I travelled in the company of the Ceann Comhairle and the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, to Abu Dhabi, which has the tallest building in the world. We had an exciting visit and we did a lot of good business for the State. However, in this country we have rows about the height of houses. People cannot build a two-storey house - it has to be a dormer bungalow or a bungalow with a porthole window on the gable end. The whole thing has gone crazy. We are all wearing masks since the pandemic, but the Department o…

We have the highest prices in the world.

They are not agreed.

The price of oil was raised on Leaders’ Questions. The AA has now done a survey to say that we are one of the highest countries in the world for petrol and diesel prices. We had over 32 increases last year. The miserly €100 that is promised for later on in the year, perhaps March or April, will not go anywhere near helping people. The cost of everything, including groceries, is affected by the fuel that is needed for trucks, factories and everything else. How will we recover our economy with this spiralling crisis?…

They are agreed.

The Taoiseach promised numerous times in this Chamber and in the convention centre that he would meet the action group for St. Brigid's hospital in Carrick-on-Suir, which his Minister closed unceremoniously in the middle of the so-called pandemic. Will the Taoiseach meet those people or why does he keep telling us that he will? It is a simple request to meet the committee and the Taoiseach said he had no problem meeting them. He said he would meet them at the drop of a hat. He has never met the committee and neithe…

I asked here in the Chamber.

Yes.

Umpteen times.

Outside in the glass cage for a few minutes.

I am also pleading with the Minister and her departmental officials on this. I know she has had a tough time and a baptism of fire. I wish her well in the post and I support her. These students, however, had no junior certificate and no proper schooling for the previous two years. They have had an awful time because they could not have fun or enjoy themselves. This is so important and their future careers depend on this. The predicted grades system operated last year and we beg the Minister to operate it again this…

There is great disappointment in both Tipperary County Council and Kilkenny County Council, which is the lead authority, in respect of the motorway and the upgrade of the N24 road project from Limerick to Waterford. While some limited funding was received to progress the Cahir to Limerick Junction stretch, no funding was received by Kilkenny County Council, which is the lead on it, to progress the project. Its consultants have been appointed but the council has been very much left in limbo with regard to further pa…

The Minister is genuine in efforts to deal with this very sensitive issue. We all have come across people and know people and families and trauma over the years and decades. It is long past time that we tried to deal with it. As Deputy Jim O'Callaghan made very clear in his speech, and he is a legal person himself and probably has a better understanding of it and of the history of different court cases than I have, it is necessary to try to balance the two rights in any issue. Even a referee on a field - I am not m…

While the Order of Business was agreed at our meeting last Thursday, the horrific and barbaric murder of Ashling Murphy took place afterwards. I want another debate, notwithstanding that there already are two debates, about the bail laws, free legal aid and the lack of tagging. Foot-dragging on all these issues has been going on in the Department of Justice and on the part of successive Governments with which the Taoiseach has been involved. I respect the premise that people are innocent until proven guilty, but to…

I am asking for a debate because since the meeting of the Business Committee, a horrific and barbaric murder took place. We are wringing our hands, but we need to look at the bail laws, free legal aid and all the other issues, including tagging.

We all know the phrase, mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. Last week we saw young entrepreneurs at the RDS at the online Young Scientist exhibition. I ask the Taoiseach to consider a hybrid-type leaving certificate examination this year because young people deserve it. They have been hugely discommoded, as have their parents and everybody else in the school community. They need that to be assessed and a decision made on it very soon. They are our future and our hope for the future. We should allow them to have a hybrid…

Before I begin I want to pay tribute and respects to the late Ashling Murphy, whose most precious life was stolen from her so cruelly and so brutally almost one week ago. Many of us here have spent the week learning about who Ashling Murphy was. She was a young woman. She was a teacher. She was a musician. She was a daughter, a sister, a friend and mentor to many, a young woman with her whole life ahead of her. Ashling was known all over the country for a musical talent. She toured Ireland and the UK with Comhaltas…

On behalf of the Rural Independent Group I thank the Ceann Comhairle and want to be associated with all the remarks to the staff and everybody else. I wish everybody a happy, holy, peaceful and restful Christmas. My question concerns a restful Christmas. The Brothers of Charity do sterling work throughout the Twenty-six Counties and have for decades, but they are starved of funding at present. The worst area is respite. Families who have challenging young adults, and maybe adults, need respite. What keeps them aliv…

I am proud to be a co-sponsor of this Bill. I questioned the Government Chief Whip, the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, yesterday to find out what was happening with regard to this Bill and I was disappointed the Government decided at such a late hour to oppose it. It would not even give it an airing to be read a Second Time. I am very sad this Bill is even necessary but today’s debate is not about opening a wider discussion. It is about trying to find some common ground and ensuring, at a minimum, no baby is e…

I gcónaí. I thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, Peter Finnegan, all the staff, all the Members of the House, the ushers, the Garda Síochána and anyone else with whom we interact for their courtesy throughout the year. I wish them a happy, holy and peaceful Christmas. I am delighted that the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, is here. I wish to plead for the artists, the musicians, the ceoltóirí and na daoine óga agus aosta. They are so troubled at the moment. They are penniless. Why is it that…