I wish to express my condolences on the passing of Mick O'Dwyer, a legend of the GAA who gave us great days in Kildare. I thank the Minister for all his information on the tariffs last night. Coming from Leixlip, we have Intel and the Kerry Group in our area in north Kildare. I saw a lot of the fears of my peers last night, the people I worked with in the business sector. What level of engagement has the Minister had with the Minister for trade in the past number of weeks? How does he see that continuing in the com…

I congratulate the Minister on his appointment. As a fellow Kildare man, we are obviously having more success off the pitch than on it but well done to him. Have the Departments of agriculture and local government considered a policy on land use development due to the increased competition for arable lands in areas such as north Kildare - I use my own rural constituency as an example - for new technologies such as solar farms?

I welcome the Minister's response. He mentioned a number of topics and the very positive innovation introduced in the previous Dáil, which means there is no need for planning permission for the installation of solar panels on barns and sheds around the country. That has been really positive. Through the TAMS process, a lot of people continue to take advantage of that. That is something of which I am very complimentary. At the heart of the response was that discussion about the competition between the importance of …

I thank the Minister again for his response. This Government and in fairness, this country, has always had a very strong agricultural backbone. It is hugely important to our name around the world and that is why we are here on both sides of the House to support it. In this time where renewables are changing and the world is changing around us, we have to take every positive step both from a renewables perspective and an agricultural perspective. This is about setting out the plans such that, into the future, they m…

It is always difficult to follow Deputy Ward, especially when he has been so knowledgeable of and engaging on the topic under discussion. I have been listening for the past couple of hours, both up in my office and since I came into the Chamber. There were similarities with what many people said, but I was struck by one statement. Someone said that this is quite a simple problem. It is anything but simple. I will not say who said it, but it is anything but a simple problem. It is very complex. The solutions are man…

As someone from a Garda family, my father having served in the force and my brother currently serving, I know at first hand the vital role that an effective and well-resourced Garda service plays in keeping our community safe. However, in north Kildare, where towns like Kilcock, Maynooth, Celbridge, Leixlip and Naas are experiencing rapid growth, Garda numbers have not kept pace. Celbridge, with its population of 23,000, has a Garda station that opens for an hour every day. Maynooth, even with its university, has a…

I am the first speaker since yesterday's events. It is nice to be able to speak in a proper forum. After what happened yesterday, business continues. The item I will speak about is local to me. It is Ryevale House, which is a period house in Leixlip and in the past two years there have been major issues surrounding it in the locality. I will give a quick timeline to give the Minister of State a bit of perspective. On 27 January 2023, the Department informed the local public representatives of the intention to accom…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I will focus on the planning issues and the ongoing work. This is a beautiful area with a big house and beautiful old trees that were destroyed for no reason. The pictures before and after show a development in a quiet area that has ultimately been destroyed from a conservation perspective. Matters have got out of hand in the area on that side. I take the Minister of State's point that "regulatory matters related to planning are between the local authority and the acc…

We all saw last weekend the worst of toxic masculinity with Conor McGregor being invited to speak on the world stage on our national day of celebration. People like Conor McGregor, the Irish version of Andrew Tate, promote hyperaggressive, misogynistic and often violent forms of masculinity. As a parent and as someone who coaches underage teams, works with local schools and is a director of a local youth and community centre, I deal with a lot of young people of all ages. I know from speaking to friends and parents…

It is a great opportunity to speak again. I must be getting used to being in the Dáil, as this is the third time in two days. The issue we are speaking about is important to the country. The St. Patrick's Day festivities really brought home to us the opportunities we have as a country to discuss and to use our soft power. It was important and potentially very beneficial. As we know, the US is going through a change in administration, which creates its own changes. I will not use the word "difficulties", but it coul…

I am delighted to be able to speak on this extremely important topic. It has been the major national issue for a number of years. As a county councillor in Kildare, I saw that at first hand. I saw it from the point of view of the person who could not get a house, obtain zoning for land or build a house. We have seen planning permissions come in. In some locations, the people have been against them and in others people have been for them, so delivering houses, as we know, is very complex. A commission report like th…

Withdraw that remark.

I refer to the regular water outages we are having in north Kildare. Following the bursting of a pipe, there has been chronic low water pressure in Leixlip, Celbridge, Maynooth and even in Naas. This is a daily struggle for people living all around Kildare North. The population has exploded but the water infrastructure is buckling. We see it every day. There were even outages on Christmas Day. These issues were not common in my childhood and even up to ten years ago. In the past five years especially, we have had d…

Is mór an onóir dom é a bheith i Dáil Éireann as a Member of the Thirty-fourth Dáil following in the footsteps of those elected to the First Dáil in 1918. I thank the people of north Kildare who placed their trust in me, the people of Leixlip who supported me as a councillor and my wife, children, family, friends and parents for their unwavering encouragement. Just like my uncle Dan and cousin Tom from Limerick, who served in this House before me, I am committed to working on behalf of the people with great dedicat…

North Kildare.

I thank the Minister.

Keep saying it.