I thank Deputy Joanna Byrne and her colleagues in Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion this evening. The Green Party will be supporting this motion and also the motion being brought forward by the Social Democrats tomorrow. In particular, I thank the leadership of the Stop The Game campaign that has operated across Ireland in recent weeks. It is a campaign made up of grassroots supporters, passionate supporters of football in Ireland. They are people who dedicate so much of their lives to supporting our natio…

I ask for an update on the new build for Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire in the city centre.

I thank the Minister for that information. The status of Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire was a very significant issue in the recent by-election. When I was out canvassing with my colleague, Councillor Janet Horner, it was coming up at many doors. As the Minister knows, the works were suspended in May 2025 by the Department, which was in dispute with the contractor. There was a conciliation process and the school moved to its current temporary site in December 2025. The Minister has made the point that we now have the re…

I thank the Minister for the detailed information but I come back to the point about communication. That information needs to be communicated to the school management team and board of management, and it needs to be clear to them that they can share that information with parents. This has been a very difficult situation. In fairness to the Department, a lot of work has been done but there are no clear lines of communication for getting that information to the parents. I ask the Minister again to ask her officials t…

Last Friday, in the very early hours of the morning, a serious fire broke out in the Auburn Park apartments in Castleknock in my constituency. The Minister of State knows Castleknock and is probably aware of this apartment block. The fire was significant. Up to four fire engines were dispatched to bring it under control. At least one person was taken to hospital with smoke inhalation. Hundreds of people, all the residents of this block of apartments, had to be evacuated in order to control the fire. Significant dam…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. In Topical Issue debates, we often hear a Minister or Minister of State saying, "I will ask the Minister to get back to you." I really appeal to the Minister of State to ask his private secretary to get on to the Minister's private secretary and bring this to his attention. I know he will and I appreciate that. I put a lot of very specific questions to the Minister of State. The answer he has given me is more generalised, and that is fine. However, these specific ques…

This morning, the EPA stated that Ireland was going to dramatically fail to meet its 2030 legally binding climate targets. This failure by the Government will have major financial consequences for Ireland, with fines running into billions of euro to be imposed by the European Union. Listening to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, on the radio and listening to the Taoiseach in response to Deputy Bacik, you would swear this morning's announcement was actually good news - the Government patting itself on the back because i…

The central purpose of the Bill is to allow the NTA use its expertise to expand our regional cities' transport services and bring them up to a more uniform standard. The Green Party supports streamlining of services but the purpose of streamlining needs to be to make things more effective. The Government seems to be doing everything in its power to counter any such efficiency effects. I questioned the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, about this Bill in February and was told it was on the priority publication list for the …

I want to raise the treatment of the 14 Irish citizens and hundreds of other civilians illegally held by the State of Israel. After the genocidal campaign of violence mounted by the IDF in Gaza, much of it documented by Palestinian victims on the ground, we felt we could not be shocked any further. Yet, the images and videos of Israel's national security minister, Ben-Gvir, haranguing prisoners who were bound and kneeling before him reveals a new element of performative cruelty. It brings to mind the pictures of de…

I want to broaden this discussion to the future of the State of Palestine. In less than five weeks' time Ireland takes on the Presidency of the European Union. The Minister will personally chair meetings of the Foreign Affairs Council and the General Affairs Council. It is a unique privilege and it is a unique responsibility. Does the Minister intend to put the question of EU support for Palestinian statehood on the agenda of those meetings? Our recognition of Palestinian statehood in 2024 was an important moment b…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important legislation. I acknowledge the work the Minister has done in bringing forward this necessary change to the laws around guardianship. Guardianship currently refers to the set of legal rights and responsibilities to make major decisions about the upbringing of a child or a young person. This includes everything from what school they attend, what religion they are raised in, major medical decisions, whether they are allowed leave the country for a holiday or for oth…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Stanley as an rún seo a mholadh inniu. Neutrality has served this country well for generations. It keeps us focused on peace, diplomacy and humanitarian leadership, not on military alliances. Neutrality is not about standing aside. It about standing firmly for peace, international law and human rights. Our military neutrality gives Ireland credibility on the global stage as a voice for dialogue, conflict resolution and humanitarian action. With this in mind, we should be investing i…

The Green Party has highlighted the pollution and damage to nature at Lady's Island Lake in Wexford with the Taoiseach in the past. Last Friday, the climate and environment committee visited Lady's Island Lake, and met with the strategic oversight group and the save Our Lady's Island Lake community group. What has been done to date is encouraging, and I welcome the initial tranche of funding provided to begin the baseline and scoping work. However, more State support is needed. My colleague, Senator Noonan, stated …

I am sure that, like me, the Minister of State has been out knocking on doors in Dublin Central and Galway West over the past number of weeks. One of the things I have been struck with in the many conversations I have had with voters is the deep connection that people in our country feel with nature. This connection applies irrespective of where people live, be it in urban or rural communities. Whether they are planting trees along streets in Stoneybatter or growing on the land area protected by Connemara National …

I am seeking an update on the recruitment of an additional 1,000 gardaí for Dublin city centre. This was one of the ten big moves recommended in the Dublin city task force. Is it still Government policy to recruit these additional 1,000 gardaí and what is the timeline for delivery?

The Dublin city task force report was published in October 2024 and there was a lot of fanfare about it at the time. It was presented as a definitive blueprint to reclaim the capital's streets after the events of the Dublin riots and a wider visible decline in public safety across the inner city. Big move number four of that report was the deployment of a minimum additional 1,000 gardaí within the city centre on a phased basis. That number was not pulled out of thin air. It was seen as the minimum required to meet …

To put the numbers in perspective we have seen approximately a 4% increase in city centre garda numbers. On the current trajectory, to meet the figure of 1,000 additional gardaí, it looks like we will meet that sometime around 2063. I hope the Minister understands the frustration people feel when governments announce big headline figures. The then Taoiseach and current Tánaiste wrote a big editorial in the Irish Independent after that report was published. I remember he used the line, "I'm up for it, are you?" It d…

In October 2024, the Tánaiste launched the report of the Dublin city task force. One of its key recommendations was to recruit an additional 1,000 gardaí for the city centre. He strongly endorsed the report. I am sure he will remember he wrote in the Irish Independent , "I am up for it. I hope you are too." Eighteen months later, only an additional net 40 gardaí have been recruited across the city centre divisions. I asked the Minister for justice about it this morning. He said that it is still Government policy bu…

On behalf of the Green Party, I am pleased to support this Bill. I thank Deputy Cairns for bringing it forward. During the 2018 referendum, I joined with representatives from other political parties, Independents and people who have never been involved in a political campaign before in our local Together for Yes organisation in Dublin West. The central case we made on every door as we campaigned was that Ireland needed to listen to women and respect their decisions about their bodies. When the referendum was passed…

This debate must first of all reflect on the carnage on our roads in 2025, a year in which 185 lives were lost in crashes and accidents. This was the highest fatality rate in over a decade. It was a year in which we saw the previous trends of progress in this area not just stalled, but actually reversed. That momentum of tragic reversal has continued in 2026. I think everyone here recognises that safety cameras are not a silver bullet, but they can help to make our roads less dangerous. In the context of that ongoi…