I congratulate the Minister on and thank him for his recent important work on behalf of Ireland. I will discuss wind energy, particularly offshore wind energy. I want to highlight two points. The first is the proposal near my constituency for the Kish and Bray banks. I support offshore wind energy completely. The opportunity for cheaper electricity, energy security and to shift away from fossil fuels to renewable sources is a no-brainer. When the proposal was put forward, I, like everybody who saw it, had many ques…

I wish to ask the Tánaiste again about the implementation of the sexual offences Bill where we would have legal representation for victims of sexual assault. I met with Aimee Foley who very bravely became a public advocate for this in challenging her own father and the difficulty she faced in terms of communication with the DPP and understanding court process would be made easier by proper legal representation for victims. There is another case of a lady whose harasser dropped his legal team so that he could cross-…

It is with tremendous sadness that I again contribute to deeply important statements on abuse at certain education institutions, specifically Willow Park Junior School and Blackrock College, which are located in the geographic heart of my constituency. I will speak about four issues, namely, first and foremost, the survivors, as well as the broader school community in my constituency, the institutional and State response and clerical abuse more generally in Ireland. Like every other Deputy who has spoken has done, …

It is very good to see the Ceann Comhairle back. I, too, commend the Minister on her work on the Social Welfare Bill, which is the largest package in the history of the State. It comes at a most important time, when families are facing difficulties with fuel price challenges and cost-of-living challenges generally. I also commend the Minister on the structure of the Bill. I recognise that these changes will take effect from January and will include the front-loading of direct cash payments and lump-sum payments to …

On behalf of Fine Gael in Dún Laoghaire, I offer my condolences to the family of Professor Brian Hillery. My colleague Deputy Durkan, who was a Member of the Oireachtas at the same time as Professor Hillery, will speak on behalf of Fine Gael.

I wish to raise a few short points about Dublin that are by no means exhaustive. The very last thing I want to do is talk down Dublin. Dublin is a phenomenal mid-sized European capital with huge success and potential and talking it down is the last thing we want to do. At the same time, we must be realistic about some of the challenges Dublin faces. We often hear, correctly, about rural Ireland in the House but it is reasonable for Dublin Deputies to stand up and say we can do better and be more ambitious for Dubli…

I wish to raise the issue of disability transport services in Dublin and specifically on south Dublin. In rural Ireland there is a Transport for Ireland Local Link, which goes door to door and which is on demand public transport. A person can use his or her free travel pass on it. This is especially important for people with disabilities or with mobility issues. In Dublin, there is no such service. We have a door-to-door disability service on 15 and 20-year-old buses where a person cannot use a free travel pass. It…

Yes, it could be. If it is capital funding we must go to the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, or wherever the Taoiseach can direct me to help with the request.

I congratulate the Minister on the Second Reading of the Finance Bill. The recent budget is very important when we look at the context, as my colleague has said. Twelve months ago, we never imagined that we would be in a position of this kind, whereby not only would we not have a deficit but that we would have a surplus leading into next year. This has given great scope to be able to respond to the challenges that exist. Times are really tough and people need more money in their pockets. The budget will enable us t…

I seek the Minister's views on the possibility of including time accrued on student and graduate visas in Ireland towards the five-year residency required to apply for citizenship.

That is very helpful. I thank the Minister. Will she provide an update on approximately how long it is taking to process citizenship applications?

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, for attending for an important catch-up on domestic violence and domestic violence funding in the budget for 2023. As the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will know, I have taken opportunities over the year to highlight the names of victims of femicide – women identified by Women's Aid as having been killed since 1997 – to keep their names in the debate on domestic, gender-based and sexual violence. My doing so follows the outpouring of grief after the death of Ashling Murph…

The Government is to provide funding agreements for 2023 in the coming weeks. That is a big improvement. It seems so obvious that funding for 2023 should be agreed in 2022 but I have worked with organisations that have received funding for a given calendar year which was only signed off on in November of that same year. Obviously, they cannot work in that way. Not all of those people whose names I have read out were in situations of domestic violence. The violence against some, including Ashling Murphy and Raonaid …

It is pouring rain outside, which means that the sea quality in Dún Laoghaire and Dublin Bay is unlikely to be good for anyone thinking of taking a dip, which many do since Covid. We never know what the sea quality is from beach to beach or area to area because the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and the Minister of State, Deputy Malcolm Noonan, will not agree to year-round testing of water quality. The reason given in a parliamentary question was that it might result in beach closures, which …

It is both. Is it clean or not clean? It is as simple as testing the water all year round so people know that they will get sick or not when they get in for an auld dip.

I wish to raise the free school books scheme, as announced in budget 2023. The scheme was presented as a universal measure from which all families and children would benefit in a €9.6 billion budget in the Department of Education. A total of over €50 million is being spent on free books but this does not apply to children in fee-paying schools. We have just heard from the Taoiseach in the Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality, who spoke about gender budgeting and universal measures that benefit gender budgeting. …

I am aware the Taoiseach addressed the business supports on a macro level earlier this morning. It is clear the Government is backing business and helping companies to pay their energy bills this winter. An example of that in my own constituency is a retail food business that had a bill of €1,300 for two months last year and this year it is €6,932. It is an extraordinary increase for the same reference period. Here is the point of difference. There is another business in Blackrock that is about to open a retail foo…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. I am glad its focus is on mediation, which reduces stress and cost and helps to manage a process better overall. Many Deputies have spoken on the Bill, but I wish to speak on a related matter of litigation, that being, the Comptroller and Auditor General's report, published last Friday, on the 2021 accounts of the public services and specifically chapter 20 on the management of the clinical indemnity scheme. I will first declare a personal interest in the scheme's man…

I wish to raise a couple of matters in the five minutes I have. The first relates to affordable housing and the Dún Laoghaire area. Regarding the First Home scheme, I am very pleased to see that the number of people registered across the State is nearly 1,700, with 423 certificates issued. That is progress but, obviously, something has to be done differently in respect of Dún Laoghaire, where we do not come within that bracket because of the way house prices are there. When the Minister introduced the scheme, he co…

May I make just one further small point? Planning has evolved so much since 2001. We now have the habitats directive and the housing need and demand assessments. All that additional work has to be done by planners, and there is something of a catch-up there.