The entire world is aghast at the actions of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service, ICE, in the United States. I am asking a question about Irish citizens, not documented or undocumented. It is not to make an exceptional case because all immigrant groups are being targeted. However, given that we are in the Irish Parliament, I am asking about Irish citizens. How many are being detained by ICE? Are their locations known in all cases? Will the Minister of State make a statement on the matter?

Our figure is 65 plus one so that is 66. ICE's figures for January to September last year are 99. That means 33 people, based on those figures, have not sought consular assistance. I believe that is a low figure. We should be doing more to seek out where those Irish citizens are being held, what there status is and how they can be assisted. I do not think it is good enough in this circumstance to sit back and wait to give consular assistance. Look at the case of Donna Hughes-Brown who had been living legally in the…

Given the size of the Irish diaspora and our cultural and historic links with the United States and the very real human rights concerns we have for anyone being held by ICE in detention facilities, should we not request formally - I believe we should - from the US Secretary of Homeland Security details of all Irish citizens, documented and undocumented, in detention and where they are being held? We should request that from the United States on the grounds that we have real humanitarian concerns over how our citize…

Keep going.

Given the past week and the forecast for the next few days, we need a debate on flooding and the State's response to it as soon as possible, preferably today but no later than next week.

That is not her question.

I raise the reinstatement of the supplementary pension for our uniformed services members. As the Taoiseach is aware, the fast-accrual nature of the pensions for our Defence Forces, fire services, gardaí and prison officers was decoupled from the supplementary element during austerity. This is a financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, measure, which the Taoiseach's party made an unambiguous promise to unwind in this term. However, it did not make the programme for Government. I attended the semi…

The US boycotted the G20 in South Africa on these spurious grounds, further isolating itself from traditional allies. The Taoiseach will go to the White House in couple of months; of that there is no doubt. However, considering what is happening on the streets of Minneapolis, considering the large numbers of members of the Irish diaspora in the United States - that is not to make an exceptional case of the Irish; it is all immigrants and indeed all citizens of the United States who are under threat from ICE - will …

In this time of global uncertainty, it is important we diversify and build up relationships with other countries. The Taoiseach's attendance at the EU-African Union summit is one instance of this, as was his visit to Canada to meet Prime Minister Carney. A lot has been made of Prime Minister Carney's speech at Davos last week. While building up relationships is important, it cannot come at the expense of our values. The current CETA trade deal with Canada does so. I am specifically talking about the investor courts…

It is just the investor courts.

We are approaching the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The resilience of the Ukrainian people in the face of that aggression has been a sight to behold. They have managed to hold off the imperialist, criminal advances of the Russian forces and keep going through four long, cold winters as their towns and cities are bombarded. Their bravery and dedication in the face of such devastation has not just kept their own nation’s freedom intact but has protected others from Putin’s vicious ex…

Unfortunately, the Government does not have high ambitions. There has been an attempt by the rest of the Opposition and the Government to misrepresent or misunderstand our Bill, our motion and our campaign. We carried out a survey in which 850 workers took part. They were not from Dublin, and it was not a Dublin-based survey. In fact, 840 of those who took part in the survey were from outside Dublin. It was a nationwide campaign. Deputy Dolan made a salient point on how remote working disproportionately and positiv…

To pick up on what Deputy Crowe said, even naming these statements seemed quite difficult. Statements on international development does not quite do it justice. Statements on international conflict would probably be closer to the mark. What or who has motivated these statements today? We know the answer. It is the change in the world that has been brought predominantly and almost exclusively by Donald Trump and his administration. If it was not clear before, it is certainly clear now and will continue to be made cl…

I made a number of points in last week's debate, which I will not repeat except for one. Once again I want to raise the issue of the connection of newly built homes in Knocksedan in Swords. These are not homes that are planned, in the pipeline or which might come. These are homes that have been built. I first spoke to Irish Water about this issue on 21 March 2025. I received a full answer to that question only on 30 October 2025, six months later. However, it was not satisfactory in terms of rectifying the problem.…

The Government has not protected the most vulnerable. In the last hour, the consumer price index came out and it shows families had to pay more for basics like clothing, footwear and education costs over the past year. Inflation may be slowing but prices are still rising. The Minister knows this because under his Government's watch, the price of beef has increased by 44% in the last five years. It has gone up 24% in the last 12 months alone. Butter and milk prices have risen by 45% in the last five years. In the la…

Has the Minister dealt with anyone who has tried to apply for hardship funds for a utility company? It is an absolute nightmare. None of these measures, unfortunately, are working enough. Why are people stopping me in JC's Supermarket asking why I cannot reduce the price of groceries? Why are people turning up to my clinic, Deputy Wall's clinics and my colleagues' clinics with utility bills that they cannot pay? It is just not enough. That is the reality of it. The people who cannot pay their bills this month will …

In the week when special school classes were announced for 2026, I need to raise with the Minister the case of River Valley Community National School in Swords. It is not looking for a class in 2026; it is looking for a class now. This is in agreement with the NCSE. The school is a developing school in good but interim accommodation. It is being refused by the Department of education the provision of an autism class right now only because it is in temporary accommodation, even though it has the space. I ask, please…

I thank Deputy Collins for initiating this debate. He has pushed hard for it over the past number of weeks in the Business Committee. A number of things about Uisce Éireann need to change and change utterly. One is the culture of the organisation, which has shifted hugely in the past four years, and I will outline two examples to illustrate that. One relates to my constituency and the Swords wastewater treatment plant. There have been a number of major issues which have affected many residents. In late 2024, I requ…

One of the areas we are quite concerned about is our reputation for being coherent and trusted within the European Union. To be clear, the Labour Party has been consistently opposed to the Mercosur deal on the basis of its impact on climate and the potential impact on workers' rights. The European Trade Union Confederation has been very strong on this for a number of years. Unfortunately, our Government has been anything but coherent in terms of its own approach. The Taoiseach himself stated that progress was being…

I have been ringing alarm bells for several years in relation to coastal erosion in Portrane. Last week during Storm Bram, some families lost 5 m of garden in just a four-hour period. They simply cannot wait around any longer for the planning process, working groups or task forces. They are at risk of losing their homes and they need help. We are looking at potentially hundreds of families being homeless without a swift response from Government. This Dáil term, I contacted the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, who knows th…