As the Taoiseach said, the schools are doing a great job. It is mainly female teachers in primary schools, and they are the ones who are getting misogynistic abuse at sixth-class level. We have had different debates about that. The Taoiseach mentioned the community safety partnerships. I wish they would hurry up and get them set up because there is a deficit there, including in communities that are not designated as disadvantaged but have areas of disadvantage within them. They need to be widespread to cover that a…

Ireland's associate membership of CERN is a fantastic step forward in science, technology and innovation in this country. As a TD, I was happy to be able to offer a pairing to the Minister during his recent visit. Great thanks is due to the Minister and his team for facilitating this associate agreement. Well done to all. As an associate member we will have access to what is one of the world's most advanced research institutions in particle physics where, without over-exaggerating, the building blocks of the univer…

It is now six months since the Government was established and we have seen very little. We now have a moderate and small-scale proposal on the hikes on the price of rent. The Minister said it is an effort to get a balance between keeping rents down and getting investors in. Different lobbies have different statistics to throw out but in places such as San Francisco, for example, rents have risen where rent freezes have been abolished. Even if we get in the supply, it will take longer so many people will be put unde…

We know that the use of cheques in this country has declined dramatically, especially since Covid. The current rate of use is now half what it was in 2023, and has probably declined more. I do not have the up-to-date figures. Many people do not have chequebooks anymore or if they do, they are stashed away in a box somewhere and are not used that much. Equally, there are many older people who do not have bank cards because they do have bank accounts. In this context, what are the Minister's views on postal orders as…

What I am more interested in is the Minister raising it with the agencies. For example, South Dublin County Council has cash offices in Tallaght and Clondalkin, but many people who rely solely on public transport find it very hard to get to those places. I wish to give a specific example regarding resident parking permits for an area that have to be paid through South Dublin Parking Services. When a resident tried to make an arrangement to do this by phone, they were told, "Sorry, cheques only, we are not accepting…

Do not rub it in.

On this occasion, I would like to offer my personal condolences to the family and welcome the apology given on the record to the late Shane O'Farrell. I used to say that the period between my previous tenure as a TD in 2011 and being re-elected last November was a very long time. Compared to what Shane's family has had to go through even to get this acknowledgement, I feel for the family on a personal level. As a family, they possibly have not got closure. They certainly have not got justice from the apology, but I…

We talk about Gaza every week in this Chamber. It is right and proper that we do. One can get emotional about it because every time a child dies it is a harrowing experience, but one has to look at it in a more balanced way in terms of trying to get something done. That is what this Bill is attempting to do; it is trying to put pressure on the Irish Government to make the Central Bank of Ireland do something that the State and our European partners do not want us to do. I will get to this in a while, but sometimes,…

The Minister of State's colleague and my constituency colleague, the Minister of State, Emer Higgins, said a while back that efficient use of public resources contributes to better delivery of services for our citizens. Obviously, the Minister of State present cannot disagree with that. It makes a lot of sense. The Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, mentioned she had launched a public consultation in March to ensure all those with an interest in the future direction of public procurement have an opportunity to info…

I also wish to raise the paltry bonds payable by developers for estates to ensure they are finished so that they can be taken in charge. It is such a small amount that in some areas of my constituency, 15 years later some estates have still not been taken in charge. Similarly, the bonds payable by companies for large-scale contracts are often not worth the paper they are written on. There is no incentive at all. In my county of South Dublin, several tenders have collapsed because the local authority had discretion …

Without carers, especially family carers, the burden on the State would be far greater. Over the years we have heard stories of people being placed inappropriately in geriatric wards or people who need more intensive care being sent home early because of insufficient spaces. Carers play a valuable role and unless we totally change our definition of what constitutes society in Ireland, it will never be every family for themselves and every individual without a family around them for themselves. We do see the value o…

Will the Government review the Adamstown and Clonburris strategic development zone plans? The last Adamstown review was 12 years ago. There is a major issue arising now due to insufficient carparking spaces. Planning permission has been granted on the basis of 1 to 1.25 spaces per unit but we now have one development near the train station, The Sidings, where there are no parking spaces provided whatever. There are growing families, workers with vans renting houses together and insufficient childcare facilities and…

Today marks 80 days since the humanitarian aid blockade of Gaza began. This regime has long since passed the threshold for what would constitute legitimate defence following the horrific and condemnable Hamas attacks on October 7. This was already genocide before the deliberate and inhumane blocking of lifesaving food, medical supplies and shelter, not to mention continued bombing, but new lows continue to be reached. The UN says no aid has yet been distributed in Gaza despite a few lorries starting to cross the bo…

Making statements on biodiversity in Ireland is a bit like that time when Gandhi was asked about western civilisation and he retorted, "I think it would be a good idea." Biodiversity in Ireland would be a good idea if we followed through. I welcome the announcement of €2.9 million in unding for local authorities for biodiversity projects under the National Parks and Wildlife Service's local biodiversity action fund 2025. There has been great work done in my local authority area of south Dublin, for example. We plan…

I take a slightly different approach from that of Deputy Tóibín. We have to remember what the ARP is for. It is part of our contribution to help war-torn Ukraine which has been aggressively attacked by Putin's regime. As we are not a military country - we are militarily neutral and not participating in any transfer of weaponry - we have made a contribution as part of the effort to help Ukraine. That includes taking in displaced people from Ukraine and giving them the comfort and safety of living in a democratic are…

Services for people with disabilities are in disarray. There is an ongoing battle for disability services to be provided where needs have been assessed. The National Federation of Voluntary Service Providers, which represents a mixture of voluntary public services organisations and voluntary grant-aided bodies, has gone on record recently to state their ability to deliver existing services and meet the needs in their communities is seriously under threat. These organisations provide a lot more services than the HSE…

Like others, I raised this matter back in February. There has been very little, if any, progress since that time. What is happening is quite frustrating for TDs constituents. This is not really a local issue, although I do want to raise a local aspect in a moment. There has been no real progress since February. I mentioned at the time the need to implement the service level agreement requirement of ten weeks as is set out in section 28 of the Road Safety Authority Act. When replying, will the Minister to State indi…

Ireland is 19th on the global innovation index but we are behind similar-sized countries such as Estonia, Denmark and Finland, which is in seventh place. I asked previously what is Ireland's equivalent to Nokia. In terms of research and development, what are we doing that is Irish born and that is creating jobs on the basis of Irish initiatives rather than international companies coming here? I welcome the Global Citizens 2030, the Impact 2030 and today's initiative. They are all very welcome. There are a lot of go…

The Institute for Management Development’s world competitiveness yearbook 2024 ranks Ireland 38th out of 67 countries in basic infrastructure. To take water as an example, Dublin City Council wants to build 6,000 homes in Ballyboggan but this is under threat due to a lack of water and sewerage infrastructure. The greater Dublin drainage project needs to be progressed. Nationally, it is estimated that we need up to €120 billion for water development. That is a huge amount and we need to focus on key projects as a re…

I was at a presentation by Haven Horizons yesterday in the audiovisual room, as were others. This domestic, sexual and gender-based violence prevention centre does wonderful work - without proper State funding, I might add, something that needs to be looked at. At the discussion afterwards, an issue I was mulling over came up, and that was the contribution that social media make to such violent and coercive activity, where young boys especially are given unfiltered access to the most misogynistic material, where An…