I marvel at Deputy Boyd Barrett's success in naming all the clubs in his constituency. I will add Ranelagh Gaels, Clanna Gael and Templeogue Synge Street to that list of clubs looking for pitches. In fairness, the point was well made. It is one most people in the House would agree with. I will touch on three matters. The first is youth prevention. I am not talking about the diversion programme, when somebody is entered into that programme and a JLO is appointed. I am talking about avoiding young people engaging in …

I congratulate the Minister and all the other Ministers on their roles and wish them well in their brief. They might not see me here much but this is an issue of interest to me. It is about the farm-to-fork philosophy. A very successful organic food fair was run in Merrion Square last year. My question is on whether it will be funded again this year. Second, can the type of funding that went towards that fair be extended to parks and other urban areas, not just in Dublin?

I thank the Minister of State and I welcome his support for the funding of farmers' markets and organic food fairs. In all seriousness, these fairs are a very good way of bridging some of the differences and divides between rural and urban Ireland and fostering a greater understanding and appreciation of rural Ireland in urban environments but crucially, there is a real economic value to this. Most of the new restaurants that emerge in Dublin or Cork or wherever are built off the ethos of farm to fork. That is wher…

I thank the Minister and it is great to hear that. It is important to reiterate the importance of the funding for projects right across the country, including ones that will take place in my own constituency in Merrion Square. Ultimately, if we want to have a successful, thriving food culture and a thriving restaurant sector in Dublin, it is about promoting these farmers' markets everywhere. It is something the Department could perhaps look at to not just target the major events like a park in Merrion Square that e…

During this debate we have, quite rightly, heard references from both sides of the House to preserving the international world order and the rule of law. However, a Deputy from the Social Democrats - I do not know whether he was enunciating Social Democrat policy - said there should be a plebiscite on the triple lock. This is a matter both parties that formed the Government had a very clear position on when they went to the electorate. They told the electorate that if they got elected and entered government, they w…

-----for the very simple reason that we do not want our peacekeepers and where we carry out peacekeeping missions to be vetoed by China, Russia or any other major power. The extraordinary proposal from the Social Democrat Deputy was that his role as a legislator would somehow be transposed into some makey-uppy vote of the general public unrelated to our Constitution. It is only when our Constitution has to be changed that we have a referendum. The Deputy wants to remove the powers of this Dáil and have some form of…

The antidemocratic suggestions are not being put from this side of the House. The world around us is changing as we speak. In recent weeks and months, the postwar system that has brought us peace and security unknown to any past generation has been called into question. Our European friends and allies recognise this. Policy changes that would have been unthinkable a decade ago or even a year ago have been initiated in short order. It is in this context I welcome the opportunity to discuss Ireland’s approach to inte…

I wish to ask the Minister if his Department could support the Dublin city task force recommendation for a meanwhile-use strategy for privately owned lands in Dublin city centre to utilise the city's vacant space for musical, artistic and cultural events, artists' workspaces, community spaces, and if he will make a statement.

I thank the Minister, and I wish him well in his brief as well. I thank him for his reply. It is very encouraging to see both the alignment of the existing night-time strategy with the recommendations that were already in the Dublin city task force, and the emphasis that both the Minister and the Department have placed on the use of meanwhile-use strategies. Ultimately, when we talk about the challenges in Dublin city around safety and security, it is not just a policing problem. Yes, we need more gardaí on our str…

One of the biggest examples of that would be the GPO itself. The task force report includes a recommendation that by the end of the first quarter of this year, decisions will be made on what use the GPO will be put to. More than 800 people used to work in that place. When they left that place, that reduced the number of people coming into an area of our city that has proven to be the most challenging when it comes to antisocial behaviour and crime. It is such an historic and beautiful building. There are so many us…

As a man in public life, I firmly believe that gender equality is not just a woman's issue. It is an issue for all of us. True progress requires male allyship, and history has shown that when men stand shoulder to shoulder with women in the fight for equality, transformative change happens. In the 19th century, John Stuart Mill stood in the British Parliament advocating for women's suffrage, challenging those who dismissed the political rights of half the population. In the United States, Frederick Douglass, a man …

I wish the Minister of State well in his new brief and also wish my constituency colleague Jim O'Callaghan well in his new brief. I was going to start by giving praise to gardaí and the work they do, but having listened to Deputy Lawless's contribution I find it really frustrating that somebody in this Chamber would stand up and belittle gardaí in the way-----

-----he has just done.

To suggest there are no-----

I did mention the Deputy's name.

Am I not allowed identify things that are being said in this House and to challenge those things? That is an extraordinary-----

Precisely.

Those of us who are public representatives, which is every single one of us in this room, deal with community gardaí every day of the week. The public watching this listen to and deal with community gardaí every day of the week and the public have huge faith and trust in community gardaí. They do not view gardaí as something to be featured on social media. That is not what this is about. We need more gardaí. Everybody recognises that challenge. We have to recruit more gardaí. That is exactly what the Government is …

I very much welcome this whole-of-government approach to disability services which is so essential to meeting needs. My question relates to recruitment and retention. The critical skills list was expanded in 2022 so that occupational therapists and speech and language therapists could get employment permits. I have received replies to questions which show the figures are quite small. Just 62 occupational therapists and 21 speech and language therapists in the last three years have been given these permits.

There were 62 occupational therapists and 21 speech and language therapists. Obviously, this is a process that has worked very successfully for nurses and midwives where we recruit up to 1,000 internationally every year. Is this something the unit could look at and we could expand on further?