I thank both the Minister and Minister of State as they have met representatives of the campaign group and made time to do that. It would be beneficial to meet the group again and see the site it proposes for use. There is an empty school building and the group has engaged with the owners. These people have found a patron. They are putting all the pieces together and it would be a really positive move for the Minister and Minister of State to meet the group. There are several schools in the area and two health cent…

Covid-19 has really highlighted the virus of domestic violence. We have seen a report tracking the shadow pandemic that shows that almost 3,500 women and almost 600 children who had never sought support or safety before are now reaching out to support services. That is a huge number of people who are reaching out, on top of people who may already be linked in and who may already be trying to survive through lockdown and through these moments, and where any social supports that are so necessary and that are often cu…

A few jokes were made to me from one or two other Deputies about how there is probably not much rural development happening in Dublin South Central. This is, however, a session on rural and community development, and at the heart of that are the same fundamental principles. Community development is about the empowerment of local communities, be they geographic or based on identity or interests. This concerns strengthening the capacity of people as active agents and active citizens through their networks and the ins…

This conversation dovetails nicely with the previous debate regarding community development. If we are looking at how we can support communities in which people feel under siege from crime and anti-social behaviour, we need community development and community policing. In my constituency of Dublin South Central, areas such as Inchicore, Kilmainham and Bluebell have experienced high levels of anti-social behaviour and violence along the canal, on the cycle paths and towpaths. People have come to me in fear of a smal…

A key role of the Defence Forces is to provide aid to the civilian power. We see that frequently in cases of severe flooding and in response to adverse weather events that the Defence Forces are often very quick to put themselves in harm's way to protect the rest of us. With climate change already increasing flooding and likely to further increase it and adverse weather events, will it form part of the terms of reference for the commission on the future of the Defence Forces? Will the Defence Forces' ability to fac…

There are essentially two issues. First, are we planning properly for the missions our Defence Forces are likely to face? Climate change has increased the frequency and severity of flooding and adverse weather events. In 2017 in Inishowen the Defence Forces came in to erect a temporary bridge to reconnect communities when a road collapsed. We will not get the structure of the Defence Forces right if we do not factor in the missions they are likely to face. Second, are we giving the Defence Forces what they need to …

Given that this is my first opportunity to speak on the matter, I wish to take just a quick moment to mark the passing of Saeb Erekat and to echo the words of Uachtarán na hÉireann today in offering my deepest condolences and sympathy to his family, his friends and the Palestinian people. Dr. Hanan Ashrawi described this as a significant transition in Palestinian history and reality. In light of how closely aligned Saeb Erekat was with negotiated settlements and talks between Israel and Palestine and his vocal supp…

I wish to consider three different groups of constituents who have contacted me and on whom this legislation touches. The first is comprised of people who have seen licensed premises operate with a callous disregard for laws and for health and safety. They are contacting me because of the public health danger that such behaviour brings, particularly at times of greater restriction. These are people who are concerned about their own health and that of their community and who might be concerned about going into anoth…

The Minister of State will probably remember that in the pre-European Council statements I mentioned the Palestinian village of Khirbet a-Rakeez, where a school funded by the European Union and Irish Aid has been demolished. At the time, I urged the Minister of State to engage with his European colleagues to seek compensation for the demolition by the Israeli military of aid structures funded by Irish taxpayers. In the post-European Council statements, I want to raise the issue of Ras al-Tin, an area just outside R…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I wish to express my support for St. Louis Infant School where some parents in my constituency send their children. They have written to the Minister seeking reassurance on the imminent loss of a teacher. They have said that they would usually accept this reluctantly, but given that we are in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, they are very concerned about the implications for class sizes caused by the losing of a teacher. Given yesterday's budget, will this school be able to retain i…

The school is looking at an average size of 30 pupils in a class, which is significantly above both the 26 that we started with and the 25 which will be enabled by budget 2021. I underline again the issues on room capacity, the need for social distancing for health and safety reasons in a pandemic, and the loss of teaching time caused by the loss of a teacher and exacerbated by school closures, which increase the health and safety risks. I hope that the appeal will take into account the realities that this school i…

I want to raise an issue that happened at the weekend, namely, the demolition of Khirbet a-Rakeez, a small village in the south Hebron hills. B'Tselem, the Israeli anti-occupation human rights NGO, provided video footage of the Israeli military bulldozing a series of houses that had been funded by the international protection consortium, the EU and Irish Aid. This is not the first time we have seen demolition of EU-funded structures as part of the ongoing occupation of Palestine. The south Hebron hills is a particu…

We are less than 100 days away from the end of the Brexit transition period. If we look at the struggles, brinkmanship and ill-preparedness on the part of the United Kingdom in its negotiations on the withdrawal agreement, it is no surprise that we are once again in a situation where all we have as we approach the precipice is a lack of certainty and clarity about where we are going. Everyone in this House has spoken about the potentially enormous impact of Brexit, particularly a no-deal Brexit, on a variety of are…

I raise the issue of the regulation of quad bikes and scramblers after a young toddler ended up in hospital as a result of a crash between a quad bike and a scrambler in a public area in my constituency. This is obviously a wider issue given the fact that two Deputies from different constituencies are here to speak on this issue. Five people were killed in accidents with quads and scramblers between 2014 and 2018, three of whom were under 18. We have gone back and forth on this. A few years back, there was an inter…

I reiterate what my colleague said and remind the Minister of State that an agreement to enhance the powers available to the Garda is a part of the programme for Government. A Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill appeared in the August legislative calendar to provide for a variety of road safety-related measures. It would be timely if we could include in that new Bill even something small that would enable the Garda to work and improve its response in this area. This also seems to be an opportune time to le…

Like other speakers, I welcome the Bill. It essentially codifies a lot of the current practices. Part of the difficulty for me is that while this is welcome and clear command structures are definitely needed in cases of lethal force, we are in many ways treating the symptoms and not the root causes. Currently our Defence Forces based in Lebanon are part of a mixed battalion involving Maltese, Polish and Hungarian soldiers. It is important that if a Polish major is giving orders to an Irish captain who in turn is re…

I thank the Minister for bringing forward this legislation. One important thing about this Bill is the context. We are still in the depths of a serious and real pandemic. We have a virus that is, despite what some people say, very real. It is very dangerous. We need to take steps to address that and to protect our public health and life in this country. We have all made sacrifices. We have all been working towards this. I have postponed my wedding as a result of this pandemic and I am sure there are many others who…

I was here earlier when we were discussing the issue of Israel-Palestine and the annexation. Following on from his comments, and in the light of the question, the Minister spoke about how we would have to negotiate, talk and convince. The reality, however, when it came to Russia and its breach of international law regarding Crimea, is that we acted. Why are we not acting here? There is a litany of breaches of international laws, which the Minister calls out and is very clear in his condemnation of those breaches. W…

We can add to that list of breaches of international law the destruction and demolition of EU-funded aid structures, something which the Minister has spoken out against before. The risk is that if we say that annexation should not happen, then we start to ignore all these other things and that is a real risk. The Israeli Government, when making its choices, will look at what happened to it the last time it breached international law and it has been able to act with impunity. The best way we can prevent annexation i…

This is a rather complex and long-running case, the consequences of which reach into many areas of public policy. It will have implications for Brexit, foreign direct investment and foreign trade. Quite simply, on foot of this judgment, the EU-US privacy shield has been declared invalid. As such, there is no safe and legal way to transfer data from a European Union citizen to the United States. Any company carrying out such data transfers is doing so at significant risk. This case started in June 2013, seven years …