-----and all the problems facing ordinary people?

This will not deal with the issue. Workers needs to step into action now.

I have a feeling that this is a very important week and a turning point in the life of this Government. Militant protests and blockades have taken place in the context of an ever-worsening cost-of-living crisis. People were threatened with repression. They got some repression as well, actually. Yet, a high level of the population supported those protests. Why does the Tánaiste think that is? Also, in opinion polls, people blamed the Government and they blamed Donald Trump and Netanyahu. By the way, the Tánaiste has…

We have just seen very militant protests that were widely supported in society because of the acute nature of the cost-of-living crisis and the fact that people were supporting those who were having a go. A marker has been laid, and we need workers to do the same. In the couple of minutes I have, I want to highlight that there were some issues with these protests. It was noted by many people that some far-right individuals and far-right talking points emerged during the protests. There are some who should not have …

I want to raise the pain and suffering being caused to people doing essential work in this country due to the massive backlog and delays in issuing Irish residence permit, IRP, cards. Some people who had to leave for funerals or because of family illness in India and elsewhere have not been able to get back into the country. I also want to raise the family reunification rules and to mention a woman called Iby, who is working as a healthcare assistant in our country. She applied for visas for her two children some t…

It is a disgrace.

It is an outrage that planning permission would be given on this site where over 900 children, that we know of, died but where only 64 graves have ever been found. It has happened despite all the campaigning of survivors and the groups connected with them. I will mention something the Minister for justice said here the other day when this was raised with him. He basically acted like the Government was powerless and that it was terrible altogether. He used the words "... the Government cannot interfere in respect of…

I welcome this debate. I want to speak in particular on the aspect of the motion on low morale, internal investigations in An Garda Síochána and how people who make disclosures or whistleblowers end up being the ones whose careers suffer. They often end up out sick, being bullied or shunned within An Garda Síochána for speaking out. I would also like the Minister to clarify whether the Fiosrú investigation he established into gender-based violence within An Garda Síochána will cover sexual harassment. I spoke to a …

The ambulance service is absolutely essential. Paramedics are the first on the scene and they do incredible work, as I know from my own personal experience. However, this week, we have seen further reports of a misogynistic and toxic culture in the National Ambulance Service, NAS. Will the Taoiseach investigate this issue? I have spoken to Kathy - that is not her real name - who has reported a paramedic who drugged, sexually assaulted, coercively controlled and raped her on multiple occasions. He apparently stole c…

To be clear, I highlighted a particular case but this is not about one case, as shown by the statistics I gave, the survey that was done in the north east and The Journal Investigates findings. This has been going on for more than a year. It is time for the Minister for Health to intervene. An Garda Síochána, the health service and the Army should not be safe havens for perpetrators. Unfortunately, the policies that are designed to deal with complaints of sexual harassment and violence are failing utterly to do so.…

It is a bit ironic that the Government is putting a halt to this scheme in 2027 and reducing the amount now when it boasts and brags about the support it gives to Ukraine, pumping money in at EU level, some of which is potentially going in a military direction. We have a scheme here. I am not in favour of ending any scheme housing anybody in this country during a housing crisis. That should be perfectly clear. Where are people going to go? That is a serious question anyone opposing this scheme has to answer. I will…

-----because of the figures that have been presented. The Deputy can shout all he likes; I am telling him now.

Punching down is pathetic of Sinn Féin, and it will not get any votes-----

This is to give Sinn Féin something to say on a doorstep when somebody says something racist: "Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, we opposed that." That is all this is about. It is-----

I will sit down now but I would have liked to finish my point without being interrupted.

A task force on special education in Dublin 15 was set up in October 2024. Why, eight months after its final report was handed to the Minister, has it been buried and still not published? Dublin 15 is a fast-growing area with an acute crisis in school provision for children with additional needs. Three parents, all of whom have children with additional needs, gave up their time voluntarily to be part of the task force. They pushed for the strongest possible recommendations, many of which got diluted in the drafting…

It is a bit ironic that we are now paying the price for a horrific imperialist adventure by Trump and Netanyahu, which the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach have never once condemned. The Taoiseach spent a whole day in Washington and managed not to say one thing about the attack on Iran. In relation to the emergency motion the Tánaiste is bringing through the Dáil, where is the emergency action for the disabled people who have lost out on €1,400 a year, the 320,000 people in arrears on their electricity who have been ment…

I ask the Minister to make a statement on how the animal welfare strategy is progressing. I draw his attention to the fact that two countries, Wales and Scotland, have this week banned greyhound racing. Ireland is now going to be a complete and utter outlier. In banning it in Scotland, it will be an offence to set up a racetrack or for a dog owner to race a dog on one. The proponent of the motion said greyhound racing belonged in the past. The international consensus is to ban it. In Wales, it will come into force …

I do not think the Minister should be pre-empting whether he will ban greyhound racing. I hope he will actually study the strategy and come out with a report from it. Are we not actually going backwards on animal rights in this country when Wales and Scotland, two countries we have close ties with and to which we are aligned culturally, are banning it while the Minister is doubling down on maintaining it? Dogs Trust Ireland, not a radical socialist organisation by any means, has pointed out that 869 dogs have died …

It is just because of what happened this week.