Then build it where it should be.

I too want to contribute to this debate. I am very dubious about it. I want to salute ar an gcéad dul síos the men and women of our navy. I wish them well and safe passage. The fact is that we are down to almost 700 people, and we are supposed to have 1,000 as a minimum. We have neglected the men and women of the Naval Service and, indeed, our Army. We have paid them badly and allowed a brain drain and skills to be robbed elsewhere. Then, we want to be involved in every kind of mission on show. I do not support wha…

I, too, am delighted to be supporting the motion. It is a good motion and an opportune time for the Government to introduce mortgage relief for homeowners. Doing so would help to provide support for struggling homeowners who are facing significant increases in their mortgage costs. The ECB has increased its main lending rate six times since July 2022, with the latest increase being to 3.5%. This has resulted in more than 250,000 tracker mortgage borrowers experiencing immediate and significant increases in their mo…

I believe the motion would give the State even more planning powers over people's private property rights. It is as simple as that. We could look at many other areas. I appreciate the right of the Social Democrats to bring forward this motion. Why do we not look, however, at the more than 4,000, which is a conservative figure, empty local authority houses that have been there for decades? All of us know if we go into any of the estates in our towns and villages that we will see houses that have been boarded up for …

I am glad that Deputy Coveney is here today standing in for the Taoiseach because he has long experience in foreign affairs. A citizen from Clonmel, Mr. John White, has been incarcerated in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates for a number of years. He was imprisoned for debt - company debt rather than personal debt. He has had two strokes and has just been released from hospital. His sister contacted me yesterday to tell me that he was finally released from hospital on Friday morning. He is almost blind and he needs …

Every year, more than 7,000 people become victims of human trafficking in the EU and this figure can be expected to be much higher as many victims remain undetected. This is sad. The yearly cost of trafficking in human beings in the EU reaches, and I hate to put a monetary figure on this, a figure of €2.7 billion. We should, I suppose, not be mentioning the cost in money but the cost to people themselves and the damage and depravity of this trafficking. The majority of victims are women and girls, as we know. The s…

I am delighted to speak on this legislation. We are facing a crucial moment in our nation's history. Our country is being fundamentally transformed by powerful and nefarious interests who seek to change our way of life and the very fabric of our society, sovereignty and safety. The Government has participated in creating one crisis after another in order to push through unacceptable, dangerous solutions. It has spent the last three years lap dancing, prancing and wriggling seductively in the laps of its globalist m…

I am talking about the appointment of judges. I am talking about the charade that goes on here with the Bills we pass, about the other power struggle that is going on and about this House being diminished. That is what I am talking about, with the indulgence of the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I will talk about the Courts Bill. I have a lot to say about the courts. As I said, when deals are agreed between parties, each of them gets its own number of judges appointed. The cake is sliced up for appointees and judges. We sa…

An Teachta Pringle is sharing time with an Teachta Connolly.

Were they even finished?

We also have concerns about the same issue. Yesterday, the Tánaiste said he supported it. This is a step too far. We are supporting bodycams for An Garda Síochána, but we have concerns and issues about facial recognition and it needs to be debated and not by way of sticking it in as an amendment at this stage in the legislation, so we are opposing it.

Not bodycams, facial recognition.

The N24 project for Tipperary town is vital. The link from Limerick Junction to Cahir is vital. It is at a fairly advanced stage of design by Arup consultants. Shockingly, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, has only provided one third of the funding to Tipperary County Council this year to continue final and detailed design. The Tipperary task force and revitalisation plan and many groups such as Jobs4Tipp and March4Tipp are aghast at this. Tipperary town is smothered with traffic and people cannot live, breath…

I raise the serious concerns around the fact agriculture's relevance in the EU policy sphere is diminishing. It is obvious to all of us. We are witnessing decisions in Brussels, and increasingly in Dublin from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party, that seems to indicate cows' days are numbered. That is a pity. There is a situation highlighted in a letter signed by 16 EU agriculture ministers in February. I wonder whether the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, signed it. The let…

I believe the motion would give the State even more planning powers over people's private property rights. It is as simple as that. We could look at many other areas. I appreciate the right of the Social Democrats to bring forward this motion. Why do we not look, however, at the more than 4,000, which is a conservative figure, empty local authority houses that have been there for decades? All of us know if we go into any of the estates in our towns and villages that we will see houses that have been boarded up for …

I too welcome the decision the Minister has made. As the last speaker mentioned, we have gone solar. Táimid iontach ar fad. It is fabulous that the sun is shining. We must do something meaningful because for too long we could cross the Border into Northern Ireland and see solar panels on many buildings, domestic and otherwise. I note this measure is confined to domestic use. We are being dragged kicking and screaming across every line with everything here, despite the drastic and punitive measures that are being pu…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, line 18, after “2023” to insert “and subsequent years”. This is the first of our three amendments related to extending the temporary benefit-in-kind, BIK, arrangements beyond the end of this year. This would support drivers of company vehicles into 2024 and beyond, which is imperative. Many company fleets do not have the wherewithal to replace their cars with electric vehicles, EVs. Medium-sized companies, including wholesalers of confectionery or whatever, have a fleet of cars on…

With veterinary supervision. I know it is not allowed. God knows what is not allowed now. There is a lot less allowed now than what is allowed and that is the problem. However, we want these drivers operating for small companies to be allowed to go out and do an honest day's work for an honest day's pay and supply the good shopkeepers in Kilgarvan and ar fud na tíre in every other town and village, and not have them ringing up and not having Mary, Agnes and Angela coming in for their confectionery and we do not hav…

What about Tramore?

Deputy Ó Cathasaigh is gone.