Táimid ag ardú cheist maoinithe Chomhairle Chontae na Gaillimhe. Tuigeann chuile dhuine nach bhfuil a dhóthain airgid á fháil ag Comhairle Chontae na Gaillimhe le blianta fada. Feictear é sin go soiléir sna bóithre agus na droichid i gConamara. Fiú inniu, tá Bóthar Chuan na Luinge faoi uisce arís. Sílim go bhfuilimid ar fad ar aon intinn ar an gceist seo. Tuigeann chuile dhuine go dteastaíonn tuilleadh airgid agus sílim ón méid atá ráite ag an Rialtas cheana go bhfuil sé sásta breathnú ar an gceist seo agus cabhrú …

The crux of the issue is the one-off allocation of €2.75 million the Minister of State mentioned. I will be interested to hear his response to my colleague's question whether that is related to the additional one-off payment that I mentioned in my initial opening remarks and which I welcomed in this Chamber. The point is that it does not come to the crux of the issue and the serious lack of funding. The whole point is that everybody from Galway has absolutely been in agreement that there has been a lack of funding …

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Naughten as an rún seo a chur chun tosaigh inniu. Tá sé fíorthábhachtach. The first time that long Covid was highlighted to me was approximately two years ago. When I heard about it, it really knocked me for six when the woman in question detailed how much it had impacted on her life. Ever since then, I have raised the issue in this Chamber and through parliamentary questions because the people who have been suffering from long Covid have raised it with me. I commend all those peopl…

Fáiltím roimh an deis labhairt ar an gceist seo mar go bhfuil go leor de mhuintir na Gaillimhe céasta le cúrsaí uisce. Bhí fadhbanna leis an maingainéis ar Inis Bó Finne agus sa Spidéal le tamaillín anuas agus cé go bhfuil siad réitithe sa Spidéal bhí fadhbanna i gcomhair i bhfad. The water issue on Inishbofin has been ongoing for a number of months. With the lack of clarity on whether the water was safe to drink, there was a boil notice which was changed to a do not consume notice. The islanders still have questio…

Ba mhaith liom ceist maidir le béilí scoile te a ardú leis an Aire. Bhí scoileanna agus eagraíochtaí scoile, chomh maith le comhlacht amháin, i dteagmháil liom ag rá go bhfuil brú orthu an tseirbhís seo a chur ar fáil mar gheall ar an ráta boilscithe agus go bhfuil ardú tagtha ar phraghas an bhia. An bhfuil an Rialtas ag breathnú air seo agus an mbeidh athbhreithniú ann mar gheall air? I raise with the Minister the issue of hot school meals. Several schools and school organisations, as well as a company, have conta…

I thank People Before Profit-Solidarity for bringing forward this motion because it is timely. I have not seen the housing crisis as bad as it is now in Galway city in a very long time. We are having a crisis in all the different strands relating to housing. We are not seeing supply come on stream. People who have been on the housing waiting list for 15 years have had no offer of accommodation. There is nowhere to rent. If the Minister of State went on daft.ie today to see what he could rent in Galway city, he woul…

As I only have four minutes, I will only focus on one particular measure but I look forward to engagement on Committee Stage. I want to focus, therefore, on the vacant homes tax. It is something which we have long been calling for and is something which, on the face of it, most people would probably welcome. We know that we have a significant stock of vacant homes, which we can see from just going through our towns, cities and rural areas. These number 166,000 according to the recent census. We know this adds to sc…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. It is welcome that we are discussing the regulation of lobbying. We need to be realistic about this. People's faith in the public and political system is at an all-time low. That is because of the behaviour of certain people. When people look at this Chamber and the debates that take place here, even though numbers of them voted for every one of us, they do not feel they have the same level of influence on their locally elected politicians as certain specific interests may have. It is…

I have less than two minutes so I want to focus on the issue of our neutrality. One of the most formative experiences of my earlier political life was the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003. That was a war built on lies. It is estimated to have killed between 500,000 and over 1 million people. The final chapter of the war and the resulting occupation was only closed in December 2021. It was the opposition to the launching of the Iraq War that convinced me of the need for our neutrality. I was not the only one as ove…

When speaking about regulations such as these it is hard not to think about the financial crash. I did my leaving certificate in 2008 and went on to study finance. It was ever present in all I studied at the time. An acronym that was referenced a lot was "IBGYBG", which stood for "I'll be gone. You'll be gone". I will have got my commission and the person I sold to will have sold on and neither of us will be held accountable when something goes wrong. After studying finance I worked in banking and derivatives. This…

Tá foláireamh ná hól i bhfeidhm ar Inis Bó Finne agus an Spidéal. Tá fadhbanna leis an uisce ar Inis Bó Finne ó mhí Lúnasa agus sa Spidéal ón mhí seo caite. Caithfear a theacht ar réiteach fadtéarmach ach chomh maith leis sin, teastaíonn tuilleadh eolais. Teastaíonn ar a laghad cruinniú leis na hionadaithe tofa ach, i ndáiríre, teastaíonn ceann leis an bpobal. I have raised previously in the Chamber the issue of "do not consume" notices on Inishbofin and in Spiddal. Of course, a longer-term solution is needed but t…

Gabhaim mo bhuíochas le mo chomhghleacaithe a chuir an Bille seo faoi bhráid na Dála, na Teachtaí Ó Snodaigh, Ellis, Ó Laoghaire agus Ó Dochartaigh. Bhí an Teachta Ó Dochartaigh ag iarraidh a bheith anseo agus a ghuth a chur leis an mBille seo ach mar gheall ar an tragóid uafásach a tharla i gCraoslach, tá sé i nDún na nGall. D’ardaigh mé an cheist seo go rímhinic leis an Aire Stáit cheana agus bhí díospóireacht sách maith againn faoi. Tá sé ráite agam cheana ach déarfaidh mé arís é. Sílim go bhfuil toghcháin do bh…

Gabhaim buíochas le Páirtí an Lucht Oibre agus leis an Teachta Duncan Smith as an rún seo a chur os comhair na Dála. Tá sé fíorthábhachtach go bhfuil an rún seo á phlé againn inniu. I also thank and commend the trade unions for their representation of these workers. I commend the amazing work of our friends in the community and voluntary sector, some of whom are here with us today. It is essential that we have this debate and this conversation within the Dáil but it should not just end as a conversation. Something …

Tá mé an-sásta go bhfuil an tAire Stáit, an Teachta Rabbitte, anseo chun an cheist seo a phlé mar tuigfidh sí cé chomh tábhachtach is atá an t-ospidéal seo, ní hamháin i gcomhair mhuintir an Chlocháin ach i gcomhair mhuintir Chonamara go ginearálta. Tá an Teachta Ó Cuív tar éis go leor de na deacrachtaí a lua ach is minic go mbíonn daoine ar thralaithe san ospidéal i nGaillimh faoi láthair. Ní dhéanann sé ciall, beag ná mór, nach féidir an t-ionad seo a úsáid. Mar a luadh cheana féin, breathnaíonn sé ar nós go bhfu…

Indeed, we hope this is a good omen. I too wish the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, a speedy recovery. As local Oireachtas Members, we have met representatives of the HSE and the unions. It angers me that what should be worked out between the unions and the HSE is being brought into this Chamber. At the end of the day, the unions are not here to defend what they feel. We need to find a solution to this but that is not for us to sort out; it needs to be sorted out between the unions and the HSE. We know how import…

Ar dtús ba mhaith liom an bus oíche a ardú leis an Aire Stáit agus seo ceist atá luaite go sách minic agam sa Seomra seo. Tá dhá líne nua curtha le bus 24 uaire i mBaile Átha Cliath agus cuirim fáilte roimhe sin ach tá gá le bus oíche i nGaillimh freisin agus ar fud an iarthair. Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil an bus 424 ag taisteal níos déanaí anois agus gur féidir le daoine, mar gheall air sin, dul i gcomhair béile agus dul ar ais abhaile ach teastaíonn tuilleadh busanna cosúil leis seo agus teastaíonn a leithéid in ia…

I wish to raise three specific issues with the Minister of State concerning the housing crisis and how it is impacting on Galway. One can only describe the housing situation as grim. It is completely and utterly grim for families and of course individuals. It used to be the case that if you were 11 years on the housing list in Galway city, you had a fair chance of being offered something. Increasingly, I have people coming to me who have been 14 years on the housing list in Galway City and they have never once been…

The question is fairly self-explanatory. It is to look for an update on the national development plan, the impact of cost inflation and if the Minister of State will provide a list of any projects which may now need to go back out for tender. As the Minister of State knows, the national development plan is very significant and many people are concerned about the impact of inflation.

There are two questions that spring to mind initially. I am aware of the €800 million that was assigned in the budget. I am wondering how it looks at the moment in respect of capital carry-over. The Minister of State also mentioned that the extensions would be done by the approving authorities, which is fair enough. Is there any analysis at departmental level to see if there much need for time extensions? I would be interested in hearing that.

I thank the Minister of State. On the inflation co-operation framework, that was totally new when it was announced. I was wondering how it is working at this time. Were there any hiccups at the start? One of the things that sprung to mind at the time, which I had discussed, was that certain contracting authorities might not have the same ability, know-how or knowledge base going into it. How is that working practically? Does the Minister of State see it needing to be extended? How is it working in general?