioned a report in relation to side-by-sid…

I thank the Taoiseach for his update on the future of the GPO. As he knows, the GPO is a historic building in the centre of our capital city. It is where our Republic was declared. It was the central location of the Easter Rising. I know the Cabinet committee met to discuss the future plans for this historic building. I welcome that there will be a public consultation on the future use of the GPO but I want to know what the Government will do to make sure that this consultation process is accessible to everybody. W…

Before I talk about the legislation, I want to put it in context. As the Minister knows, there is an epidemic of violence against women and girls in this State. Most recently, we saw the murder of two women, Jamey Carney in Kerry and Adina Raluca Constantin in Laois. I extend my condolences to their families and loves ones. The suspect in their murders is their partner or former partner. Women's Aid has published some very startling figures. Since 1996, 286 women have died violently in this State. Some 63% of them …

I also welcome Jordan and Cian to the Public Gallery and all their family and friends with them. I thank them for raising awareness of dementia. I was looking at their achievement, and they have done 32 marathons in 32 days. That sends shivers down my spine. I do not know how they managed to do it. I ran one marathon in 2018, and not 32 of them, as a person living with multiple sclerosis, just to raise awareness. The thought of doing 32 marathons is something else. I cannot contemplate it. That is some achievement.…

Grace Lynch died in January after being hit by a scrambler. This came after years of calls for increased action against illegal scrambler use. Grace's law has been passed and this is welcome, but we have not seen the benefit or significant changes in our communities. Scramblers are still being driven recklessly. Grace's law made it very clear that the illegal use of scramblers in public spaces is against the law. The Garda Representative Association, GRA, has said not one member of the gardaí is trained in pursuit …

The cost of living is one of the biggest issues that people raise in my constituency office. People are struggling to make ends meet. Workers are handing over more than half of their wages in rent. They can barely cover their bills, put diesel in their cars, food on the table or pay for childcare and ever-increasing insurance costs. The cost of fuel is crippling people as they go about their daily business. Sinn Féin has pushed every step of the way for the Government to do the right thing. While other parties, inc…

It is apt for me to ask this question on the day that is in it. It is particularly about DMR west, which includes Clondalkin and Lucan Garda stations. I have a particular interest in the availability of Garda cars and the Garda community bus.