One cannot say much in two minutes but the point I will make is that funding is welcome but we need more of it. Capital projects have a huge return, especially, as others have noted, in terms of working with sports clubs. I support what my colleague Deputy Fitzmaurice said about a loan scheme to top up funding. We also need to look to more creative thinking. In my constituency, Clonburris strategic development zone, SDZ, will be home to 11,000 houses and 20,000 people but it does not have a fraction of the pitch ca…

On a point of order, seeing that my Private Members' business was referenced, the motion asked for ideas from all Members of the House. All parties, with the exception of the Social Democrats, contributed in that respect. The Government allowed the motion to be passed to allow the ideas to be assessed and reported on in six months' time. It was a motion on the consequences of antisocial behaviour. I note the Seanad recently passed all Stages of the Health (Scoliosis Treatment Services) Bill 2024, which aims to set …

It is regrettable that Ireland, one of the richest countries in the world, has seen a significant rise in children living in consistent poverty. According to the Children's Rights Alliance, one in 12 children, or more than 100,000, is in this situation. Obviously, inflation has risen. There are various reasons for this, including the Ukraine and related issues, the fact that we live on an island, etc., but Ireland is still one of the richest countries in the world. Housing costs have risen as well. The big issue re…

I have a number of questions regarding the auto-enrolment scheme. I welcome the broad thrust of the scheme. The idea of people starting from an early age making contributions towards their pensions as they reach retirement age is a good one in principle, as is the sense of making the employers contribute. However, as Deputy Collins said, there is an issue with the State not contributing enough. I see from the website for the scheme that the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority will be the indep…

Unfortunately, some of my colleagues could not make it. I wish to talk at the outset about protecting our young people. It is not just about vapes, e-cigarettes and nicotine products; it is also about alcohol, nitrous oxide canisters and unfiltered assess to social media. Our young people are being assaulted from all sides like never before. We need to protect them. We have legislative tools to make that a reality. Other people have spoken in various ways with different styles of contribution, but the facts that my…

I noted the Minister's comments earlier today with regard to a discussion about the occupied territories Bill and a date for such. He said the Government can influence but not dictate the position of our partners in the EU and elsewhere around the world. I agree with that 100% but I also acknowledge that there has been ongoing pressure, let us say, from the Opposition in this Chamber and then from the Government in Europe and beyond, that has led to some countries, for example, recognising the two-state solution. C…

To follow up on my colleague's comments, there is an issue about accountability and responsibility. It is not the NTA that deals with the school buses; it is Bus Éireann that has been given that job. If Bus Éireann is not doing the job, representatives here would like to know why, who is accountable and who is going to be fired from their job for being incompetent. If it is an issue of supply, the competence issue goes back to the Government. As others have said, we should be able to make decisions on 80% to 90% of…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: — recognises that anti-social behaviour continues to be a major problem in Ireland for people of all ages; — noting that the factors leading to this behaviour are multi-faceted and that some work has been done to date to identify and resource solutions; — accepting that Garda numbers per head of population remain far short of optimal levels; — acknowledges that many people feel a sense of powerlessness to deal with this persistent problem, especially when those involved are aged under 18 …

I welcome that the Government is not opposing this motion which is hugely welcome. As I said at the start, some work has been done but we need a lot more. Some of the wording of this motion is actually time-based. It proposes taking some of the suggestions here - my suggestions, other people's suggestions and the Government's own ideas - putting them together and coming up with a plan in the next six months to move forward. That is what I what I hope will come out of this. I thank my constituency colleague, Deputy …

You are no Deputy Stagg; please let me continue. At the start of my contribution on the motion, I mentioned that we needed action to deal with the causes of crime. I have spoken about that many times. I previously referenced the Garda numbers but this is a motion purely on the consequences for antisocial behaviour. Again the Social Democrats said this is a very offensive motion to young people. Let us go back to the motion we had on keeping children out of crime back in March or April. We found that only 2% of chil…

I welcome the Proceeds of Crime and Related Matters Bill, which, as the Minister said, represents a major upgrade of existing legislation. I welcome the fact it will reduce from seven years to two the time between a judicial determination of an asset being the proceeds of crime and a final disposal order being available. I especially welcome the immediate and automatic appointment of a receiver in respect of assets to ensure that respondents cannot continue to benefit pending final disposal orders being made. This …

Two years ago, Ireland celebrated the 30th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality. We saw further incremental progress after that through the civil partnership process, which was a stepping stone to full marriage equality following the passing of the thirty-fourth amendment to the Constitution of Ireland. This year, we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the legislation implementing that amendment. What was once defined by others in society as shameful has become a growing and vibrant source of pride …

I thank the Minister for his contribution. In some ways, this is necessary legislation. In other ways, it is a bit like watching paint dry, especially when talking about going through the motions. I am not sure whether I will be here when we get around to the motions on Switzerland in a while. I wanted to discuss the wider issues of all this booking information that is provided by passengers and collected and held in reservation systems. We know the content of the PNR data varies depending on the information given …

Recent studies have shown that Dublin is again a dirty city and Cork as well, for that matter. They have not improved. If anything, they have become worse. We have had less visible plastic. A couple of weeks ago, I saw a guy throw a bottle out of the car. He would only have got 15 cent for it, but could not do anything about it, so it ended up in the ditch. We have a situation where half of all visible litter is cigarette butts. People stamp it on the ground thinking that it is plastic or will biodegrade. I even sa…

Should we not increase fines to have real consequences for people dropping litter?

According to Irish Business Against Litter, IBAL, it is.

Like others, I welcome the establishment of the commission of investigation into historical sexual abuse in all-day and boarding schools. I do in all sincerity regret that it has taken so long to move into this area and ensure that all survivors who are still alive receive acknowledgement and, hopefully, some justice. I express my personal sympathies to the survivors and all the families involved. The scoping inquiry was told, as others have mentioned, of 2,395 allegations of historical sexual abuse in day and boar…

As others have said, people are suffering from massive price inflation across a range of areas, including in supermarkets, the subject of this debate. The causes are varied, including wars, energy price hikes, supply shortages, Brexit and so on, but the suspicion remains that the supermarket chains are making excessive profits. As Ireland is the second most expensive country in Europe, scrutiny is required. Even when margins are found to be tight, families need to be given the tools to find the best value in a give…

I want to ask a question that others have raised on the issue of Garda vetting. As we know, a teacher doing a summer project, such as mentoring in a GAA club, needs separate vetting. This is quite farcical and the process could be streamlined to be a lot quicker, but every time we raised it we were told the Garda vetting review group was the group that was going to report on this. The former Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, said in April 2021 that it would take approximately six months. In March, the current M…

It is good to have the opportunity to speak about the European Council meeting that took place at the end of June. Even in the past couple of weeks, things have moved on and changed. The next meeting is not until October. I acknowledge that it is a difficult job for the Government, as a member of a very large bloc and a small country, to try to get our views across. There were 12 key headings, including any other business, and more than 50 individual topics for discussion, not all of which related to us because the…