I welcome the opportunity to contribute on this debate. It provides a chance to look back on where we have come from in the past century in terms of workers' rights. It was only 130 years ago that trade unions were first recognised, and how far we have come in the rights that have been achieved since then. It is just 112 years since the infamous Dublin Lockout, led by Jim Larkin and James Connolly. This was a turning point for the rights of workers. In the 1940s and 1950s, we saw the establishment of more structure…

I thank the Minister of State for his presence today. I am keen to make a contribution on the national planning framework, which is essentially the creation of an environment for accelerated housing development in Ireland, and other issues it concerns itself with. In no particular order I will just throw in a couple of ideas or issues close to my heart. I do not represent a Dublin city constituency: I represent a suburb constituency of Dublin South-West. I said recently that Dublin has suffered from neglect over th…

Regarding the Cabinet sub-committee on housing, I know the issue of the gazumping of young people will mean a lot to the Taoiseach. I saw a house for sale recently in my constituency for €495,000. That is really expensive but by the time it was sold, it had gone up and up. In Scotland, when a house is put up for sale, quite a bit of consideration is given by the vendor and the person selling it on the vendor's behalf. When you name the price on the market in the local estate agents, if it is £495,000 and you are of…

The weather outside is absolutely stunning, which can mean only one thing: leaving certificate students are knee-deep in preparation for mock exams and the leaving certificate season. I send my best wishes to them. This morning, I wish to ask about leaving certificate grade inflation, a subject on which I know the Minister has received a lot of correspondence. Apparently, 25% of those competing for CAO places in the autumn of this year will have completed their leaving certificate in previous years. The concerns of…

That is from previous years.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I would like to reinforce what my colleague Deputy Brabazon said. A number of backbench TDs were actually chatting about this recently. In the old days, there were six houses connected to a sewerage pipe and in the modern context, there might be up to ten. As the Deputy said, very often it is at the last house on that connection where a blockage occurs. In the old days South Dublin County Council, for example, which is my own local authority, would come out an…

I add my voice to the well wishes to Deputy Boyd Barrett. Regarding the well-being side of the child poverty and well-being committee within the Department, our commitment as a Government to establish DEIS Plus is an important milestone. The Taoiseach will appreciate that in constituencies like my own, there are a breadth and intensity of challenges that simply do not exist in other communities. These include intergenerational poverty, which was just mentioned, and intergenerational trauma. That is one of the chara…

The Ceann Comhairle was elected by secret ballot by a majority of Members. She is the first woman to hold this office.

It is already easy to forget that one of her first duties was to chair the election of a Taoiseach. The people who took a wrecking ball to process in this House sit on the opposite benches. Getting down to the business of last week, it is difficult, as anybody here can testify to the fact, for the public to appreciate the visceral and toxic atmosphere pervading the Chamber last week and to wonder why violent protest might take place on our streets. Members opposite have made much today, as have commentators who wer…

It is almost 100 years since W.B. Yeats rebuked the audience in the Abbey, berating them saying, "You have disgraced yourselves once again."

Those words came to mind last week. While the tagline "You cannot be in Government and the opposition at the same time" is an easy and actually lazy chant-----

-----and this point was made in the Dáil reform committee, it does not reflect our evolving democracy. The truth of these episodes is Ireland elects a disproportional number of independents by international comparison. In other parliaments, there are cross-benchers; those who waive the designation of opposition or government and choose to be designated as other. There are Deputies who wish to be in this new grouping who voted against the Government on more occasions than they have supported the Government. This sta…

On that last point actually, nobody has worked harder in this House than my colleague, the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, in developing relationships with congresspeople at state level and leveraging the Irish connection with literally hundreds of congresspeople. That is a significant network and a significant opportunity for lobbying for our interests. I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for his statement and update to the Dáil. In the context of our neutrality I agree that he re-emphasises the fact that I…

Glaoim ar an Teachta Maitiú Mac Craith.

Rachaimid anois go dtí ceisteanna chuig an Aire Stáit agus freagraí.

The EU recommitting to the simplification piece, to use the Minister of State’s language, and reducing the cost of business, including up to 35% for SMEs, would have been music to the ears of businesses. Will the Minister of State expand on that? Will he update us on preparations for the Presidency, what it means for the country in practical terms, when it begins and ends and its rubrics? Finally, migration is a topic that exercises a lot of minds. The European Council reiterated its commitment to “the prevention a…

I have more questions.

I think I might have let it go out of my head when I was told that I could not ask it.

I am sure you will.

It was on preparations for the Irish Presidency.