I am taking this Topical Issue matter on behalf of the Minister for Education. I thank Deputy Connolly for raising the matter. It provides an opportunity to clarify the current position in relation to Scoil Náisiúnta Bhríde. As the Deputy is aware, Scoil Náisiúnta Bhríde is an all-Irish co-educational primary school with a Catholic ethos. The current staffing is a principal, one special education teacher post and one part-time special education teaching post, with an enrolment of eight pupils in September 2021. The…

I thank the Deputy. Obviously, as I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Education, I will ensure that the Minister is made aware of the questions the Deputy has raised. To reiterate the key point, as indicated, the decision-making authority for school closures or amalgamations is the school patron. No request for the approval of the closure of Scoil Náisiúnta Bhríde has been received by the Department. That is all I can clarify for the Deputy regarding the matter. The additional points raised by the…

I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. Addressing the situation of undocumented Irish immigrants in the USA and working to secure legal pathways for those wishing to regularise their status has been, as the Senator rightly pointed out, a priority issue for successive Governments and continues to be a priority for the current Government. Emigration matters continue to be raised by senior members of the Government at every opportunity and will be a key issue raised during the upcoming series of St. Pa…

I share the Senator's view that there is an opportunity. As I said, we are absolutely committed to working on this issue at every single level. It is an issue that I have worked on, as has the Minister and the Taoiseach. It is a very important issue and we will use the opportunity of the upcoming St. Patrick's Day events to continue that engagement. Thankfully, there is a willingness in the current Congress and President Biden's Administration to look at immigration reform. There is an absolute determination in the…

I am here with Members of the House to address both the current situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories and, in particular, the issues raised in the report published on 1 February by Amnesty International. Amnesty International is a respected NGO that carries out important work around the world. The Government values the vital role it and other civil society organisations play. Israeli and Palestinian civil society organisations, as well as international organisations such as Amnesty, make a si…

There are copies outside and available in the anteroom, I believe. My apologies.

Ireland has been consistently clear that the restrictions imposed on Palestinians undermine the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, a right that is at the heart of the two-state solution. Ireland has been forthright in expressing concern regarding the unequal treatment of Palestinians and the application of different standards in the occupied Palestinian territories. We have been clear in the language we have used to describe the situation and are conscious of how the language we use can be inter…

I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney. The Minister welcomes the publication of the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. The establishment of the Commission on the Defence Forces was set out in the programme for Government and was a key priority for the Minister for Defence. The publication of the report represents the culmination of the work carried out over the past 13 months and is testament to the considerable efforts of all who contr…

As the Senator will be aware, I have outlined some of the key matters in the commission's report. I will certainly take on board what she has said and the important points that she has raised and bring them to the Minister, in terms of following on from this. I reiterate that given the significant recommendations in the report, a period of consideration is required. The report will require detailed consideration and interdepartmental consideration. It is important that having done the work the commission has done, …

I thank the Deputy for raising this topic and I pay tribute to the work which he undertook, as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and as Minister for Justice and Equality, in regard to facilitating a whole-of-government response to issues affecting the Irish abroad, whether in the context of recent emigrants or the broader diaspora issues he is raising this evening, particularly with regard to those seeking to return to Ireland. The Government's new five-year diaspora strategy, which I had the honour to launch …

I thank the Deputy for those remarks. I would agree very much with what he is saying. The thrust of my work since I became a Minister of State with responsibility for the diaspora has been to strengthen and deepen the ties with our diaspora. There is a need for that recognition that the Deputy talked about that it is very much a two-way street. We must deepen and strengthen ties with our diaspora but we must also be willing and open to bringing our diaspora back and to recognising that there is a large percentage o…

I thank the Acting Chairperson. I am very pleased today to contribute to this important debate. Ireland has a proud history of supporting the protection of human rights around the world. We are a small country but we are an independent voice on the international stage, prioritising the most vulnerable and marginalised. We are committed to the universality, indivisibility and interrelatedness of all human rights and to accountability for human rights violations and abuses. I welcome the opportunity to discuss our en…

To conclude, I thank Senators for their contributions thus far and look forward to hearing further contributions from them.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important matter. The Minister, unfortunately, has had to leave, but she was in attendance, as Deputies would acknowledge, for the vast majority of the debate. She spoke comprehensively on the Government's approach to the expansion of employment service provision and the extensive engagement with the sector. I commend the quality of the employment services the Department of Social Protection currently contracts. All these services are important in assisting people from all…

Nor is there an exemption that would remove the State's obligation. The Minister spoke earlier about the extensive engagement with the sector, as I mentioned, including visits to every provider and engagement with representatives from the sector. Those engagements have been critical in the approach taken to expand an integrated, high-quality employment service model, while meeting the need to procure services in line with procurement law. Several The design of the regional employment service, which arose from stake…

I am thankful for the opportunity to have this important debate on the extremely worrying situation in Afghanistan. The current crisis comes against a background of 40 years of conflict, recurrent natural disasters, chronic poverty, drought and the Covid-19 pandemic. The people of Afghanistan have borne many hardships and are now experiencing new suffering, with the most vulnerable, particularly women and girls, most at risk. Even prior to the events of 15 August, the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan was one o…

It would be easy to give a litany of what Sinn Féin Members actually do, what their real intentions and practices are compared to the petty stunts they pull when sitting in this House. I do not want to do that tonight. I want to talk about a colleague-----

Believe me, there will be plenty of time to talk about what they do. Tonight I want to talk about a colleague I work with in the Department of Foreign Affairs, a person who has more integrity than most of them will ever know or understand and who does more to serve this country in a day or a week than most of them have ever done. Indeed, most of them have a good track record in damaging our country. It is a critical time and some of them might wish in a few weeks or months if, God forbid, the motion was to succeed,…

I thank Deputy Murphy for giving me the opportunity to discuss this issue in the House today. As many Members will be aware, rail services on this particular line ceased operation in 2010 under an agreement between the National Transport Authority, NTA, and Iarnród Éireann. A number of improvements were made to bus services in the area at the time to ensure continued public transport connectivity. A number of parties have raised concerns that the decision to maintain the Barrow bridge in the current open position m…

I thank the Deputy for her comments and will pass her remarks on to the Minister with regard to when the strategic railway review will conclude. It will commence shortly. The Deputy will be aware that a procurement process related to the review is under way. The review will examine the network across the island of Ireland with regard to improving sustainable connectivity between major cities, enhancing regional accessibility and supporting balanced regional development. It is obviously well worth making the comment…