The recent Irish Country Living feature on Talamh Beo's Gorse Farm and Hinterland highlights what food security should mean in Ireland, namely farmers and communities working together to grow healthy, local food and keeping value in the local economy. These groups are doing that with little or no Government support. They call for exactly what is missing, which is a joined-up national food security strategy that supports local production, tackles food poverty and builds resilience within the system. We cannot keep r…

What the Government showed on Tuesday is just how completely out of touch it is with some of the struggles of normal people. It announced the 9% VAT rate for the hospitality sector and handed out rewards to developers, fast food chains and lobbyists - the well-connected who do not need a cent of the money involved. Meanwhile, the people who keep this country running by going to work and paying their taxes did not get anything. The budget does not tackle the cost-of-living crisis. Food, energy, petrol and rent are a…

Post offices are far more than service providers; they are the beating heart of the community. They bring people together. Therefore, it is not just about posting a letter or paying a bill; it is about human interaction. In rural towns and villages, post offices often serve as the only local retail outlet, frequently integrating with shops and newsagents. This makes them indispensable in providing everyday goods and services that might otherwise be out of reach. Their presence fosters both economic activity and soc…

It is good to hear that the Department is seeing this as a challenge to the organisation because that is key in all of this. I urge the Minister to support the IPU in its calls for €15 million in additional funding for budget 2026. This is just to keep them viable. It is to stop them closing their doors. However, what they really need is a long-term plan. As the Minister outlined with physical mail deliveries, that is a challenge. I refer to the 2018 contract. They are paid by their transactions, but their demograp…

What measures is the Minister adopting to ensure that independent radio stations, such as Live 95, which covers the constituencies of the Chair and the Minister, have fair access to funding in budget 2026, particularly in underserved rural areas? By what means does he plan to support current affairs and local news provision?

I thank the Minister for the response. Independent radio is a trusted voice for 2.5 million people across Ireland. For less than 1.4% of total media funding, we can protect and strengthen that service, with just €4.5 million coming from the budget. It is good to hear €3 million will be kept ring-fenced in order to continue delivering independent, high-quality news and public service content. A total of €1.5 million is needed to safeguard our transmission system, which is a lifeline for communities when broadband or…

I thank the Minister.

Sport has always been more than just a game. It has the power to unite people, create memories, give us moments of pride that last a lifetime and improve health outcomes. I was a soccer referee for 15 years, which was good for physical and mental health to some degree. Over the past year, Ireland has enjoyed some truly great sporting highs. Last weekend Shane Lowry played a key role as Europe clinched an historic win over the US in the Ryder Cup. We watched Kate O’Connor make history with silver at the World Athlet…

This debate comes at a rather important time. Yesterday, in the audiovisual room, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions had its Respect at Work campaign. One point that it raised that struck me is that we are still in this position, in 2025, where we have a constitutional right to join a trade union but we have no legislative right to collective bargaining or to halt union busting, which undermines the rights of workers. The joint labour committee process was created to address this problem by setting out minimum pay …

I am proud the Labour Party has brought forward this motion. This Government has many things to be considering and reasons to be under pressure. There are 5,000 children are homeless and that one in five children is growing up in constant poverty. That will be the legacy of this Government. Food prices are up, energy prices are up, childcare fees are up and college fees are up. Rents, when you can find the property, are out of control. That is the truth. Families have nothing left to give. The food presses are bare…

Ireland has been scarred by decades of institutional abuse. Due to the clergy, industrial schools, mother and baby homes and Magdalen laundries, nearly every family in Ireland has felt some trace of pain. It is not lost on me that we are discussing this topic when excavation work is starting on the mother and baby home in Tuam. Survivors have been denied justice for far too long. I welcome the announcement by the Minister, Deputy McEntee, that the Government is to establish a statutory commission of investigation i…

The need to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence has never been more urgent. It is not merely a matter of rising numbers; it is an epidemic. Women and children across the country are facing violence in their homes, which should be their safest space. Recent research shows us one in four women in Ireland, as well as one in seven men, will experience violence over the course of their lives. Every ten minutes there is a call to the Garda relating to domestic abuse. These are not isolated incidents but dee…

I thank my colleagues, Deputies Wall and Sherlock, for tabling this important motion. The care system is increasingly in crisis. From cradle to grave, we have seen care farmed out to private investors who think of profits and not people. The current crisis is driven by two factors in particular. These are the natural ageing of the population and the State's hands-off approach to providing care. We have seen a shift towards privatisation in the commodification of care and the outsourcing of our own social responsibi…

The GPO is more than just a building. It is the beating heart of Dublin city and of our history. It is the centre of civic memory with a 200-year history and, crucially, it is a site with enormous potential. The GPO stood witness to the events of 1916 but the walls have seen far more than that. It bore witness to the 1913 Lock-out, which was a defining moment for workers' rights. It has stood through both world wars when thousands of Irish men were away at war and their families waited anxiously for letters from th…

Will the Minister outline when he expects to get the findings of the independent review into the night-time economy? Does he anticipate the findings will recommend that a night-time adviser is appointed to each of the county councils?

It is good to hear support for the plan, especially in respect of public transport, which is a particular difficulty outside Dublin when people try to get in and out to venues in cities. I attended the launch of the report from the Give Us The Night campaign yesterday. Its members have been campaigning for reform of the Irish nightclub industry for more than 20 years. Parts of that industry are still regulated by the 1935 Public Dance Halls Act. We need renewal in the nightlife sector. It is in a bad way. There are…

I thank the Minister. We can work on this issue on a cross-party basis. I thank him for his contribution and look forward to the publication of the report.

I wish to highlight a matter of real and growing concern in the southern part of my constituency. There has been a recent surge in antisocial behaviour in the Northwood area of Santry, particularly around Gulliver's Retail Park. Families, residents and business owners feel increasingly unsafe due to targeted and aggressive incidents, including reports of cans and stones being thrown at passersby, including children, in public spaces but, more worryingly, racially motivated incidents and incidents of harassment. Thi…

I thank the Minister of State. This issue can be looked at on a cross-party basis. There is no division here between the Opposition and the Government. I welcome the information to the effect that the LCSPs are to be set up shortly. When I was a councillor, I served on a joint policing committee. I found that very useful because you get to know all the stakeholders on the pitch, for want of a better way of putting it. If the Minister of State could expand on the Northwood issue, I would really appreciate it.

I thank Deputy O'Gorman for bringing forward this motion, which is supported by the Labour Party. I will take the opportunity to talk about my constituency of Dublin Fingal West where public transport is at best disconnected. I acknowledge that the DART+ Coastal North project will, hopefully, come at the end of 2026. In the meantime, our issue is with the bus service. There are variations in the 33 bus, which was mentioned by one of my colleagues. The 33 bus is to be done away with under BusConnects. My constituent…