I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case: Deputy Albert Dolan - To discuss the need to support existing retail investors though implementing the funds 2030 review. Deputy Malcolm Byrne - To discuss the need for the development of Bunclody Community College, Bunclody, County Wexford. Deputy Marie Sherlock - To discuss the enforcement of e-scooter legislation. Deputy Thomas Gould - To discuss the usage…

My question relates to the reception class in St. Joseph's Co-Educational Primary School in East Wall in Dublin 3. A reception class has been running there since 1984. It is in its 43rd year. It is a pre-junior infants class, so effectively there is a three-year infant cycle. It was one of four pioneering schools that has run such a class. Now there is only one school in the country providing such a reception class. The fantastic thing about this reception class is that it is not like preschool or a crèche . It is …

My request is that the Department show ambition, particularly regarding communities where not every child goes to school equal at the age of five. The role and value of the reception class is critical, not just for the East Wall area and it should be looked at in other areas. It is also important to say, as I understand it, this is not the first time there has been a wobble in the Department about the reception class for St. Joseph's. The class started 43 years ago. It was terminated around 1999-2000 but the Depart…

While I warmly welcome the announcement of the public consultation on the future of the GPO, I express my deep disappointment in the plans for the meanwhile use. There are 4,000 sq. m of enormous potential in the heart of Dublin, yet we are hearing it is going to be allocated to office space, with some vague notion of cultural and community space. We know there is a very sizeable office vacancy rate in Dublin. The OPW has also had empty office space for a considerable period. We know there is a massive shortage of …

I very much welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion and I thank Sinn Féin for introducing it this evening. The Labour Party will very much be supporting this motion. The Government has effectively watched our public community dental services collapse over the last decade. It is very clear that oral healthcare is very much the poor relation of the health service. It is almost a year to the day since we had a debate in this Chamber last year, with a motion then sponsored by Deputy Stanley. It is clear that al…

I thank my colleague Deputy Ahern for introducing this really important and timely motion. It is frankly shambolic that, more than six months into 2026, we still have yet to see a national climate action plan. That speaks volumes about this Government and its commitment to climate mitigation in this country. Instead of a Government prioritising clean, cheap energy for the many, we have had to introduce this motion because of the huge drain that data centres represent to our grid at this point, with real-world conse…

In March we all warmly welcomed the purchase of the site in Raheen in Limerick for the much-needed expansion of acute hospital capacity in the mid-west region. In March there was a commitment to establishing a new board and that there would be an initial report by this September. What is the delay in the formation of that board? Is that September date now off the table? Is there a timeline for the formation of the board and that initial report? Is resourcing an issue?

I thank Deputy Cullinane and Sinn Féin for bringing forward the Bill. It addresses one part of the O'Shea report. I am disappointed that there is an element of cherry-picking from the O'Shea report. If we are accepting the bona fides of the report, we should be looking at all the issues it addressed. I express the Labour Party's disappointment with Sinn Féin that it is singling out one issue. It is, however, the one issue on which there seems to be greater political consensus compared with some of the other issues …

What exactly did the Taoiseach mean when he said migration has hugely impacted homelessness? When people hear that, they think the Taoiseach is in some way trying to minimise or dismiss the problem that is affecting more than 12,500 people in Dublin and thousands more who are couch-surfing, who are suffering and who do not have homes at this time. The people coming to my clinic are both Irish born and individuals who have made their lives here. Their stories are harrowing. The family of a Dublin Bus driver are bein…

I am asking this question on behalf of Deputy Duncan Smith. The world is rightly outraged at what we saw yesterday but none of us should be surprised. The Government made a solemn commitment at the time of the election and published legislation last year but has done nothing since. It has rebuffed every single legislative effort brought before the Dáil and Seanad. Will the Minister level with the Irish public now? Is she abandoning the Israeli settlements Bill she introduced? If not, she should please set out a tim…

It was February 2024 when the Irish Government first brought the EU-Israel trade agreement to the European Council. It is now two and a half years later and there has been zero action. What I am hearing today is a strategy of crossing the fingers and toes and hoping other countries keep up with us with regard to the plan to outlaw trade from illegal settlements. What I am hearing today, which is more worrying, is that the Government is now narrowing its intent. It is going after violent settlers. It is not going af…

If the Dutch and other governments the Minister called out do not move, will Ireland still move ahead? I am hearing two things here: I am hearing "the next few weeks" and I am hearing that the Government wants to move in concert. Frankly, that is not clear enough. The reality is that 70,000 people are dead. Over 900 people have died since the October ceasefire. We saw the scenes yesterday. God only knows what is happening to the countless nameless Palestinians who are behind bars at this point in time and who are f…

My thanks to Deputy Cairns for bringing forward this Bill, which the Labour Party supports wholeheartedly. Compassionate care for women in real difficulty has been an issue for our party for many decades, long before it was mainstream for people to be talking about this. Indeed, many in the Labour Party were ostracised for many years. It is important to say at the outset that progress has been made over recent years in terms of the greater number of maternity units that are now providing access to termination of pr…

Yesterday marked something of a milestone for the health service. For 50 days in the past three months, the number of delayed transfers of care has exceeded 500 patients across acute hospitals. For 50 days, there have been over 500 people waiting and ready to leave acute hospitals but cannot. They need step-down care, specialised beds, home care packages and nursing homes. These people need care that would cost a lot less than being in an acute hospital bed. Of course, all of this is taking place at a time when the…

I welcome the opportunity to speak today on International Nurses Day. The theme is: “Our Nurses. Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives”. I have just come from the new national children's hospital. I want to pay particular tribute to the nurses who are leading the charge there, as well as Lucy Nugent, the chief executive of CHI, and Julia Lewis, the head of transformation. It is wonderful to see so many nurses now coming into senior leadership roles across the health service, where for so many years, it was domina…

The other two questions I have relate to the strategic review of GPs. We have been promised this for a year and a half. It is late. Are we going to see a reference to GP nurses? They provide vaccines and smears. I refer to the new chronic disease management programme. Are we going to see a reference and proper provision for them in the new GP contract? The last thing I want to say is with regard to public health nurses. From what I can see, the number of public health nurses across the country is lower now than it …

I thank my colleague Deputy Nash for bringing forward this Private Members' motion on the cost-of-living crisis. I listened carefully to the Minister of State's words. He talked about acknowledging the fear and frustration that were evident around the country in recent weeks and how this Government is responding. The Government is responding all right to those who blockaded our streets. While we had genuine sympathy for many of those people, we, the Labour Party, are standing for the people who could not get to wor…

I apologise that I could not be here earlier. We were dealing with the ambulance strike due to take place next Tuesday so I missed the earlier contributions. I do not know who wrote the Government's countermotion this morning but the people sitting around the Cabinet table who signed off on it this afternoon and the person who wrote this have their heads in the clouds. Everything in the Government's countermotion suggest an aloof and, worse, an indifference or callousness towards the appalling conditions in which f…

I want to ask about the national vaccination programme. Yesterday, HIQA issued its health technology assessment on the respiratory syncytial virus, RSV, vaccine stating that it is clinically effective for small babies but that the cost is too much to continue the mass roll-out. Last week, we had officials from the HSE and the Department of Health tell us that they very much believe in the clinical effectiveness of the shingles vaccine but, again, HIQA has stated that it is too expensive. Last winter, HIQA also talk…

The Minister of State has inherited this Bill and somewhere in the order of 900 amendments have had to be dealt with as the legislation has gone through this House and the Seanad. The Minister of State’s own personal commitment to the Bill is very clear, and I very much welcome the improvements before us today. Regarding those issues raised in section 10, relating to how practicable it is to place a child in an age-appropriate setting, we know there is an issue concerning ageing out of child psychiatric services at…