I wish the Taoiseach a good afternoon. There was a very positive meeting in Newbridge last night that was chaired by Ms Jennifer Caffrey and hosted by Newbridge Community Development. The one item on the agenda was the cost and availability of public transport in Dublin's commuter belt. As we all know, the National Transport Authority will be publishing new fare rates at the end of June with a view to implementing them by the end of the year. This is another golden opportunity for the Government to put its money wh…

The events of the last 24 hours have again hammered home the need to have uniformed gardaí on the street, both as a deterrent and from a reassurance point of view. For that reason, I raise the Garda Reserve force this morning. It is an outfit that has been around for about 20 years. There is currently about 300 reserve gardaí but they have never really got the recognition or the acknowledgement from the State that they rightly deserve. The members of other part-time uniformed services in the country such as the Coa…

I am grateful to contribute to this important debate on Ireland’s defence and security posture. I welcome the fact that a conversation is finally, belatedly, taking place. For too long Ireland’s defence and security have been treated like kryptonite. We could not even discuss it or look at it in case, as Deputy O’Callaghan pointed out, even to discuss it would mean we would probably threaten it. I welcome the fact it is happening. It does not bother me whether it is a citizens’ assembly, a consultative forum, a Dái…

In light of recent media reports, I want to return to the matter of airspace management in this jurisdiction. In an effort to be constructive, we should probably reframe the debate. It is not really one of national defence but flight safety. The country is at peace, thankfully, so we should have an air policing service here with a constabulary role. That is where the focus should be. What happens in a normal EU country is that if a passenger airline, for instance, is not co-operating with air traffic control, after…

My major concern is the primary radar system. We have not heard anything about it in the past 15 months and, if the Taoiseach will pardon the pun, I think the primary radar is about to fall off the radar. I have no doubt that the direct interest of both the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste will be needed to pursue this project. It would be a huge disappointment if we do not act on the recommendations because the Exchequer finances are in surplus. It is an ideal time to use non-recurring capital expenditure to upgrade our…

I am delighted to take the opportunity to make some comments on Europe Day on behalf of the Regional Group, particularly on the 50th anniversary of Ireland joining the EU. I am conscious that I am one of Ireland’s lucky generation. The country joined in 1973, and I was born in 1977. I am part of the first generation to benefit enormously from being in the European Union. I am very conscious of that. I have witnessed first hand the transition of the country from national poverty to at least some modicum of national …

Approximately how many offshore wind turbines do we expect to have in situ for the end of next year and the end of 2025 and 2026?

I very much acknowledge and appreciate all the work that is going on in the background, such as the establishment of MARA, the legislation and the planning bits and pieces that are taking place. However, what people really need and want to know is when construction will happen. I take the Minister's point. He said the back end of this decade. The key question for me is as to whether there will be any construction of offshore wind turbines in the lifetime of this Dáil or the next? We seem to be talking about megawat…

That is great. Thus, the specifics most likely relate to the period from 2026 onwards. At least we have a good, if tentative, timeline. I am glad about the Arklow wind bank. I managed to sail past it last summer on a trip to France. There are seven turbines there that were constructed approximately 20 years ago. I stand open to correction, but my understanding is that it was the largest offshore wind farm in the world at the time. We were a leader 20 years ago, but we have become a laggard ever since. I am always s…

A number of referendums are planned for a single day in November, which I support. Should we have an additional two referendums on that day? The first is on the rapidly rising population in Ireland. There is a constitutional requirement for a Deputy for every 20,000 to 30,000 people. In 20 years' time, if the projections are correct, we could have 200 Deputies in this Chamber which is unsustainable. November is an opportunity for us to get ahead of that trend. Second, there is a constitutional cap of 15 senior Cabi…

I welcome the opportunity to make some comments on the most recent EU Council meeting in Brussels on 23 March. I welcome the fact that the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, was present physically and that President Zelenskyy dialled in remotely. That is good practice. The EU should be reaching out to third countries, particularly EU accession countries. We should also engage with the wider global community of the UN, especially as the UN was so influential in securing the Black Sea grain initiative which has …

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this important debate on the independent review group report regarding misconduct in our armed forces. I welcome the Women of Honour group to the Public Gallery. I also welcome veterans of the Defence Forces from Kildare. I welcome the publication of the report and its recommendations. Two commitments in the Tánaiste's opening statement jumped out. The first is the need for a statutory inquiry. There is absolutely such a need. It must be judge-led and have the power of com…

I wish to raise the matter of Ukraine. I concur with the Taoiseach's comments of last Friday that Putin will stop where we choose to stop him. That is entirely true. I wish that, in 2014, when he invaded Crimea and half of Donbas, the international community, including Ireland, had been more robust and assertive in stopping him. The appeasement he got eight years ago has brought us to the position we are in at the moment. I recall on 10 February last year on Leaders' Questions the Taoiseach and I had an exchange wh…

It is an unlikely scenario but it is a low probability and high impact issue if it does actually occur. I thank the Taoiseach for confirming that there is a plan. My concern is that everybody who needs to know the plan is aware of it. Would the Taoiseach agree that we have the necessary resources in terms of equipment and people to ensure that we have a resourced implementation of this? Over the Easter recess, will the Taoiseach and the appropriate Ministers consider getting a briefing to make sure they are fully u…

I wish to raise the 58 school building projects throughout the country that are currently on hold due to a lack of funding in the Department of Education. I accept the reason for this is inflation in the cost of construction. A public meeting will be held tonight in Portlaoise regarding Kolbe Special School, which is in particular need and completely worthy of a new premises. When will additional funds come from the central Exchequer into the Department of Education so that all these 58 projects can proceed as plan…

I am grateful for the opportunity to comment in advance of the EU summit meeting tomorrow and Friday in Brussels. The meeting will be chaired by the Swedish Presidency. I very much approve of the agenda. It is only right and proper that Ukraine dominates the agenda, for obvious reasons. It is the burning issue in Europe at the moment, both literally and metaphorically, unfortunately. I join colleagues in welcoming the decision by the ICC to indict Vladimir Putin and issue a warrant for his arrest on the basis of th…

As part of the Government's high-level action plan to transform our armed forces over the coming years, there was a commitment to increase the size of the patrol duty allowance for the Naval Service. I would be grateful if the Minister could update the House on where the proposal is at the moment.

That is great. I thank the Minister for the reply. I accept there have been some minor improvements as part of the general public sector package, but also some specifically for the Defence Forces. I was focusing on the patrol duty allowance because it is such an important allowance given the Naval Service is in crisis from both a crewing and ships perspective. I thank the Minister for updating us on the fact there is at least some consultation going on between him and the Tánaiste. It would be useful if the Ministe…

I entirely agree with the Minister that we must be prudent and responsible across the entire public sector. An aspect of this worth highlighting is this would be an earned allowance rather than just a basic pay improvement. It would be like overtime, so the member would have to work longer and harder to get it. I hope the Minister can take that into consideration. I accept the Government's bona fides that it has agreed in principal to increase the patrol duty allowance. The two matters that remain to be answered ar…

Táim fíorbhuíóch a bheith anseo inniu chun caint faoin ábhar seo. Tuigim cinnte go bhfuil sé ar cheann de na hábhair is tábhachtaí in Éirinn faoi láthair. Before I speak to the motion, I would like to convey my deepest sympathies to the people of Greece following the tragic train accident there. More than 32 people have been confirmed dead. This accident underscores the importance of having a functioning, fit-for-purpose, pre-hospital emergency care system, which we clearly do not have in this country at the moment…