The Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities completed a review into local government last October. I raised this issue in November and have raised it in parliamentary questions subsequently. The report was scathing. It found, not surprisingly, that Ireland has the most centralised system of local decision-making and referred to the balance of power between the Executive and reserved functions at local authority level. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael McGrath, who was taking questions th…

There are a large number of charities and many of them are performing functions that really are public services. Many if not all of them rely on the ability to fundraise. Very essential services are being provided. It is important to get a balance in all of this. I would be generally supportive of the Bill but we must know exactly, but we cannot have unintended consequences such as ending up with reduced services, which are essentially public services, because of an inadequacy of funding if charities are precluded …

I am speaking to amendment No. 83, which relates to advertising directly related to charity fundraising activities for not-for-profit organisations. I would like to pick up on Deputy Doherty's point. Palliative care should be paid for out of direct taxation. It should not be down to communities to have to do fundraising for such an essential service. Unfortunately, so many of our charities are doing the work that should be public services. Those public services should be paid for through direct taxation. That is th…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate. We know how devastating road deaths are. It is not for now; it is for a lifetime for families, as are the catastrophic injuries, which are life-changing for so many people. Of the 63 road deaths this year, the breakdown is 26 drivers, 19 passengers, 12 pedestrians, two cyclists and four motorcyclists, so it is not just drivers, and that point was well made by Deputy Ó Cathasaigh. A total of 26 cycling campaigns across the country wrote to the Road Safety Author…

It is a case of “Start as you mean to go on”. We hope this is not going to be the way we continue with the business. The last time I looked, the Constitution provided that the Dáil decides on the business of this Parliament. The Government is telling us what the business is today without consultation. We have a Business Committee that has become a facade. This is all dictated by the Government. When he spoke yesterday, the Taoiseach talked about reaching across the floor in a more collaborative approach. When we ha…

I will speak directly to this motion and will not stray into the issue of the EU migration pact, which is not on the agenda today. Migrants make up a significant share of people who have been detected as trafficked into forced labour, which can be more properly described as modern day slavery. It is a lucrative area for criminal networks that engage in this activity, as the Minister has already outlined. The risks increase when migration is disorderly, both when migrants are on the move but also around the circumst…

In the past week, when the IP applicants who were camped out on Mount Street - some still are - were bussed to Crooksling, the optics were that they were being hidden from international eyes for the St. Patrick’s Day festival. It is an appalling way to treat human beings. The direct provision system, which was to be phased out, is overwhelmed and cannot cope with the new intake of over 5,500 people who have been through the immigration system and have the right to remain. The problem is that there is nowhere for th…

The length of time it takes for facilities to be started and completed can seem like an eternity and that is when things go well. In the case of the Mercy Convent Primary School project in Naas, planning permission was obtained in 2012. The work commenced in 2017 and there is still no sign of the building being available. It was necessary to deploy the dispute mechanism but that is obviously not working. Two years after the building was sealed, there is still no date for when the new contractor will be on site to c…

On the same issue, I too am looking for time. Indeed, I wrote to the Ceann Comhairle and the Business Committee to ask for time to be allocated this week in the Dáil, including time for questions and answers. This is an extraordinary press release by the former chair of the board. A new chair was just appointed today. Leaving this with unresolved questions is not the way to resolve the many issues in RTÉ. This absolutely has to happen this week because the Dáil will be in recess next week, and if the new chair is t…

Castletown House and its demesne receive about 1 million visitors per year. Most visit the demesne. As the Tánaiste knows, the State was not successful in purchasing the land adjoining the house, where the only viable vehicle access is located. The historic village access is not viable, according to the OPW, and there appears to be an unwilling seller. I understand a CPO involves a long process; however, if it is a question of Kildare County Council entering a CPO process, will it have the backing of the State, inc…

I, too, thank Deputy Collins for tabling this straightforward but worthwhile legislation. The Bill will: impose an obligation on employers, when requested in writing by an employee, to make deductions from the wages of such employee, and, not later than 21 days, remit the amount deducted, along with the written notice of the information required under section 6, to the relevant trade union that is specified in the written request. That is very straightforward. The Bill aligns with the Social Democrats' values and s…

There is no doubt that Kevin Bakhurst and Siún Ní Raghallaigh faced significant issues that predated their appointments. The hope was that major reforms would happen to address the issues that initially arose about the earnings of Ryan Tubridy but which revealed many other issues since last April. Two of the reports initiated by RTÉ have revealed additional information on which much debate has ensued. They were published in January. Two further reports were initiated by the Minister, Deputy Martin, which will no do…

It is obvious that there is not a gap in the legislation but what is needed are the resources to investigate properly who started the fires and bring the culprits to justice. People have to see consequences. That is where the focus should be. RTÉ's "Prime Time" programme has helpfully mapped the arson attacks since 2018 when a hotel in County Donegal earmarked for 100 asylum seekers was set alight. Since then, 23 fires have been set in properties that have been linked to housing for international protection applica…

It has been identified in newspapers all over the place.

The Government needs to get a grip. It is wider than the issues relating to migration and is about how this is being managed. There is absolutely no justification for buildings being set on fire by anyone and I want to see people brought to justice for that. When she wraps up, will the Minister deal with the issue of the resources that are being made available? The fires have happened in dispersed locations. Are specialist resources available at all of those locations? We need those specialist resources, including …

Last week, we had the head of the Prison Service in before the public accounts committee and were told a very large number of inmates had autism, personality disorders and mental health issues, but they said the one thing about prison is they can access all the services in one place for the first time. It now costs €84,000 a year to keep a prisoner in prison. I am comparing that with what is happening with the children's disability network teams. I have met the most extreme cases where the Garda has had to be calle…

Our aim is to have a strong economy and a fairer society. The small-to-medium sector is a critical part of that. There are a number of elements to the motion that need to be broken down. In the case of retail, there is no doubt that a different type of competition is now going on with so much happening online. That competition is causing problems for those business owners who have to provide a building, pay rent and rates, heat the building, provide car parking and do everything else that goes with running a busine…

Every five years we are asked to fill out a census of population form so that the Government can plan for services. We are told that this is the reason people are asked to fill out the census form, which I would encourage everyone to do. However, there is no real evidence that there is a follow through in relation to services. In Kildare there is a real crisis in school places at both primary and secondary level. There are 15 secondary schools in my constituency but 13 of the 15 are completely full. People are gett…

The schools are full.

The exchange of passenger data is important for Ireland and the wider EU law-enforcement communities. The transfer of PNR data relating to international flights has been common practice worldwide since the 9/11 attack. The EU has a number of agreements with third countries as a consequence of that. A past judgment by the ECJ showed that the EU is enforcing increasingly high standards for privacy protection, which is welcome and is needed especially for agreements established prior to GDPR coming into effect. Passen…