Tá sé deas é sin a chloisteáil. Tá mé thar a bheith sásta leis sin. It is important the children know that education through the medium of Irish is being taken seriously by the Government. In the previous Government, we saw a decrease in the number of children learning through the medium of Irish. It is something the Government needs to turn around. In the programme for Government, there are clear commitments to education through the medium of Irish and I like the way the Minister outlined them there. This is one o…

What everyone has said today is completely true. We are witnessing one of the darkest moments in modern history. In Gaza, the population is being bombed, starved, displaced and deprived of the most basic human rights. When I met a young man who lives in my constituency whose parents are still in Gaza, I could not look him in the eye and say I am not doing everything I can to help him and his family. Ireland cannot be one of the silent countries. Let us speak clearly. Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. This is n…

I have a question for the Taoiseach that is especially personal to me as my sister and her wife are expecting their child. Real fear and frustration is being felt by the LGBTQ+ parents who are still not legally recognised as their children's parents. As it stands, the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024 risks leaving families behind, especially those born through surrogacy or donor conception outside Ireland. Will the Taoiseach commit to commissioning an independent equality audit of legislation, will he …

My question concerns the help to buy scheme and its future direction. The programme for Government commits to both retaining and revising the scheme. Given the significant rise in house prices, particularly in north Dublin, has consideration been given to adjusting the eligibility criteria or value threshold to ensure the scheme remains relevant and accessible to first-time buyers of my generation?

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. I welcome that the Minister said that. I have met developers in north Dublin and across the country and they told me that the Housing Finance Agency was meeting just once a month. Completed buildings are sitting empty in the middle of a housing crisis, yet there does not seem to be a sense of urgency in the Department. Housing is not the Minister's Department, but as Minister for Finance, will he be increasing the number of times the agency meets in order to show people that we are se…

I thank the Minister for his answer. It is exactly that - the board is meeting once a month. Developers and investors are seeing this. It is holding developers up and adding many costs for them, which they do not like and discourages the building of homes. The scheme is valuable and it is right that it is being retained. I look forward to the budget and seeing what this Government will do. Revision is needed to ensure that the scheme reflects today's market. This includes updating the price gap and ensuring that th…

I thank my constituency colleague for bringing up data centres and the State data centre. The programme for Government talks about expediting private wire legislation. As Deputy Ó Muirí just said with regard to the decarbonisation of data centres, as we are all aware, 21% of our electricity is being used by data centres. While other Deputies will attack data centres, there are 53,000 jobs indirectly or directly linked to data centres. I am not going to shout at the Minister of State and say they are using this elec…

I wish to address something to which reference has already been made, namely our climate targets. This is a matter I have already spoken about. We know it will be beneficial for the Government if we invest millions of euro in our ports and expand them. While there is going to be huge offshore renewable energy coming into the Port of Cork, the latter is not a viable location for bringing in the big vessels necessary to allow for the swift change in our infrastructure. On behalf of the people of Clontarf, I thank the…

It is deeply harrowing to witness the devastation unfolding in Gaza, as every Deputy has said. As we speak, infants are starving. Families are without clean water or basic medical supplies. According to the WHO, nine out of ten people in Gaza now face crisis-level hunger. I have heard Deputies across the Chamber refer to the Great Famine but it is actually the great genocide that our people faced when we had grass stains on our mouths and when lies upon lies were put on what was being inflicted on our nation. This …

I commend Deputies Connolly and O'Rourke on their amendments to the proposed legislation. Many younger Deputies, myself included, may not be too aware of the State's involvement in residential institutions, which finally closed in Ireland from the late 1980s up to the mid-1990s. I have watched recordings of Deputy Connolly in previous Dáileanna setting out, or painting a picture if you like, of the conditions that survivors endured. I want to say go raibh míle maith agat to Deputy Connolly for all the work she has …

What we are witnessing in Gaza is an humanitarian disaster. Thousands of people have been killed. Thousands more are missing under the debris and rubble and more than 1.5 million face starvation. Entire neighbourhoods have been obliterated. Children are dying of hunger. Hospitals, schools and refugee camps have been bombed, and still the world hesitates. I condemn the atrocities carried out by Hamas on 7 October. The killing of civilians and taking of hostages are crimes, but we cannot allow this condemnation to be…

Bhí an Teachta Healy-Rae ag caint faoi rud éigint atá thar a bheith fíor. An rud ná nach bhfuil gá ag an Aire ná ag an HSE. Nuair atáim ag cur ceisteanna parlaiminte isteach chuig an HSE nó NTA, tá sé soiléir go bhfuil rud éigint mícheart leis an system atá againn. Níl aon duine responsible. It is ridiculous. I do not understand how we have given the power to these senior civil servants and I wonder who is actually running this country. That is something that really needs to be changed because people in these posit…

Listen, I did not disturb you when you spoke so please be quiet. I will get a lot more done than any of you will. I want to highlight the unacceptable surge in waiting lists for autism assessments and broader failings in the assessment of need systems. The regional group negotiated pay parity for section 38 and section 39 workers and I am delighted to see it has been done, but let us be honest about what is happening here, namely, that families are exhausted, children are waiting too long and it is not just for ass…

What support is the Minister's Department providing to help farmers meet national and EU climate targets, especially in emissions reduction, biodiversity enhancement and sustainable land use? Will the Department focus in particular on nature-based solutions? I was very lucky to have worked on an integrated constructed wetland and I would love to hear the Department's opinion on the use of such wetlands as a tool not only to reduce our emissions but also to clean our water.

I am delighted to hear that the Minister is committed to our climate targets. I know he might be surprised to hear a north Dublin TD who cares about agriculture, but it is something I studied in college. He has just mentioned the sustainability aspect. To what extent are the CAP payments now tied to the measurable climate targets and how is the Department ensuring these conditions drive genuine change? Integrated constructed wetlands, ICWs, are brilliant, especially for farm runoff, using a piggery or any alternati…

I am delighted to hear that, and I thank the Minister for the engagement today. I wish him the best of luck. He has a great brief, and Ireland will definitely be defined and our Government will be defined by how we act in the next four or five years in this regard. I urge the Department to look at integrated constructed wetlands as a cost-effective solution. They store carbon, they boost biodiversity, this week being biodiversity week, they are cost-effective and they have been done very successfully in Sweden and …

We all agree that Ireland urgently needs better infrastructure to meet its housing needs. The Minister has sat here listening to all of the Deputies say this with regard to water planning and grid capacity. The solution does not lie in trading blame. It lies in us all rolling up our sleeves and fixing what is broken, and what is easily fixable right in front of us. There are small legislative changes that would have the biggest ripple effects in finally solving the housing crisis that my generation and every genera…

I wish to raise an issue on which the Minister of State has engaged with me regarding Raheny Shamrocks Athletics Club and a development that the board of the club has been working really hard on. I welcome the fact the Minister of State has been speaking to the board. I ask him to comment on the fact that the northside needs more investment in this club and in running tracks across the board.

It is great to hear that the Minister of State will be coming to the club. Raheny Shamrock Athletic Club has a significant history of producing Olympians not just for the northside but for all of Ireland, such as Dick Hooper, Mick Clohisey and Sophie Becker as well as paralympians Orla Comerford and David McNally, and Brian Fay, who I went to school with. With over 850 members, the club still has a waiting list for juveniles. There are way more running tracks on the southside. I believe the estimate is six or seven…

I welcome the fact that the Minister of State said that. Regarding the lack of running tracks and the number of Olympians, maybe northsiders are just better runners. I ask that the capital plan that, please God, will go to Raheny Shamrock Athletic Club not be a one-time investment. If Dublin City Council could do this, it could charge people, which would build revenue for the council. We would also prevent further use of hospital services because people would be fitter. Like the significant fines we are facing from…