This issue relates to Elm Park in Buncrana. I thank the Minister for his engagement to date on the issue. He met with the families in Donegal. I thank the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, Deputy Moran, and the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan. I welcome the announcement before Christmas that the Minister is agreeing to relocate the families. They have been waiting a long time, first, for co-operation of all families in agreeing to relocation and then they had to get all their houses tested. Ev…

The Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, worked with the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, who was in Donegal in recent weeks, where he met with residents and saw the condition of these houses. There is an urgency in that some of the houses are in appalling conditions, are clearly unsafe and families are still living in them. At the same time, they live on a dangerous flood plain. Of course, those houses should never have been granted planning permission. We inherit the legacy of what came before us. I appreciate t…

They are not agreed. When will the Taoiseach stand up for our fishing communities in Europe? He knows we are in an unprecedented crisis. There is a 70% cut in mackerel and 41% in blue whiting, primarily because of actions of countries like Norway which recklessly overfished. In recent days, Norway was granted 50,000 tonnes of blue whiting access in Irish waters and the Irish Government abstained. It did not stand up and confront what is going on here.

When will the Taoiseach stand up for Irish fishing communities? When will he do his job for our communities?

Last week, I received a letter from 21 school principals across Donegal. I sent it to the Minister and the Minister of State. I ask them to meet with a delegation of these principals. They have asked that the Ministers meet them in the school to see exactly what they are talking about. I ask them to read the letter because it specifically deals with the issues. It is not just about these letters that cause great distress and anguish to schools across the State. The first I knew about it was when it affected one of …

I will get them sent to the Taoiseach.

I will get them to the Taoiseach. He has asked for them now.

I had the chance last December to lay a number of facts on the table. I am going to repeat them. We need to speak out with passion about the rottenness of the Common Fisheries Policy and, I am sorry to say, the rottenness of the approach of the European Commission to all of this. Let us talk about the big five. These are the Dutch corporations that dominate so much quota across the European Union. The Common Fisheries Policy allows these huge corporations to legally buy up quota across the European Union. They cont…

Where the hell is he? How can he not speak out about what is happening? Everybody in the industry across Europe knows of the domination of these corporations and the control they have over policy. Everybody knows that they were able to influence those governments to stop the Hague preferences being invoked by Ireland. That has been our right for decades. It was a protection because of the access we gave to our waters. The UK was also able to avail of the Hague preferences. Now we are on our own. I believe these cou…

Hear hear.

Hear hear.

Colonialists.

I thank the Minister of State for his recent visit to Donegal and for meeting families who are affected face to face. I really appreciated that. We missed the Minister of State when he was out of the Dáil. I will be straight about that. I said it in front of the residents when we were in Donegal. He really cares about this issue. He has experienced it in his own community and seen it at first hand. We missed him. I am going to go back to 2017. There is always flooding at certain points. Unfortunately, some very poo…

A letter from 21 school principals in Donegal has been sent to the Minister for Education and Youth and the Minister of State with responsibility for special needs education. They express their profound concern regarding the reality of special educational needs provision in our schools, in particular the operation of the SNA allocation model. I ask the Taoiseach to request a copy of the letter - I can send him one. It clearly demonstrates the failings of the system, which have been revealed by this review and has c…

A number of years ago, I chaired the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions. At that time, the public service ombudsman and Ombudsman for Children were looking for oversight of the direct provision system. I was the chairperson of the committee and I led the delegations. We travelled to direct provision centres around the country. We met with the asylum seekers. We insisted on absolute access to every corner of the direct provision centres. We met with a range of stakeholders. I am gla…

The HSE has had phase 1 of the Nayagam review relating to children with scoliosis. It is horrific what we know already, and this is of the utmost sensitivity. The Government has committed to a statutory public inquiry. Will it appoint a facilitator to engage with the families in terms of reference? Will we have Dáil statements to give absolute clarity about how this is being handled? There are growing concerns among the families, so we need Dáil statements to clarify all this and to deal with this matter of utmost …

I want to state clearly that we absolutely need truth and reconciliation for all of our people who came through the conflict, but one huge missing piece is the role of the British state. I want to take the Minister through the assassination of an elected representative in this State. Councillor Eddie Fullerton was assassinated in May 1991. His family pursued a justice campaign for many years, patiently and determinedly. That led to Operation Greenwich, which was published by the Police Ombudsman in the North in Jan…

As the gap is less than ten votes, and because of the outrageous legislation this is for so many families across this State, we are calling for a vote by other than electronic means.

Under Standing Order 88(3)( b ), I propose that the vote be taken by other than electronic means.

The Minister will know the views of Sinn Féin about this legislation, as articulated by our spokesperson, Deputy Carthy. We are particularly concerned that Tusla and the various Departments under the Government's direction do not have the resources to meet the requirements laid out. That is the fundamental concern. However, I will talk practically about my experience in Donegal in recent years and the mistakes made by those who came before the Minister. There was always a challenge with asylum seekers and the direc…