There is a problem with the spatial development of the country. The main driver of spatial development currently is the system whereby young people who go to college cannot get a job other than in Dublin. The reality is most young people cannot afford to live in Dublin. What happens then is that they live 30 km, 40 km or 50 km from Dublin and they join the commuter belt. Evidence of this is that the average age in Killarney is now ten years older than in Balbriggan. We are changing the spatial picture in the countr…

I want to briefly focus on the lack of committees. That is a massive point. It is significant that we currently have a pinch point in terms of the Opposition and the Government and how speaking time is allocated in this Chamber. As a result, that is slowing down the development of committees, which are a major tool of oversight of Government activities and also necessary for the delivery of the legislative programme. It is important that this issue gets resolved ASAP. We need Standing Orders that reflect the multip…

I, too, welcome the visitors from Ukraine to the Public Gallery. The war in Ukraine is first and foremost a human disaster. More than 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers are thought to have been killed in the war so far. It is estimated that 12,000 civilians have been killed also. It is estimated that 116,000 people fighting for the Russian military are also dead in the fourth year of this war. That is a death toll of nearly 200,000 people as a result of this conflict, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of people who h…

So it is someone else's job.

The Oireachtas spent €808,000 on a printer that could not fit into the print room. It then spent €230,000 fixing that room in order that it could be fitted in. It also spent €12,000 to store the printer until it could be installed in the print room. The Government spent €22 million on ventilators that never worked and a further €50,000 on storing them. One hundred electric buses were bought but did not move an inch for 18 months because someone forgot to buy electric chargers for them. Some €300 million has been sp…

Outsourced the responsibility here.

The Taoiseach is outsourcing it.

2019.

The Government spent €5 million on the National Cyber Security Centre-----

-----while you spent €15 million on PR.

Personal responsibility is the engine of accountability and we do not have too far to look for where personal responsibility exists. In the private sector, in tens of thousands of businesses every day, people in their own work have to work to a certain standard. They have to work to ensure that they do not waste money and they have to meet the objectives of their particular business. If they do not, then there is a cost. They could be moved sideways, have their salary reduced or lose their job. That cost, however, …

-----to this absolute disgusting waste of money happening in our country-----

-----but it will not. It will spend its time blaming everybody else but itself.

Well, anyone watching this----

It is not just about analysis.

You are the embodiment of-----

Sean Brown was a father of six, a lifelong GAA member and official and a highly respected member of his community. On 12 May 1997, while locking up the gates of the Bellaghy Wolfe Tones GAA club in Derry, he was abducted and viciously murdered. He was murdered because he was a Catholic and because he was the chairperson of his GAA club. Bridie Brown, Sean's wife, attended the recent GAA congress in Donegal to plead for help in the search for justice. The family have attended court 57 times in their search for justi…

Will the Government demand that the inquest goes ahead?

Navan has the longest waiting times in the country at the moment. Learners are waiting up to 33 weeks just to receive an appointment. Waits for retests can mean anything up to six or seven months. Is that acceptable to the Minister of State? It is certainly not acceptable to the thousands of young people in my county who are desperate for a driver's licence so they can go about their business. As of April last year, there were 5,305 individuals on that waiting list. It was an incredibly high figure and the reason i…

Three testers can only-----