I thank the Minister of State and I am encouraged by what she said. It is true that this is fundamentally a responsibility for the local authority but what I get from her answer is that the Department is aware of the issue, that it is engaging with the local authority, DCC, and with An Garda Síochána on the issue. It comes to the stage now where it requires a multi-agency approach. It will require intervention and proactive action by An Garda Síochána to secure the site and it will require action by the local autho…

I have raised this issue on a number of occasions. I have been campaigning on this issue for a number of years, as have the local Labour Party and our local area representative Shane Folan. This impacts some on my colleague, Deputy Duncan Smith, as well, because the issue borders his constituency too. I am referencing the Dublin 13 and Dublin 17 area, where the Minister of State will be aware that there are thousands and thousands of new units being constructed. It is effectively a new town. Within that new town we…

I am reassured by the response from the Minister. I do sometimes get a little disappointed with the political reaction as if there is no influence that the Minister can have in this regard. We know that the soft power of a Minister can be quite strong. The Minister needs to be an advocate and a persuader for this. Her office and her Department needs to be fully engaged on the progress of this. While the Garda Commissioner has described it as exciting, the site has been identified and talks are ongoing between Dubli…

The Labour Party will oppose this motion. In recent weeks, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has driven a coach and horses through the long-established process for bringing legislation through the Houses of the Oireachtas. He rammed through the mica redress Bill, and every Stage of the Electoral Reform Bill 2022 has brought complex and substantial amendments outside the original scope of that legislation. Later today, 72 Government amendments made in the Seanad to the Electoral Reform Bill wil…

Rents in this country have reached record levels and the situation in Dublin is a crisis. Rents are more than 50% higher than they were at the peak of the Celtic tiger in 2008. This is causing misery for my constituents in Dublin Bay North. We must conclude that the housing market has failed. We need much stronger State intervention to increase supply through the direct building of social and affordable housing. We need stronger controls on rent increases and we need to limit the causes of evictions. Even at this l…

I thank the Minister of State and acknowledge that today is a historic day. It is a little bit of history. We did not have a statutory sick pay scheme and now we do. It was on foot of a Labour Party Private Member's Bill that this conversation started. The Minister took it on in good faith, we have come to the conclusion of that discussion and workers are in a better position today in Ireland than they were two years ago. While it is not perfect, we will work with it and try to improve it. I credit the Department, …

I welcome the Bill, which the Labour Party will be supporting. I thank the Tánaiste for his work in respect of it. As has been said, people often take trade unionism for granted or do not understand the nature of it and what it achieves. People's interaction with trade unionism, if they are familiar with it, often involves their seeing images of picket lines, protests or placards. However, what trade unionism does all the time is work to improve the conditions of workers. It works with the Government, Departments a…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 4, line 15, to delete “The” and substitute the following: “Subject to the adequate provision of resources and supports, by the Department of Education and the National Council for Special Education, the”. Due to the lack of time, I am happy to get the Minister’s response.

I am happy to hear from the Minister.

What we are trying to express here is the reality on the ground, which is that schools do not feel supported. I must strongly make the point that the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, saw fit to malign four schools, two of which are in my constituency and all four of which are Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools, DEIS, schools.

Actually, what the Minister of State said was not true. Indeed, she maligned them unfairly, without any evidence. She put forward an incorrect assertion that they were not engaging with the system in terms of what was expected of them. However, it is her form to punch down on vulnerable groups. I have not had the opportunity to engage with her on-----

I am speaking to the amendment.

Well, you have not dealt with it with me.

No, I am-----

I am speaking to the amendment. I am giving call as to why I am-----

-----so strong about pressing this amendment.

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, let me be perfectly clear here what the issue is in terms of this argument.

Yes.

It is very difficult because schools sometimes feel completely unsupported in embracing issues, particularly when the actions of the Minister of State in the Department are part of the problem. That is what we are trying to achieve here. I absolutely stand over my comments. To be quite frank, only for the fact that we are focusing on children this week, the Minister of State with responsibility for special education would be facing calls for her resignation.

I move amendment No. 3: In page 5, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following: “(2) Where, following consultation with the Minister and having regard to any information provided to the Council by the Minister in relation to any planned additional provision of education for children with special educational needs and available lands and buildings, the Council remains of the opinion that there is insufficient capacity in an area for the provision of education to children with special educational needs, it shall…