The Tánaiste is probably well aware that there are thousands of council tenants across this country living in absolutely scandalous conditions with mould and damp. In my constituency, I have been working with a number of harrowing cases. I visited homes and have seen mould and damp on windows and in bedrooms, and the impact on children and babies. How is it right and fair that council tenants living in mouldy and damp conditions in houses that the State is responsible for are now being charged higher rents in the m…

There is extreme concern, as my colleagues have expressed, that really what is going on here is the Government trying to hide the scale of need that it is not meeting and that this is not ultimately about delivering services but about trying to take the political pressure off. It is disgraceful when we look at the waiting lists. Of course, that is the power of the waiting lists. They reveal the level of need that is there. The waiting lists that were released as a result of the great work by my colleague, Deputy Qu…

I support what has been said, and the Social Democrats will not be opposing the motion. We will support what has been put forward on the basis that funding is going to local authorities and AHBs but not with regard to the way in which it has been done. There are serious gaps in what has been proposed and this is a pity because there really was an opportunity here to address the significant issues with defective buildings and social housing. There are also particular issues here. Social housing tenants are particula…

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this Bill. It is absolutely true that people across this country really are struggling. This Government appears to be completely out of touch with the scale of their struggling. Barnardos recently released figures from a survey it did on families and children. It was very sad to see the lack of coverage it got and particularly from the Government. That survey found that in one in five families the parents are skipping meals so that their children can eat. This is one of the we…

I am disappointed the Minister could not be here to take the matter but I appreciate that the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, is. I want to raise the case of a child with additional needs in my constituency who, almost a month into the school year when other children are in school - almost four weeks now - still does not have an appropriate school place. I also want to raise the issue of promised schools still not delivered completely, notably Finglas Parochial National School, where children are still at home wa…

I reiterate that it is important that the project is delivered for Finglas Parochial National School as soon as possible. I really do think the parents deserve a very clear date as to when that will happen. My understanding is that it was committed to be delivered in September and we are getting very close to the end of September. It really should be in place. I want to go back to the specific case I raised, which I also raised with the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan. I am really disappointed with the Minister …

I also welcome the Bill. It is important, as my colleague said, we empower local authorities and the Road Safety Authority, RSA, to enhance their data-sharing arrangements. There are also other welcome aspects to the Bill. I will pick up where my colleague left off and speak about my constituency. There is a serious crisis with the lack of enforcement. We have met and engaged with the parents of Grace Lynch, Martin and Siobhán, and I still engage with them on an ongoing basis. What is clear from speaking to them an…

I thank People Before Profit for bringing forward this motion which we are supporting. I want to thank Friends of the Earth, which has done incredible work on this in recent months. I highlight the report it has done which shows how much Irish households have been paying for the expansion of data centres. There was €715 million more in electricity bills between 2015 and 2023, and it has identified that Irish households will pay an additional almost €1.5 billion in electricity bills due to data centre growth. While …

When does the Taoiseach want to answer?

Fine. The Central Bank report out today highlights that the length of time it takes to build a home has doubled in the past ten years. It used to take two years but now it takes four. The Taoiseach's policies created this housing disaster and this report shows that they continue to make it worse. We saw during the summer house prices and rents way beyond what any normal person can afford. Why will the Government not take an emergency response to this disaster? Why will it not implement the common-sense proposals th…

That is not true.

Developers and investors-----

I want to continue where my two colleagues left off and highlight that the Minister's tone was quite condescending. She said, "Make it make sense", as if what we were saying was unfounded, was ridiculous and it was quite demeaning coming from a Minister. When she talks about things that make sense, it was the Taoiseach she voted for who said in 2013 that the triple lock was "core" to our neutrality. Make that make sense. Yet, she just bats it away. We know, as the opinion polls show, that 71% of the people agree th…

I thank you, a Leas Cheann-Comhairle, for your work and support during the year and thank all the staff here. I wish my colleagues in government the best of luck over the summer and respite from our robust engagement. We look forward to going at it again in the autumn. I want to raise an issue related to Dublin Fire Brigade and the emergency response framework that exists. I have been very concerned by the ongoing threat to that service. I have met fire brigade staff. I ask the Tánaiste to engage with the Minister …

I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this motion. It is important to have a discussion about the context of education costs and back-to-school costs. Of course, the context is massive inequality in this country. The gap between the haves and the have nots is worsening year after year while we have 11 billionaires in this country who have a combined wealth equal to that of 3.5 million people or two thirds of the population. The top 10% in this country have 50% of all the wealth while half the population own…

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

The Government is ramming through planning legislation this week that will exempt sheds out the back without proper scrutiny. It is satisfied with handing our young people to vulture landlords. The Government is now offering a future of renting a shed out the back with no rights whatsoever. Threshold has requested that the legislation be paused. It is seriously concerned that the Government will create a new class of renters, insecure without proper regulations. Will the Government pause this legislation, not bring…

Go raibh míle maith agat. I appreciate having this time. The scourge of scramblers in Dublin North-West has not, unfortunately, let up. The number of scrambler and e-scooter-related accidents is on the rise again. A young garda was injured last week when stopping an e-scooter in Finglas, just a short distance from where poor Grace Lynch lost her life in January after being struck by a scrambler at a pedestrian crossing. Despite Grace’s law, scramblers are still scourging communities in my constituency such as Fingl…

A key aspect the Lynch family asked for is pursuit training for gardaí. The GRA representative was on the radio saying they have no pursuit training. Gardaí are in the situation where they want to pursue and there is a law which says they should stop the use but they do not actually have the training to do it. That is a minimal, basic thing the Government could do now - roll out training of gardaí so they can pursue safely and not be followed up. We are seeing a ridiculous situation where gardaí are being arrested …

I commend Deputies Ó Broin, Ward and O'Reilly on bringing forward this Bill. I support it completely, and the Social Democrats will support it as well. We think it is very straightforward and sensible legislation that should be pursued and implemented as quickly as possible. It is disappointing that the Minister of State has tabled the timed amendment. I understand that he says that it is to engage with the Bill. I genuinely hope he means that and this is not just a delay tactic. I would have thought that the Gover…