The Minister has spoken in great detail about the various supports that exist for students, but the issue people want clarity on and need to know about is the question of how much the student contribution will be in September. The reason they are asking that question is because of his comments on "This Week". He opened this Pandora's box, and he has the capacity to close it if he so wishes. He was not helped by the contribution of the Tánaiste and his liberal briefings across media over the past number of days sugg…

The Minister is right. I was in government when the cost-of-living measures in the area of the student contribution were agreed. That is why, whereas there is a lot on the programme for Government I am critical of, I welcomed the commitment in there to continue to reduce the student contribution fee over the lifetime of the Government. I took from that the clear meaning that every student in the country took, which was that this was a process that would see further reductions. What the Minister announced was a full…

How can the United Nations be expected to take the Taoiseach's words about protecting our oceans seriously when he is dumping the laws that would actually do so? Last month the Taoiseach attended the World Ocean Summit, at which he said that he looked forward to "joining with fellow world leaders over the coming days to discuss and collaborate on ways to secure the future of our oceans and seas". Then, over the weekend we learned that the Government is dropping plans to put in place a law to give protection to vita…

I thank the Minister of State for attending. I understand the NCSE is attempting address the crisis we have for places in special classes, and I know it is acting quickly. However, the way it has acted in the context of St. Mochta’s is not the right solution. St. Mochta’s has agreed to open two special classes - two ASD classes - in September for 12 students. It currently has six students on its books attending the school, each of whom is known to the NCSE. They also have letters with the clear recommendation they …

I noticed that in the Minister of State’s reply, there is a focus on the 1 February deadline. As colleagues have said, there were no plans to open an ASD class in St. Mochta’s on 1 February and the only agreement on that opening came in April. In April, when the school did agree to open these two classes, it received a verbal agreement that the deadline would be waived for the six children who were in St. Mochta’s. A commitment was given and that commitment has to be realised and fulfilled. I am glad a meeting is t…

A map of Ireland's railway network in 1906 that is often shared online provokes passionate debates about the state of our current rail network. We used to have 5,000 km of railway and more than 1,000 stations connecting all corners of the island. Today, the network is just a fraction of what it was at its peak. These debates show one thing very clearly: people want to see increased investment, increased capacity, the reopening of stations and the return of rail to every corner of our country. For the first time, we…

Yesterday, I took part in the pre-legislative process for the Government's occupied territories Bill, or the OTB-lite. Like others, I focused on the Government's exclusion of services from the current draft. The officials from the Department of foreign affairs were able to give me a clear answer on one point I raised. One of the conclusions in the ICJ opinion, delivered last year, was that states should "abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the Occupied Palestinian Territory"…

I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh for bringing forward this legislation and the campaign group for highlighting the issue. I want us to recall the original provision under which these men were convicted. Section 61 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 states that "Whosoever shall be convicted of the abominable crime of buggery, committed either with mankind or with any animal shall be liable ... to be kept in penal servitude for life". It is worth recalling the framing of homosexuality in that legislation from the 1…

The Minister will be well aware of the anguish, worry and stalled lives of families living in apartments with structural defects, be they fire safety issues or water leakages, which they experience through no fault of their own. The defective apartment remediation scheme is a lifeline that will finally allow these families to move on. The Minister will appreciate how important that particular scheme is. We need a clear timeline for the legislation and a drawdown date for the money for both the statutory and the int…

I thank the Minister. There are three real elements here. There is the statutory scheme, which will look after fire safety, structural issues and water ingress. The interim remediation scheme is solely for fire safety works. We then have the pathfinder projects, which are under way and are probably a subcategory of the interim remediation scheme. Has any money been paid out under the four pathfinder projects or under the interim remediation scheme? If not, when does the Minister expect money to be paid out under th…

I appreciate the Minister's offer of a briefing. I will certainly take him up on that because residents are really worried. They are getting this information from their management company, which says there is a blockage. The Minister made a number of comments that if any of them are listening will probably make them even more nervous in terms of delay. There needs to be clarity. I accept his point that it is a live situation, but it is really important to understand. My understanding is that no money has been drawn…

Earlier this month, the Public Accounts Committee of the UK House of Commons published a report on the Sellafield nuclear power plant in Cumbria. The report suggests that the Sellafield nuclear waste reprocessing plant is basically falling apart. The site contains one building called the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo - a dramatic name. The Public Accounts Committee inquiry heard that this silo is, and I quote from the inquiry report, "the most hazardous building in the UK". Is the Government aware of this new report? I…

In the past two weeks we have seen the very concept of vaccination being undermined by the incumbent Secretary for Health and Human Services in the United States. It is at times like this that the science-led approach to vaccination we have in Ireland is so important. The HPV vaccine was first made available to teenage girls in 2010 and subsequently provided to teenage boys from 2019. The Tánaiste might have been health Minister at the time. In 2022, the HSE ran a campaign to provide the vaccine to young women and …

I thank the Tánaiste. As he says, Ireland has a good take-up of the HPV vaccine, but at a time when vaccine scepticism is being mainstreamed, our take-up rates have been falling. A rough estimation is that approximately 16,000 eligible Irish kids are not taking up the vaccine each year. That is why the catch-up scheme is so important. We know the risks from the HPV virus and that it can materialise years or even decades after the initial infection – cervical cancer, oropharyngeal cancer, penile cancer, vaginal canc…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: acknowledges as hugely positive: — the increase in public transport usage in recent years and, in particular, the fact that over 1 million public transport journeys are now taken each day; — the reductions in all public transport fares that were introduced in April 2022; — the additional reductions in public transport fares for young adults between 19 and 25 via the Young Adult and Student Card, which was introduced in 2022 and extended in 2024; and — the roll out of additional Local Link…

I thank colleagues across the House for their contributions on this debate. I thank the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, for attending. Last year, we saw public transport usage grow to 1 million passengers per day, which was an important milestone to pass. This shows the success of the measures that were taken in the previous Government, led by a Green Party Minister, to encourage people to take the bus, the train and light rail. I am pleased that the Government is not opposing th…

It will need legislation. I am on the transport committee and am happy to work on that legislation, but we need clear commitments on when we will actually get these things done. Similarly on the issue of next-generation ticketing, I suggest the end of 2026 to have that implemented by. The Minister of State's speech spoke of taking a number of years. The Minister has now given us a date of the end of 2027, which I welcome. That is important. We have already committed €149 million to Indra Sistemas. That is a lot of …

Lady's Island Lake in County Wexford is the largest saltwater lagoon in Ireland. It provides refuge for a variety of wildfowl. That is why it is protected under both the birds and habitats directives. It surrounds Our Lady's Island, which is a beautiful and ancient place of pilgrimage. Unfortunately, Lady's Island Lake is also highly polluted. The environmental protection agency, EPA, has been studying the lake for the past two years. The report it published in January makes for grim reading. It states, "the ecolog…

I thank the Taoiseach for his comments, but this time we have to do something different. We need political leadership and accountability. The damage here has been building for four decades and the existing processes just have not worked. In place of a thriving ecosystem, we are going to end up with a toxic goo lagoon. If we fail to act, we do not have far to look to see what is next for Lady's Island Lake. Lough Neagh is already described as toxic due to the algal bloom it experiences each summer. There are solutio…

I am speaking on behalf of the Green Party on the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill, which has been drafted and delivered at speed. I will come back to the point about speed in a moment. I will focus my remarks on one particular cohort of renters, namely, student renters. On the question of speed, I spoke at the launch of the Raise the Roof motion on Monday. I said the Government was in complete panic mode when it came to housing. The treatment of this Bill is a perfect example of that panic. The legislation w…