The people of Wicklow are constantly being let down by chronic failures in public transport. The badly needed 199 Bray to Glendalough bus service promised in 2024 and procured last year is still not operating there. People in Wicklow are equally frustrated by the two-year delay in upgrading the chronically unreliable 132 route, leaving west Wicklow commuters stranded, with buses continuously breaking down. For months now, the Department, along with the NTA, has repeated that no funding is currently available for ne…

----- his ministry, do his job, stop the waste and deliver services?

The Taoiseach says that with a straight face.

I concur with my colleagues. This is an important piece of legislation given the Government's systemic failure to take meaningful action against the genocide and apartheid regime of Israel against the Palestinians. A number of pieces of legislation were brought forward previously, including my illegal Israeli settlement divestment Bill. The Government has made us stakeholders in the illegal practice of apartheid in the West Bank by having shares-----

-----in the illegal occupation-----

This is an important piece of legislation.

I move: That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach pursuant to Standing Order 187.

We do need a Government.

I want to raise with the Taoiseach the imminent sale of a substantial parcel of land in the Wicklow Mountains, including the summit of Lugnaquilla, due to be auctioned off this Friday. The 1,527-acre holding represents a massive opportunity for the State to secure what is essentially a priceless piece of our natural heritage. I do not think land of such environmental, cultural and recreational value should be sold off to the highest bidder, including international interests. It is an opportunity for the State to pu…

I have written to the Minister in relation to the sale of this land on Friday. Will the Taoiseach examine this with a view to the State purchasing it?

Last Friday, a constituent of mine from Wicklow presented at St. Vincent's University Hospital A and E after suffering a suspected mini-stroke. He was vulnerable and afraid but after being seen was told nothing would happen over the weekend. He was told to go home and come back on Monday. He did exactly that. Yesterday morning, he went back as instructed but then had to wait for hour after hour. Morning turned to night, and at midnight he was still left sitting in the A and E, which was absolutely bursting at the s…

A mini-stroke.

As Cathaoirleach of the Committee of Public Accounts, last week I exposed that in recent years, the Department of education has spent over €2 million on legal costs and court settlements in cases involving families seeking appropriate school places. That is in addition to the €10.5 million spent by the State on legal defences to challenges by parents regarding assessments of need. This is an absolute insult to every parent fighting tirelessly for their child's basic right to education and to every child left withou…

That is not true.

That is not fair.

So is the news.

The Taoiseach has not answered the question about international law.

She will respond.

Sit down. You are a disgrace.

Last week, the Government decided to cut the 2026 funding to Wicklow County Council for regional and local roads - a cut of over €300,000 when our roads are already deteriorating. It is unacceptable. Recent storms and bad weather have made a bad situation worse not just in Wicklow but right across the State. Potholes have multiplied and surfaces are crumbling. I have been contacted by many constituents facing costly repairs for blown-out tires, damaged suspension and cracked alloys. One motorist had his drive shaft…