I wish to talk in particular about the issue of military flights using Shannon Airport and flying over our airspace. It is something I and others are very concerned about because successive Irish Governments have long claimed the defence of plausible deniability in relation to this. To say we did not know because we did not ask is no longer acceptable. We have already had the Irish Government facilitating the landing of US military flights on Irish soil and some of these military flights have been facilitating the …

I utterly condemn the actions of Hamas and Hezbollah. However, yesterday a member of the rap group Kneecap was charged with terrorism offences in the UK. They were charged under legislation that the British Government has been rather selective in its application of. The British Government has sent over 14 shipments of arms to Gaza. Last year it sent £127 million in military equipment to the Middle East. These charges are political. They are designed to censor and silence those who are calling out this genocide. It …

This starts and ends with Benjamin Netanyahu. For many years, Netanyahu and his regime propped up Hamas at the expense of Abbas and the Palestinian Authority in order to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and nobody has done more to undermine the State of Israel than Benjamin Netanyahu. Finally, we are seeing a shift - belatedly - in the position of the international community, with the exception of Ireland. Judgment is coming and not just for the perpetrators but for the enablers of this too. I am as…

Gabhaim buíochas le Sinn Féin as ucht an rún seo a chur faoi bhráid na Dála. Water and the adequate funding of water infrastructure are issues we have failed to address properly in this country over many years. We all know there are huge issues all over the country, many of which have been outlined this evening with regard to our water infrastructure. Our infrastructure spend is actually 25% lower than the average for comparable European countries. We need a serious multi-year plan to properly address the housing c…

I raise the issue of aviation policy. Will the Government consider reviewing aviation policy in light of the fact that aviation policy has not been reviewed since 2015? I raise the matter in particular as a member of the cross-party Shannon Airport Oireachtas group. Shannon Airport is one of the most underused pieces of infrastructure in the State and we need to make much better use of it.

I thank the Minister and tentatively welcome his reply. I am from the west of Ireland, as is the Minister of State sitting beside the Minister, and Shannon Airport is critically important to us in the mid-west. It is not something I agree with, but we know that the Government is going to try to lift the passenger cap. It is a fact of life. We need to gain some additionality for regional airports. Will the Minister look at expanding the regional airports programme to allow access to airports such as Shannon Airport?…

It is not about being anti-Dublin or anti-Dublin Airport. It is about giving us more options outside of Dublin, both in the mid-west and Cork, to avoid having to travel up the motorway to fly to key European destinations. I welcome the fact the Minister said he will examine the regional airports programme. While Government cannot force airlines to fly from a particular airport, it can create policy levers and incentives to make it more attractive for airlines to fly out of the likes of Shannon, Kerry and Knock airp…

I would like to agree with and be associated with Deputy Mac Lochlainn's remarks. The Minister for housing needs to come in to the Dáil this week to answer questions relating to both the current and future funding of Uisce Éireann, the role of the so-called "housing tsar" and the strategic housing activation office. The principle of a strategic body to unblock the issues around housing development is an idea that definitely has merit and deserves consideration provided it is underpinned by legislation, as was set o…

Today, trolley numbers in University Hospital Limerick have again exceeded 100, exceeding ten hospitals on the east coast of the country. With the recent announcement by the Government of a new accident and emergency department for Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, I am hopeful that we will soon see movement towards a second accident and emergency department in Limerick. When does the Government expect to receive final advice from HIQA on emergency care capacity in the mid-west? Will the Government commit to facilitatin…

A bit like the Obamas, there is apparently a rift at the heart of this marriage of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil Ministers barely being seen together this week. The Tánaiste said earlier that process matters. Can he confirm, with regard to the Government's so-called housing tsar, that Mr. Brendan McDonagh is the Government's preferred candidate, as the Minister, Deputy Browne, said on the radio? Will Mr. McDonagh's appointment go through an appropriate public appointment process? Does th…

The Minister, Deputy Browne, said Mr. McDonagh is the Government's preferred candidate.

I thank the Minister for the response. I will touch on some of the points she made. Schools are very concerned that they are not sufficiently funded to open new special classes. There are issues with space, staffing, resources and appropriate sensory spaces, among other things. The majority of our traditional schools do not have the appropriate facilities for spaces that they need, like sensory spaces, to enable children with additional needs to thrive in a mainstream environment. I am slightly concerned about the …

The national planning framework is a critical piece of work that underpins everything in regional planning, development plans and local area plans. It is vital we get this right, as this document goes to the very essence of how we do planning, development and infrastructure in this country. This plan should be an opportunity to set out and better reflect the need for a more balanced distribution of economic activity and population growth to close the gap between Dublin and the regional cities. The NPF should also s…

I was not in the Chamber for Deputy Brennan's moving contribution but I did listen to it from my office. It made me stop what I was doing. I was born with a congenital dislocated hip. I have a weakness in one of my hips. I went through some stuff as a child and may have to have more treatment on my hip. Orthopaedic surgery is an especially physical form of surgery, an especially invasive form of surgery and the thought of vulnerable children having surgery they were not supposed to get and that some of them may hav…

I am covering for Deputy Ahern. I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach and welcome the Minister to his new role. This is my first time having an exchange with him in the House. We know the Cabinet has approved the proposal to develop a State-led emergency gas reserve in the form of a floating storage regasification unit, FSRU. This will have the capacity to supply Ireland's entire gas demand for seven days. We do not believe the Shannon LNG terminal is necessary or prudent. I ask the Minister if he will intervene to s…

I thank the Minister. I am disappointed to hear his reply. Given that the FSRU would, in theory, provide sufficient gas reserves, how can we have faith in the Government's commitment to end fossil fuel use and to reach our targets? Is it a case that the FSRU will not provide sufficient energy security and the Minister feels we need the Shannon LNG too?

I know he referenced coal but greenhouse gas emissions from LNG are 33% more potent than coal. Building an LNG terminal would lock us into fossil fuel reliance for decades. We declared a climate emergency in 2019. I remember having an exchange with a former Green Party TD before the election who assured me the Government's new planning and development Bill, which was then before the previous Oireachtas, would not allow the approval or construction of LNG infrastructure. It is clear that what the Labour Party was po…

I will make very clear my own position. I do not support the FSRU. The Labour Party believes we cannot justify this if we intend to be very serious about reaching our climate targets and achieve a 51% reduction in emissions by 2030. In light of the 2021 policy statement, which introduced a moratorium on LNG and fracked gas, and the Government's independent analysis which raised a range of risks associated with such a development, we are very concerned because the Shannon LNG terminal will be a permanent commercial …

Water and the adequate funding of water infrastructure is something we have failed to address. We all know that there are huge issues with water infrastructure. Uisce Éireann needs at least €60 billion over 25 years to repair our water system. This is something we have failed to adequately address. It is crucial, not only for our economic development but also for the basic amenity of being able to swim in open water. I always find it a bit strange that we almost have a tolerance for raw sewage running into our bath…

Ar dtús, ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an ngrúpa neamhspleách agus an Teachta Healy as ucht an rún seo a chur faoi bhráid na Dála inniu. Molaim agus molann Páirtí an Lucht Oibre an rún seo. Tá a fhios ag chuile dhuine sa Teach seo go bhfuil an chruachás agus an ghéarchéim ag éirí níos measa, agus caithfidh an Rialtas rud éigin difriúil a dhéanamh. I support the general thrust of the motion. I thank the Independent and Parties Technical Group for bringing it forward. In my short time as a TD, this is t…