On the same issue, it is extraordinary that within five days the national discourse on this has utterly changed. In recent years I have asked the Taoiseach; the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly; the Minister of State, Deputy Butler; and the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, about this issue and on each occasion I have been assured that I can move on as there is nothing to be seen or worry about. However, when I asked the Tánaiste about it last Thursday, he reinforced the absolute need for the State to fully own and con…

Five Deputies have asked about this issue. The Taoiseach has not given us an answer.

If the issue of ownership is addressed, so is that of control.

I agree that the constant use of arguments around a demographic timebomb to justify a tax on pensions and the retirement age in general is outrageous. The attempt by the State to push out the pension age has had widespread political support and was first designed by the Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government and put into legislation by the Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition and it was part of the austerity response. It was also based on the idea that because people are living longer we cannot possibly pay a State pension…

The Tánaiste knows as well as I do that when one fights hard for something one does not give it up easily. The Tánaiste fought hard for the leadership of Fine Gael; he will not walk away from it. All my adult life I, and tens of thousands of women in this country, have fought very hard to be free from the shackles of the Catholic Church over our reproductive rights. We won that fight three years ago when we won the repeal referendum. My question today is about the proposed new national maternity hospital. A recent …

I cannot accept the guarantee that full reproductive rights, including gender realignment, will be available because the constitution of the new holding company states that its core values are identical to those of the St. Vincent's hospital holding group. That constitution needs to change. I accept the Tánaiste is concerned about some of the things we are concerned about. Ideally, the State should purchase the site by compulsory purchase order, fully pay for it, build it, staff it and run it without any interferen…

The Taoiseach knows that next Monday will mark a year from the tragic death of Noah Donohoe, whose body was found in Belfast and whose family have had no answers about his death. This was a teenager tragically found dead after a long search. I know the family has requested a meeting with the Taoiseach and People Before Profit stands squarely behind the family's pursuit of justice and an inquiry. We also stand behind the campaigners, who are called "Noah's army". Today the Dáil should demonstrate its solidarity with…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Planning and Development Act 2000 in order to restrict certain developments in fossil fuels infrastructure and high energy usage data centres, to remove some developments from listing as strategic development infrastructure projects, to revise the procedure for making applications directly to An Bord Pleanála and to ensure that regard be given to the State’s climate targets and commitments and to provide for related matters. People may h…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

I move: That leave be granted to withdraw the Planning and Development (Climate Measures) (Amendment) Bill 2019.

I note that the EU discussions on the various foreign policy issues included a discussion about sanctions on Belarus. It is inevitable that the EU would discuss that but it is extraordinary that there has been no discussion at that level about possible sanctions on Israel. The fragile truce is now broken and, as we speak, Israeli aircraft are bombing Gaza yet again. Those 11 days of vicious attacks on the Gaza Strip led to over 260 deaths. We do not know where this is going to lead. For EU leaders to just say they …

I want to speak to amendment No. 19, which my colleagues and I in People Before Profit proposed. The first question to consider is what we are seeking to amend. The answer is that we want to amend the Government's failure to provide a definition of just transition. There is only one mention of it in the entire Bill, even though it is one of the fundamental issues that needs to be dealt with in these provisions. That reference is in section 4(8) of the 2015 Act, as inserted by section 6 of the Bill, as follows: (k) …

Having listened to the Minister's response, and indeed to the debate, one of the most honest contributions came from Deputy Bruton. It was honest because he let the cat out of the bag as far as the Government is concerned when he said there is no way we can look after everybody, there is no way we can guarantee people's incomes will remain the same and there is no way everybody will be bailed out. That is the meaning of just transition for him. However, interestingly enough, the reality for him and for the Minister…

The Taoiseach said officials should be congratulated for pulling together various strands of all the Departments during the Covid-19 pandemic. I am sure the process has been very challenging. Where in the name of God did the general scheme of the Garda Síochána powers Bill, published on Monday by the Minister for Justice, Deputy Heather Humphreys, come from? It was described by one legal academic as a land grab by the Department of Justice and having read the information about it, I must agree, particularly in ligh…

I want to ask the Taoiseach about future planning for the use of technology in post-primary schools. The Taoiseach may not be familiar with the independent review group in Ratoath College in County Meath, which is shining a light on the problems emerging with a policy that has no uniformity and no structure across the board to deal with technology and the provision of iPads and other digital equipment for students. The independent review group's report shows that in this situation the question of digital poverty an…

The protest today and the anger from the north west were really something to witness. I saw a lot of politicians trying to curry favour at it but many of the protestors were not very comfortable with their presence. This was mainly because these people have suffered under the legacy associated with the parties that oversaw the abuse of the system of building regulations in this country. The 5,000 families affected by defective building blocks that contained mica, many of which were supplied in County Donegal by Cas…

There are critics in this House who will argue that this Bill will not build a single house and we all know who they are. It is a tiresome response from those who have presided over the State for the past ten years as the housing crisis has become the catastrophe it is today and a generation has been scarred from the failure of the State to provide a basic necessity to its people. Normal ordinary people have a desire for secure and permanent shelter. The only way they think they can do it in this country is to own …

I thank Deputies Catherine Connolly, Joan Collins and Thomas Pringle for tabling the motion. I know the debate is being keenly watched by people campaigning to ensure our National Maternity Hospital is in public control and I am not very reassured by the statements this morning from the Minister. Three years after the referendum repealing the eighth amendment to the Constitution, which ensured we could finally access abortion services in this country, we are faced with the promised state-of-the-art new national mat…

People Before Profit, even.

Sixteen years ago today a young man called Terence Wheelock walked into Store Street Garda station but he never walked out. Three months later he died, having been in a coma due to the injuries he received while in custody. GSOC investigated this killing and concluded that no problems were found. GSOC is currently investigating the killing of George Nkencho and I can predict what its findings will probably be. Is the Taoiseach happy that gardaí investigating gardaí, particularly when it involves a death in their cu…