I noted the Tánaiste's earlier comments about a national migration strategy due in 2026. I presume this is the national asylum and migration management strategy that relates to the EU asylum and migration pact in which we are currently participating. In that context, given that we are a representative democracy and we have occasional debates on this issue, in order to stop the manipulation on the far left side of the politics of identity and on the far right of the politics of hate, we need more debate. Yesterday, …

I cannot say much in two minutes other than to point out that we need a much wider debate on this issue. Without proper, respectful discourse, a vacuum is created and that vacuum is taken over by radical groups that foment hatred and spew disinformation. That leads to there being open season to verbally abuse and possibly physically abuse anyone on a bus with darker skin. We have seen that happening all around the country and I have seen it in my constituency. It is absolutely reprehensible. At the same time, there…

Every now and again, I raise issues on behalf of constituents relating to dodgy, unscrupulous landlords who are not registered with the Residential Tenancies Board. In some cases, they are also exploiting their tenants. In other cases, they are not planning compliant and operate in a very dangerous way. However, when I ask for an update from the Residential Tenancies Board, it says it cannot update parties who have made referrals, it would not be appropriate to do so given the fact the RTB may be pursuing a crimina…

This legislation is welcome, if modest. As others have mentioned, it is a response to disruption caused by Storm Éowyn. It will allow for the creation and maintenance of forestry corridors and vegetation management, subject hopefully to environmental obligations under the Habitats and Birds Directives. I have no problem with the legal mechanism to make an additional €1.5 billion equity investment in the ESB to part finance the PR6 energy grid investment programme. However, I am more interested in the larger scale i…

Hear, hear.

I welcome this debate on expanding the geographical area covered by the presidential election and amending the requirements to run for President to make it easier to do so. To start with the issue of the diaspora, we know the constitutional convention was not limited to the Northern Irish state but also dealt with the diaspora around the world. Unfortunately, whether we like it or not, our Irish citizens in Northern Ireland are in another jurisdiction, so they would have to be treated as the diaspora for the purpos…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. In some ways, there will be a certain amount of repetition because we have all been asked by the Movember movement to reference its report titled, "The Real Face of Men's Health", and its key findings and recommendations. If there is repetition, it is no harm because it is sending a message. I will repeat that men are dying prematurely in Ireland and that the figure is 40% higher than the rate for females. This is something that has happened over a long period…

Like others, my thoughts are with the young girl who was the victim of an alleged sexual assault in Saggart last night and her family. While there are issues regarding security around IPAS centres and asylum policy in general - issues I will continue to follow up on - we must, of course, let the gardaí take their investigation through the process. However, there are also questions for Tusla. I note the Taoiseach stated that the national review panel would investigate the circumstances surrounding the child abscondi…

We are waiting to see whether Deputy Fitzmaurice comes in or whether we can use his time allocated in our slot. My colleague tells me we can use the time. Deputy Lawless got to use some of it and I will use some as well, with the permission of the Acting Chair. This is another chance to talk about the budget overall, although we are looking at the specific measures in the Bill itself. I support the calls by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, as I have before, that we need to start tightening up a little bit because…

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Ar an gcéad dul síos, ba mhaith liom a rá gur poblachtánach mé, cosúil le gach duine eile anseo. Ach deir roinnt daoine gur féidir linn a bheith réalaíoch freisin. Mar sin, ba mhaith liom Éire aontaithe a fheiceáil a luaithe agus is féidir linn ach ní féidir é seo a dhéanamh gan cúpla rud - toil na gceardchumann, mar shampla. We only have four minutes each to speak on this and we cannot say a lot. First, I thank Sinn Féin for putting this motion down. I agree that we need to plan for a united Ireland if we are to e…

I have tabled this question as I have long been an advocate of multiuse school buildings. I want to get an update from the Minister on a response I received from the Department on how to repurpose the design of buildings so they can be used in a safe way so we can educate schoolchildren and have a creche on one side, a meeting room for community events later and enough space for full-sized pitches that can be used during the day for organisations such as Cumann na mBunscoil and at night by the community. That is on…

I thank the Minister of State. In relation to the situation at Citywest, I thank him for his comments. I want to add that residents who may have been in fear because of some incidents of antisocial behaviour in the community by a very small minority of residents at the IPAS centre are now in fear of rioters. Property was damaged tonight. Implements were taken out of people's gardens and used as weapons against gardaí. I thank the Minister of State for sharing my condemnation. On the response to this Topical Issue, …

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. Let us be positive starting off. We know the Bill is going to unlock the €1.5 billion announced in the budget for the tertiary education sector over the period mentioned, up to 2030. That is welcome and you have to commend the investment. I welcome that it is continually updating previous schemes. Ostensibly, it is trying to modernise the system. I have some criticisms which I will go into in a while but I want to focus on the positives too. It is also a positive tha…

I express my solidarity and thanks to Deputy Ward for bringing the motion before the House. He has done exactly what he said he would do. He is the 100% Redress Party representative, and he is using every opportunity he can to get 100% redress. It is great to see other Members, from the west and north west, in particular, showing support and solidarity today. As someone who is Dublin-based, I have met people who had families broken up because of the situation, who are living in uncertainty and who have been financi…

Increasingly, I have had constituents get on to me about multiple bus lane violations and pedestrian traffic light violations where kids are crossing and cars continue to go through the lights. There are fewer members of the Garda Síochána per head of population since 2008, although the numbers have been increasing. We have a Garda National Roads Policing Bureau, formerly the traffic corps. However, at this stage we need a dedicated traffic and parking enforcement agency, separate to An Garda Síochána, which would …

In the spirit of my predecessor, I am also going to play the ball and not the man. This is an issue about scoliosis and spina bifida treatment. It is about what we learned yesterday at the presentation organised by Senator Tom Clonan, the heartbreak that was caused by the systemic failure of successive Governments and Children's Health Ireland, but also before the existence of Children's Health Ireland. The way families were treated was absolutely inhumane and shocking. I cannot even imagine what it was like becaus…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this legislation. As others have said, it is a little bit of tweaking to keep us going until next year. As the Minister said, it will allow sufficient headroom to continue lending to mid-2026, after which there could be a new national housing plan and a new national development plan. We know that the €13.5 billion threshold is a holding position. Like the speakers from all the other groupings so far, I will support it - it is extra money - while emphasising that we still need t…

Today Senator Tom Clonan hosted a briefing on the challenges still facing children with scoliosis and spinal bifida. While we look at this area again in its own right, I reiterate my support for a full public inquiry on the whole scandal regarding the treatment of children awaiting scoliosis operations and related treatments, covering the entire lifespan of Children's Health Ireland but also going back to the years preceding its establishment. We need to shine a light on this shameful period and learn from the mist…