Ba mhaith liom an bád lasta, nó cargo ship, a fhreastalaíonn ar Inis Meáin a ardú leis an Taoiseach. Bhí muintir Inis Meáin i dteagmháil liom ag rá nuair a bhris an aimsir anuraidh gur fágadh iad le droch-sheirbhís. Chaill siad suas le hocht dturas idir Deireadh Fómhair agus an Nollaig. I mbliana tá siad tar éis turas amháin a chailleadh cheana féin. Faigheann an Bád seo fóirdheontas ón Rialtas agus tá gnólachtaí Inis Meáin agus muintir Inis Meáin ag brath air. Iarraim ar an Taoiseach é sin a fhiosrú.

Budget 2022 did nothing for renters and I cannot say that is surprising. This place does nothing for renters, be they students, families or pensioners. The Minister told us not to judge him hastily. He told us to be patient. He told us Housing for All, which is the grand policy and his grand plan, would be the means to turn things around. It is hard to tell when exactly Eoghan Murphy's term as Minister ended and the present Minister's one began because there is no difference. Maybe there is a difference, because I …

I am sorry to tell the Minister the ECB forecasted inflation would increase as economies opened so I do not think it came as a surprise to anyone. In fact, at the exact same time as he was planning to link rents to inflation, his own Minister for Finance was planning on indexing the tax bands on the basis inflation would rise, so he obviously saw it coming. What about all those people who are not in rent pressure zones? I think in particular of those in our coastal areas. We saw during the course of the pandemic th…

Politics is about choices and rarely is that clearer than on budget day. A Government's budget is a fiscal expression of its policy priorities. Does it tackle sky-high rents? Does it tackle unaffordable childcare or a health system bursting at its seams? It does not. The crises we face in each of those areas did not come about through some act of God. They were the direct results of political decisions made by the men seated across from me in this Chamber and by their Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Green Party predeces…

When it comes to addressing some of the most fundamental aspects of the cost of living, the Government's measures seem, at best, ineffective and, at worst, to be exacerbating the problem. This Government is basically telling us that it is sorry but that it cannot deal with housing, healthcare or childcare. It is giving us a couple of quid and suggesting that we all forget about it and move on with our lives. That does not wash with people any more. If the Government cannot tackle the big systemic crises that we fac…

To be clear, my time is being eaten away. You might think of that in the last few seconds.

Tá mé ag iarraidh cúpla rud a rá. Tá an Ghaeilge agus an Ghaeltacht fágtha in áit na leathphingine le €6.3 milliún agus gan ach €1 milliún dó sin mar mhaoiniú caipitil. Níl aon tagairt do choistí cobhsaíochta a bhí geallta do choláistí samhraidh Ghaeltachta atá i mbaol. Níl aon athchóiriú ar na ciorruithe a bhí curtha i bhfeidhm ar an nGaeilge agus an nGaeltacht leis na blianta anuas, ar nós scéimeanna agus eagras ríthábhachtach a thabhairt ar ais, ina measc, scéim labhairt na Gaeilge, Gaeleagrais nó an choimisiúin…

They need to catch up.

For this Government the golden rule is that he who has the gold makes the rules. It is time for a new Government which follows the rule of the people, by the people and for the people and that delivers budgets which can deliver the transformative change that will fix the socioeconomic problems we face. This will ensure our political system is responsive and capable of responding to the needs of voters. Our budget puts workers and families first. It wants to invest in our people and public infrastructure. It wants t…

Galway city has been plagued with vacant sites and vacant homes for the last number of years. Just last week, I walked through Galway city centre and took a look at the number of vacant homes. At the same time, thousands of people are on the housing waiting list, thousands of people are paying huge rents and thousands of people are locked out of homeownership. Just this week, we saw the launch of the national development plan. One of its themes is about moving people and seeing populations grow in cities outside of…

Tairgim leasú Uimh. 3: I leathanach 7, idir línte 24 agus 25, an méid seo a leanas a chur isteach: “ciallaíonn ‘inniúlacht’ i gcomhthéacs na Gaeilge san Acht seo, agus in aon reachtaíocht eile, líofacht de leibhéal B1 nó níos airde ar an gCreat Comhchoiteann Tagartha Eorpach le haghaidh Teangacha;”. Tá sé dochreidte nach bhfuil seirbhísí Stáit fheiliúnaigh ar fáil i nGaeilge sa Ghaeltacht sa bhliain 2021. Is é sin an bealach a bhfuil sé faoi láthair agus tá a fhios againn é sin. Ar ndóigh, tuigeann muintir na Gaelt…

Tá brón orm ach ní aontaím leis an Aire Stáit ar na leasuithe seo agus tá cúpla fáth leis sin. Ar an gcéad dul síos, tá a fhios againn nach bhfuil an méid atá ag tarlú faoi láthair ag obair. Níl a fhios agam a bhfaca an tAire Stáit an tvuít inniu a chuir fear éigin ar Twitter. Dúirt sé go raibh sé ag iarraidh a chuid seirbhísí a dhéanamh trí Ghaeilge le An Post. Ba é an fhreagra a fuair sé ar ais i mBéarla ná, “We have a Irish web chat person but he is on his lunch.” Léiríonn sé sin an fhadhb atá againn i láthair n…

I commend the Social Democrats on bringing forward this important motion. Today we are the European capital of data centres. In reality, that is a badge of climate dishonour for this State. We are playing host to more than 70 of these centres, with many more under construction or at advanced stages of the planning process. The Taoiseach's recent comments were to the effect that we would look at escalating the planning of these new centres. EirGrid first estimated these data centres would be using 29% of our energy …

It is good and important that we are having this conversation and making these statements because we must not forget our role in this situation. This summer alone, Shannon Airport facilitated the transportation of six UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters through the airport as they returned to the US from the war efforts in Afghanistan. Much of the ammunition, large amounts of weapons, tanks and even fighter aircraft that had previously been transported through Shannon Airport en route t o Afghanistan have been taken by th…

It does, because Mr. Assange pointed out a decade ago that the real winner from the Afghan war would be the US military industrial complex. The war funnelled trillions of dollars of US taxpayer money directly into the pockets of five big US defence companies that were involved in the US war effort and the atrocities that resulted from it. I will borrow the words of the great historian, Howard Zinn. While written from the perspective of an independent activist, I think they are words that we can all reflect on. It i…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Freedom of Information Act 2014 and to provide for related matters. Tá an-áthas orm labhairt faoin mBille seo. I am delighted to be introducing, alongside my colleague, Deputy Clarke, our Bill. This is the fruit of a year’s work and as today is International Access to Information Day, I feel it is the perfect day to introduce this amending Bill. Since being elected I, alongside my colleague, Deputy Clarke, have been making the case that …

Tairgim: "Go dtógfar an Bille in am Comhaltaí Príobháideacha."

Táimid i lár géarchéime tithíochta faoi láthair, géarchéim atá ann mar gheall ar pholasaithe an Rialtais le blianta anuas agus mar gheall go raibh buiséad i ndiadh buiséid le cúig bliana anuas nár ndeachaigh i ngleic leis an ngéarchéim seo, buiséid de bhunú Fhine Gael ach le tacaíocht ó Fhianna Fáil. Níl sa phlean seo ach polasaithe Rebuilding Ireland. B'fhéidir go bhfuil ainm eile air ach sin atá i gceist. An rud a dteastaíonn ná 20,000 teach gach uile bliain; tithe shóisialta, tithe ar phraghas réasúnta agus tith…

We know long Covid is a real, serious and debilitating condition from which many people are suffering. I previously raised with the Minister the possibility of amending the occupational injury and illness scheme or public sector pay. He told me at that point that he was aware of the situation and it was under active review. Is there any update in that regard or an estimation of the cost of doing this?

I have been contacted by several young women who have been affected and deeply impacted by long Covid. I will recount the story of a woman named Karen who contacted me. She is 36 years of age and a front-line worker who tested positive on 31 December. She was admitted to the Mater Hospital on 8 January and had to be put on an oxygen machine because she had double pneumonia. Although she recovered from Covid in April, she was referred to the respiratory post-Covid clinic at which she was seen by a range of consultan…