It is a noble county with noble businesspeople. The good people of Dundrum are still at the gates and will remain there because they have not been consulted. It flies in the face of democracy to spend €446,000 on modular units in Clonmel, which should cost €70,000-----

-----when the Government cannot house the 15,000 people who are homeless. It is a shameful legacy.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue. I am annoyed, too. We have put this debate off a few times so that we might get the Minister for Education to attend, but she has steadfastly refused. Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Ms Siobhán Keyes Ryan, all the staff, the pupils, their families and the parents association, and the supporters of Scoil Aonghusa who fundraise for it. It has gone beyond a joke that a special school and special children could be treated like this. It is typical of what happe…

I am extremely disappointed to hear the Minister of State read out another waffle from the Department. The Department is currently assessing the options. Just imagine that. I have a document here from December 2022, when the Department promised 12 modular classrooms to deal with the accommodation. In February 2023 the Department of Education changed it and listed five modular classrooms, citing a planning issue. In March 2023, approval was received for five modular classrooms to be ready for September 2023. Where a…

I compliment Sinn Féin for tabling this motion. We sound patronising here but we just cannot thank carers enough. They really are angels of mercy for the work they do and the way they do it. I had the privilege yesterday, along with Councillor Richie Molloy, of welcoming to the Dáil Gallery and the Dáil restaurant a group of carers who had earlier attended a function in the Ashling Hotel. They were representatives of carers who work day and night. I want to condemn out of hand the way that retiring Minister, Deputy…

In Ireland, in politics and in life, we should be careful what we wish for. I am looking at a picture sent to me of a recent tweet the Taoiseach posted with a picture of a Kamala Harris baseball cap. Was he supporting one side or the other? How come it is only in Ireland that we are having an evaluation of what happened during Covid? In every other jurisdiction I am aware of, they are having a proper independent inquiry, including in Northern Ireland, across the water, and in many other countries around the world. …

Even though the election was not going to be until next year, end of term.

That will not get you out of jail.

One engagement.

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this debate. It is vitally important that we have strong and meaningful engagements with every country in the world. I worked on behalf of a citizen of Clonmel and I want to thank the former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, and various Ministers, as well as the former Taoiseach, who helped out. The gentleman who was incarcerated there was from Clonmel. When he was incarcerated for so many years, his wife moved to Dublin. I was pleasantly informed, when I ra…

Yes, I am focused on remaining on it. I thank the Chair. Of course, we need to strengthen this legislation but I am just making the general point that our leaders here need to be careful what they wish for. We do not want to be putting up flags. I would encourage the Taoiseach and the Government to congratulate President-elect Trump at the earliest opportunity, invite him to Ireland and seek an early meeting with him. The Taoiseach was in the US meeting President Biden recently, along with senior IDA Ireland offici…

It is very relevant.

Yes. The election is over. We can all get over ourselves and accept that we have a President now, elected, and we have to work with him. We need America, above any place else, because so many of our diaspora are out there. We need to have relations with them to help us in different parts of the world as well.

Elect, I said. President-elect.

Go raibh maith agat. I compliment Deputy Ó Cuív, who is just leaving, and Deputies Sherlock and Phelan who spoke knowledgeably, intelligently and very honestly about their time here and their experiences. A special buíochas to Deputy Ó Cuív and his wife, as well as his staff. When I got in here in 2007, we went on a visit to see how a constituency office runs. It was a couple of my team, my family and I. By hell did I learn a lot that day and got treated well in Galway at the office of Deputy Ó Cuív. I wish him wel…

Is that not what we are discussing?

I thank the Minister. I am ahead of my time. I will let my colleague come in.

I do not always agree with the Minister but I thank him. It is a bad day you do not learn something.

The cost overruns and lack of value for money evident in the context of the Appropriation Bill are a major issue. One of the most glaring issues that arose in 2024 is the persistent problem of cost overruns. Projects across multiple Departments routinely exceed their initial budgets, often by substantial margins. For instance, the Department of Defence has seen numerous projects balloon in cost, with little or no accountability for the overruns. The pattern is not limited to defence infrastructure projects. The Dep…

Is the Deputy sure?