I welcome the inclusion of County Wexford in the scheme for homes affected by defective blocks, which are unmortgageable, uninsurable and unsellable. I was on Wexford County Council in 2022 when a motion was passed in light of concerns raised by people in the areas of Bunclody and Ferns. Sean and Rachel Murphy first noticed small cracks in their brand-new homes near Ferns six months after they moved in 19 years ago. Due to the nature of mica, it took a few more years for them to realise the scale of the problem. Se…

Many of our rural villages are being allowed to die on their knees because of Government inaction. They are being strangled due to the obstacles that are put in the way of people who want to develop changes. My journey here today took me through the village of Aughrim, which has not seen any proper development for the past decade and a half. The lack of infrastructure such as wastewater treatment is strangling the development of desperately needed housing in the village, which would keep local people in the local s…

Before starting here, I taught in schools for 34 years, the last ten years in special education, but I have never seen things so bad in terms of the shortage of appropriate school places and SNA provision for those with behavioural, sensory, emotional or communication difficulties. The State is systematically failing these children, their families and the professionals I worked with. This week I have been contacted by school principals from the Wicklow-Wexford area, many distraught, with harrowing stories of strugg…

We all know that grassroots soccer in the League of Ireland is severely underfunded, particularly in regard to facilities, infrastructure and academies in comparison with other countries such as Croatia. Countries smaller than Ireland boast of having 190 full-time club academy staff in comparison to Ireland's ten. Our budget for League of Ireland academies is comparable to those of Andorra or San Marino, which are very small. Our clubs cater for the youth of Ireland and therefore need proper supports. It all starts…

I was really proud during this past week to stand alongside so many sound people from Wexford and Wicklow - men, women and children - the finest of people who took to the roads out of sheer desperation in peaceful protest at a Government of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independent TDs that simply was not listening to them. They demanded meaningful supports and real change. They got neither in the Chamber today. The Government survived but its days are numbered, judging by the anger on the street this evening. I met m…

If a driver pays €60 for petrol or diesel, this Government takes roughly €40 off that so before the crisis hit, Ireland had some of the highest fuel costs in all of Europe. The Government could have chosen to deliver the maximum excise cut possible on diesel and petrol and remove excise entirely from home heating oil but it chose not to do that. Instead it chose to short-change people basically - to give with one hand and take it back with the other. Four weeks into the crisis, it only acted after a lot of relentle…

I think I have another half minute.

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Over 24,000 Irish citizens who had been living peaceful, happy lives in the Middle East are now stranded due to a war waged by the US and Israel. Their parents are worried. This Government must do everything possible to guarantee their safety and welfare and to get back home to Ireland those who wish to return here. Hard-pressed Irish householders, farmers and businesses are being fiercely hit in their pockets, whether directly or indirectly, because of this Israeli-US war. …

In the digital age we need to keep up with technology, keep a close eye on it and ensure children are safe. As we all know, algorithms are designed by the big tech giants to be addictive - the equivalent of digital cocaine. They know, insidiously, that they are destroying the physical and mental well-being of an entire generation of young people today for one sole purpose, namely, to broaden their customer base. Our online safety recommender Bill proposed amendments to the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act and…

Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam. A country without a language is a county without its soul. Is ráiteas fíorthábhachtach ó Phádraig Mac Piarais, a bhfuil dealbh de thuas sa Ghailearaí anseo, é sin. Tá athbheochan nua ar an nGaeilge ar siúl faoi láthair. Tá borradh mór faoin nGaeilge. Tá dearcthaí agus meonta fhíordhearfacha ann ina leith ach is a mhalairt a fheictear ón Rialtas. Tá sé an-difriúil ar fad. Tá an Rialtas gan meon neamhspleáchais. I go leor bealaí, tá a mheon bunaithe ar an tseoinínteacht agus ar neamhaird…

Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam. A country without a language is a country without its soul. Is ráiteas fíorthábhachtach ó Phádraig Mac Piarais é sin. Tá dealbh de thuas anseo sa Ghailearaí. Faraor géar, don chéad uair riamh i stair na hÉireann agus i stair ársa 2,600 bliain na nGael, tá baol ann anois in 2026 nach mbeidh pobal ar bith fágtha in Éirinn, fiú pobal beag iargúlta, ina mbeidh an Ghaeilge mar phríomhtheanga laethúil. Cad a chiallaíonn sé sin? Ciallaíonn sé sin bás na Gaeltachta, the death of the Gaeltacht.…

Access to a doctor is a necessity and a basic right for people, especially when they are sick. However, a GP shortage in south Wicklow and north Wexford has reached crisis point. I ask the Minister to intervene. People are desperate. They are travelling more than 20 km but still cannot find a GP who will accept new patients. One practice in a small town in my constituency has a waiting list of 200 people and that list is currently closed. We have seen rapid population growth, particularly in north Wexford, the Gore…

What is the Government planning to do about the devastation of the coastline in north Wexford and south Wicklow? I am talking about Cahore, Glascarrig, Courtown, Castletown, Arklow and right up to Brittas Bay. There are few people in Dublin who do not have fond memories of Courtown. The beautiful and historic Courtown Woods have lost an area equivalent to 18 football pitches over the past few decades. The Kiltennel walking trail is being swept away and the Arklow walking trail all the way up to Brittas is being dev…

For me, this is about listening to the people and that is about uniting rather than dividing people. We need to communicate with local communities. It is disappointing to see the Government and fellow colleagues on the left, when we are tabling sensible amendments which are about good planning, making this issue about Sinn Féin, which it should not be. I absolutely despise racism. I have been to many of these centres, sat down and drunk tea with the people there. As a councillor, I have been involved in integration…

You are calling out our amendment. That is what we are saying.

We are saying we should not be playing to these. We should not be giving into this agenda being driven by speculators and finance capital-----

-----because they are the people who are driving this into these areas.

At the end of the day, for me, it comes down to the best way to unite people, which is just to listen to the people, listen to local communities and try to have fair planning policies. As I said, how many centres are in Dalkey? How many centres are in Foxrock? It is about fair planning. That is the way I look at it.

We have to have transparency. There is the example of the two directors of a cafe which had a profit of €2,992. Three years later, they paid themselves €4.6 million. There is something very strange there. Looking at my area of County Wicklow, €1.3 million was spent on security for the vacant site of a failed IPAS centre. It is just a site sitting there. Deputy John Brady brought it into the public domain at a recent meeting of the public accounts committee. The Comptroller and Auditor General's report has raised se…

I will briefly reinforce Deputy Carthy's points. Two years ago, the Secretary General of the Department of integration gave out the figures for payments per night. He highlighted how the State was paying the private accommodation providers over twice the amount that was being paid to house asylum seekers in State-owned accommodation. That just reinforces the contradictions within this system yet again.