I thank the Taoiseach for his report on the EU-African Union summit. I raise again the issue in Sudan and the crisis that continues there. Thousands have been killed and 800,000 people face starvation. Of the 17 million school-age children in Sudan, 13 million are not attending school. That is absolutely crazy when we think about it. Hospitals and schools are being incinerated. Now is the time for the African Union to step up and play its leadership role in the region with the support of multilateral actors. This i…

This question asks the Minister the number of checkpoints located and completed during a period in January, the number of arrests made, the significant detections made relating to speeding, mobile phone use and other road traffic infractions such as heavy goods vehicles travelling on roads when they should not be.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as an bhfreagra sin. I am asking this question in the context of persistent road safety concerns raised with me by constituents and, I would say, all road users. There is a growing perception in my constituency - I am sure we see it around the country - that behaviour on the road has deteriorated, significantly in some cases, and aggressive and risky manoeuvres are more commonplace. There are issues with vehicles breaking red lights at signalised junctions and dangerous U-turns at inte…

I agree entirely and I commend the Garda on the significant resources it has put in. The new information the Minister has given me suggests it is maintaining these checkpoints at a similar rate to that achieved in December and I commend that. However, his information also shows the extent of Garda hours being spent on checkpoints. My question focuses on whether there is a role for technology to free up that Garda time to focus elsewhere. The Minister mentioned additional speed cameras, both static and mobile. I wel…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. I raise the matter of Garda visibility, which the Minister has alluded to in the House already. He has, in tandem with the Garda Commissioner, worked to increase Garda visibility on the streets of Dublin city, and certainly in villages such as Rathcoole and Saggart in my constituency we have seen an increase in Garda visibility. Are there plans to continue the deployment of these high-visibility patrols across the suburbs of Dublin? Villages like Lucan and Clondalkin in my constituenc…

The purpose of this question is to understand the level and nature of the engagement the Minister of State's Department has had with Dublin's local authorities with regard to their experience in acquiring land for new playing pitches. As he knows, access to pitches is a significant pressure point across Dublin, particularly in the faster-growing communities like Lucan, Clondalkin and Saggart, and the advent of new towns like Clonburris and Adamstown. Local authorities need that national support to secure much-neede…

As I have said and the Minister of State has acknowledged, Dublin local authorities continue to highlight the ongoing challenges in acquiring land for active recreation and sports facilities, not least of all because of the housing pressures that are in the capital and the pressure on them to deliver housing, as well as the fact that they often cannot compete with the premium that is on land that is being bought for houses and that could be used to develop additional playing pitches. Clubs and community groups have…

I welcome the Minister of State's positive engagement on this matter. Pointing to an example in my own constituency of late, the Dublin City Services Sports and Social Club on the Coldcut Road became available for purchase. I think it is a classic example where, if such a fund existed, it could have supported the local authority in acquiring that asset and making it available for amenity in a part of Dublin that is underserved in terms of overall sports provision. It is important when we talk about the acquisition …

Is mór agam an deis an seans seo a thapú labhairt ar cheist na hintleachta saorga. It is a timely discussion. It is important to recognise that the recent surge in conversation has led us to an reset about how we think of AI, the potential it brings and the power it has as a technology. Oftentimes in this House, we have looked at the positive benefits and positive potential of AI as a new technology. However, this is a point for us to reset that conversation and talk about it in terms of harnessing the potential, p…

I noted the Taoiseach's recent comments on e-scooters. I have raised this with him on a number of occasions. I cycle to Leinster House when I can, and I am a big supporter of the active travel agenda. However, I think there is now an emergency with regard to e-scooters that we need to take a very clear view on. We have heard the comments from the national children's health authority and Dr. Irwin Gill about the prevalence of head injuries among those aged under 16 because of the lack of use of helmets on those vehi…

As the Taoiseach said, the delivery of housing is the number one priority for this Government. That is why it is strategically important that all sectors of the Government support that aim, namely through the national development plan's transport sectoral plan, which was published recently. In my constituency, which the Taoiseach visited, we see it as one of the fastest-growing constituencies in the country, with large developments like Adamstown and Clonburris flying ahead. In its county development plans, South D…

The national development plan, NDP, sectoral transport plan published some days ago has a lot of very welcome initiatives and projects in it, which I think will transform infrastructure up and down the country. Today, however, I want to zero attention in on the importance of the DART+ programme, in particular the DART+ South West programme. This is pivotal not only in providing the necessary infrastructure that people in my constituency of Dublin Mid-West, Kildare and the greater Dublin area require for rapid and f…

I am a dad of three boys, aged six, four and one. Nothing terrifies me more than the virtual world they will go into. I am a few years ahead of Deputy Dolan but I also remember my phone not having the capability that phones have now. More important, when we in this House were growing up, we grew and acquired a phone. Our children today are growing up with phones as if they were part of their body. We have moved to a situation where I am worried technology is no longer the servant but is turning into the master. We …

With reference to the Taoiseach’s meeting with British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, I note the progress made by the UK Government with regard to dealing with legacy, and I compliment Deputy Smith on his work in this area in particular. I note the publication this week by the House of Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee around legacy. One of the more interesting recommendations was that Ireland needs to do more with regard to legacy. I would love to hear the Taoiseach's thoughts on that given that all of the…

The alignment of route 80 away from the quays on O'Connell Bridge has been identified as the cause of many of the operational issues affecting the operation of that route and the commuters who use it, including my constituents in Palmerstown. While I understand from the belated statement from the NTA yesterday that a review of the route is now underway, something that has been called for by elected representatives for some time now, it may take months. We need to arrive at a sustainable solution much faster, which …

Today, the BBC reported on an interview it had with a man who escaped the last functioning hospital in the Sudanese city of El Fasher before a reported massacre by paramilitary troops. Abdu-Rabbu Ahmed, who was a laboratory technician in the maternity hospital, told the BBC, "I have lost my colleagues". He said, "I have lost the people whose faces I used to see smiling" and that it "feels as if you lost a big part of your body or your soul". Other Members have addressed what is happening in Sudan today, which is wi…

Yesterday's announcement is very welcome in terms of the infrastructure foundations put in place to harness the economic potential of the shared island. Part of that, which we have discussed in this House, is the role of the all-island labour market and the need for focus and skills. I would love to hear from the Taoiseach about what engagement is happening with the Northern Ireland Executive with regard to building up the SME sector across both sides of the island. They will be the fabric that knit the economic fa…

I am very grateful for the opportunity to speak about the very worrying spectre and instance of there being war in Europe for the first time in decades. It is important to take a moment to check and remind ourselves of the sheer significance and impact of that statement, that there is war on the Continent of Europe, a plane flight away from where we are at the moment. It becomes very real when you go to Brussels or speak to colleagues from countries that are in the eastern part of the European Union or border Russi…

Will the Minister of State consider undertaking a review of the regulatory regime for e-scooters? He will be aware of the Road Safety Authority survey earlier this year which showed nearly a quarter of regular e-scooter users have been involved in an accident and one third have been involved in a near miss. We know the number of accidents involving e-scooters on our roads is increasing and that 416 e-scooters had been seized by An Garda Síochána as of 6 October this year. We have no regulatory regime in place for t…

The Minister of State will be aware of recent reports of e-scooters being sold openly in Irish shops which do not meet those safety requirements and are, therefore, illegal to use on Irish roads. My fear is we are becoming an outlier in western Europe. In France and Germany, e-scooters and, therefore, the users need to be insured. In Italy, e-scooters need to have a licence plate and be insured and registered. There is a requirement on users to practice safe use of e-scooters. One interesting aspect of the German m…