It feels like déjà vu . We are back in the Chamber again discussing the ongoing crisis in our fishing industry. Somehow, it has worsened yet again. Our fisheries sector, for the nearly 17,000 people who work in it, who are just trying to do their best, make a living and support their communities, is completely swimming against the tide at this point. I will speak on two deeply connected issues affecting our coastal communities. At the end of December 2025, the new EU fishing agreement was signed off by the EU fishe…

I will add to the issue of ongoing flooding and the wider impacts recent extreme weather events have had across Ireland which are becoming more frequent and more severe as our weather grows increasingly unpredictable. Over the past number of weeks, flooding in my constituency of Dublin Fingal West has wreaked havoc. Homes, roads and local infrastructure have all been badly affected and communities have once again been left dealing with the consequences after the fact. This highlights a serious flaw in how we approa…

To be clear, this Bill is for those who can work remotely. It is not a promise for every role or sector. We know remote work is not feasible for everybody but where it is reasonably practicable, we must make it a worker's right. That is what this Bill seeks to achieve. It is not about forcing the hands of employers or imposing rigid rules. It is about giving employees options, the choice to work remotely where it makes sense while respecting the operational needs of businesses. It is about fairness, clarity and fle…

Ireland's livestock sector is facing one of the most serious health threats it has come across in decades. The arrival of bluetongue in Ireland during the winter season, of all times, is not simply another disease event, it is a direct consequence of climate change, shifting disease patterns and growing biosecurity pressures on farms. Bluetongue was once confined to southern Europe in warmer countries but is now moving steadily northwards carried by midges whose range and season are expanding due to warmer and wett…

I want to be clear that I believe this motion to be premature, not because questions about Bord Bia are unimportant, because they are, but because we, as elected Members of the Oireachtas, have well-established processes for accountability. Those process are already under way. A motion such as the one before the House is hasty, risks politicising a statutory body and undermines the very scrutiny we all claim to value. The chair of Bord Bia is due to appear before the Oireachtas agriculture committee tomorrow. I wel…

I want to bring to the attention of the Minister of State the urgent situation affecting St. Joseph's Secondary School, Rush, Gaelscoil Ros Eo and the Rush education campus in my constituency in Dublin Fingal West with regard to the recent allocation of funding for schools building. While I understand projects that were fully documented as complete were eligible, it looks like it will take six to eight weeks before the tender is ready to go for the Rush education campus. That is six to eight weeks where children wi…

It is nice to see the accommodation of St. Joseph's and the Gaelscoil will be considered as part of the ongoing overall Department-led prioritisation process. The people of Rush are looking for a commitment that the project will keep being progressed once the tender documents are delivered to the Department, which will be in a matter of weeks. The campus will not have to wait until the next tranche, should that be 2028, to fund a school that is oversubscribed and outdated. Will the Minister of State give me an indi…

The Minister and the Minister of State are aware of the recent fatal farm incidents involving Donal O'Connor, who was in his 90s, in County Limerick and T.J. Sweeney, who was in his 30s, in Clare, in light of the provisional Health and Safety Authority figures showing that 23 people died in the agriculture sector in 2025. That is 40% of all workplace fatalities, despite farmers being only 4% of the workforce. What actions is the Department taking to improve farm safety and prevent further loss of life? I take this …

I thank the Minister for putting that funding in. Given the many fatal incidents involving farmers attending livestock alone, can the Minister outline what targeted, practical measures are in place to support farm workers to work safely and whether he will consider enhanced supports and conditions through farm schemes or incentivised safer practices? We need measures as we have an ageing agricultural workforce and many farmers are isolated. We need better measures to protect them. Will the Minister consider introdu…

Yes.

We do know this is a problem. It is acknowledged. We have the statistics going back many years. As an aside, I wonder how much loneliness has to do with people still farming into their 70s, 80s and 90s, like Mr. O'Connor was? We know there are certain schemes out there but if a targeted wage subsidy could be considered as part of the Department's work, that would be fantastic. I welcome the funding, the €1.6 million and the €3 million, that is going in. We have acknowledged the problem and, hopefully, the measures …

I want to raise a pressing issue that is affecting my constituency of Dublin Fingal West, particularly Balbriggan but also Rush, Lusk, Skerries and more rural areas. There is ongoing pressure on Drogheda and Beaumont hospitals that could be alleviated to some degree by the establishment of a minor injuries clinic hub in Balbriggan. There are now approximately 30,000 people living in Balbriggan . In total, there are between 60,000 to 70,000 people living in that part of the constituency. This is a large and growing …

While I welcome the Minister of State's comments on the need to move appropriate services out of acute hospitals into smaller community-based hubs, and the policy direction is absolutely correct, Balbriggan is the type of location where this should be applied in practice. A community-based hub at Balbriggan would work extremely well under the pull-out model, especially for services that do not need to be delivered in acute hospital settings. This is particularly important for older people who are often the most dis…

The situation regarding waiting times for speech and language therapy in CHO 9, particularly for children in my constituency of Dublin Fingal West, has gone from beyond delay and is entering the territory of systemic neglect. Children in CHO 9 are waiting not months but years for basic speech and language assessments and then face further delays before therapy begins. These children are at the most critical stage of their development, yet the State is, in effect, telling families to wait and hope the damage is not …

I appreciate the measures being undertaken. This is not an issue to play politics with. To achieve a timeframe of ten months will be a huge bonus in CHO 9, given where we are now. I have raised this issue previously, although not with the Minister of State. I feel compelled to raise it again, and I have permission from the parents to do so. A child in my constituency of Dublin Fingal West, Willow, who turned nine last November, has been waiting for speech and language therapy for two years, since she was seven, so …

This motion comes at a critical time for workers in my constituency of Dublin Fingal West where transport pressures are at breaking point. My office receives emails on a daily basis from constituents who simply cannot get to work on time because buses and trains at peak hours are completely full. Workers are being left behind at stops through no fault of their own. I want to share the stories of some of my constituents who have contacted me directly recently. One told me: "Again the impact of not getting onto this …

Safeguarding in sport must be extended beyond child protection to include clear and enforceable adult safeguarding standards.

Given the increasing and well-evidenced recognition of abuse, coercive control and harassment experienced by adults across sporting environments, not only within elite levels of sports but within community clubs and local clubs, does the Minister of State accept that the continued absence of a mandatory adult safeguarding policy constitutes a serious gap in governance, accountability and participant protection? In light of the clear duty of care owed to all participants, how can the Minister for State justify the r…

The absence of robust safeguarding policies in many sports often comes to light by chance. However, even minimal scrutiny reveals that safeguarding is frequently treated as an afterthought for adults. It is only considered once something goes seriously wrong. When these situations arise, clubs are often ill-prepared to respond appropriately. Responsibility is often placed on ordinary volunteers and members, many of whom have no training or experience in dealing with domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, stalk…

Dereliction makes our towns look worse, damages local pride, drives footfall away from businesses and sends the message that neglect is tolerated. At a time of such acute public infrastructure needs, this is simply unacceptable. This Bill does not create a new tax. It asks only that the existing law be taken seriously and enforced properly. In my constituency of Dublin-Fingal West they deserve better than boarded-up streets and wasted land when solutions are sitting in plain sight. The constituency of Dublin-Fingal…