In the limited time I have, I will make one short point. So much of the debate on the cost of energy is focused only on today and what can the Government do today to alleviate increased cost on households. That is, of course, essential but what is the point if we are not also talking about how we get away from our dependency on expensive, shock-sensitive fossil fuels? Even though more should be done, there is a limit to what a Government can do in an emergency mitigation situation. It is expensive and is never goin…

Senator Noonan and I have raised the environmental damage at Lady's Island Lake on several occasions in both Houses. I welcome the recent announcement of funding by the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, for Wexford County Council to help tackle the issue. What is the Minister's Department and the agencies associated with it doing in response to the report of the joint committee regarding the pollution in Lady's Island Lake.

The problems in Lady's Island Lake are not new. The reports of pollution there go back as far as the early 1980s. Every few years it seems the problems get so big that there is a call for action and that is usually dealt with through the breaching of the sand spit at the southern end of the lake. The EPA report from January, which the Green Party would credit with sounding the alarm, could not have been clearer about what is needed, namely, enforce existing regulations on agricultural nutrients entering the lake, h…

I just would like to bring the discussion back to Lady's Island Lake specifically because there is a real opportunity here to take measures that will restore the lake to a functioning ecological system. We are still in the dark about some of the specific details about what is happening. Have farming inspections around Lady's Island Lake increased? Have there been inspections of septic tanks? Has there been engagement with Irish Water about the treatment plant at the lake? I know people are concerned about that as w…

I want to raise the issue of the growing levels of hate in Irish society and what steps the Taoiseach's Government can take to address it. This is the hate that led to a deliberate arson attempt on an IPAS facility where women and children were living. It is the hate that compelled young men to attack two drag queens on the street of the Taoiseach's own city a few weeks ago and which allowed some passers-by to applaud. It is the hate that motivated a group of people to surround a car in Citywest and scream racist a…

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply and for his recognition of the threat and fear that have been generated in Irish society. It is important to recognise the risks to the democratic norms as well. During the recent presidential election, there was an AI-generated fake video apparently showing Catherine Connolly pulling out of the campaign and there were, of course, the awful slanders that were put out about Jim Gavin. They were seen 700,000 times before Mr. Gavin got to respond. No amount of fact-checking will eve…

There is general agreement that the outcome of COP30 was disappointing, in particular the failure to mention the transition away from fossil fuels. Last July, I met the climate minister of Vanuatu. Vanuatu is a small pacific island nation whose very existence is at risk from climate change. It is looking to generate------

-----support for an international fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty. We will hold the Presidency of the EU next year when COP31 takes place.

Will the Taoiseach ask his officials to look seriously at this fossil fuel treaty and engage with Vanuatu to see if the EU can offer the proposed support at COP31?

Maybe the Taoiseach can show them his resolve.

As we discuss the public funding of the greyhound racing industry, I want to raise some concerning information my office uncovered recently. For the past number of months, I have been submitting parliamentary questions to the Department and to Rásaíocht Con Éireann seeking data on the status of racing greyhounds in Ireland. This follows the reports from the Irish Examiner last year that nearly 2,800 racing greyhounds born in 2021 and registered in Ireland, more than a fifth, were either dead or unaccounted for. The…

I thank Deputy Carthy for bringing forward this Bill today. I do not think we can speak enough in this Chamber about domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. Some progress has been made in recent years, such as the establishment of Cuan, the third national strategy and the introduction of domestic violence leave, but the figures speak for themselves. Women's Aid reports that last year over 41,000 disclosures were made to it about the abuse of a woman and over 5,000 disclosures related to the abuse of a child. An…

Climate change and our economy's addiction to fossil fuels represent one of the biggest cost-of-living threats to householders, families, small businesses and farms in Ireland and this Bill is a practical effort to address part of that issue. I thank Deputy Murphy for bringing it forward. I will set out the scale of the issue we are facing. Across Ireland, up to 250,000 privately rented homes still fall well below a healthy and comfortable B energy rating. This means thousands of people - families, workers, older p…

I thank colleagues in the Independent and Parties Technical Group for bringing this motion forward. I am pleased to speak in favour of it but I am absolutely dismayed to find myself a year after a general election, where the occupied territories Bill was a key part of the national conversation, to be still discussing the need to pass the OTB. Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael made commitments to enact the Bill during the election campaign, which was a significant change from their previous views, and a promise to the …

It is now three years and nine months since Russia undertook its illegal invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territory. The impact of this war continues to be felt most immediately in Ukraine, where it is estimated around 15,000 civilians and up to 80,000 members of Ukrainian military are dead and the number of wounded in that country runs to hundreds of thousands. Notwithstanding their brutal dictatorial leaders, the Russian people have also suffered as a result of this war, with a death toll in that country esti…

I am pleased to speak in this debate today on behalf of the Green Party. I thank Sinn Féin for putting forward the motion. The Mercosur agreement and the trade deal that it increasingly looks like this Government is going to support is not just environmentally catastrophic. It will be economically devastating for Irish agriculture. It will open the floodgates to cheap beef from industrial-scale operations across South America, where production costs are minimal. That is due to weak labour law protections, environme…

The Taoiseach delivered a strong speech to an international audience in Belém last week, yet back home today, the Climate Change Advisory Council concluded Ireland would overshoot its first carbon budget by 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. The report has really highlighted Ireland's addiction to fossil fuels as a key reason the carbon budget will not be met. This Saturday, thousands of people will join the national climate demonstration, focusing on how Ireland's fossil fuel addiction remains a huge risk to aff…

I too welcome this Private Members' Bill put forward by Deputy Farrelly. I look forward to supporting it. The concept of reducing the voting age to include 16- and 17-year-olds is one the Green Party has supported for a long time. When we first used to advocate for this change it was seen as radical, out there and unusual. That is not the case anymore because this movement is happening. It is early in its evolution but it is happening around Europe and the world. If we look around the world 16- and 17-year-olds can…

I am pleased to be able to speak about how we could solve some of the very real impacts of high costs for motorists. In the couple of minutes I have, I want to focus on how drivers are being ripped off on the issue of insurance. For many years, reform of insurance, particularly motor insurance, has been promised but in the end, each time, this caves in to the same vested interests. We have endless reviews but no real action. Irish consumers continue to pay some of the highest insurance premiums in Europe because cl…

One of the most infuriating experiences parents desperate to get a childcare place for their kid have is to be told the building designated as a creche on the plans they bought their new home from actually is not going to be a creche. They are told it has been too expensive to fit out, it is because the developer wants to rezone it as a house and sell it as such or, most infuriatingly of all, there is no demand in the area for crèche spaces. As the Minister has said, the planning guidelines were put in place in 200…