I thank the Taoiseach for his reply and for his recognition of the threat and fear that have been generated in Irish society. It is important to recognise the risks to the democratic norms as well. During the recent presidential election, there was an AI-generated fake video apparently showing Catherine Connolly pulling out of the campaign and there were, of course, the awful slanders that were put out about Jim Gavin. They were seen 700,000 times before Mr. Gavin got to respond. No amount of fact-checking will eve…

There is general agreement that the outcome of COP30 was disappointing, in particular the failure to mention the transition away from fossil fuels. Last July, I met the climate minister of Vanuatu. Vanuatu is a small pacific island nation whose very existence is at risk from climate change. It is looking to generate------

-----support for an international fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty. We will hold the Presidency of the EU next year when COP31 takes place.

Will the Taoiseach ask his officials to look seriously at this fossil fuel treaty and engage with Vanuatu to see if the EU can offer the proposed support at COP31?

Maybe the Taoiseach can show them his resolve.

As we discuss the public funding of the greyhound racing industry, I want to raise some concerning information my office uncovered recently. For the past number of months, I have been submitting parliamentary questions to the Department and to Rásaíocht Con Éireann seeking data on the status of racing greyhounds in Ireland. This follows the reports from the Irish Examiner last year that nearly 2,800 racing greyhounds born in 2021 and registered in Ireland, more than a fifth, were either dead or unaccounted for. The…

I thank Deputy Carthy for bringing forward this Bill today. I do not think we can speak enough in this Chamber about domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. Some progress has been made in recent years, such as the establishment of Cuan, the third national strategy and the introduction of domestic violence leave, but the figures speak for themselves. Women's Aid reports that last year over 41,000 disclosures were made to it about the abuse of a woman and over 5,000 disclosures related to the abuse of a child. An…

Climate change and our economy's addiction to fossil fuels represent one of the biggest cost-of-living threats to householders, families, small businesses and farms in Ireland and this Bill is a practical effort to address part of that issue. I thank Deputy Murphy for bringing it forward. I will set out the scale of the issue we are facing. Across Ireland, up to 250,000 privately rented homes still fall well below a healthy and comfortable B energy rating. This means thousands of people - families, workers, older p…

I thank colleagues in the Independent and Parties Technical Group for bringing this motion forward. I am pleased to speak in favour of it but I am absolutely dismayed to find myself a year after a general election, where the occupied territories Bill was a key part of the national conversation, to be still discussing the need to pass the OTB. Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael made commitments to enact the Bill during the election campaign, which was a significant change from their previous views, and a promise to the …

It is now three years and nine months since Russia undertook its illegal invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territory. The impact of this war continues to be felt most immediately in Ukraine, where it is estimated around 15,000 civilians and up to 80,000 members of Ukrainian military are dead and the number of wounded in that country runs to hundreds of thousands. Notwithstanding their brutal dictatorial leaders, the Russian people have also suffered as a result of this war, with a death toll in that country esti…

I am pleased to speak in this debate today on behalf of the Green Party. I thank Sinn Féin for putting forward the motion. The Mercosur agreement and the trade deal that it increasingly looks like this Government is going to support is not just environmentally catastrophic. It will be economically devastating for Irish agriculture. It will open the floodgates to cheap beef from industrial-scale operations across South America, where production costs are minimal. That is due to weak labour law protections, environme…

The Taoiseach delivered a strong speech to an international audience in Belém last week, yet back home today, the Climate Change Advisory Council concluded Ireland would overshoot its first carbon budget by 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. The report has really highlighted Ireland's addiction to fossil fuels as a key reason the carbon budget will not be met. This Saturday, thousands of people will join the national climate demonstration, focusing on how Ireland's fossil fuel addiction remains a huge risk to aff…

I too welcome this Private Members' Bill put forward by Deputy Farrelly. I look forward to supporting it. The concept of reducing the voting age to include 16- and 17-year-olds is one the Green Party has supported for a long time. When we first used to advocate for this change it was seen as radical, out there and unusual. That is not the case anymore because this movement is happening. It is early in its evolution but it is happening around Europe and the world. If we look around the world 16- and 17-year-olds can…

I am pleased to be able to speak about how we could solve some of the very real impacts of high costs for motorists. In the couple of minutes I have, I want to focus on how drivers are being ripped off on the issue of insurance. For many years, reform of insurance, particularly motor insurance, has been promised but in the end, each time, this caves in to the same vested interests. We have endless reviews but no real action. Irish consumers continue to pay some of the highest insurance premiums in Europe because cl…

One of the most infuriating experiences parents desperate to get a childcare place for their kid have is to be told the building designated as a creche on the plans they bought their new home from actually is not going to be a creche. They are told it has been too expensive to fit out, it is because the developer wants to rezone it as a house and sell it as such or, most infuriatingly of all, there is no demand in the area for crèche spaces. As the Minister has said, the planning guidelines were put in place in 200…

I know the Department of housing has a huge amount on its plate in addressing the housing crisis but to be honest, it has always been very clear to me that updating these planning guidelines to make developers provide appropriate crèche facilities in new estates has never been a priority for the Department. In the last Government, I got plenty of excuses about why the Department had not done it yet. It had to wait for the new planning Bill - well, that is done now. It had to wait for new planning regulations - it h…

The Tánaiste said yesterday that we need a rational, calm and informed debate on migration. I agree with that sentiment. Unfortunately, the past week offers little evidence that he means what he says. We need a reset on our public discourse on migration and that starts with all of us in this House and with our leaders in government. For a rational debate, we need to make appeals to truth, not fears. For a calm debate, we need to stop exaggerating, misrepresenting and facilitating the endless conveyor belt of online…

Storm Éowyn was the largest storm ever experienced by ESB Networks. It followed less than two months after the previous largest storm, Storm Darragh. A total of 768,000 customers lost power. One of the biggest gaps revealed by the storm response was the slow speed at which engineers from other countries were drafted in to help the ESB with repairs. Some homes did not see their power back until 18 days after the storm. The Government published the report on Storm Éowyn yesterday. There are plenty of good recommendat…

I have a tale of two speeches for the Tánaiste that he might help me untangle. Last Wednesday, in his budget speech, the Taoiseach included a section on climate change. He said: Climate change is not a distant threat. More and more, Ireland is experiencing at first hand its growing impacts. He went on to say: We have accepted challenging emission reduction targets ... and we have considerable work to do to achieve what we have committed to. We know there will be cost implications if we fall short ... We must factor…

We have to judge a government by its deeds, not its words. When I see this Government row back on many key initiatives that were advanced over the past four years, I worry that it is quiet quitting on climate action. Regarding the Tánaiste's Department, there is not yet clarity from the budget announced last week of how much will be specifically allocated towards climate finance. As he knows, this is money allocated to the poorest countries that are most exposed to climate disaster to take actions to save lives and…