I will briefly address the issue raised by the Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor. I do not for a moment underestimate the scale of the challenge that she might be facing in terms of the obesity epidemic. With the greatest respect, however, I would doubt the relevance of it to this discussion. For any parents watching who perhaps are with their child waiting to go in for surgery this will not inspire a massive amount of confidence. This is not to diminish the issue but perhaps there is a better time and pla…

My constituency of Dublin Fingal West has seen fairly rapid growth in recent years but we have not seen a consequent increase in the capacity of water infrastructure. One example is the village of Naul. The local community are worn out begging - I genuinely mean begging - for assistance from the council, the Government and Irish Water. The Delvin river floods when the water infrastructure is overwhelmed, and it is very regularly overwhelmed. The plant cannot cope with the demand and the community is left to deal wi…

An amendment has been proposed.

I welcome the chance to discuss this issue. From my previous work experience, where I encountered people who came up against a compulsory retirement age, I genuinely believe workers want the right to make the decision to work on at 65, should they wish, up to age of 70, as provided for in the legislation that my colleague, Deputy Claire Kerrane, and I brought forward, or to retire with access to their pension at 65. This is not at odds with the recommendations of the Pensions Commission, as I am sure the Minister w…

I thank the Minister of State for being here to take this Topical Issue. I represent one of the youngest and fastest-growing constituencies in the State in Fingal West. Many of my constituents are served by the train, which runs alongside the side of my constituency, and some by bus. Unfortunately for my constituents, most of the existing transport routes only bring them in to town. They need dynamic connectivity to bring them from one town to another. We know there is a link from Rush to Lusk to Balbriggan to Sker…

I am very annoyed. MetroLink does not serve my constituency. Neither do DART+ West and DART+ South West. The only DART+ project that will serve my constituents is DART+ Coastal North, which has been a very long tale. I do not have the time to tell it all, but suffice to say that it has been a decade since the bridges were raised. A little like draining the River Shannon, it gets wheeled out every once in a while, but it never actually seems to happen. I fully appreciate the Minister of State being here and I thank …

I proudly represent a diverse constituency that is also one of the youngest in the State. The Minister of State talked about community engagement and the need to foster positive behavioural change. I agree with him. Positive behavioural change is definitely a worthwhile goal for our young people. It is also a worthwhile goal for members of An Garda Síochána. I draw the Minister of State's attention to the findings of the Irish Network Against Racism study published in the past couple of days. It found that survey p…

In this Chamber, we talk a lot about accountability but we know this Government, made up of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Lowry group, has shown itself to be absolutely allergic to accountability. In the election campaign, both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael told us they would hit a figure of 40,000 homes, even though they were told repeatedly by their own experts that this figure was a massive overinflation. They persisted with it. Even today, they cannot find even a scrap of humility to admit they were telling untrut…

-----and all of the changes to Standing Orders in the world will not alter that fact. To collude in an absurdity like that does the Office of the Ceann Comhairle no favours and I suspect the Ceann Comhairle knows that herself. The actual Opposition has tabled an amendment to the motion and I urge Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and indeed, the Lowry group, to consider this amendment, which simply recognises the fact that if the Ceann Comhairle is to fulfil her obligations under Standing Order 10, she should retain the confi…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — Storm Éowyn made landfall in Ireland on 23rd January, 2025, breaking all-time record wind speeds; and — the scale of damage and disruption to transport, energy, water, telecommunications and internet services was unprecedented, exposing the fragility of our infrastructure, in the face of an ever-worsening climate crisis; further notes that: — the Humanitarian Assistance Scheme (HAS), was activated on the 23rd January, 2025, to assist all those affected across the country by …

I thank the Minister and everyone who contributed to the debate. I reiterate my thanks and that of my party to every person who stepped up and responded in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn. I want to respond to some of the Minister's contribution. We will work with the Minister, and right across the Dáil, to ensure future responses are fit for purpose and that those very famous lessons that have to be learned are indeed learned and acted upon. There was confusion and the Minister acknowledged it himself. I have been co…

My question, as is my form, is very straightforward. Will the Minister outline the plans that he has to address the economic and social inequality in 2025 in both urban and rural areas? What specific initiatives will he progress? If he could confine it to this year, I would be interested to know the scale of the ambition for the Department in terms of deliverables, KPIs and any indicators or targets that will be set.

I thank the Minister. I do not want to be argumentative, and I am absolutely committed to working across the House to ensure that we address issues regarding inequality. While I thanked the Minister for his reply, there were no specifics in it and this is where my issue is. What we need to see is, for example, a target for the number of community centres. We all know that a community centre, a physical place where a community can come together - a bricks-and-mortar building - can be the driving force in a community…

This is where we might have a small disagreement, because I absolutely agree with the Minister that it has to be community-led, but setting the targets will not interfere with that in any way, shape or form. The setting of targets actually gives a focus. The Minister was not doing the communities any favours when he suggested that they could work not to a deadline or a target because they can. There is quite an amount of disillusionment with regard to the commitment that this Government has to regeneration, particu…

I welcome the progress of this Bill. I thank members of my own and other parties and specifically Deputy Kelly for keeping this issue firmly on the political agenda for the past number of years. I also thank the Minister's officials for facilitating a briefing with the Opposition earlier this week and for taking our questions. It is very important to remember that what brought us here was a grieving partner and family having to take to the courts to ensure this change will happen. It must have been so difficult for…

I thank the Deputies for bringing forward this motion and giving us the chance to have this important debate. Here we have another day and another U-turn. Today's U-turn sees Fianna Fáil move even closer to Fine Gael. At some point they are going to have to acknowledge that there is virtually no difference between the two parties. We have come to expect the hawkish views of Fine Gael. We are used to them. We see them beating their chests and all the rest of it. When we hear the Tánaiste talk about fighter jets, we …

Just stick to the decision that was made.

You are turning yourself inside out.

Stop it.

They are in government with you.