A crucial part of developing our town centres is making sure that people feel safe to use them. On Saturday, over 50 people gathered in Tallaght for a street meeting called by community activists in Watergate Park after a series of attacks took place there. People were united in the idea that our parks cannot be a place where people are scared to go. They have to be a safe space, a space for public enjoyment. We were also united in a clear demand on the local authority for action and on the Government to provide fu…

I am sharing time with Deputy Barry. There is an elephant in the room when it comes to the cost-of-living crisis facing ordinary people. It is an elephant the Government, in particular, does not want to talk about and denies exists. That is the profiteering by big energy companies in this country. The Government has denied it but we have the proof. Energia, in the six months up to the end of September 2021, announced three price increases. In those same six months, it made more than €130 million in profits. That is…

The Taoiseach's ideological position is responsible for the crisis.

That is just words. That is not an answer to the question.

The Taoiseach did not explain what will be done instead of testing.

Last Friday, I spent most of the day with a family staging a sit-in at South Dublin County Council. Emmanuel Chrisenoch and his family felt that they had no alternative. In their council house in Tallaght they have suffered eight years of repeated verbal and physical assaults with a clear racial element. For example, the N-word was graffitied on their wall. It culminated in a home invasion in January which saw their door being smashed in with a hammer and attackers being armed with a knife. They were very lucky to …

On 13 October last, members of the public and the press and witnesses for Mr. Kieran Hartley, who was the defendant, were excluded from a courtroom by gardaí. Mr. Hartley was making allegations of serious Garda misconduct in the case. When the exclusion of the public from the courtroom was questioned at the time, one garda said that the gardaí had been directed by the court not to allow anyone in. The Garda press office said the District Court judge had made an order that a voir dire was to be heard in the case and…

It said it had concluded it.

What is happening in Ukraine and eastern Europe is, in fact, a clash between two imperialist powers with Russia on the one side and the US-led military alliance of NATO on the other. Both sides use the language of concern, on the one hand by Putin, who is an authoritarian thug, for the people in the Donbas, and on the other hand by NATO, which says it is concerned for the right of self-determination for Ukraine. In reality, neither is concerned about those who would be the victims of warmongering. They are both see…

Why did it extend-----

What we have here in black and white in the Police Ombudsman's report is the very significant evidence and confirmation of repeated collusion by the British state with loyalist paramilitaries in murdering people. The point has been made that this is far more than a few bad apples. It is or was clearly government policy. It was systematic, deadly, has been covered up and continues to be covered up, and those responsible continue to have impunity. It is worth going through some of the cases, and many have been mentio…

Last week two climate change protestors, Orla and Zac, were up in court charged with criminal damage. Orla was alleged to have painted "No more empty promises" on Iveagh House and Zac was simply alleged to have filmed the incident, but they could both face years in prison for some paint on a building that was washed off in a couple of days. In the UK the Colston four were acquitted because the jury found that their actions in tearing down a statue of the notorious slave trader Edward Colston were justified. Should …

Who are the criminals here when we look at the world hurtling towards climate disaster? Is it the big oil companies, those who want to burn $5 trillion of fossil fuels under the ground to maximise their profits at the expense of humanity and our planet? Is it the governments which know about and accept the science but choose to do precious little about it? Alternatively, is it those who speak out and say "No more empty promises"? They are the people who are being prosecuted. That is the choice that is being made. A…

While the Minister of State cannot comment on individual cases, he or the Government could commit to changing the law to ensure that such prosecutions do not happen again. It is an incredible situation that public money is being spent to pursue two young climate activists who could face years in jail for allegedly painting a slogan on a building and filming it or, in the case of Aislinn O'Keefe, a fine for allegedly organising a socially distanced protest against gender-based violence. That is a question of politic…

The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has been one of the leading international figures who is beating the drums of war and aggression with Russia and who is calling for further NATO expansion. As Deputy Boyd Barrett mentioned, yesterday, 15 February, was the 19th anniversary of the day on which more than 100,000 people marched on the streets of Dublin in 2003. This was part of global protests by tens of millions of people who were opposition to war. Nearly two decades later, we can see clearly that those of us who…

They have expanded more than 800 km.

New figures have just come out on the Covid hub about the levels of hospitalisation of children due to Covid. They are very concerning. The figures cover the period up to the end of January. Hospitalisations for those between zero and four years of age number 217. That compares with the numbers throughout the course of 2021 of, on average, 25 a month. There are 217 children between the ages of zero to four years of age in hospital due to Covid right now. In the five- to 14-year-old age group, there are 172. This co…

I want to raise with the Taoiseach the case of Tommy Dickson. Tommy is a six-year-old who attends junior infants in Gaelscoil na Giúise in Firhouse. He has a very rare, life-limiting mitochondrial disease. As a consequence, he needs assistance to go to the toilet. When he moves around, he is at risk of falling and hurting himself because of co-ordination and balance issues, so he needs assistance and support with that. He suffers from a significant visual impairment so he needs to be supported in the use of technol…

What about the Americans in Shannon?

This report is an attempt to soften public opinion for a massive increase in military spending and, linked to that, further integration and co-operation with NATO. That is the truth. The logic of the report makes no sense in its own terms. If you believe the line from all these people, who half the time are in favour of further integration with NATO, that really this is about protecting neutrality, the logic does not make sense. The reason given in the report for why we need to massively expand the amount of money …