If he arrives I will be. First, I thank the Labour Party for tabling this motion. It is an indication of the scale of the crisis that we have, that Opposition parties repeatedly have to table motions to address these issues. Unfortunately, the statistics contained in the motions get worse rather than better as we have motion after motion. Rarely, thankfully, does the Government oppose a motion. Normally it accepts them, agrees with them and says it would like them to happen but then the situation continues to worse…

Last Thursday, I asked the Tánaiste about the illegal eviction that had taken place on Harrington Street in Dublin where unlicensed private security threatened tenants and others with violence and the fact that the gardaí refused even to take statements saying that it was a civil matter. The Tánaiste responded to say that the Minister had written to the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, to ensure this matter was investigated thoroughly as early as possible. However, the RTB has previously stated in a report to the …

I see the Green Party has once more wrestled with its conscience and, unsurprisingly, once more the Green Party has emerged victorious in ditching another one of its so-called principles by signing up with Fine Fáil and Fine Gael to abandon the triple lock. The Government and the Taoiseach like to present this abandonment of the triple lock and this abandonment of a commitment in the programme for Government as a response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. However, that is not true, is it? If you go back 20 years, you…

It was the Lisbon Treaty.

I wish to ask the Taoiseach whether his strategic goals include allowing Ministers to mislead the Dáil. In February 2022, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, appeared before the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence in regard to an event that had taken place at Iveagh House. He was asked three times by myself and Deputy John Brady whether he had deleted any texts relating to that event. His replied, "I have not deleted any texts" and "All I can say is that I have not deleted any texts". In response to a question…

Those in the far right like to portray themselves as some sort of anti-establishment force. In truth, I think they are doing the dirty work of the real establishment - for example, those who benefit and profit from the housing crisis in this country, the big corporate landlords, and the private developers. How so? It is by dividing ordinary people, by pointing away from those at the top who are profiting and those who are responsible, by suggesting that extremely vulnerable people are to blame, and by undermining t…

I wish to ask the Taoiseach about the condition of many of our schools. We have some fantastic physical buildings. The Taoiseach was in one recently in my community in Kingswood. That shows what is possible. That should be what we aspire to for all our children to have access to. Unfortunately, many children go to school in buildings that are completely unfit for the purpose of being used as schools and need new, quality buildings in their place. For example, the Minister for Education was recently out in St. Aidan…

The point is they need a new building but they cannot even get a timeline as to when such a decision will be made.

Right now, lawyers are being paid large amounts of money, paid for by the public, arguing in the European Court of Justice, incredibly, that the public should not receive €13.1 billion from one of the richest and largest corporations in the world. If the court finds against the Irish Government and the money is paid, that €13.1 billion could be used to build 70,000 homes. It could be used to provide extra hospitals or to increase the numbers of beds. It could be used to fund a just and rapid transition to a zero ca…

Does the Taoiseach agree with the Garda Commissioner's statement that the far right is not growing? How does that statement tally with the reality of what we have experienced, over the past couple of weeks in particular? A man in his 70s is in hospital after being assaulted at one of these blockades at Corrofin in Clare. We know of tents of asylum seekers being burned, with some of those involved in the protests alleging they had an agreement with the Garda to go in to clear them. The left, and People Before Profit…

Hear, hear.

Refugees are welcome. They are welcome in Tallaght, where I live, in the constituency of Dublin South-West, which I represent, and in Ireland. They are some of the more than 100 million displaced people throughout the world who are fleeing war, persecution and repression. Just as Irish people fleeing some of those things went abroad, along with some so-called economic migrants, we should be welcoming these people. I want to see a world without forced migration. I want the number of people forced to migrate to go do…

I ask the Tánaiste about an attempted illegal eviction yesterday on Harrington Street, Dublin. There was no court order for the eviction. The private security that turned up and turfed a woman in her 50s and her furniture onto the street had no Private Security Authority licences. They threatened the housing activists, who were supporting the tenants, with violence. When the gardaí arrived, they refused to intervene, said it was a civil matter and refused even to take statements about the violence that had taken pl…

I am asking whether it is being investigated.

We are in a climate emergency and rapidly running out of time to avoid catastrophe. One of the most disgusting elements of this climate crisis is that those who are most responsible suffer the least, while those who are least responsible suffer most. The top 1% of the richest people in the world are responsible for 16% of all carbon emissions. That figure rises year after year. However, those people can pay to be immune from the consequences of climate change. This is not so for the more than 40,000 who died last y…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

I am sharing time with Deputies Gino Kenny and Wynne. I thank the Independent Group for this motion. I want to take the opportunity to ring the alarm bells about what has been happening at Tallaght hospital emergency department. For over a week now it has been in an extreme crisis situation. The full capacity protocol has been in operation. People have been waiting for more than 24 hours to get a trolley. It is a really horrendous situation for patients and for the staff. I will read some of the messages I have rec…

Can we not just take it now?

Can Standing Orders be suspended?

It has not been two months since the Tánaiste, then Taoiseach, suggested a citizens' assembly to deal with the question of neutrality. Why did the Tánaiste abandon the idea of a citizens' assembly? Was it the notion of the citizens that was offensive to him, given citizens' very positive view of neutrality? If the Government wanted to have at last the pretence of not having a predetermined outcome and having a genuine consultation, why on earth did it select as a chairperson a Dame of the British Empire who is on r…