Making statements on biodiversity in Ireland is a bit like that time when Gandhi was asked about western civilisation and he retorted, "I think it would be a good idea." Biodiversity in Ireland would be a good idea if we followed through. I welcome the announcement of €2.9 million in unding for local authorities for biodiversity projects under the National Parks and Wildlife Service's local biodiversity action fund 2025. There has been great work done in my local authority area of south Dublin, for example. We plan…

I take a slightly different approach from that of Deputy Tóibín. We have to remember what the ARP is for. It is part of our contribution to help war-torn Ukraine which has been aggressively attacked by Putin's regime. As we are not a military country - we are militarily neutral and not participating in any transfer of weaponry - we have made a contribution as part of the effort to help Ukraine. That includes taking in displaced people from Ukraine and giving them the comfort and safety of living in a democratic are…

Services for people with disabilities are in disarray. There is an ongoing battle for disability services to be provided where needs have been assessed. The National Federation of Voluntary Service Providers, which represents a mixture of voluntary public services organisations and voluntary grant-aided bodies, has gone on record recently to state their ability to deliver existing services and meet the needs in their communities is seriously under threat. These organisations provide a lot more services than the HSE…

Like others, I raised this matter back in February. There has been very little, if any, progress since that time. What is happening is quite frustrating for TDs constituents. This is not really a local issue, although I do want to raise a local aspect in a moment. There has been no real progress since February. I mentioned at the time the need to implement the service level agreement requirement of ten weeks as is set out in section 28 of the Road Safety Authority Act. When replying, will the Minister to State indi…

Ireland is 19th on the global innovation index but we are behind similar-sized countries such as Estonia, Denmark and Finland, which is in seventh place. I asked previously what is Ireland's equivalent to Nokia. In terms of research and development, what are we doing that is Irish born and that is creating jobs on the basis of Irish initiatives rather than international companies coming here? I welcome the Global Citizens 2030, the Impact 2030 and today's initiative. They are all very welcome. There are a lot of go…

The Institute for Management Development’s world competitiveness yearbook 2024 ranks Ireland 38th out of 67 countries in basic infrastructure. To take water as an example, Dublin City Council wants to build 6,000 homes in Ballyboggan but this is under threat due to a lack of water and sewerage infrastructure. The greater Dublin drainage project needs to be progressed. Nationally, it is estimated that we need up to €120 billion for water development. That is a huge amount and we need to focus on key projects as a re…

I was at a presentation by Haven Horizons yesterday in the audiovisual room, as were others. This domestic, sexual and gender-based violence prevention centre does wonderful work - without proper State funding, I might add, something that needs to be looked at. At the discussion afterwards, an issue I was mulling over came up, and that was the contribution that social media make to such violent and coercive activity, where young boys especially are given unfiltered access to the most misogynistic material, where An…

In early 2023, the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, said that parents know best when it comes to banning youngsters from social media or imposing phone restrictions. That was in response to touted legislation in the UK that was less stringent than the Australian model being touted. However, teachers, who see the impact first hand in the classrooms, will beg to differ. The Tánaiste, the original TikTok Taois, as he has been called, said last year as well as today that the era of social media giants regulating themselves i…

As the Minister said at the outset, this is just repeat legislation that is renewed every six months. As others have said, primary legislation could have been enacted some time ago but I am glad the Minister is living up to his reputation as being a hands-on Minister so far and is moving on this. It is something that most people would very much welcome but I always include the caveat that we have a toxic relationship with alcohol in this country. Having alcohol in a context where one can sit down, have a chat and h…

In the minute I have it will be very hard to say much.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. I agree with a lot of what the Social Democrats are trying to do. We do need to recognise the diversity we have and possibly take religion out of schools. It is an issue for parents to decide. Religious instruction being done outside school time makes a lot of sense. What we have in Ireland, however, is an Irish solution to an Irish problem where all the new schools - or most of them, 50 or 51 - are multidenominational. The Cathaoirleach Gníomhach has given me an ex…

Some time back, the Garda vetting review group was tasked with examining the current system to see what improvements, if any, could be made, while ensuring continued appropriate and robust checks on people taking on positions of trust working with children and vulnerable persons. While I would be interested in hearing the timeframe for the report, if officials have it to hand, the main thing I want to know is whether there is a plan in the terms of reference to deal with the perceived pointlessness of people having…

I am in two minds as I contribute to this debate. On the one hand, as my colleague said, we are here to celebrate what Europe is supposed to stand for. This year is the 75th anniversary of the Schuman declaration, which laid the foundation for European integration. From the early days of the European Coal and Steel Community, there were efforts to integrate everything to the point where it went beyond the mere pooling of coal and steel production under a single authority to a situation whereby the resources that we…

We have a moral obligation to put it up to our partners to be stronger on this issue. I have not heard that coming from the Council of Ministers.

Deputy Paul Lawless, who was due to speak, gave me a few extra minutes.

Okay. We need to do better and we need to speak more loudly.

I have mentioned this on numerous occasions but I am going to mention it again. I go back to the HighScope Perry Preschool study in the US which found that for every $1 invested in quality early education in the childcare sector and in primary school there was a $7 return. In euro terms, it has the same positive impact on children's outcomes and development. It is extremely important but we do not afford it enough importance in terms of investment or consideration for the people involved in the sector. My constitue…

The total Israeli blockade on humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip has now passed 60 days, in what the United Nations human rights chief, Volker Türk, has described as a "new unseen level" of humanitarian crisis. A recent report by Amnesty International stated that Israel was carrying out livestreamed genocide in Gaza, routinely targeting civilians and engaging in torture and enforced disappearances. We are on the third day of hearings by the International Court of Justice into Israel's obligations to Palest…

Maidin mhaith, a Aire Stáit. Is lá álainn é ag deireadh mhí Aibreáin. Ceapaim gur lá iontach é le dul ar thuras traenach. Is é sin an t-ábhar I am talking about today. It is a great day for a train journey but if one lives in the newer areas in my constituency, such as Adamstown, and if one is an IT professional who needs to go to the likes of Galway, one has to go all the way back into Heuston Station or wait a long time to get a connection to Portarlington. It really is not worth one's while so we need an interci…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht a fhreagra. The reply mentions that there could be up to five minutes' delay. The whole selling point for Adamstown and Kishoge was that we have four tracks. Some of it was part of the strategic development zone scheme, as was the Phoenix Park tunnel interconnection. To put this in context, the people currently living in Adamstown and Lucan are badly served by the train service. In the context of the suburban routes, I receive numerous complaints with regard to overcrowdi…