I have no problem with missing Ministers of State. I understand how busy they are. Personal contact never impresses me although I am delighted when Ministers of State make personal contact. What impresses me more are answers on paper. Where are we with the analysis of the 5,500 consultations? I heard in the Minister of State's answer that "the policy context has changed since 2018" and that the people making submissions were made aware of that. I appreciate that is the case. The policy context has become even more …

The sound is more important than the vision, I think, on this occasion.

I call an Teachta David Cullinane. Two speakers are listed but there is just the Teachta here at the moment.

This motion is necessary, urgent and overdue and I thank the Social Democrats for bringing it forward. People are carrying the cost of a crisis they have nothing to do with. We can continuously talk about taking measures to deal with rising costs, and the Social Democrats outlined actions relating to it. Change the legislation and take action to bring about the necessary structural changes or we can go on forever every single year talking about the marginalised and refusing to address the question that the economic…

I have two and a half minutes, so I will try to be as focused as I can. I absolutely agree with the comments on Frau von der Leyen. Europe lost its moral compass a long time ago. Frau von der Leyen is telling us that Israel is entitled to defend itself. It is just beyond. If the MEPs from Ireland vote against the motion of no confidence, we are seriously in trouble in Ireland. On the action from the EU in the context of these discussions, I welcome that we finally have a statement that deplores the dire humanitaria…

There has been a very welcome announcement that there is going to be a commission of investigation into every allegation of historical sexual abuse in every school in the country. Are we going to have a debate on that in the Dáil? Is it going to be on the agenda next week? We are going to finish next week. We need to learn from previous commissions of investigation, and it should be debated in the Dáil.

I thank the Chair for facilitating me. My apologies. I welcome the opportunity to say a few words on this Bill. As usual, I thank the Oireachtas Library and Research Service, which again has been under pressure to produce a digest for us. The Bill has 17 sections and two Parts. I have both positive and negative things to say about it but I never agree with waiving pre-legislative scrutiny. Doing so is a bad decision. There are issues that should have been teased out through pre-legislative scrutiny. There was no re…

The Minister is very familiar with the latest Women Aid's report. What will he do, given the significant increase in contacts with Women's Aid and that 44% of women said they were not satisfied with their initial engagement with An Garda Síochána? The response is inconsistent from the Garda in relation to the 65,000 contacts received. What steps is the Minister taking in relation to the zero-tolerance policy of the Government?

I followed this up myself since I joined the Dáil in 2016. We had a task force in 1996 and Eithne FitzGerald was the Labour Party Minister of State at that stage. Ever since, we have been playing catch-up. I am not reassured that the Garda now has courses in place. It was acknowledged by the Garda when it was before us at the public accounts committee recently and further details will be sent to us on the improvements that would be made. Women's Aid tells us its own services are overstretched and underfunded. I am …

I disagree. The Garda is doing a good job through the protective units but I disagree with the Minister that things have changed in terms of societal attitudes. The Minister could do certain things and act very quickly. He could act regarding the domestic violence register he promised. He has given me no timeline for that. Women’s Aid has consistently stated the strongest legislation will not make a difference, even if it is enforced, without a complete overhaul of our approach to violence - I am not going to use t…

Tá an deis á tapú agam anois córas iarnród éadrom do chathair na Gaillimhe a ardú. Tá an cheist seo thar a bheith tábhachtach. Is í an cheist i ndáiríre ná an bhfuil an dánacht agus an chrógacht san Aire ceannaireacht a thaispeáint agus glacadh leis an gcoincheap seo chun córas iarnród éadrom a sholáthar do chathair na Gaillimhe. I am seizing the opportunity today to raise this matter with the Minister as Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, although I would hav…

I welcome that the Government will prioritise transport in the revised plan. There is no sense of urgency when it comes to Galway city. Its growth has been hampered. It simply cannot develop. I do not have time to go into the lack of infrastructure when it comes to basic sewerage facilities. That is for another day and I have raised it before. I am sticking with just one issue today as one part of a sustainable solution. In 2018, 24,000 people signed a petition appealing to the Government to carry out a feasibility…

I will finish on this. The Government should put light rail in the revised national planning framework. There will be a presentation on light rail in the audiovisual room at 3 p.m. I invite everyone to attend.

There were two speakers in that slot. One speaker indicated. With the consent of the House I will let that speaker come in later. We will preserve the seven and a half minutes that has not been used. Rachaidh mé ar ais arís go dtí Sinn Féin. Glaoim ar an Teachta Denise Mitchell.

Gabhaim buíochas.

I thank the Deputy.

I have only two minutes so I hope I will pick my words effectively and usefully. Since dawn this morning, 43 Palestinian people have been killed by Israeli attacks. On Monday, 74 people were killed, 30 of them at a seaside café used by journalists, activists and local residents. More than 600 starving Palestinians have been killed like moving targets at a fairground. Some 4,186 were injured while waiting for food at the obscenely titled Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. We are offering our few words today. Doctors With…

Go raibh maith agat. I thank the campaigners and Deputy Ó Snodaigh for bringing forward this Bill. It aims to provide for the disregarding of certain criminal convictions that arose from a selection of legislation all through the 19th century and, indeed, one Act going back to the 17th century, as well as the Common Law. It had nothing to do with justice or fairness. It was homophobia at its worst and a set of values that had nothing to do with love between two people. It is high time we got rid of it. We are not o…

I, too, have serious concerns about this. On first reading of the Bill, you would think it is fairly innocuous, in that we are going to punish the receipt of training for terrorism, and travelling and organising it. Then you look at it more clearly and you will see we are amending legislation from 20 years ago to make it stronger. We are doing it on the basis of a directive that we were not obliged to buy into but nevertheless we gave our word to it. We are adding in three new things, including what has already bee…

I want to speak in favour of this motion although I have concerns about parts of it. Overall, I agree with it and the focus it puts on the absence of infrastructure. I will not support the narrative on this side of the House to the effect that objections are causing the planning problems. That is a false, self-serving narrative. My office has just submitted a question to confirm the number of vacancies in the planning system. At any given time, I am told there are 500. I tried my best to elicit a response from the …