Ireland now has the highest household electricity prices in the EU. They are approximately 40% above the EU average. Households in Ireland are now paying roughly €480 more per year in light of this. When will the updated national energy modelling be considered by the Government, and will nuclear be considered as a part of it? We need to look at all options here to reduce energy prices for families the length and breadth of this country.

Kilcock in County Kildare is the fastest-growing town in the county and one of the fastest-growing towns in the country. There was greatly welcome news that DART+ west will be extended to Kilcock, which is extremely welcome. However, the only bus service at the moment is the Bus Éireann 115 service. There have been many issues with it. Previously, Dublin Bus went to Maynooth. I am trying to get across the need for Dublin Bus to be extended to Kilcock. It is a wider issue for the commuter belt in Dublin, particularl…

I acknowledge the work of the Minister of State, the NTA and other bodies in establishing and creating this national safety camera strategy. After a period of improvement and positive trends in relation to road deaths, which were 472 in 1997 and dropped to 137 in 2021, that trend is now reversing. There were 190 deaths in 2025 and 175 in 2024. It is critical that action be taken to improve road safety for citizens across the country. With regard to the new governance, the Garda is responsible for the enforcement of…

The EU is reviewing its relationship with Israel due to the ongoing humanitarian conditions in Gaza, the settlement expansion and the International Court of Justice, ICJ, provisional measures. The Commission is reported to be considering targeted sanctions on violent settlers as well as a suspension of trade preferences under the association agreement. Has the Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs considered these measures on Israel as part of the wider European context?

Is it 30 seconds or three minutes?

You whisht.

There are rules in the House and you are going on way longer than anyone else.

There is no respect for the rules of the House.

On International Nurses Day, I pay tribute to all nurses and midwives throughout the country, particularly in Kildare. We are fortunate to have Naas General Hospital in Kildare North, but many of the nurses and midwives in my home town of Maynooth, Celbridge, Leixlip, Clane and Kilcock work in Blanchardstown, Tallaght, St. James's and HSE service providers around the country. For a long time, one of those nurses was my mum. She worked in Stewarts Care for over 30 years. She trained to be a nurse in Clonsilla. The w…

Ba mhian liom ceist a chur ar an Aire Stáit uasdátú a thabhairt ar mhaoiniú a d’fhógair an Rialtas do líonra Oifig an Phoist i mí Eanáir. I ask the Minister of State for an update on the €15 million agreed by Government for the post office network in January, if the funding has been made available to An Post, and what projects and services the funding will be allocated to.

The Minister of State and I agree the post office network and post offices, particularly in rural Ireland, are vital community infrastructure. I pay tribute to the Irish Postmasters Union for the work it is doing on behalf of the postmasters throughout the country and our party colleague, Councillor Tom O'Callaghan, for his advocacy as well. I appreciate the €15 million that has been allocated. However, the question that still remains for a lot of the postmasters is when the funding will reach the network so that t…

It would also be beneficial to have annual reporting on that €15 million to ensure there is transparency as regards where and how it is being spent. That would be extremely helpful in order to get a better understanding and ensuring value for money for the additional funding the Government is providing to the post office network.

I welcome the Taoiseach's report on his attendance at the World Economic Forum, and particularly the discussions he had on AI governance with multinational corporations and a lot of the tech companies. We have seen today the news about the loss of 720 jobs at Covalen, a subcontractor of Meta. As part of the Taoiseach's discussions at Davos, were there discussions about reskilling and retraining for people whose jobs may be replaced by artificial intelligence?

We have three exceptional special schools in Kildare North, namely, St. Raphael's Special School in Celbridge, Stepping Stones Special School in Maynooth and Sapling Special School in Kill. Indeed, the Minister of State met the school management of Stepping Stones this day last week, and I thank him for his work and engagement. It is much appreciated. In recent years, we have seen an increase in the number of special schools throughout the country and, under the leadership of the Minister of State, we have seen an …

I thank the Minister of State for his response and, indeed, as I mentioned at the beginning, his hard work in this area. There has been a marked improvement in special education in the country since he took on the role as Minister of State for special education. I commend him on that. I want to thank him as well for his continued engagement because I have been raising issues with him continuously and he has always engaged in an open, fair and constructive way, and I think many people across the House will say the s…

Mar is eol don Aire Stáit, tá an domhan athraithe go hiomlán, go háirithe anseo san Eoraip. Nuair a smaoiníonn muid faoi chúrsaí fuinnimh, is léir go bhfuil athraithe móra ann. Tá siad le feiceáil i gcomhthéacs na hIaráine agus an tionchar atá ag an gcoimhlint sin ar an Eoraip agus ar Éirinn. When we speak of international conflict, we have to recognise the impact it has from both a European and Irish context. Increased oil and energy prices are connected to it. That needs to be recognised, particularly when we are…

The school transport scheme is a vital support for families across the country and demand has grown sharply in the past number of years. There is a planned increase in fees in September. First, I ask for this to be reconsidered. Second, another issue around it is that for families living just inside the distance threshold, they have to apply for concessionary seats, pay the full free up front and still have no guarantee of A place. There is an additional issue with this. One family came to me and told me their chil…

Football and sport more widely in Ireland, particularly at grassroots level, are some of the strongest forces we have in building communities. Many Deputies were brave enough to wear the football kits of their local clubs today but I could not be seen to be wearing one club over another, particularly in Kildare North where we have so many clubs like, in my own hometown, Maynooth Town Football Club, Celbridge Town AFC, Leixlip United AFC, Confey FC, Kilcock Celtic FC, Ballyoulster United AFC, Straffan AFC, Kill Celt…

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You were not with them.