The Tánaiste has committed to bringing his version of an occupied territories Bill to the foreign affairs committee in June. Is it going to happen? We have only two sitting weeks left in June. That would mean, in order to meet his own timetable, the Tánaiste would have to bring the heads of the Bill to the Cabinet next Tuesday or the following Tuesday. Does the Tánaiste believe the heads of the Bill will be ready to meet his timeline? Linked to that, the Tánaiste recently asked the Attorney General to give his advi…

It is a rainy day, and on rainy days staff in Coolmine Community School in my constituency, Dublin West, have to set out between 40 and 50 plastic buckets across the school to deal with water flowing into corridors, classrooms, toilets and offices. That water flows from over 100 leaks in the roof of the school. Coolmine is a big school, with almost a thousand pupils, and has provided top-class education for students across Dublin 15 for decades. It is, however, an old school. The building is now over 50 years old a…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. The line, "The Department advised the school to obtain a new leak detection test", when there are a hundred buckets on the floor, is worthy of "Yes Minister". The school put in an application for an upgrade because it does need a new roof. It was then told, "No, you cannot go under that pathway; you have to go for an emergency works pathway." The school has now done that, which is why this delay has occurred. The Minister of State has told me in detail about the clima…

I thank the Chair, and the Social Democrats for bringing forward this motion today. The Green Party is pleased to co-sign this motion, which seeks to end the Central Bank's facilitation of the sale of Israeli bonds. We are deeply concerned that these bonds have, since October 2023, been marketed explicitly in the context of the ongoing war in Gaza, with statements from the Israeli Government describing them as supporting its military efforts. This situation is taking place in the shadow of dire findings from intern…

The question of the exclusion of services from the Government's occupied territories Bill lite has been a central issue of debate in this House and in public since it was announced in the programme for Government. In response to questions from me and others, the Taoiseach regularly cited legal advice that he had received for the exclusion of services. In a recent response to questions in the House, the Tánaiste confirmed that he is only now seeking the advice of the Attorney General on the question of excluding ser…

It is.

It is.

That is why services should be in it.

We are facing a housing crisis of unprecedented scale. More than 15,500 people, including more than 4,700 children are living in emergency accommodation. This is not just a statistic; it is a national failure, and one that demands urgent action. At the same time there are an estimated 80,000 vacant or derelict properties across Ireland. These are properties that could and should be homes. This is not just inefficiency; it is injustice. That is why the Dereliction and Building Regeneration Bill 2025, recently propos…

It is important to outline that Ireland is at the most extreme end of vulnerability because of the growth of data centre demand. We host approximately 120 data centres. Today, they consume 21% of all energy we produce. Forty centres are in planning and development right now. No other country reports a higher share of domestic energy consumption by data centres than Ireland. We understand the importance of the digitalisation of our economy but this can only be done in a way that serves the environment and people bes…

The Minister's own Secretary General presented it that way.

The Taoiseach and the Minister for public expenditure, Deputy Chambers, rejected the warnings raised by the Minister, Deputy O'Brien's Secretary General that Ireland would be forced to choose between housing and AI data centres. I believe they and the Minister are far too quick to dismiss concerns by the most senior civil servant in the latter's Department. There has been positive growth in energy generated by renewables in recent years but we are also seeing this being eaten up by the increased demand of data cent…

Many jurisdictions over the past decade have been dealing with the dramatic rise in energy consumption driven by the growth in data centres. We are no different here. Our challenge is probably even greater. I believe, and it is witnessed by what has been said by the Minister, the Taoiseach and others, that there is a clear preference for increased data centres and their use. Will the Minister outline how that will be balanced with other elements of the economy?

The Minister used the words "disingenuous" and "red herring". I am referring to a warning raised by the Secretary General of the Minister's own Department. It is a warning and an issue. She spoke about a balance between AI, particularly the highly intensive data centres required for new AI developments, and housing. If there is a red herring, it was not I who raised it originally. I made the point in an earlier question about 21% use of energy by data centres here in Ireland right now. The next nearest country is S…

I thank the Minister for his honesty about the risk of some of those projects not delivering within the 2030 timeline. Would it be the Minister's belief then that if those renewable projects are not going to deliver in that timeline, we must look at the timeline within which new data centres are brought on? There are 40 in various stages. Some have been granted full planning permission. If they are all brought on to the system between now and 2030, that will be a further 7% growth in the overall total of our energy…

Has the Government abandoned its commitment to run a catch-up HPV vaccination programme just when we need it most? The programme for Government pledges to extend the Laura Brennan HPV catch-up vaccination programme to anyone under the age of 25 who missed the original vaccination. I have been in touch with both the Department of Health and the HSE to find out when the new programme will run. No one has been able to give me a straight answer. They tell me how important the HPV vaccine is. I agree. They tell me they …

As we all grapple with the images of deliberate starvation that we see in Gaza, each one of us thinks about what meaningful actions we can take in the face of such obvious war crimes. Ten months ago, the then Tánaiste, Taoiseach and I all received the same legal advice, namely that passing the occupied territories Bill was legally possible with some amendments, following the opinion of the International Court of Justice. The Government has since told us that it plans to introduce its own legislation, which will ban…

I wish the Minister of State the very best of luck with his new role. For the first time in the history of the State, nature was prioritised at government level thanks to the leadership of the Green Party during our time in government. We restructured and significantly increased funding for the National Parks and Wildlife Service, developed a new national biodiversity action plan as a roadmap to reverse nature loss by 2030, created two new national parks at Dowth in County Meath and Páirc Náisiúnta na Mara in Count…

Today is International Day of Families. On this day last year, migrant workers - women and men contributing to our economy and our society - protested outside the Minister's Department. They did so because, under the current law, certain categories of migrant workers require both a 12-month wait and an onerous income threshold in order for their family members to come join them here in Ireland. Will this unfair and short-sighted policy change?

This review has been going on for a very long time, and people need clarity and need to see a sensible evolution of the Department's policy. We should remind ourselves that these are hard-working people caring for our elderly and sick, driving our buses and building our homes. At the end of a hard day, they cannot come home to their husband or wife or kids in the same way the Minister of State and I can. For years their lives end up being on hold. As well as being unfair, I would argue that this policy is short-sig…