I note this question was transferred to me from Deputy Aisling Dempsey. She has spoken to me about the issue of carers. In the previous election, Family Carer's Ireland campaigned very strongly for abolishing the means test for carers. The commitment was very clear that we would do that over the lifetime of the Government. The increase in the income thresholds has to be acknowledged. As the Minister said, it has increased to €110,000 for a full payment and €138,000 for a partial payment. That very significantly inc…

I thank the Minister. To return to that point I made, often carers are women. Having spoken to them, I know they feel particularly aggrieved that just because their partner has done an extra five or six hours overtime a week or they have got a pay rise, that in some way means they lose their payment. That underlines the point that this should not be a means tested payment. It should be an acknowledgement for work done on behalf of the State. They are saving the State money. The quicker we move towards the abolition…

I acknowledge my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Ardagh, and I apologise for my enthusiasm in my first round of questions. I think I submitted too many. I ask the Minister for Social Protection if he will give consideration to changing the living alone allowance. I note his previous reply to Deputy Hayes as well.

The anomalies here are an issue. I know sometimes there might be three individuals sharing a home who are not in any way related to one another, and that can provide some complications. We have been able to resolve this issue in some cases. When we are dealing with anomalies, there is that issue of people sharing a home as to who gets the fuel allowance. If one person gets it, then other people in the home do not. That is something I ask the Minister to examine. The other thing I would say regarding the living alon…

On behalf of Deputy Brennan, I ask the Minister to provide an update on the operation of MyFutureFund, the automatic enrolment saving scheme.

I join with the Minister in those comments. The establishment of the auto-enrolment scheme was a very significant measure. It had been spoken about for many years. Provision for people's future retirement is incredibly important and auto-enrolment makes it easier for people to make that decision. There is an opportunity to opt out of the scheme. While we have very significant numbers enrolled in the scheme, we want to make sure those numbers do not decrease as time goes on. I encourage the Minister's Department to …

I appreciate that. I reiterate my point on ensuring that people remain within the scheme. I was recently at an apprenticeship fair and one of the people encouraging people to take up apprenticeships indicated that, by participating in the workforce earlier, they would be contributing to their pensions for a much longer period than people who went on to third level. The numbers are staggering. Whenever you start paying into your pension, those extra few years make a huge difference. That is the reason the auto-enrol…

Will the Minister outline the most recent timeline for the construction of the Finglas Luas project following the resolution of the relevant legal action earlier in the year?

The Minister summed up the project very well. There was a time when I came into the House seeking to explain the project to people and extoll its virtues. The point the Minister has made is that the case for Luas Finglas has been won. The funding is there and the reality is that we have to get on with the job putting the project out to tender and having it built. This will be a transformative project. Only last week, the Land Development Agency purchased a significant piece of land adjacent to that relating to the …

It was great to have the Minister out at Broombridge to see where the current line ends and to look over at Tolka Valley Park in order to see where the line will continue. I have already talked about the benefits. There will also be a park-and-ride facility that will be of benefit to the wider area. There are some sporting facilities, including an all-weather facility, that we can develop in Tolka Valley Park in conjunction with Dublin City Council. This is also going to create employment along the way. We are goin…

The Labour Party was in government.

At the outset, I commend the work of Senator Frances Black on this Bill. She has led from the front on it for many years. I acknowledge in this House the Ministers of State, Deputies Dooley and Collins, who worked with Senator Black to introduce this legislation to the House, albeit in a different form than the Minister has presented today. On 19 July 2024, the International Court of Justice delivered an historic advisory opinion. Its findings were unequivocal. The court held that Israel’s continued presence in the…

Like the other speakers today, I appreciate that it is a huge technical challenge to try to put together the overall meaning behind each section of the Bill because, by its very nature, it is a miscellaneous Bill. The Minister has the benefit of his own advisers in the Department and the expertise of the Department of justice, but no doubt as a former Opposition spokesperson on justice he has sympathy with the rest of us who have to have to try to put it together.

The one thing I would say is that we were all here at a previous Stage and, notwithstanding changes that have been made, very significant elements of this Bill were already before us, as complex as they were then and as they are now. I look forward to speaking on some of the 72 amendments that have been tabled. Let us not fool ourselves: the reason there is pressure to get this Bill through is not because the Minister wants to get it through, but because many of the issues it covers are things that are being called…

I understand that Cabinet today approved the domestic violence judgment register, or Jennie's law. It was only a matter of months after Jennifer Poole's death that Jason came to the House and discussed with me, the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, and Senator O'Loughlin the shock of their family when they heard in court that the person who murdered their sister had previous convictions for domestic violence. They were not aware of that and nor was Jennifer. The legislation hopes to give families and partners acces…

In the past few weeks we have had a large number of social housing projects in my area completed, namely, Millview, Melville and Piper's Square, which will contribute more than several hundred cost-rental and social units. Last week, we were informed that the Land Development Agency had bought land for 600 units. Those units should be affordable purchase homes because that is not an option we currently have in the mix in our constituency. I ask the Taoiseach to do everything in his power to work with the LDA to ens…

Paddy Fagan is a gentleman who came to my clinic yesterday evening. He is a retired Dublin Airport Authority, DAA, worker. He has been coming to my clinic for many years. Those retired workers have not received an increase since 2007 because the scheme has effectively been frozen. It was worth 82% of the minimum wage in 2007. They are now on only half of the minimum wage as retired people. The real value of their pensions has decreased. They hoped that the Bill introduced by former Deputy Bríd Smith, the Industrial…

I looked at the Dáil's business for this week with interest and saw that we would be taking the Dublin Transport Authority (Amendment) Bill. It is somewhat ironic that the Bill will be of far more benefit to the Minister of State's constituents than it will to mine, because many of the amendments being brought forward relate to BusConnects in Cork. This shows the development of the NTA, which was originally the Dublin Transport Authority before being renamed, and the fact that it was not initially given the clear p…

I welcome the Minister's comment. I listened very carefully to her interview on Monday with Gavan Reilly. It has outlined a process of the Minister's intention regarding where we go in respect of the occupied territories Bill and also at an EU level. This week on Tuesday, a constituent of mine, Mikey Cullen, rang me from the flotilla. Incidentally, he is the third constituent of mine on different flotillas. We agreed and disagreed on different things as he was floating off in the Mediterranean. What is utterly unac…

I raised the case of Mikey Cullen and, as I said, there are two other constituents of mine, Robert Murphy and Dougie Douglas, both of whom are out. The wider issue here has been well aired in the House. I agree with many of the points. I want to return to the issue of three constituents of mine who have been taken from a boat in the Mediterranean. There must be a more rigorous process other than us issuing a press release to condemn what has happened to those three constituents and Irish citizens. Each of them woul…