I am rather concerned. This has been described by EirGrid and others as the biggest infrastructure project this decade, which it is. The timeframe has already slipped, with commissioning meant to happen in 2026 but now happening in 2028. I am kind of concerned that the Minister of State says that he does not know on the floor of the Dáil and that he will have to get EirGrid to let us know. This is a critical piece of infrastructure for the State, as he says. It is important that we know the timeframe as to when it …

I am sorry but I have a problem with that. Yes, there is a reason EirGrid, in terms of operational activity, is independent, but EirGrid is responsible to the State. Deputy Dooley is a Minister of State responsible for energy with regard to a critical piece of infrastructure. We should know in this House about progress on this critical piece of infrastructure. I say respectfully that it is not good enough to say that EirGrid will tell us when it will have this critical piece of infrastructure finished. It is not fo…

I want to raise the case of Gorey Hill school in Gorey, County Wexford. This is a school for learners with complex learning needs aged between four and 18. It was officially opened only at the beginning of 2025, although it had been in operation from late 2024. Part of the reason the school was opened was that there was so much pressure on St. Patrick's Special School in Enniscorthy that there was a need for additional places in counties Wexford and Wicklow for young people with complex learning needs. In fairness,…

I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate that he is taking this on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, who has indeed visited Gorey Hill School. There is an acknowledgment in here that the school is already at capacity and that there is greater demand. The concern I have in regard to the answer that has been provided is whether regard has been had to the potential impact the proposed modular construction will have on the play area, car parking and ancillary services that exist on the site already, …

I am sure the Taoiseach agrees with me that the men and women of our fire services, defence services and the Garda provide vital services to the State and to all our communities. In a welcome move two years ago, the retirement age for people in those services was increased from 60 to 62 years. I know from responses to parliamentary questions that 122 personnel in the Defence Forces and 112 gardaí have since remained in the force beyond the age of 60. Can we look at extending this further? It is a particular issue. …

-----at allowing continuing past that age limit?

And for the fire services.

I welcome this debate on support for football throughout the country. I welcome the Minister of State's commitment to invest in football. I also welcome the investment in academies that was announced for this year. We have seen new leadership within the FAI. The vision those people have for our national teams, the League of Ireland and grassroots football is critical. As others have said, the investment we will see as part of the next round of the sports capital fund is very important in that regard. Clubs that wor…

This is a global energy crisis we are facing and we need to see it in those terms. Showing solidarity to those who are victims of war right now is a good thing. While I support these measures, the challenge has been that many of those who are out on the protest - and I know a lot of them - are hard-working and decent people and this was seen in many ways as being the last straw. I genuinely feel that in the last budget we did not do enough for workers. We did not index link the tax bands, though that is something w…

I certainly welcome the measures that have been brought forward, which are quite comprehensive and are targeted at the most vulnerable. I wish to highlight two issues that have been raised by others. One is the case of those who are involved in agriculture. Given the costs our farmers are facing, particularly with regard to fuel and the increasing cost of fertiliser, we need to find a package somewhat similar to that which we rightly found for those in the haulage sector and, indeed, in coach travel. The other area…

I welcome the fact that Ireland will continue to contribute in whatever way we can to addressing Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine. We need to co-operate in a number of specific areas. One such area I want to instance is cybersecurity. Like many other European countries, Ireland is regularly on the receiving end of cyberattacks emanating from Russia. At our meeting of the Committee on Artificial Intelligence today, the Courts Service highlighted the fact that Russia is the source of many of the cyberattacks on t…

Hear, hear.

The Minister of State articulated very well the purposes of this Bill particularly in implementing elements of the European Media Freedom Act. It is important to note that Ireland has always performed well on press freedom indices. Reporters Without Borders, RSF, which is journalists making their own assessment, has placed Ireland’s ranking over the past number of years as "good", which is the top placing, when it comes to media freedom. It is worth noting Ireland is one of only six countries, along with Sweden, Fi…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to enable the state to accede to the Antarctic Treaty done at Washington on 1 December 1959 and to certain related instruments, including the protocol on environmental protection to the Antarctic Treaty done at Madrid on 4 October 1991; and to provide for related matters. The Antarctic Treaty (Accession and Implementation) Bill proposes that Ireland become the 59th country to accede to the Antarctic Treaty System. As a country, we have always been de…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

I thank the Minister of State for being here. He is well aware of the problems that have existed for a number of years. Somebody could work in a childcare facility and, at the same time, could be training juvenile athletes as well as being involved in a stage school involving young people. For each of those roles, that person would require Garda vetting. In terms of bus drivers and certain types of employment, it is in a sense almost more bizarre. At the moment, contracted drivers of school buses under the Bus Éire…

I thank the Minister of State very much. With all due respect, I do not think we needed a review group to operate for five years to tell us that. It is something I think we all knew. We needed a more efficient system. The Federation of Irish Sport, charities and community organisations have been saying for a long time that there should be a very simple vetting process. Anybody who is working with children or vulnerable adults should have to go through one vetting process based on the assessments of risk. They shoul…

I am somebody who has haemochromatosis. I was very lucky about ten years ago that I had the diagnosis. I was simply feeling fatigued. It was a general checkup and I was lucky that my GP decided to check my iron levels. It is a perfectly manageable disease, as Deputy Daly has pointed out, and I am very fortunate that I can have a venesection in my local GP's surgery. The challenge, particularly among men, who perhaps do not go to the doctors as regularly as they should, is that there is not the level of awareness. W…

The Minister has outlined what a serious issue it is, and the numbers impacted in this country by osteoporosis. We know there are approximately 32,000 fragility fractures every year and that is estimated to cost our health service approximately €464 million every year. That is not to forget the impact it has on the individual patients. Given our ageing population, if we do not address some of this, those costs could rise to close to €1 billion within a decade. I welcome the commitments toward healthier activity, pa…

To start, I agree entirely with the Minister that first and foremost in this debate our thoughts have to be with the 24,000 citizens of this country in the Middle East. I too commend the diplomatic teams working there to ensure their safety. This has to be our priority, and the Government is right in adopting that approach. Before I turn to the geopolitical situation, I will comment on a number of specific impacts here. There has obviously been a discussion around what has been happening with fuel prices and the pr…