Will Uisce Éireann meet the committee?

Ireland is facing its biggest existential threat since the last economic recession. Ireland is the most exposed country in the European Union in terms of these tariffs. There is no doubt that these will disproportionately impact Ireland. Without question, Ireland is in real danger here, yet the Government is suffering from inertia. It is incredible to think that Simon Harris is meeting Howard Lutnick today while the tariffs are in place. Surely this should have happened in advance. It is incredible that this is the…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. I welcome the Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Bill 2025, which essentially proposes to allow flexibility to employees regarding the ability to work on until they reach the State pension age. Aontú has raised this important issue on a number of occasions. Currently, as the Minister of State rightly recognises, the system is deeply flawed. It essentially forces people into an income gap from the age of 65 until they can receive their State pension at the age o…

In fairness, we are discussing pensions and this is another important aspect of it. However, I take her point.

I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this very important subject. We have a major problem with youth crime and especially with child exploitation. There is a major issue with children being enticed into criminal activity by adults, especially in the drugs scene. Drug dealers are providing drugs to young people. Often, these are free in the first instance. Those young people and children then get hooked on drugs. They have no ability to pay for those drugs, so then they become drug runners doing the dirty work o…

Mayo has a huge issue with dereliction and vacancy. Mayo has the highest level of dereliction in the country at 14%. Its vacancy rate is 12%, the second highest in the country. I want to raise the issue of dereliction, particularly around the protected structures and listed buildings. Consider the old Bank Corner on James Street in Claremorris, for example. The owners tried to redevelop this corner. Could I have the Minister's attention? Unfortunately, the developer tried to redevelop this area but the fact the bui…

I acknowledge the progress that has been made on the scheme. I am glad we are making progress on the humanitarian scheme. It has been quite disappointing in many regards. There have been major difficulties with it for many of my constituents. It has been quite chaotic and haphazard. Many constituents of mine have got €200, others have got €10, and others have got nothing at all. In fairness to the Minister and Department, we have appealed a number of those and those appeals have overturned the decision. It has sure…

The Government introduced a planning circumvention to allow wealthy accommodation providers to bypass the planning laws entirely for IPAS centres. This totally disregards local communities where no engagement effectively happens whatsoever. I spoke to the owner of the Belmont Hotel recently who told me he was developing a four-star hotel. That was before a leaked document showed the local authority had plans to develop accommodation for asylum seekers. The same is happening throughout the country. It is totally unf…

Ireland is the most exposed country in the European Union to the US tariff war. Ireland exports more than any other country in Europe to America. Last year, Ireland exported €72 billion worth of goods to the US. Some €58 billion worth of those were pharmaceutical products. President Trump has explicitly stated that he wants to see the pharma industry back in the US. It is very unclear what influence this Government has in terms of negotiating through the European Union in this regard. A prime example of that is the…

Storm Éowyn left almost 1 million people without power and water, many for more than two weeks. In response, the Government introduced a humanitarian assistance scheme. The scheme was designed to meet the need for food, clothing and personal items but I have received hundreds of emails and calls to my constituency office from constituents who have received rejection letters. These letters clearly state that the scheme does not cover food, clothing or personal items, the very items that it was explicitly stated woul…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion and thank Sinn Féin for tabling it. The tenant in situ scheme was actually working quite well in Mayo until recently, but over the past year it has been paused entirely. A number of my constituents have actually agreed terms and agreed a sale deal with Mayo County Council over a year ago but are still waiting in line. They are still waiting to find out what is happening but there has been no update or correspondence and very little communication overall. Meanwhile, a…

It is about protecting FDI, Minister.

The point is about protecting these jobs.

It is International Women's Day. It is also endometriosis awareness month. Endometriosis is a hugely debilitating disease. Women who experience this disease often have crippling pain, fatigue, loss of body confidence and the inability to work, play sport or participate in hobbies for many days at various different times of the month. In fact, this disease affects one in ten women. There are more women who suffer from this disease than there are sufferers of diabetes. Despite this huge level of people and women who …

It is unacceptable that women in their thirties have to wait so long for a proper diagnosis. It is unfair and wrong. A total of 44% of women undergoing IVF are actually silent sufferers of endometriosis. We must address this. We need to ensure that the national framework happens. The Endometriosis Association of Ireland is doing great work, but right now there is no pathway and it is causing major difficulties. We need to ensure that we have a national framework. The framework should address issues regarding educat…

I wish the Minister of State well. There is a massive amount of work to be done. There is a significant drug problem in our communities. I recently spoke to several gardaí who told me they do not have the manpower or time to deal with drugs. Those drug issues include underage kids taking drugs, which is a major issue. Theft, violence and antisocial behaviour are all on the rise. We all know we need more gardaí and that we need to reopen our rural Garda stations. That cannot be done, however, because of issues with …

That is what is happening. Many years ago, gardaí would be on the street and would know what was happening before it even happened. That is no longer the case. We need to return to proactive community policing. In 2023, the Garda Representative Association voted no confidence in the Commissioner. A total of 98% voted no confidence. I recently met the Commissioner at Mayo County Council. I asked him what has happened in management of An Garda Síochána to address the issues. Nothing has happened since that vote of no…

A Cheann Comhairle, that is out of order.

He did mention my name.

Withdraw the statement.