What I mean when I say we need to do more is that we need to resource our Defences Forces more and continue investing in new equipment. Respectfully, I answered one technical query Deputy Healy-Rae asked. I moved on five minutes ago. I am talking about a situation that impacts his constituents as much as it impacts mine. He was given his time; I am given my time to respond for the Government. Respectfully, I will continue without interruption, if that is all right. When we talk about solidarity with Ukraine and the…

While I will focus my remarks primarily on the international development side of my brief, it is fitting that I commence by paying tribute to our late dear friend and colleague, Senator Billy Lawless. I was lucky to be in Chicago at the weekend and I spent some time with his son, Billy Jnr. I spent something else in The Gage, but we will leave that between me and him. It was brilliant to remember in that great city a great friend and colleague who I had the pleasure of sitting beside in this House for over four yea…

I am extremely grateful to all the Senators for their thoughtful and extremely supportive contributions on a range of matters. I will go back to my opening contribution where I said that our overseas development assistance and international development programme, first and foremost, was an investment. It is a solid investment that generates a real return for Ireland and it goes exactly to the heart of where we want our place to be in the world. We can be a voice of moral credibility when we talk about gender equali…

I am grateful to the Senator for raising this really important issue once again. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for education. As the Senator is aware, the State Examinations Commission has responsibility for the reasonable accommodations at certificate examinations, RACE, scheme. A central tenet of the RACE scheme is to ensure equitable treatment for all candidates. The range of accommodations provided within the scheme has been designed to ensure fairness for all when facilitating candidates in…

The point I would make is that more than one in four candidates at the 2025 certificate examinations were provided with some form of reasonable accommodation within the RACE scheme to support them in accessing the State examinations, underlining the importance of the scheme. In 2025, 36,000 candidates in 750 post-primary schools were accommodated in the scheme. I completely understand the Senator's frustration; I am not going to mince my words here. He and I had this discussion before and it was raised and replied …

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. At the House's discretion, I think the Deputy would like to join me in a note of sympathy on the death of his former colleague in Kerry County Council and former mayor of Tralee, Jim Finucane, who was a good friend of mine and I know of the Deputy as well. I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne. The recently approved revised national planning framew…

The updated rural housing guidelines in the form of a national planning statement will set out relevant planning criteria to be applied in the local authority development plans for rural housing on a consistent basis based on the high-level policy framework set out by the national planning framework and recognising that obligations under European directives and international agreements relating to the management and protection of the environment and adapting to and mitigating climate change has become more central …

Let us call a spade a spade. I am quite constrained in what I can answer here. The Senator will understand why. I will go through the detail now. The EPA is an independent public body established under the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992. The purpose of the EPA is “to protect, improve and restore our environment through regulation, scientific knowledge and working with others”. This reflects its three core roles: as an environmental regulator; as a key source of trusted scientific evidence and knowledge; a…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister. The Deputy will appreciate that the supply of public water and the provision of water services in general are matters for Uisce Éireann in the first instance. Uisce Éireann has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local level. The Minister has no function regarding the specific Uisce Éireann operations to which the Deputy refers. The Environmental P…

The Department of Climate, Energy and Environment, on behalf of which I am taking matter, is responsible for setting the policy and legislative framework within which the key environmental regulators discharge their functions, including the agency with regard to the environmental licensing of large industrial installations. The Minister for Climate, Energy and Environment, Deputy O’Brien, is constrained by the provisions of sections 79(3) and 86(5) of the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 to exercise any pow…

Both our water and wastewater systems require substantial and sustained investment over a number of investment cycles to bring the systems up to the quality and resilience standards required of a modern service to provide for population growth and to build resilience in the face of climate change. The preferred long-term approach for Clonmel, as set out in Uisce Éireann's national water resource plan, is the construction of a new water treatment plant with water sourced by abstraction from the reservoir. The overal…

I thank the Senator for his extremely emotive and clear advocacy in his contribution. The telephone support allowance is a weekly payment of €2.50 for people on certain social welfare payments who are getting both the living alone increase and the fuel allowance. The primary objective of the telephone support allowance is to support access to critical communications infrastructure for the most vulnerable people at risk of isolation, including older persons and those with disabilities. This critical communications i…

I am very grateful to Deputy Murphy for raising this issue. The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, would also like to thank him for raising this matter and he looks forward to continuing a very close working relationship, given the Deputy's role as Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport. The Department of Transport is committed, under action 7B of the road safety strategy phase 2 action plan, to addressing the issue of learner drivers with multiple successive learner permits and, in particular, those w…

I agree with the Senator that we need to ensure that older people are not left behind in an increasingly digital world. In this regard, I commit that the Government will not be found wanting. The Senator rightly cites and commends the volunteers of ALONE. It is a brilliant organisation to which we are all indebted. As previously outlined, the Department of Social Protection provides targeted payments to help people with their household costs, including fuel allowance, the living alone allowance, the household benef…

I am very grateful to Deputy Murphy for raising this. From a road safety perspective, it is vital that learners are encouraged to complete the learning-to-drive process and become fully qualified drivers, and that people do not hold learner permits without ever taking a driving test. The RSA has a communication plan to engage with multiple learner permit holders. This will provide clear, targeted information to affected learners setting out the changes and providing information regarding testing options and support…

I thank the Opposition for tabling this motion. Commitment to the reunification of the country is a founding principle of the Government. The Government holds an aspiration for a united Ireland in common with the Opposition and, in the spirit of this debate, I underline the fact that we are not opposing this motion. Every Irish Government must be guided by Article 3 of the Constitution, which states: It is the firm will of the Irish nation, in harmony and friendship, to unite all the people who share the territory …

It happens. I get called that regularly in south Dublin, where Deputy McDonald and I grew up-----

-----but in east Belfast we were called much else. We were Lundys. We were Free Staters. We were Fenian scum. That was the language too many of us know in this House. I fear it is creeping back in. We need to take the responsibility, all of us who believe in a truly united Ireland, to call it out from all angles. It is important to acknowledge that we support the Good Friday Agreement in full. When we speak about the future of this island, we need to take great care with the words we choose and how we speak about t…

I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire for this pertinent question. The Government remains deeply concerned by the devastating conflict in Sudan, which has led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. More than 150,000 people have been killed and some 12 million people have been forcibly displaced. The conflict continues to have a catastrophic impact on civilians. Despite reports of better access in some areas in recent months, an already dire humanitarian situation is worsening due to large-scale displacement, with millions …

To be frank, the two main parties to this conflict - the Sudanese Armed Forces, SAF, and the RSF - show absolutely no signs of willingness to negotiate a ceasefire, let alone a peace agreement. The conflict is becoming increasingly internationalised with external actors involved, refugee displacement and spillover risks, including in neighbouring Chad and South Sudan. Since the beginning of 2025, the SAF has made significant military gains and ousted the RSF from Khartoum. The RSF holds most of Darfur and has been …