The Taoiseach should answer the question. What is he going to do?

I welcome that a scoping exercise has been established. I reiterate the very clear and just demand that a full public inquiry be delivered and secured to allow the full truth to emerge. I wish to be very clear because the Minister said that people may or may not be satisfied at the end of the process. To ensure that as many people as possible are satisfied, we need to understand what it is they are looking for. We need to know at the end of this process precisely the details of the crimes that Michael Shine committ…

I welcome the opportunity to have a debate on family law transparency and the need to prioritise child welfare at all times and to discuss the reform of the in camera rule. I thank Deputy Gogarty for bringing this to the Dáil because these issues are raised weekly, if not more regularly, with me in my capacity as Chair of the justice committee. These issues also come to my constituency office. The remarks of the Minister tacitly acknowledge the general consensus that progress in terms of reform of family law and th…

The Bose factory was a landmark in the region of Carrickmacross for many years. In 2015, the factory closed and essentially has remained closed ever since because despite the huge fanfare from a Government colleague of the Minister’s, a then Minister, about 60 jobs coming, they never actually came. In recent months, we have been told that the factory is in fact up for sale. I seek an update on the Minister’s efforts to secure alternative employment for that site.

The building has essentially lain idle for 11 years. I mentioned it was 2019 when we had the fanfare and the Minister’s party taking credit, make no mistake about it, for jobs brought by Fine Gael to Carrickmacross. The jobs never materialised. The question that needs to be answered is whether the Minister will take a hands-on approach. We met Enterprise Ireland. In fairness to the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, she organised a briefing for local Oireachtas Members when the Minister, Deputy Burke, refused to answ…

If a buyer is found and a new enterprise is established, the Minister will be there to cut the ribbon and get all the glory. That is the benefit of being in government. However, the job of being in government is that one does not get to hide behind a State agency when we are trying to secure reinvestment in an area that has been deprived because of the closure of a substantive factory. People refer to the prima facie evidence, good will and the rest of it. Has the Minister’s Department established whether the owner…

That means 40% of them are in Dublin.

Cuirim fáilte. I am really worried about the number of families I am meeting who are struggling with their energy bills. We know 315,000 households are currently in arrears but there are tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of others who are literally struggling just to pay their bills every month. The Taoiseach has to acknowledge that what his Government has done is not enough to help them. There is a growing divide between those who have the resources to be able to retrofit or put up solar panels and those who do …

What about electricity costs?

I sometimes wonder if this Government has the ability not to make a mess of everything. This Bill should be the most uncontroversial legislation to come before this House because there is political unanimity that children should not have access to vaping products, that there should be strong penalties for those who allow children access to such products, and that we should completely ban products that are clearly designed to appeal to children. That is the Bill that should have come before this House. Such robust p…

We are discussing another Protocol 21 opt-in but this time it relates to the Council decision that would allow member states to resume the exchange of vehicle registration data with Britain for the prevention and investigation of criminal offences. It is important to note that the State already participates in automated searching and matching of vehicle registration data with EU member states under the Prüm decisions and, therefore, did so with Britain prior to Brexit. The Prüm decisions is a framework for EU count…

As an elected representative, I can think of nothing more frustrating than every single year dealing with parents and families desperately trying to get what most of us take for granted, an adequate school place for their children. Every single year Ministers come to his House to tell us they are making changes and it will be better next year, but every single year, if anything, the situation gets worse. Every spring we are dealing with questions coming from not only parents and families, but also schools in many i…

I will make a couple of broad remarks that I think have been emphasised by the fact that at this Stage, the last Stage in the Oireachtas, the Minister has to bring forward further, albeit technical, changes to this legislation. The Minister's entire approach to this legislation has verged on the reckless. It is absolutely reckless in terms of his refusal to allow proper scrutiny of a piece of legislation that he has described as the most comprehensive legislation dealing with migration in decades. The approach has …

This is verging on a charade. There has been no democratic scrutiny of this Bill. It is the Minister’s Bill and his alone. He has been locked into a position by the previous Government to sign us up to a pact with no consideration whatsoever for its implications. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael signed us up to the EU migration and asylum pact not because they thought it would lead to a more efficient system or resolve the dysfunction in the system but simply so they could say in advance of a general election they were do…

In respect of the amendments regarding the Data Protection Act, of course, it is imperative that the full information in terms of decision-making in respect of individuals applying for international protection is known to the Department and that there is the ability to fully appraise the history insofar as it matters for an application of the applicant. As the Minister knows, that is why I have supported signing up to the Eurodac regulation. In that sense and in that instance, it makes sense that we would have the …

I am. This is in respect of data. There are a number of amendments there. If the Ceann Comhairle wants to go through them all, she can figure it out while I ramble on. I was coming to an end anyway. Of course, none of us, nor the public, need to know personal information, but the Department needs to have it comprehensively. In terms of general information and data, the Government needs to be much better at sharing it with the public. The Minister made a statement. He or his predecessor said that 90% of applicants w…

The Minister is missing the point I was making about the collation of data. On one hand, he is saying that when applicants make an application and give their background and history, we take them at face value. The initial assumption is that they are telling the truth. On the other hand, he is saying that we cannot know unless there is control on the Border. The point I am making is that if we are to have a properly managed migration system, which I think everyone agrees we need even if they disagree about what it m…

I also made a freedom of information, FOI, application after I asked those 15 or 20 different parliamentary questions. I got a response yesterday to my request for the number of IP applicants who had transited through another mechanism. The reply to the freedom of information request stated the Department does not have that information and that it would be too burdensome to collate it. Is that the truth? Does the Minister have the information on the number of IP applicants who previously came on other types of visa…

It absolutely is. If we are talking about-----

This is not the first time I have asked for the information.