I thank the Taoiseach. Mr. McGinley's stated reason for seeking an unrestricted inquest scope is simple and is grounded in the wider public interest to save lives in the future, enable learning that could improve mental healthcare and treatment, strengthen diagnosis, ensure robust management of prescription medication, reinforce the need for co-parents to be informed and supported, and most importantly, ensure warning signs and risks to children are recognised before lives are lost. I do not believe there is a pare…

I refer to all inquests.

I reiterate that I fully support the need to help our neighbours in Ukraine. This is part of an EU contribution. It does not alter Ireland's military neutrality or the triple lock. It is purely about enhanced financial co-operation under Article 20 of the Treaty on European Union. It is nothing to do with defence or security commitments and our neutrality has been respected by our EU partners before. Obviously, as others have raised in the Dáil, we may not like how some of our EU partners spend their money. That is…

Last year's Mental Health Commission's report entitled Acute Mental Healthcare in Hospital Emergency Departments in Ireland, confirmed, as other speakers noted, that emergency mental health care is simply not available in most of our emergency departments. I am repeating myself here but every year more than 50,000 people in acute mental distress present to emergency departments. A number of Deputies referred to this but it is important to emphasise it. What the report shows is widespread inconsistency in the qualit…

Early last year, I asked for some flexibility for people to build within their gardens. I note that under pillar 1 of the housing plan, action 4.8 commits to increasing the number of development types exempt from planning permission. When is this coming in? Will there be clear boundaries in terms of the scope? It should be for families and not for commercial rental in the first instance.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. This is not going to sort out the housing crisis but it will make a dent. Where it is going to help in particular is where people can either have a starter home or an age-appropriate home in the area where they already live, work or grew up. That is crucial because a lot of people cannot actually get a property in the area where they have grown up. In that context, it is important to make sure this legislation is primarily for families with, maybe, a two-year exemption period wh…

It is something that will be welcomed by so many families within communities. In framing the legislation before it actually comes before the committee, could the local authorities also be contacted? Local authorities obviously have to enforce planning regulations but I was told before by a county manager that they do not have the resources to bring every case to court. There are situations. For example, I know of a mother of two severely autistic children whose family built an annex out the back because she had now…

An estimated 4,500 people have been reported killed during the latest round of protests in Iran. This figure could be more than 12,000 when all the figures have been checked. This follows 2022 protests when 551 people, including 68 children, were confirmed killed. In 2019, up to 1,500 people were killed. In 2017-18, 41 protesters were killed. In 2009, 70 protesters were killed. These are only the numbers of those killed in documented protests and crackdowns by this murderous and undemocratic regime. It does not inc…

As the Tánaiste correctly said, this despotic regime funds terrorism and murder across the globe, including against our neighbours in Ukraine who have been subject to attacks by drones produced in Iran. I am conscious of the geopolitical context for any US Administration or Israeli attack. We have had lots of discussions about the occupied territories Bill and the genocide in Gaza and I have spoken on those, but Iran tends to get ignored in this context. The European Union needs to be careful about how we frame thi…

I raised the issue of congestion in my constituency yesterday. I also attended a meeting of the tourism committee at which we discussed issues such as the new EU resolution that electric vehicles, EVs, will have to be introduced for car rental by 2030. There has been a little blowback on that. Dublin Airport does not have the capacity and it accounts for 80% of all car hires. There is some flexibility, though, in terms of Dublin Airport. Given that 38% of people who come into Dublin Airport and hire a car there go …

I live in the wonderful constituency of Dublin Mid-West, which has some fantastic people, but it is also the congestion capital of Ireland. That goes back to when Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, sometimes with dodgy backhanders, were rezoning land on greenfield sites left, right and centre. They built houses everywhere with no facilities and infrastructure. Then, when we had a chance with strategic development zones like Clonburris, Sinn Féin, People Before Profit, the Labour Party and the Social Democrats accused me an…

I welcome the opportunity-----

I welcome the opportunity to speak on international events, however brief my time. The Government has quite a bit of input from the European Union perspective. We have President Donald Trump addressing the World Economic Forum. He said he is not going to use military force today, but he is putting pressure. As the Tánaiste said, we have some aces up our sleeves as well. The Government are dealing with a narcissist and a big baby supported by a vice president who is worthy of less admiration because he lambasted the…

I welcome the opportunity to talk about water again. We talked about it six months ago. I note that the Government has announced additional funding but if you look at the amount that is proposed in the programme, it is still wholly inadequate compared with what is required. The Uisce Éireann strategic plan is looking for over €16 billion up to 2029, and it has been estimated that, up to 2050, we need to spend over €60 billion on our water and waterways. That level of investment is a wartime investment, similar to w…

I want to support these amendments. We have had a lot of discussions at the introductory stage in the committee. The Minister has been engaging with the representative bodies and I take that on board. However, there are still issues in relation to what should be taken on board and what should not be. This being the Report Stage before the Bill goes to the Seanad, maybe the Minister of State would give her final and absolute legal advice, because I do not see what would be wrong with putting these amendments in. If …

I have more experience of dealing with issues related to family courts where I have been chasing up issues relating to the in camera rule. It does not necessarily relate to this legislation but it does on one fundamental point, which is that sometimes, it is apparent that the judges rely on so-called experts because they are familiar with them but they are not necessarily the experts in their field. What could happen here by bringing it to the Circuit Court is that it would delay the process and make it unaffordabl…

The music industry has changed over the years. The revenue from streaming is minuscule so a lot of artists are trying to get their stuff onto the likes of TikTok and are trying to get airplay on radio, where you still get a certain amount of royalties. They usually try to get to a point where they can tour. Touring can be hit and miss for a lot of artists. They do not necessarily make a lot of money. The very successful ones do. That is why the previous Government's introduction of the stipend for artists was so be…

I welcome the Bill. We all recognise the benefits of being able to allow people who need some level of support to remain independently in their homes as long as possible. In amending the Health Act 2007, the legislation will create the first statutory regulatory framework for home support providers, with mandatory registration, HIQA-led standards, inspections and criminal penalties for unregistered operators, bringing Ireland into line with other jurisdictions, including our neighbours in the UK. This is all well a…

I support fully this Bill by my Sinn Féin constituency colleague, Deputy Mark Ward. In terms of its efforts to restrict the sale, possession and supply of nitrous oxide products, it has added to the whole debate. It should absolutely be lauded. In that context, while I take on board what the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, said about EU legislation and having to give notice and having to look at the legislation because it was seen only in the past while, we know that Second Stage Bills coming from Opposition parties …

In Ireland, we use over 200 million single-use tea and coffee cups a year. That equates to at least 20,000 cups an hour. That is a staggering figure. Coffee cups are, according to Irish Business Against Litter, among the top five most littered items in the country according to a recent survey. Most of these cups cannot go into recycling bins because of the polyethylene lining used in the paper, making them non-recyclable. The Government had proposed a 20 cent levy as well as other measures. As the Minister knows, t…