The Deputy is wasting his time.

Okay.

Deputy-----

You have run over------

Deputy------

Do not push your luck, Deputy.

There is a certain decorum that is maintained in the House. You will not tell the Chair to shut up.

If you want to fight for your lunch, pick on somebody else.

We now move to Deputy Ó Murchú, who has 20 minutes.

It will be difficult.

I thank the Deputies. In light of the crash of the servers today and in recognition of the problem that was created, I will grant a recess of ten minutes if that is acceptable to the Deputies.

I wish Members a happy International Women's day. European International Women's Day dates back to 1911, which is 111 years ago. The UN first formally observed a global day of recognition in 1977, 45 years ago. Regrettably, we are nowhere reaching its target. While the world has changed dramatically in the years since the first days marking this occasion, and many improvements at home and abroad for women and girls have indeed been made, it occurs to me that more men need to become heavily involved in achieving the…

We are now witnessing a war of aggression in Europe, something we believed was consigned to our history books. The bravery and heroism of Ukrainian soldiers, its President and its people is profound. We in Ireland must do everything we can to protect and support Ukraine and its people. The Ukrainian people and their Government did not seek this war with Russia, instead this conflict has been thrust upon them by a man detached from the reality of the modern world. The Ukrainian people did not invade Russia. The Ukra…

I am grateful to the Ceann Comhairle for reselecting this particular Topical Issue matter and, indeed, to the Minister for making himself available at this very late hour. As previously discussed with the Minister and, indeed, Education and Training Boards Ireland, ETBI, in recent weeks, there is a clear deficiency in further and higher education facilities in Fingal, specifically, in Swords, the county town and one of the fastest growing communities in the country with a population expected to exceed 100,000 peopl…

There was some very positive news contained within the Minister's response. I was especially pleased to be informed recently of the very significant increase in the capital budget and to learn that, as he mentioned, a substantial part of it, 45%, is to be expended in this particular area. That shows the sort of commitment we need in order to meet the demand of a growing young population, but also to broaden the options available to younger people, in particular school-leavers. My engagement with ETBI was based on a…

I thank the Minister and the Minister of State for their generous sports capital programme. On behalf of the 58 clubs in my constituency, I would like to say “Thank you”. Of course, there are a number who, as my colleague has outlined, were either unable to apply or who were unsuccessful. It is important we outline to them at this point, which is the root of my question, what level of funding has been set aside for appeals, as has been the case in prior years. As Deputy Dillon has outlined, this process started pre…

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive response. My constituency, Dublin Fingal, has very distinct identities, individual communities and farmland, predominantly, in between. With those distinct identities come distinct rivalries, which is why those communities have looked carefully at the allocation of each sports capital funding round that has occurred over the past decade or so. I circulated some figures directly to the Minister of State at the time of the last round, as he will recall, regarding sp…

I appreciate the comments of my colleagues. I was going to finish on the benefits the town centre first policy has for our climate, but I will start with them, given my colleague has ended with his. I agree with him that it is very beneficial to have a county architect involved in these things. As a former councillor, along with my colleague, Deputy O'Callaghan, in the same electoral ward all those years ago, we had a county manager who was an architect, which was very beneficial. However, we made mistakes where si…

I thank Deputy Carroll MacNeill for having the foresight to put this item on the agenda and the Minister for making himself available. Like my colleague, I woke this morning and turned on my radio and immediately felt my heart in the pit of my stomach with the horrific news that the Russian Federation had invaded the sovereign territory of Ukraine. Like any democrat or any parent, I immediately think of the women, the men and the children of that nation and the terror that they must feel as we speak. It is an act o…

I just want to mention my appreciation to Moldova, which when I last checked had taken more than 4,000 refugees on its border. That prompted this debate because we have a role to play. I am very heartened by what the Minister said. There are 4,000 Ukrainian citizens in Ireland. There is a prominent local businessman in Malahide whom I know very well, who I am very fond of because he is an absolute gentleman. It is important to me to know that there is an opportunity for families to be reunified in these circumstanc…