Do not waffle.

That is it; sit down; you have nothing to say.

Is mór an onóir dom a bheith ag labhairt anseo chun Seachtain na Gaeilge a cheiliúradh. Is gluaiseacht idirnáisiúnta í gluaiseacht na Gaeilge agus tá idir óg agus aosta as ag glacadh páirt sna himeachtaí ar fud na cruinne. Go speisialta, is álainn an rud é an grá agus paisean atá ag daoine óga don teanga a fheiceáil; daoine óga as gach cúlra den saol. Tugann sé sin misneach dúinn le haghaidh todhchaí na Gaeilge. I have spent three years speaking in the Chamber, but I do not think I have ever before been as nervous …

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. How nervous I felt is not reflection of how welcome I feel when I become engaged in the language. I feel particularly grateful towards Conradh na Gaeilge, which has been very engaging towards me as someone who does not yet speak the language. I have been able to advocate for communities that do because of the great work of people in Conradh na Gaeilge and people in my own party, such as Paul Mulville, who helped me to prepare today's speech. It is a rarity in this Chamber that I f…

I wish to ask about the Taoiseach's engagements with the shared island initiative and the discussions he has had with political parties in the North and Westminster regarding the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill. It has been described, and condemned, by Amnesty International as protecting perpetrators from prosecution and denying victims justice. It redefines torture and allows sexual assault to go unprosecuted.

In asking for an update on the work of the Department's economic policy unit, I am reminded of what business groups have said over the past year or so about the housing crisis being a critical barrier to growth within our economy. I am wondering what advice the Taoiseach has received, for example, about accommodation for hospitality workers in Dublin city. Rents here average €2,300 and I promise those in the city centre far exceed that. Those workers, who are contributing to the economy of the city and the county a…

When did the committee on immigration last meet? What is the current capacity within the Department to deal adequately with the scale of the crisis? Do we need a new unit in the Department to work specifically on integration and on supporting refugees as they arrive here? Many of us who are dealing with the issue in our constituencies were surprised to learn that many hotels that offered accommodation during the crisis have not received payment. We are again having the horrendous situation arise whereby people are …

I join my colleagues across the left in the Chamber in expressing to the fullest that trans rights are human rights. Section 15(2) of the Education Act 1998 states that the board shall “uphold, and be accountable to the patron for so upholding, the characteristic spirit of the school as determined by the cultural, educational, moral, religious, social, linguistic and spiritual values and traditions which inform and are characteristic of the objectives and conduct of the school”. That section enables Catholic bishop…

The Children's Rights Alliance annual report card indicates a significant decrease in the quality of conditions experienced by children living in direct provision. The rating fell from a B to a D grade in just a year. I appreciate the complexities of the past year but children are living in temporary accommodation centres throughout the country that are grossly unsuitable, with no inspections carried out by HIQA. The same report made two suggestions I implore the Taoiseach to take on board. The first is the call on…

I welcome the members of the INOU and the Add the 10th campaign. I am not sure if Paul McKeon is in the Gallery. For as long as I have been in politics, he has been talking to me about this issue. He really has been pushing it home. That the visitors in the Gallery are here is a genuine example of civic engagement. The purpose of the Bill is to expand the protections of both Acts to prohibit discrimination on the basis of disadvantaged socioeconomic status and to ensure persons can no longer be discriminated agains…

Last week, the Taoiseach disregarded the research of Barnardos that stated 10% of families were using food banks. He seems to be disregarding the research of the ESRI as well. Less than a year ago, it published a report showing how the Government's poverty target could be achieved with a focus on the working family payment and the qualified child increase. Why, then, were these benefits only given a cursory glance in the budget and totally ignored in this week's cost-of-living package? I am sure the Taoiseach is go…

Yes, they have.

The Bill is largely welcome. The Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland did incredible work in outlining the steps which are necessary to bring about essential policing reform, thereby enhancing public support and confidence in the Garda in the process. The Bill goes a long way to giving effect to some of the recommendations the commission made concerning governance, oversight and accountability mechanisms for the Garda. However, in several ways, it falls significantly short of the mark. This is incredibly…

Let me in the broadest and warmest sense welcome the citizens’ assembly on drugs. As I was sitting here listening to a previous speaker mentioning the pathway to this much-needed and long overdue assembly, I was thinking to myself of the journey that has taken place in communities all over this country and, in particular, in my own community in the north inner city. If we believe the citizens’ assembly reflects democracy as a forum where these ideas are going to be discussed, trashed out and improved, which has bee…

One of the problems with sitting here listening to others' contribution is that one's own speech can often go out the window. I will start with basic truths because we are living in an age of extraordinary misinformation and the targets of that are often the people to whom we are referring today. For me and for the party I represent, it is important to be unashamedly pro-migration. My community in the north inner city has been, for the last 20 or 25 years since we got our first influx of new communities, enhanced a…

The Minister is contradicting his own colleague. He mentioned it on RTÉ Radio 1's "Drivetime" on Tuesday. The Minister can take it up with him. The Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, also put out a call for other Ministers to step up. If it is not true, it is certainly something that is being presented by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment's own colleagues. What is true is that we have yet to meet the scale of this challenge in any sort of requisite way. If we accept the fact that migration is in…

I thank my colleague, Deputy Whitmore, for tabling this important motion. The motions process is interesting. Essentially, we table motions that set out what the Government should be doing and then the Government says what it has done. All the while, real consequences are being felt in people's homes. I wish to throw some light on what is being felt in people's homes and the level of urgency that we need to see from the Government. The price of energy has more than doubled in the past year. Consumer energy bills ha…

When the Taoiseach answers the Deputies' questions, in particular those of Deputies Haughey and Tóibín, will he explain the complications for a person seeking sanctuary in Ireland coming from Eritrea, for example, where they do not have the capacity to get a passport in the way we do, or a person fleeing persecution in Afghanistan, where passports have not been issued since 2021, or a person arriving to Ireland from Georgia fleeing on the grounds of LGBT persecution, or a person from a place where we have not given…

I believe we are now six years into the north east inner city task force following the Mulvey report and €38 million has been spent. Where is the record of achievement? Deputy McDonald asked for a review. I would like a review. The Taoiseach may remember that the reason the north east inner city task force was initiated to combat drug related crime, poverty and dereliction in the area. Six years later and with €38 million spent, what can be pointed to as a record of achievement? Young people are still being taken i…

I welcome the motion from Sinn Féin. It is of paramount importance that we address the cost-of-living crisis with urgency and action. I fear that the gravity of the term "cost of living" is being lost on members of the Government. Perhaps the Society of St. Vincent de Paul captured it better when it talked of the cost of survival, which is experienced in people's homes every single day. If the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, believes this is hyperbole on my part, she should look to the Barnardos report which suggests t…