The run-up to the Residential Tenancies Act 2026 was overshadowed, as we debated, by a massive increase in evictions. We will see if the Act delivers stronger protections going forward. In the meantime, I will highlight again a loophole that becomes more attractive now. It concerns overcrowding and refurbishment. Overcrowding complaints still fall under the Housing Act 1966 and the 2019 housing standard regulations, and not the new legislation. The definition of "unsuitable for habitation" is quite broad. In a tigh…

There is the issue in the legislation itself, there is the bigger picture nationally and then of course there are the more parochial local issues. I am not quite sure, but I know I have been shifted around in the speaking rota so I will deal with the local issues first in case I have to cede the time later on in the discussion and, if not, I will use it to elaborate on the bigger issues. The Government is talking about widening the NTA's remit across the country. I have an issue with the NTA's remit here in Dublin …

People with disabilities face additional rising costs and are struggling in light of reduced supports. The Government provided one-off cost-of-disability supports in the aftermath of Covid-19. In budget 2026, all of those were removed and nothing else was put in place. At least one in four people with disabilities is at risk of poverty. That is a terrible statistic. Previously, I have referenced that the cost of living with a disability might average up to €15,000 per year in the current economic climate. That is w…

I concur with my colleagues about the ongoing Israeli atrocities in Gaza and their mistreatment of 14 Irish citizens. I would like to see the Minister do as much as she can on this. The issue I want to raise is that in Ireland right now, a worker can give 20 or 30 years of service, pay full PRSI, pay the higher rate of tax, contribute to the economy every single day and then the moment they face a serious illness, they are hit hard. After a handful of statutory sick pay days, they are pushed onto a flat-rate paymen…

I am flagging the issue. I am not expecting overnight action but in the context of the budget, it could be a process moving on. I am a firm believer in developing an entrepreneurial and creative society and giving people the opportunity to move forward. However, we have to protect the most vulnerable, as I and others have said all the time. The old Marx quote is probably the only bit of Marxism that is still relevant today: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." There are people who h…

On 29 April during the debate on my Private Members' motion, we had a very good debate on the need to reform the in camera rule in the family law system. Equally, the issue of court-appointed experts was also brought up. If someone wants to make a complaint about a social worker, for example, and they are trying to be in line with the in camera rule, they can do that by making a complaint to CORU. I am aware of a situation where people allege that they were gaslit and sometimes lied about during reports as children…

There is a lot of emotive debate over this issue. The Irish people have consistently spoken out in terms of wanting to preserve our neutrality. In terms of Ukraine, for example, we have been keen to emphasise we are militarily neutral. As my Labour Party colleagues mentioned earlier, what we do not have is the military capacity to defend ourselves in any way, shape or form, or to patrol our coastlines. I note the Government is talking about investing in remote control-type of weaponry. We should be paying our Defen…

First, I want to acknowledge, given the headline topic we are discussing, that NAMA played an important stabilising role at a moment of national crisis. I was there at the time and was involved in the Government that made the decisions. I saw the logic and supported its establishment at the time under the circumstances that were forced on people. However, it is also clear that NAMA's record is mixed, due to what were largely Government decisions. I acknowledge that NAMA had an independent mandate but it was given a…

Things have got worse since I spoke about this last year. I had a few more minutes then, so I have to rush. The 2025 Article 17 habitats report has come out since last year’s debate and it shows we are sliding backwards. There have been improvements in a small number of habitats and targeted conservation work by volunteers has helped some species but overall we are neglecting our country and basically spitting in the face of our many volunteers. The report shows 90% of Ireland’s EU protected habitats remain in poor…

As other Deputies have referred, when the RTB published data, it confirmed a huge upsurge in evictions in the first three months of this year alone. A figure of roughly 7,000 was mentioned but in Dublin, which includes my constituency, 2,500 householders were handed notice during this period. During the debates last year and at the very start of this year, the Government's argument was that allowing landlords to reset the vacant properties to the new full market rates was necessary, especially to try and attract in…

This coming Monday, the European Parliament will vote on a framework that will allow gene-edited foods onto Irish supermarket shelves with zero consumer labelling and no safety screening. While we have our own ban on the cultivation of traditional genetically modified organisms, GMOs, we cannot, under this legislation, ban the import and transport of EU-approved genetic material for food and animal feed. There is a real risk that Irish organic farmers, whose livelihoods depend on keeping their crops entirely new ge…

I welcome the chance to speak on this Bill because I can see the logic in the State being prepared for the way industry, technology, national security and environmental concerns are changing. I take on board what the Government said about this Bill giving our enterprise agencies the flexibility to operate in a globalised system that is more competitive, more AI enhanced and more security sensitive than ever before. The Industrial Development Acts of the 1980s and 1990s - when I grew up - were not designed for an er…

We have talked a lot about energy security, which is a very important issue, but I want to raise another issue that affects every household in this country and that is our food security or, more accurately, our lack of it. The Minister for agriculture describes the Government's Food Vision 2030 as strategy for a world-leading sustainable food system, but it is not a food security plan. In fact, the evidence shows that Ireland will not be able to sustain itself indefinitely without major agriculture and dietary chan…

I am not trying to cause panic, but we need to be prepared. We have seen the virus on the boat in the Canary Islands. What if it was a more resilient and transmissible virus? What if the Iranian war or other conflicts prevented us from getting as many boats to this country? That is the issue. Food Vision 2030 is based on exports and farm income diversification. It is not about having a national food security plan. My understanding is that there is such a plan in the Netherlands. Even within an EU context, we need a…

I welcome elements of the National Safety Camera Strategy in terms of expanding our safety camera network to 1,900 zones and targeting the high collision black spots. However, we cannot ignore the sheer scale of the violations occurring everywhere in my constituency and elsewhere. We need a lot more cameras and enforcement after it is handed over to TII. Equally, we have to look at the smaller roads and local authority areas also. Let us look at bus lanes, for example. An Garda Síochána issues over 6,000 fixed-char…

I am in solidarity with the ambulance workers but I want to take the opportunity to praise the fantastic work of our nurses on what is International Nurses Day. There are over 92,000 registered nurses and midwives in Ireland who all do a fantastic job, but their working conditions are far from optimal. They have raised issues like unsafe staffing numbers, high levels of burnout and pay that has failed to keep up with the cost of living. Ireland relies to a much greater extent on internationally educated nurses comp…

As others have said, people are fed up, exhausted and worn down by the current energy crisis. Some of those already challenged to make ends meet - those with disabilities, for example, or those on very low incomes - are now living hand to mouth and cutting back on food just to keep a bit of heat and light, and that is before the darker winter months crawl back in again. We have also found out that small businesses are hanging on. I have spoken to quite a few in my constituency. We see that prices always shoot up in…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — family law proceedings concerning child custody, access, guardianship and childcare matters, continue to be heard otherwise than in public under statutory provisions including, Section 27 of the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1964, and Section 29 of the Child Care Act, 1991; — the recently published book entitled "Justice for Birth Mothers – The Fight Against Forced Separation in Modern Ireland", documents numerous experiences of women who report feeling disempowered, unheard …

As I pointed out earlier, fathers have been shown to be damaged under the current flawed system, and I have been very sure to mention this aspect, but the system has hurt mothers a lot more. It is unfair, opaque and needs to change. I mentioned Dr. Charlotte Proudman, one of several advocates in the UK. Her research found that the secrecy and gender bias in family courts in England concealed poor practice and a lack of accountability. There is no reason to believe it is not the case here that there is a systemic ge…

-----podcast and recently published book. I would like to see more transparency in the interests of the children and to pilot what is already happening in the UK.