The outbreak of bluetongue in Wexford is a tragic occurrence. I express my sympathy to the farmers and families impacted by it. Since the first herd tested positive for bluetongue, it has been identified in an additional three herds in Wexford, according to the most recent reports. It must be very worrying for those farmers whose herds have tested positive for this disease. Although bluetongue does not pose any risk to food safety and infected meats can still be consumed, it has a big knock-on effect on imports. Th…

Last week, a pregnant horse was literally driven into the ground on the N4. The horse was taking part, or was being made take part, in sulky races on Dollymount Strand. She was with foal. She collapsed on the road and was forced up to continue on that road. She collapsed again and this time, she could not get up. Her abusers kicked her and tried to drag her up but she was unable to get up. My Lovely Horse Rescue went out and rescued this horse and brought her to UCD but, unfortunately, she had to be put to sleep. T…

The Marine Institute recently released a report on the devastating impacts of the use of tangle nets on many endangered species in our waters. This report looked at what was happening in our national park. Incredibly we see tangle nets are killing angel shark which is on the brink of extinction. A consultation was done by the Department of agriculture on a sustainable crayfish management plan in 2021 but I can find no other information about that. There was no follow up and no report seemed to result from that cons…

We are facing a road safety crisis in Ireland. It is worsening year on year. After a stint of progress earlier this decade, recent years have seen a deeply worrying trend of increasing deaths. There were 190 in 2025, 175 in 2024, 184 in 2023, and 155 in 2022. They are hundreds upon hundreds of people whose lives were tragically taken from them and families who have been destroyed by this. This is not for lack of policy, because we have the Vision Zero policy running from 2021 to 2030 which seeks to halve road death…

I want to move an amendment to the Order of Business under Standing Order 35(3).

I am proposing an amendment to have a debate on the flooding issues. Over the past eight days-----

-----we have seen nothing but deflection from the Government, pointing fingers at the weathermen and-----

-----pointing fingers at the local authorities.

The Government is not accepting responsibility for decades of inaction when it comes to flood adaptation and management.

Despite public transport and the improving of public transport being a key commitment of this Government, many areas have actually seen a poorer service than was there previously. I am speaking in particular in this instance to the Gorey-Dublin rail line. Previously, there were four carriages on it and it sat 262 commuters. For some inexplicable reason, Iarnród Éireann changed those four carriages in October of last year. It put on a different carriage system, which seats only 185 people. I hear of consistent overc…

I welcome this opportunity to discuss Bord Bia. This issue goes beyond any single person or State agency. This issue goes to the heart of how we protect Ireland's reputation as a world-class producer of safe, high-quality food and how we as policymakers ensure the governance structures behind that reputation are robust and transparent. Bord Bia's job is to bring Ireland's produce to the world. That would not be possible without the work of Irish farmers. The success of our food exports is thanks to them and their e…

Fight, fight, fight, scrap, argue and fight again. That is how one disabled woman described her relationship with the State in the audiovisual room recently. She is not alone. It is the one thing that always comes back when we talk to disabled people about their real lived experiences. It is a constant struggle for them. They are trying to fight and advocate for themselves to get supports they not only need, but are entitled to. Disabled people really feel like this Government has forgotten them and that they have …

Storm Chandra brought absolute chaos to parts of Dublin, Wexford and Wicklow yesterday. Homes and businesses were destroyed and there was commuter hell for thousands of people left sitting on the M1, the M50 and the N11 for four or five hours in traffic. The reality is that these storms are going to come more often and will be more severe. We need to be better prepared. The Minister for housing made an extraordinary accusation on Alan Corcoran's show on South East Radio this morning when he accused Met Éireann of g…

Flood relief schemes have nothing to do with the traffic issues yesterday.

What about Met Éireann?

We have recently had announcements of three special education classes for the Wicklow constituency. Two are for Greystones Community College, which is a brand new building that will hopefully open soon, and one is for Dominican College in Wicklow town. We will have three special education classes in secondary schools open. The one for Dominican College Wicklow was sanctioned and meant to open last year. The Department then pulled that sanction, so this is really a reannouncement of a sanction. Setting that all asid…

I thank the Minister of State. It is not often that I, or any Opposition TD, comes in here and gets the answer they want from a Minister of State. I welcome the fact he has confirmed there will be additional special education classes for Wicklow and that they will be announced shortly. In relation to letters of eligibility, I understand the Department is working hard on this issue but what can I tell parents? As I said, one child has a place and the school is happy to take the child but the family does not have the…

I thank the Labour Party and Deputy Wall for bringing this motion forward. We are very happy to support it. A constituent of mine once told me that they did not live in Wicklow town; they merely slept there. That has stuck with me because it is reflective of the lived experience of so many people in a commuter county like Wicklow where people buy their homes, want to start families and be a part of the community but spend three or four hours a day trying to simply get in and out to work. Anyone who has travelled on…

In 2023, the CSO reported that 52% of women had experienced sexual violence in their lifetime and this figure was increasing year on year. I recently met a fantastic group of women from Wexford who were in visiting the Ceann Comhairle in the Dáil. This group established the Wexford Rape Crisis Centre. I had really good conversations with them but they made it clear to me that there were quite a number of women from Wicklow who were going to Wexford to avail of the services of the rape crisis centre because we did n…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide for enhanced powers for the Agri-food Regulator to access data from businesses within the agricultural and food supply chain, including prices, margins, and related financial information, in order to promote transparency and protect consumer interests; and to provide for related matters. I welcome the opportunity to introduce this Bill. It will provide for enhanced powers for the Agri-Food Regulator to access data from businesses within th…