I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. She is motoring along 40 minutes ahead of schedule. Well done to her. I thank the Minister of State for his opening remarks and welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate. The efficiency of our courts underpins the basis of our legal system. We know from multiple reports and observations made over many years that our court systems do not operate as they should, primarily because there are not enough judges, courts and resources. That is borne out in some serious reports…

The Irish Times published an interesting article by Conor Gallagher today, which highlights the 4,200 people who presented to Dublin Airport without travel documents in the past 12 months. From that there has been just one prosecution and no conviction. I fully recognise that the Geneva Convention provides that those seeking asylum do not need to present travel documents and I do not want to give the impression that I would in any way seek to send a person legitimately seeking asylum in this country away; quite the…

I welcome the confirmation given by the Taoiseach and the Minister today that we will hold a referendum on gender equality in November of this year. It is fitting that such an announcement will finally give us the opportunity to remove the references to women in the home in our Constitution. I commend the work of the citizens' assembly on the issue and, indeed, the Joint Committee on Gender Equality for the considerable work it has put in on these matters. Of course, one referendum or a series of referendums will n…

I welcome the opportunity to make a contribution on this Bill. As a member of the Committee on Environment and Climate Action, I must mention that waiving of pre-legislative scrutiny has become quite common, especially in this area. Of course, I fully understand and appreciate the rationale the Minister has set out and I appreciate the briefing we received from the Minister's officials in the making of that decision. Nonetheless, it is necessary to note it. It would be my preference that we would not have to deal w…

My question relates to the use of drones in the vicinity of Dublin Airport.

As a representative of Swords and the airport, I believe it is unconscionable that people continue to do this. It is bizarre that they choose to put people's lives at risk, no matter how inconsequential they believe their activities are. I understand 14 flights were diverted at one particular point in February. The type of behaviour we see warrants prosecution and I welcome the fact that an individual is before the courts. The Minister of State mentioned that these particular drone-jamming devices potentially inter…

I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate there is a process. I suggest that if there is a requirement for regulatory or legislative change, the Minister of State should seriously consider the fines and-or sentencing this category of activity warrants. I am certainly of the view that somebody wantonly endangering the lives of innocent passengers and crew should face a custodial sentence and not just a slap on the wrist. It is imperative that the House sends a very strong message that this sort of behaviour is com…

I ask the Minister to detail the efforts being made under the national development plan, NDP, for growing population centres, including the county town in the fastest growing community in Europe, Swords.

I do not need to sell the importance of investment and intervention in support of the activities of the local authority to my fellow northsider because I know how acutely aware the Minister is of this. I had the privilege of being with him at the announcement of the NDP in November 2015 at Heuston Station. I was not in position to attend the most recent iteration, which provided nearly a 40% increase in the overall budget. Part of the problem is that Swords is almost a city with in excess of 40,000 people. It has a…

Quality of life is key to all of this. We can spend as much money as we like, but if we do not improve the quality of life for the people already there, Swords will no longer be the vibrant county town it is. Of course, I recognise that it takes time for these projects to get out of the blocks, through planning and all the rest of it. I am acutely aware that consideration of metro, for instance, is currently before the board and a decision is due on or about 26 May. I am very aware of €50 million investment by the …

The programme for Government commits to reviewing our electoral laws. Political parties, as the Taoiseach will know, receive substantial sums of taxpayers' money and are subject to strict rules on how it is expended and, importantly, how it is recorded. Last week Deputy Pearse Doherty told "Prime Time" that SIPO is not investigating Sinn Féin. On Thursday The Irish Times reported that SIPO is examining the party. On the following day, I believe, Deputy McDonald told The Irish Times that Sinn Féin's money was fully …

My question relates to the local authority community climate action programme, which was launched last year. I understand there is a new iteration of or funding stream for it. What is the status of that and has there been uptake?

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I am encouraged. There is no shortage of funding for projects like this. The sum of €60 million is a great deal of money for 80 projects. It is incumbent on the House, the Minister of State and the Minister to follow the local authorities closely in the hiring process because we know they have had history in the past, in particular with biodiversity officers, which have been an issue in some local authorities. It is important for local authorities to show leadership i…

I thank the Minister of State. I welcome the information he has provided to the House. I focused on food waste because it is an area where we as a State need to make significant improvements. As I have said, I believe local authorities will play a key role in delivering on our collective climate ambitions. The Minister of State might mention nature recovery and sustainable farming which, I believe, are part of strand 1A of the fund and will see 50% of the fund allocated to Northern Ireland. I would like to hear whe…

I thank the Minister of State for the significant body of work he and his Department have done, particularly on the passage of that Act. Deputy Leddin, who is the Chair of the committee, is present. We put in the hours too, so to speak. I wanted to take this discussion about the protocols to Fingal and to address the issue of where local authorities decline to collect dumped materials. That often happens in rural parts of north Dublin in laneways where the boundaries between ditches etc. are not well defined. There…

I was going to refer to that because I wanted to begin my contribution by unequivocally condemning the attack on Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell last night in Omagh. It was a cowardly attack and an attempted murder of a senior officer in front of his son and other young people, as I understand it. I am pleased, however, that the PSNI has made several arrests. I am equally pleased that our Minister is involved with his British counterpart as we speak. I know all Members of the House will join me in wishing D…

Wind Energy Ireland issued its report this morning highlighting that 41% of the electricity required in January 2023 was driven by wind. It is the best January on record and is a 9% jump on this time last year. Predominantly offshore wind energy generated 1,479 GW of electricity which is equivalent to the consumption of 320,000 Irish homes. The wind energy potential of Ireland provides us with a huge opportunity but we are in a race with other countries to secure material supply routes among other things. The devel…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate, in what is another component of the programme for Government and the adoption of the report on the Commission on the Future of Policing In Ireland, which called for the deployment of body cameras for members of An Garda Síochána. As many speakers have said, this is not just for the purposes of rooting out criminality but it is also for the protection of the public and members of An Garda Síochána itself. Deputy Martin Kenny mentioned in the initial part of his…

My question aimed to elicit further information and I certainly welcome what I have heard regarding a broad Government approach being needed to address child poverty. Poverty cannot be looked at in isolation and, on that basis, the inclusion of well-being is welcome. One of the issues relating to well-being is education. Access to education is as important as healthcare. Will the new unit consider the issues children across the country have faced with regard to childhood disability networks and access to them and a…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. It is a very important one for many reasons. Forestry offers tremendous opportunities and if we heed the necessity to deliver on the commitments of afforestation, we can contribute to tackling some of the biggest challenges we face as a country. We do not need to think back too far, to the Covid-19 pandemic, to recognise the importance of our forests and public spaces as places to go for respite from the stress we all endured. I am sure we all appreciate that …