I wish to focus on childcare supply in Dublin West. I will outline the reasons we need a review of section 28 of the Planning and Development Act and the ministerial guidelines from 2001, a review of the interaction between county councils and county childcare committees and radical change from the loose planning guidelines we have to deliver childcare supply in order to plan, build and open childcare facilities, especially community childcare facilities, in local communities. Last year, I went through Fingal Count…

Parents will tell you again and again that supply is a major issue across Dublin 15. The Minister of State knows that. I have reached out to some of the childcare committees to see what is happening and what interaction there is. My feedback from that is that it is not consistent. Some committees are working closer with planning officials than others. If we are to address undersupply, we need those structures to be working. I do not think they are working in the way that they need to in order to deliver. We are usi…

I wish the Acting Leader and Cathaoirleach a good morning. I welcome H.E. Palm and Lieutenant Colonel Piso to our Chamber. I wish to raise a couple of issues this morning, the first of which is the news yesterday from the Minister for Justice that there will be gardaí on duty at railway stations, starting at Heuston Station with a new Garda transport hub. I very much welcome this news and progress. I am keen to see this also rolled out in Connolly train station, which, of course, would affect my train line going th…

I welcome the Minister of State. Tyrrelstown is one of the youngest, fastest-growing and most diverse communities not just in Dublin West, but in the entire country. According to the 2016 census, 35% of the population were aged 15 or under and 40% of people living there were born outside the State. Residents have identified a major issue in the area to do with the provision of secondary school places. In particular, I thank Tyrrelstown Residents Community Council for its work on this matter. A report that was done …

I thank the Minister of State. The response is disappointing. I know it is not his fault but I feel like we are going backwards. The need for a school has been identified, but the response does not acknowledge that. I will now go back to a community to tell it that despite the fact we thought there would be a secondary school and everyone was on the same page, it turns out we are not and we must now go through the process of collecting data and pushing for it. We are much further behind than we thought. We are all …

We are supposed to be at planning permission stage. That is my point.

Amendments Nos. 1, 9 and 13 will be taken together. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Amendment No. 2 in the names of Senators Boylan, Gavan, Ó Donnghaile and Warfield has been ruled out of order.

I very much welcome this suggestion. I will support the motion as well because it is an excellent one. It is the practical removal of a barrier and it supports people to produce less waste. We need more of these initiatives. When it comes to waste, I am of the view that we need to think in terms of good, better and best. It is good to recycle but it is much better to not produce the waste in the first place, and that is the aim of this initiative. I have seen the benefit of these fountains in Fingal County Council.…

I was not here yesterday for our first day back. I was in Belfast for the Agreement 25 conference. It will go down as one of the best conferences I have ever attended. I had the honour of being in the room and in the presence of George Mitchell when he made his speech on Monday. I felt as though I was in touching distance of history. At this point, it is all the more bewildering that the Assembly is not at the stage of coming together again. I want to reflect on the teaching conferences that occurred over the Easte…

I, too, welcome the Bill and the impact it will have on the costs facing families and households. It is a significant amount and it is not to be overlooked. As the Minister will know, the children's urgent care centre at Connolly Hospital is a satellite centre of the forthcoming children's hospital in the city. This fantastic service was opened in Tallaght and Blanchardstown, initially from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday to Friday. After a lot of pushing, it now opens on Saturdays and Sundays. In fairness, that is ex…

Since January 2020 there have been 23 section 254 licence applications for telecommunications masts in Dublin 15. These are not phone masts or telecommunication masts the size of lamp-posts; they are 15 m to 18 m or potentially up to 60 m in village and residential locations. I am not mad about The Spire, although I know other people are, but I certainly would not be okay with it turning up outside my kitchen window or towering over my local green. Community groups and Tidy Towns groups are doing a huge amount of w…

As usual, the Minister of State has gone right to the nub of the issue, which is striking the right balance and making sure that people have access to modern digital services in order that they can lead modern lives. For me, the issue is how this is managed. It does seem like the Wild West as telecommunication masts have been erected on public roads, footpaths and greens. It costs €125 to purchase a licence fee and I wonder if the process can be verified by an overstretched planning department that we want to see b…

I welcome the Minister. I thank Fianna Fáil for tabling the motion and giving us the opportunity to talk about the disappeared and the details outlined in the motion. In particular, I thank the family members for being here this evening. I know some of them have brought their loved ones home and others have not yet done so, but it is a fact that they are still working together and supporting each other. This awful experience has brought them all together and they are still here fighting for everyone who is among th…

Before I introduce our next speaker, I wish to acknowledge the presence in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery of the ambassador of New Zealand, H.E. Mr. Trevor Mallard, who is very welcome. On a day like today we are thinking about other trailblazers and female politicians. We have, of course, Jacinda Ardern, who is moving on. Of particular interest is her policy in regard to well-being budgets and such initiatives, which we have discussed in this Chamber. Hopefully, we will see the ambassador more around the build…

I wish everyone a happy International Women's Day. My apologies to the Minister but I too have fitted a lot into my morning in Dublin West. I was in the company of brilliant community activists, including people from Phoenix FM, the Huntstown Community Centre and Castleknock Tidy Towns. While reference has been made to International Women's Day and the progress we have made, it does not take long before the focus shifts to the actions that are outstanding. It is such a privilege to be in this building. I feel that …

I want to thank the Sinn Féin team for tabling this motion, which is a motion I think everyone can sign up to - never say never - and should sign up to.

I was a little concerned that this motion might go in the direction of heaping pressure on the DUP at this moment in time, but that is not what this is about. We recognise we have to give them a little bit of space, but also there is an urgency about this. I think the motion gets that across. From the activities over the last couple of weeks, hope is now back on the table in a way that it has not been for over a year. What I welcome about this motion is that it gives us the opportunity not just to talk about the la…

I wish to discuss the "RTÉ Investigates" programme broadcast last night. It was distressing for anyone who has put trust in a psychologist. Psychology, whether it is in the private sector or the public sector, is not regulated and that is leading to a violation of sensitive personal information and circumstances. The programme rightfully depicted the impact this has on the families of children who are desperate for assessments of need. They are paying for assessments with their own money. They are vulnerable to rog…

I welcome the ambassadors who are here today. I am honoured that the UK ambassador wants to be here to hear what I have to say about the Windsor Framework. In all seriousness, I welcome the framework and thank all the stakeholders who have brought us this far. It is now under scrutiny by the main parties, which are looking at what lies beneath. I understand that is going to take time. I hope we are able to focus on the overall benefits, such as the dual market access for a region that has been held back by its past…