A map of Ireland's railway network in 1906 that is often shared online provokes passionate debates about the state of our current rail network. We used to have 5,000 km of railway and more than 1,000 stations connecting all corners of the island. Today, the network is just a fraction of what it was at its peak. These debates show one thing very clearly: people want to see increased investment, increased capacity, the reopening of stations and the return of rail to every corner of our country. For the first time, we…

Yesterday, I took part in the pre-legislative process for the Government's occupied territories Bill, or the OTB-lite. Like others, I focused on the Government's exclusion of services from the current draft. The officials from the Department of foreign affairs were able to give me a clear answer on one point I raised. One of the conclusions in the ICJ opinion, delivered last year, was that states should "abstain from entering into economic or trade dealings with Israel concerning the Occupied Palestinian Territory"…

I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh for bringing forward this legislation and the campaign group for highlighting the issue. I want us to recall the original provision under which these men were convicted. Section 61 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 states that "Whosoever shall be convicted of the abominable crime of buggery, committed either with mankind or with any animal shall be liable ... to be kept in penal servitude for life". It is worth recalling the framing of homosexuality in that legislation from the 1…

The Minister will be well aware of the anguish, worry and stalled lives of families living in apartments with structural defects, be they fire safety issues or water leakages, which they experience through no fault of their own. The defective apartment remediation scheme is a lifeline that will finally allow these families to move on. The Minister will appreciate how important that particular scheme is. We need a clear timeline for the legislation and a drawdown date for the money for both the statutory and the int…

I thank the Minister. There are three real elements here. There is the statutory scheme, which will look after fire safety, structural issues and water ingress. The interim remediation scheme is solely for fire safety works. We then have the pathfinder projects, which are under way and are probably a subcategory of the interim remediation scheme. Has any money been paid out under the four pathfinder projects or under the interim remediation scheme? If not, when does the Minister expect money to be paid out under th…

I appreciate the Minister's offer of a briefing. I will certainly take him up on that because residents are really worried. They are getting this information from their management company, which says there is a blockage. The Minister made a number of comments that if any of them are listening will probably make them even more nervous in terms of delay. There needs to be clarity. I accept his point that it is a live situation, but it is really important to understand. My understanding is that no money has been drawn…

Earlier this month, the Public Accounts Committee of the UK House of Commons published a report on the Sellafield nuclear power plant in Cumbria. The report suggests that the Sellafield nuclear waste reprocessing plant is basically falling apart. The site contains one building called the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo - a dramatic name. The Public Accounts Committee inquiry heard that this silo is, and I quote from the inquiry report, "the most hazardous building in the UK". Is the Government aware of this new report? I…

In the past two weeks we have seen the very concept of vaccination being undermined by the incumbent Secretary for Health and Human Services in the United States. It is at times like this that the science-led approach to vaccination we have in Ireland is so important. The HPV vaccine was first made available to teenage girls in 2010 and subsequently provided to teenage boys from 2019. The Tánaiste might have been health Minister at the time. In 2022, the HSE ran a campaign to provide the vaccine to young women and …

I thank the Tánaiste. As he says, Ireland has a good take-up of the HPV vaccine, but at a time when vaccine scepticism is being mainstreamed, our take-up rates have been falling. A rough estimation is that approximately 16,000 eligible Irish kids are not taking up the vaccine each year. That is why the catch-up scheme is so important. We know the risks from the HPV virus and that it can materialise years or even decades after the initial infection – cervical cancer, oropharyngeal cancer, penile cancer, vaginal canc…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: acknowledges as hugely positive: — the increase in public transport usage in recent years and, in particular, the fact that over 1 million public transport journeys are now taken each day; — the reductions in all public transport fares that were introduced in April 2022; — the additional reductions in public transport fares for young adults between 19 and 25 via the Young Adult and Student Card, which was introduced in 2022 and extended in 2024; and — the roll out of additional Local Link…

I thank colleagues across the House for their contributions on this debate. I thank the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, for attending. Last year, we saw public transport usage grow to 1 million passengers per day, which was an important milestone to pass. This shows the success of the measures that were taken in the previous Government, led by a Green Party Minister, to encourage people to take the bus, the train and light rail. I am pleased that the Government is not opposing th…

It will need legislation. I am on the transport committee and am happy to work on that legislation, but we need clear commitments on when we will actually get these things done. Similarly on the issue of next-generation ticketing, I suggest the end of 2026 to have that implemented by. The Minister of State's speech spoke of taking a number of years. The Minister has now given us a date of the end of 2027, which I welcome. That is important. We have already committed €149 million to Indra Sistemas. That is a lot of …

Lady's Island Lake in County Wexford is the largest saltwater lagoon in Ireland. It provides refuge for a variety of wildfowl. That is why it is protected under both the birds and habitats directives. It surrounds Our Lady's Island, which is a beautiful and ancient place of pilgrimage. Unfortunately, Lady's Island Lake is also highly polluted. The environmental protection agency, EPA, has been studying the lake for the past two years. The report it published in January makes for grim reading. It states, "the ecolog…

I thank the Taoiseach for his comments, but this time we have to do something different. We need political leadership and accountability. The damage here has been building for four decades and the existing processes just have not worked. In place of a thriving ecosystem, we are going to end up with a toxic goo lagoon. If we fail to act, we do not have far to look to see what is next for Lady's Island Lake. Lough Neagh is already described as toxic due to the algal bloom it experiences each summer. There are solutio…

I am speaking on behalf of the Green Party on the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill, which has been drafted and delivered at speed. I will come back to the point about speed in a moment. I will focus my remarks on one particular cohort of renters, namely, student renters. On the question of speed, I spoke at the launch of the Raise the Roof motion on Monday. I said the Government was in complete panic mode when it came to housing. The treatment of this Bill is a perfect example of that panic. The legislation w…

The Tánaiste has committed to bringing his version of an occupied territories Bill to the foreign affairs committee in June. Is it going to happen? We have only two sitting weeks left in June. That would mean, in order to meet his own timetable, the Tánaiste would have to bring the heads of the Bill to the Cabinet next Tuesday or the following Tuesday. Does the Tánaiste believe the heads of the Bill will be ready to meet his timeline? Linked to that, the Tánaiste recently asked the Attorney General to give his advi…

It is a rainy day, and on rainy days staff in Coolmine Community School in my constituency, Dublin West, have to set out between 40 and 50 plastic buckets across the school to deal with water flowing into corridors, classrooms, toilets and offices. That water flows from over 100 leaks in the roof of the school. Coolmine is a big school, with almost a thousand pupils, and has provided top-class education for students across Dublin 15 for decades. It is, however, an old school. The building is now over 50 years old a…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. The line, "The Department advised the school to obtain a new leak detection test", when there are a hundred buckets on the floor, is worthy of "Yes Minister". The school put in an application for an upgrade because it does need a new roof. It was then told, "No, you cannot go under that pathway; you have to go for an emergency works pathway." The school has now done that, which is why this delay has occurred. The Minister of State has told me in detail about the clima…

I thank the Chair, and the Social Democrats for bringing forward this motion today. The Green Party is pleased to co-sign this motion, which seeks to end the Central Bank's facilitation of the sale of Israeli bonds. We are deeply concerned that these bonds have, since October 2023, been marketed explicitly in the context of the ongoing war in Gaza, with statements from the Israeli Government describing them as supporting its military efforts. This situation is taking place in the shadow of dire findings from intern…

The question of the exclusion of services from the Government's occupied territories Bill lite has been a central issue of debate in this House and in public since it was announced in the programme for Government. In response to questions from me and others, the Taoiseach regularly cited legal advice that he had received for the exclusion of services. In a recent response to questions in the House, the Tánaiste confirmed that he is only now seeking the advice of the Attorney General on the question of excluding ser…