Would the Tánaiste agree there are far too many derelict sites in towns and villages throughout the country and councils should be doing more with their derelict sites powers?

Louise Richardson's Consultative Forum on International Security Policy report referred to neutrality not being necessary for Ireland's reputation. Regarding the triple lock, it stated that, "While there was not a consensus on this point, the preponderance of views, especially among the experts and practitioners, is that it is time for a reconsideration of the Triple Lock as it is no longer fit for purpose." These arguments themselves, however, have been weakened by the events of the past two and a half weeks in th…

This directive seeks to ensure that the victims of crime receive the right information, support and protection and are able to participate in criminal proceedings. It has been broadly welcomed as a step forward by various organisations across the EU that campaign for the rights of victims. I also welcome it. I hope this directive can provoke a discussion about how the interests of victims can be served best in the Irish legal system. Last week, in the Central Criminal Court, the trial of four men accused of various…

I wish to raise the case of St. Killian's Special School, a primary school in Mayfield in my constituency. This school has 93 students and is set to expand to 120, making it, potentially, the largest special school in all of Munster. The school has students with severe dyslexia, severe dyspraxia, severe speech and language difficulties and a big majority of the students have autism and complex needs. To say this school is under-resourced would be quite the understatement. The school is currently short two psycholog…

I hope the Taoiseach is going to speak out against the clampdown on public expressions of support for the Palestinian people that we have seen in certain EU countries when he is at the European Council this week. I am talking, for example, about the banning of pro-Palestinian protests in France and Germany and the use of tear gas and water cannon against protestors in France. Of course, the Taoiseach cannot credibly oppose censorship and repression in other countries unless he does it when it happens in this countr…

You expelled Russian diplomats though.

You expelled Russian diplomats.

I want to focus my contribution on the issue of the home help service. It was reported in the press at the weekend that the HSE had written to private home care providers directing that the home help package be reduced from one hour to 45 minutes. This cutback means, in effect, that home help workers throughout the country will have to call to the homes of elderly and vulnerable people, help get them out of bed, wash them, dress them, feed them and have them ready to go within 45 minutes. I would like to see the Mi…

Is the Minister of State saying that the letter was not sent? "Yes" or "No" will do.

More rain fell in parts of County Cork in a few hours yesterday than would normally fall in a month. Midleton, Castlemartyr, Glanmire, Killeagh, Cloyne, Whitegate, Blackpool, west Waterford and other places all experienced devastation to one degree or another. In Midleton, patients had to be evacuated from a hospital and children had to be carried out of a childcare centre by parents via piggyback. In Glanmire, Sarsfields GAA club allowed its pitch to flood to protect the wider community. The pitch, the drainage, t…

Yes. If we are to be ahead of the curve here, and we see what is coming in terms of climate change, then in Cork city we need to be looking at options like a flood barrier. There are many experts, and I am referring to people who are qualified to speak on this subject and not lay people, who have said this is the way to go. I strongly urge the OPW and the Government to look at this possibility as an option. In Blackpool, I believe there are alternative ways of dealing with this issue, which would protect the wildli…

Does the Taoiseach not think it is strange that a state that organises a bloody occupation, cuts off water, food and electricity supplies to millions of people, organises the collective punishment of an entire people including bombing hospitals - plural - schools and civilian infrastructure and that plans an invasion that can only result in Palestinian deaths far greater than we have even witnessed in the past ten days is afforded the privilege by the Government of having an embassy in this Republic? Does he not th…

The Israeli ambassador has been expelled from Colombia; the Israeli ambassador should be expelled from Ireland too. Some 15,000 people across this island marched in protest last weekend. Let us see 150,000 this weekend. The Dunnes Stores workers boycotted apartheid goods from South Africa in the 1980s. Any Irish worker who boycotts goods from apartheid Israel during this invasion must receive the backing of the entire trade union movement. Here are the words of Israel's war minister, Yoav Gallant: I have ordered a …

Indian healthcare assistants who work in the private nursing home sector travelled this morning from all over Ireland to gather at the gates of the Dáil to protest in support of the right to family reunification. In New Zealand, Australia and the UK, Indian healthcare workers have a right to bring their families with them but not here. The Government recruited 1,000 qualified Indian nurses as healthcare assistants to perform vital and stressful work in our health service. However they are paid at rates so low that …

I am going to start with an observation on the reaction to yesterday's budget. When the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, concluded his statement, Fianna Fáil Deputies sprang to their feet and gave him a standing ovation. It was quite loud and lively. The reaction from the population of this country to the budget has been rather different. In the main, it has been to stifle one giant national yawn. People know this could and should have been a budget where they would get real change. Instead, what they got from the…

The question for the Minister, Deputy McGrath, is where is the vision. George Bush Snr. famously struggled with what he described as the "vision thing". It looks to me like the Minister, Deputy McGrath, might be the George Bush Snr. of Irish politics because here was a real opportunity. Even if we do not think that budget surpluses will add up to €65 million over the next four years, even if we estimate conservatively that the figure might end up being somewhere between €40 billion and €50 billion, here was an oppo…

Workers at Vista Therm, a glass manufacturing company in County Armagh, have been on strike now for 12 weeks. This mainly migrant workforce has been forced into taking this action for their basic demands of trade union recognition and a pay increase. The company refused to engage with the union of the workers choice, which is Unite the Union. It has suspended the shop stewards and dismissed workers during the strike. What is going on here is union busting. Unite reckons it is one of the worst cases of union busting…

Are we not next?

Where are we on the list?

I want clarity on this.