I will finish up by saying that we must get away from the notion that we have to move cars and towards the notion that we have to move people. Public transport plays a very big part in this, but it is very fragmented. It does play a part in terms of road safety.

Finally, we can see a noticeable change from automated crossings for schools as opposed to school wardens. Has there been a road safety assessment that indicates that is the best way? I want to see the evidence.

Okay.

Last week I raised with the Taoiseach the issue of the impasse at Castletown House about the vehicular access from the M4. The Taoiseach's response to me was: I am aware of the situation and I have spoken to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, about it. Conversations ongoing with the landowner. We are keen to resolve that if we can, but it is a negotiation. Yesterday, the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, said on KFM radio that negotiations were under way but could not discuss them because they are at a com…

The European Commission has proposed changes to this directive to bolster victims' ability to realise their rights. These are rights that should be enhanced to whatever degree required. We are supportive of this endeavour. However, I questioned the weaknesses in the rights directive when it was originally composed and then adapted. I doubt there are many in this Chamber this evening who will oppose adopting this directive, but I wish to record there is a time-sensitive element to opting in. This question must be de…

I also welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion, which was put forward by the Rural Independent Group. Like most other Deputies, we get emails and calls from people on this issue on a regular basis and it is a huge source of frustration. People want to regularise themselves when it comes to driving on the public roads. Some people want to drive to work and more and more want to drive to college, and the housing disaster is part of that. People also want to drive to things like leisure, sports and so on where…

Well in excess of €25 million has been spent on Castletown House and demesne in Celbridge since 2006. It attracted 957,000 people last year. The Office of Public Works, OPW, has assembled 227 acres over the years but recently, 235 acres was purchased at an auction in which the OPW was outbid. This included the M4 vehicular access and car park, which was leased by the OPW from 2007. The OPW was unable to negotiate a new lease. The only remaining vehicular access is through the historic gates, which can only accommod…

I also welcome the O'Farrell family to the Gallery. This House voted for a full public inquiry into the circumstances around the death of Shane O'Farrell. The Government decided on a scoping report which has concluded that no public inquiry is to be recommended. While the scoping report was far from a public inquiry, the expectation of most of us in this House was that all of the issues and key reports would be considered fully in the context of this scoping exercise. The terms of reference provided that Judge Haug…

This question seeks to establish whether the Minister intends to set up a statutory inquiry into the arrest, detention, interrogation, prosecution and conviction of Michael Barrett, Osgur Breatnach, John Fitzpatrick, Nicky Kelly, Brian McNally and the late Mick Plunkett in the context of the Sallins train robbery in 1976.

I am sure the Minister has received the civil society petition that was prepared by four leading human rights organisations, namely, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, ICCL, the Committee on the Administration of Justice, the Pat Finucane Centre and Fair Trials. It was delivered to the Minister in September. Has she had the opportunity to go through that? It is a well-argued petition on why an inquiry is necessary. What happened to these five individuals changed their lives irrevocably. There has never been a p…

I presume the Minister will read the petition. Will she engage with the ICCL in the near future? There never was a State apology to these six individuals. There is something of an inconsistency in correctly having an issue with what transpired in the UK in relation to legacy cases, given the approach to this kind of case. It is very difficult to square that circle when one sees something like this. Could the Minister give me some indication of when she will read this petition and engage with those groups who have p…

I thank the Regional Group for tabling this very timely motion. This time last year, I tabled a parliamentary question relating to rosters to which the Minister replied. I am asking myself how are we still here. It has been 12 months since I got that reply and it was a bubbling issue at that stage. It is unthinkable that we are here 12 months later and this is at crisis point. In her statement around the time of the motion of no confidence in the Garda Commissioner, the Minister said that she discussed the ballot a…

I welcome the Bill. I agree with previous speakers that it could be improved and I hope the Minister of State will be open to taking amendments on Committee Stage. The first prosecution in this State for human trafficking took place in 2021, with two women given sentences of five years for trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Those sentences were successfully challenged by the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, because of their leniency. Reading some of the press reports provides context to the c…

As most other speakers said, most survivors of gender-based violence are women and girls, but men also experience similar types of violence. It is important that we read out and talk about the definition of that, and the Oireachtas Library and Research Service Digest is very good, as others said. It involves things like sexual, physical, mental and economic harm inflicted in public or private, including threats of violence, coercion and manipulation. It is important that we would say that because people who experie…

I too want to commend the joint task force. I think it was an exemplary piece of work. Obviously, resources are a significant issue. I want to raise the issue of school transport. When will the review be published? This comes up every year, but I do not believe I have seen a year worse than this one. There are special needs children without school transport services. We are seeing children who did not get their first or second choice schools finding a place in their third choice school but not having a transport sy…

I understand this is a technical Bill. It provides for the dissolution of Ervia and the transfer of its functions, assets, records and staff to Gas Networks Ireland. I understand that. The first thing stated in the explanatory memorandum is: In 2018 the Government decided that Irish Water (Uisce Eireann) should be separated from Ervia and made into a standalone entity. On 20 October 2020 the Government approved the memorandum of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, which outlined the plan for th…

On the same subject, some of these services will collapse. There is no obvious mechanism to resolve this because the State is the funder. As the Taoiseach said, if the section 39 bodies did not exist the State would have to provide the services directly. The problem is that if the State does not come back to the table, there is nothing to negotiate. We cannot talk about the industrial relations mechanisms being available. We urgently need to have a discussion about this. It is fanciful to think that Tusla and the H…

Unaffordable housing, was it?

We can come up with all sorts of reasons why house prices are so high in this country but I do not see any real attempt to drive them down. This is an island off the west coast of Europe and there is a need to bring in materials and all the rest so, in terms of a comparison, I will look at average house prices on the island. In Dublin, the average house price is €436,000. Nationally, it is €330,000. Why is it €260,000 in Belfast, €202,000 in Derry and €200,000 in Northern Ireland as a whole? It is very difficult to…

The more extensive review is now necessary because of the lack of transparency from some members of RTÉ management. If there is a way to deal with a crisis, how RTÉ has handled this one is not the way to do so. The top-up payments triggered the crisis, but the cover-up, particularly in a situation where there is no obvious personal gain for most of those involved, is hard to understand. Last week we were told it was a transaction designed to deceive. The question so many of us have is "Why?". I completely understan…