Tá an geimhreadh ag teacht. The winter is coming. I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward this important motion. Behind every statistic we discuss here today are real people and real families. Week in, week out, across Mayo, I meet older people, people with disabilities, people with chronic illnesses and families who are genuinely afraid to use electricity or to put the heating on. People who have worked hard all their lives, paid their taxes and contributed to their communities are now watching the meter…

Our neutrality matters. I support amendments Nos. 1 to 5. We need to be conscious of the ramifications for our neutrality of what the Government is trying to push through. Currently, any engagement by Enterprise Ireland or the IDA with companies which engage in activities of military relevance must be done with the prior approval of the Government. This is not an argument that defence companies should be prohibited in Ireland, nor is it an argument for investing in our Defence Forces; it is an argument about public…

The Government is going in the wrong direction here. It is very pertinent. We are looking at this on the enterprise committee. Until 2024, at the height of genocide and ethnic cleansing, we were exporting weapons to Israel. That is the fact of the matter. Now, it is against the advice of the Government officials. There has to be an explanation provided as to why that has happened. That is the reason we are examining this in the enterprise committee. The Minister of State is saying we should trust the Government, wi…

It is highly unlikely and unusual for a government to want to give away powers. The question has to be asked why does the Government want to delete the following: "The Agency shall not engage in or promote any activity of primarily military relevance without the prior approval of the Government." The Government does not want to know what is happening in this space. It wants a free for all and it wants taxpayers' money to pay for it. This is completely wrong. I see that the two amendments have been grouped together.…

Deputy Gibney said what I was going to say.

Cross-Border working is an increasingly important feature in our all-island economy, with thousands of people crossing the Border every day to work. Brexit and the growth of remote and hybrid working have exposed practical difficulties for workers and employers dealing with two tax systems and different rules. Negotiations on a new double taxation convention between the Irish and British Governments present an important opportunity to simplify these arrangements. What progress has been made in these negotiations an…

I appreciate that the Tánaiste cannot give the details here tonight. I am raising this issue because I want it to be an absolute priority. Ten years on from the Brexit referendum, cross-Border workers are still dealing every day with uncertainty and complexity. In excess of 18,000 workers crossed the Border, along with €17 billion in trade, in 2025. We need to make it as seamless as possible for workers and employers. A few months ago, we spoke in this Chamber about the fiscal implications of a united Ireland. Here…

I, too, send solidarity to the residents of the Garvaghy Road. What is happening there is an absolute disgrace. I appeal to the Tánaiste, as a member of the Government and leader of his party, to get the Taoiseach and the Government to act immediately. We cannot let this continue. We know what needs to be done. There will be no march down the Garvaghy Road. People need to understand that. The Secretary of State must play the role he has to play in this as co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement. We met the reside…

We have waited so long for this scheme and people in Mayo who are living in local authority houses desperately need it. They have waited for years for this scheme. This reminds me of when the original scheme came out and the action group sat in Erris and presented 20 things that would make that scheme right, affordable and fit for purpose and would provide 100% for people but the Government did not listen. It is absolutely critical that the Minister listens at this point to get this scheme right. As my colleagues h…

Is iad costais fuinnimh an t-ábhar imní is mó atá roimh theaghlaigh agus gnólachtaí faoi láthair. Energy costs are the biggest worry facing families and businesses at the moment. Seven months into this energy crisis, the Government has not removed a single cent of carbon tax from home heating oil. For rural households, particularly in my and the Minister of State's constituency of Mayo, this is devastating and unsustainable. Does the Minister of State know how many women have done themselves injury by trying to car…

Over the summer the Department published a report prepared by KPMG that set out the economic case for data centres in Ireland. Freedom of information requests made by Lynn Boylan of Sinn Féin, and I acknowledge all her work in this area, revealed that officials from the Department sought to make amendments to the draft prepared by KPMG in order to cut concerns about the impact of data centre expansion on housing, utilities and farmland. In the interests of transparency will the Minister release the full draft repor…

People need transparency because they are researching how many data centres are enough and how do we get a sustainable balance. In 2025 data centres consumed 23% of all metered electricity, which was up from a figure of just 5% ten years ago in 2015. This is more than the total metered electricity used by all urban dwellings in 2025, which accounted for just over 18%. All rural dwellings accounted for 9%. At this rate, the electricity usage of data centres will surpass the total used by all homes within a few years…

Has a cost-benefit analysis been done in respect of data centres? Perhaps the Minister can answer this question. We need a thorough cost-benefit analysis. It may be that the information is there and I have not seen it. I ask this question because households are footing the bill for network upgrades to increase capacity for the expansion in the number of data centres, effectively subsidising the power supply for some of the most profitable companies in the world. Network charges currently represent 30% of household …

The Minister of State will recall that Aer Lingus announced substantial job cuts in July affecting hundreds of workers across the country. My office has been contacted by some of those affected workers facing redundancy. They are extremely concerned regarding the transparency of the restructuring at the airline, while others face significant changes to their current working arrangements. Can the Minister of State provide an update on his engagements with Aer Lingus since July concerning these job cuts? Will he outl…

I do not think that a hands-off approach is going to work in this case. Aer Lingus announced in July, as the Minister of State rightly said, that 500 jobs would be lost at the airline. That would impact pilots, cabin crew and ground staff. The company said this was due to the €34 million loss reported for the first six months of 2026. Aer Lingus, though, is a very successful company, having recorded operating profits of €282 million last year. The company is also expected to make an overall profit in 2026. Its pare…

The Taoiseach told me that the Minister of State would follow up on this. Will the Minister of State confirm that he did so? What engagement has he had since the announcements were made and what concrete commitments have been secured from management? The Minister of State also needs to confirm that he will meet directly with the affected workers and representatives and ensure that Aer Lingus management engages in genuine consultation. The proposed redundancies at Aer Lingus are causing enormous uncertainty for work…

I am very disappointed with that answer.

The recent IBEC-CBI report identifies serious barriers to all-island labour mobility, including complex tax arrangements, restrictions, hybrid working, incompatible work permit systems and a lack of clear guidance for employers. I thank my colleague the Minister, Dr. Caoimhe Archibald, in Stormont, who has already written to the British Treasury about this and who has discovered that significant progress has been made on the new double taxation convention between the UK and Ireland. I am interested to hear an updat…

I am asking the Minister for a timeline for when the recommendations in the report will be implemented. The report rightly addresses the barriers preventing workers and employers from taking full advantage of the all-island labour market. Both organisations involved called for urgent action on hybrid working and taxation and immigration arrangements, including the establishment of the forum, as the Minister said, to develop solutions. Brexit has led to significant issues for workers in the Six Counties and the wide…

I thank the Minister for that and for the work that is being done. I just think there needs to be an urgency in respect of this matter. I accept that the double taxation convention is primarily a matter for the Department of Finance and the British Treasury. However, the consequences of the barriers extend directly into enterprise and employment policy, recruitment skills shortages and the ability of businesses to operate across the island. The IBEC-CBI report is not simply a taxation report. It identifies wider ba…