What about the climate issue?

When the Taoiseach took office in December, he stated his intention to end child poverty, establishing a child poverty unit in his Department. Crucial to any work on this absolutely vital issue is ensuring an adequate supply of quality affordable childcare and early years education for all children. I want to know specifically how the Government will address the severe shortage of preschool and early years places across many communities. As just one example, I raised with the Taoiseach the research from Young Peopl…

I welcome this debate and am glad to have the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Labour Party. It is particularly timely as next week, 24 February, is the sad first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine. It is 12 months since Vladimir Putin began waging his brutal war on Ukraine. Such devastation, destruction and suffering has been inflicted on the people of Ukraine since then, with the war crimes in Bucha, the siege of Mariupol, devastation in the Donetsk region and reports of spates of war crimes, including s…

I am sharing time with Deputy Nash. I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward the motion. We in the Labour Party are happy to support it in full. Today marks 12 and a half months since we introduced a Labour Party cost-of-living motion that proposed, among other things, the introduction of a windfall tax, so we have had similar debates previously. In the months since the debate on that motion was held, the price of energy has more than doubled, with an enormous negative impact on so many households. During …

I also acknowledge Nicola Sturgeon's stepping down today after an eight-year term as Scotland's First Minister. She has been undoubtedly a powerful force in Scottish politics throughout that time. I wish her well personally following that surprise announcement. The Taoiseach has acknowledged that people across the country are struggling despite the Government's measures introduced in the budget last year. We in the Labour Party predicted last October that there would need to be a mini-budget or a series of further …

If it looks like a rose and smells like a rose, it is a rose. This sounds like a mini-budget. If there is a finance Bill, it sounds very much like a mini-budget. I am glad that the Taoiseach has confirmed that there will be clarity on Tuesday. Will we have a Dáil debate next week? Are people likely to know next week what the nature of the measures will be, which ones will be targeted and which ones will be universal? It would be reasonable to give legislators in this Chamber some indication of a timeline for the in…

Hear, hear.

I wish to raise Government communications around national security, which is a phrase often used as an umbrella term to avoid engagement on serious issues. On the issue of national security, we have seen serious concerns raised by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, ICCL, in the past week about the use of Hikvision cameras in the Houses of the Oireachtas. I know the Office of Public Works, OPW, is conducting a review but we require an urgent update given that other parliaments, including the European Parliament,…

I raise the inconsistency in delays for women seeking domestic violence orders as reported by Ciara Phelan in today's Irish Examiner . She has raised serious concerns that domestic violence victims and survivors are waiting up to four months in some cases for courts to hear safety applications. It is, in effect, a postcode lottery as to how long a woman will have to wait, ranging from 16 weeks, or four months, in Trim, County Meath, to 14 weeks in Tullamore, 12 weeks in Carlow and Nenagh and up to eight weeks in Br…

I acknowledge the huge welcome and solidarity shown in communities across Ireland to those who have come to our shores seeking refuge. The Taoiseach has given the figures. We are all conscious of the enormous welcome and warmth there is. What is lacking is a strong co-ordinated response from the Government, particularly to the accommodation of refugees and those seeking international protection. We in the Labour Party and across the Opposition, as well as in the Ukraine civil society forum, have consistently called…

The average cost of rent in Ireland in December was €1,733 per month. This is according to the latest Daft.ie market report. We know that after tax, the take-home pay for a full-time worker on the minimum wage now stands at just €1,724 per month. This is nearly €10 less than the average monthly rent. We know that rents have more than doubled in the past decade and have jumped nearly 14% in the last year alone. Homes are now unaffordable for so many, and unavailable too as the market is chronically starved of homes.…

I also want to raise the issue of Palestinian rights. Indeed, two weeks ago, I called on the Government to take a strong stance in defence of Palestinian rights. Conditions have worsened since, as we have seen the new far-right Netanyahu government in Israel, which took office at the start of the year, take even further steps to trample on the rights of the Palestinian people and, indeed, take further steps to undermine democracy in Israel also, with concerning plans to meddle with the judicial system. Indeed, we s…

What about the occupied territories Bill?

What about the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018?

I have two specific questions. Has the Taoiseach decided who will take over as chair of the north east inner city programme implementation board since the resignation of Michael Stone? He said he will announce the nominee in due course. Can he give us a timeline and some indication as to who it will be? I would also like to raise an issue with the Taoiseach on behalf of my Labour Party colleague in Dublin Central, Senator Marie Sherlock. She has asked what the Government is planning to do about the severe shortages…

I have two questions on housing and planning policy. The Taoiseach will have seen the explosive allegations in the Sunday Independent by Mark Tighe reporting that ESB staff have been accused of seeking backhanders from companies to get works completed and new developments connected. We know there are significant delays in getting connections from the ESB for new developments. These are slowing down and obstructing delivery of new homes and other developments. The report said there was evidence of a payment of €10,0…

My Labour Party colleagues and I have come from the funeral in Blackrock of our dear friend and colleague, the pioneering former Minister for Education, Niamh Bhreathnach. I acknowledge the presence at the funeral of not only the President but also a representative of the Taoiseach; the Minister, Deputy Foley; the Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill; and Deputy Devlin. I express on my behalf and that of the Labour Party our appreciation for that and we send our sincere thoughts, condolences and sympathies to…

I thank the Minister for his kind words about Niamh Bhreathnach. We appreciate that very much. We seek to be constructive in addressing the housing crisis and to put forward positive proposals for change that would deliver on housing. That is the purpose of our motion this evening and we were disappointed last night to see Government put down an amendment to that motion. We ask it to withdraw the amendment and work with us and all in opposition who seek to be constructive in this regard. I accept the €900 million i…

When the State was bankrupted by Fianna Fáil.

It is more than 12 months since the Labour Party brought a motion to this House calling for a windfall tax on the profits of energy companies, which was back in January 2022. In the year since, we have seen Shell plc record a record profit of $40 billion and during the same year BP plc's profits have doubled to €28 billion, even as it scaled back its albeit modest climate action plans. During that year a windfall tax could have recouped money from those profits to assist with the shift to a green economy across the…