I forgive you.

I want to raise with the Tánaiste the issue of section 5. It probably had its uses, but when abused, as it is being at the moment, it is a very serious tool. Anybody can make a section 5 application, even if he or she does not own the building, to check if it is exempt from planning for an IPAS centre. The owner of the building in a lot of cases does not even know that somebody has made a section 5 application, as happened in Trim last week. This is creating a lot of unnecessary problems for communities right acros…

This May Day, we come together to honour the generations of workers who fought for fairness, dignity and decent pay and to recommit ourselves to that same struggle today. It is also a day to hold the Government to account for its betrayal of those very workers. Let me be brutally honest: the Government, including the Minister, has been shamefully untrustworthy when it comes to workers' rights. Before the last election, it made promises it knew it would not keep. There were seven promises to improve workers' lives, …

I wish Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett the best going forward. Sinn Féin has long stood up for the right to retire at 65. We represent the voices of those who have worked hard their entire lives and deserve to retire at 65 if they wish to do so, rather than accepting the retirement age of 66 set by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. There are many complex factors that influence when individuals choose to retire. The decision to retire at pension age is not a one-size-fits-all situation. It varies greatly from person to person,…

Lack of water supply is an issue affecting residents across the country and my constituency of Meath West, particularly in Enfield, Clonard, Ballivor, Trim and surrounding areas. These communities face ongoing water outages that simply cannot be ignored. The Clonard Water Action Group has reached out to me highlighting that more than 300 residents are dealing with daily water shortages and outages relying on water tankers to supply a pumping station. This is something I have highlighted since first being elected to…

What about your part in it?

What about your part in it?

The waiting time for a driving test in Meath is disgraceful. The Government has been warned about it for years. Many people are waiting for up to 35 weeks and in some cases even longer to do their driving test. This is completely unacceptable. Navan has the longest waiting list in the country, with an estimated waiting time of 35 weeks for a driving test, with some people waiting even longer. We now have 72,414 people trapped in limbo. This is an alarming increase of more than 60% since 2022. In just three months, …

I express my sincere gratitude to the staff of our local authorities and the hardworking staff of the ESB and the emergency services who gave so much during and after Storm Éowyn. Many of these people are still cleaning up after the storm. In Meath West, community hubs played a crucial role by providing support to many. They ensured that many people in Meath who were without power could charge their phones, work from the hub, shower and enjoy a warm building. This is why community centres and GAA clubs should be pr…

I raise with the Taoiseach what is happening with housing developments around the country. The one I raise today is Bailey Hill in Navan, County Meath, by Kingscroft Developments. There has been serious delay after delay when it comes to finishing the houses and giving people the keys to their new homes. Many young people and couples are in this predicament. A couple signed sale agreed in February 2023. They were told they would be in their house by that May, three months before their child was born. That child is …

The Tánaiste asked people here about priorities for the budget. The number of people who are homeless or in homeless emergency accommodation now stands at 14,159, of whom 4,316 are children. In 2015, this number stood at 3,600 and most people thought it could not get any worse. One service dealing with homeless people is A Lending Hand and its director Ms Keira Gill. While charities and organisations are doing their best, they do not have enough financial resources. This is evident when thousands of people are now …

The Tánaiste calls that success.

There were 3,500 people homeless in 2015.

The restoration of elections to Údarás na Gaeltachta is a milestone that Sinn Féin has championed for years. It is a demand that has finally been acknowledged, albeit with substantial shortcomings. While we welcome the Government's commitment to reintroduce elections, we must examine the proposed legislation's failures and its implications for Gaeltacht regions, such as Ráth Chairn, in my constituency of Meath West. It is absurd that we are still awaiting the Gaeltacht planning guidelines promised in 2021. The Iris…

I raise the serious issue regarding Trim Educate Together National School in County Meath. The school opened in 2014 with 17 junior infant pupils. It initially operated from temporary accommodation in 2018. It moved to another temporary building in Trim. Since 2021 enrolment has surged from 138 to a projected 201 pupils this September. They will have eight mainstream classes for the first time. A recent health and safety report by Cohort has highlighted urgent concerns about the inadequacy of the current building. …

It has been going on ten years.

We do not know.

I thank the Tánaiste.

The crisis of student accommodation has become a significant issue affecting students and their families across our country, including the people of my constituency in Meath West. Private companies are exploiting students and their parents. These companies use deceptive tactics such as claiming that properties need renovations to remove students from their accommodation. Once the students are displaced, the companies hike the rent on the new accommodation by extortionate amounts. This is a clear exploitation of stu…

A few weeks ago the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and her Department announced €164 million in rural regeneration and development fund funding. Meath County Council submitted three projects for funding. A total of 19 counties received funding. The three projects in Meath were in Athboy, Oldcastle and Dunshaughlin and not one of them was funded. The three projects combined would cost €10 million. The Minister's constituency with a population of 147,000 got €32 million. Meath has a population of 222,000 and did not get…