Government Ministers have to be active in this space.

But what are they going to do?

This gruelling presidential campaign will result in an Irish President representing all of the people living on this island and the global family of Irish citizens. She will endeavour to make us all proud, no matter where we live, yet the electorate is confined to Irish citizens living in the Twenty-six Counties. Even that franchise is restricted because many students will not be able to make it home in time to vote, there are workers living too far away from their designated polling booths and there are people who…

I raise the issue of home help, particularly in County Mayo. There are 265 homes waiting for home help. These are people who are deemed to need home help to be able to stay in their own home, but they do not have it. Home and Community Care Ireland, HCCI, is asking for two things, which I too advocate. It states that waiting lists are too often treated as a HSE operational issue, and not a political issue like children's assessments of need, outpatient appointments or accident and emergency trolleys. That must chan…

For months, we in Sinn Féin and our colleague Deputy Mac Lochlainn have been calling on the Government to allow statements on fisheries to take place in this House. In that context, I welcome the opportunity today to finally debate the future of an industry that is at breaking point. This is an industry that has been failed by successive Governments and abandoned by Brussels, but we have reached the point, as a result of years of neglect, where it is in crisis. Across our coastal communities from Donegal to Cork an…

I acknowledge the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, in this space. I recognise it and his interest in reunification. That is important because what we are discussing is much bigger than party politics. It is reckless and negligent for the Taoiseach not to play the role he needs to play right now in terms of preparation. Everybody agrees that we need to prepare. Everywhere one goes, one hears that we need to prepare but that preparation is not being done in the way it needs to be done by Government. Th…

To conclude this debate, I thank everybody who has contributed tonight, including Government Members. It is important. What is obvious from it is, exactly as it says in the motion, is that we need a Green Paper on Irish unity, a White Paper, an Oireachtas joint committee dedicated to reunification and citizens' assemblies. Were we to do that, even in itself, we would make much progress in this space. We all agree that we need to prepare. Let us not go over the old ground. Let us agree here and now that we need to p…

I welcome the opportunity to talk about the National Training Fund because, as the Minister will know, we have long wanted to unlock this fund. It is, as was said, the fund that employers and hard-pressed businesses have paid into. They feel they have got very little back for the payments that have been made and they have been seeing the figures accumulate over the years. I have some concerns about this fund and what the Minister is proposing for it. We need further discussion on the detail of how this will be done…

I am very happy to co-sign this motion today with Deputy Ward and my colleagues, and I do so on behalf of the people of County Mayo and on behalf of the people for whom I have been fighting for the past 15 years. It is 15 years since we first noticed the houses start to crumble in Erris. Pat the Cope Gallagher is in the Chamber, and he will know many of those houses and families impacted. I am appalled by this countermotion the Government has tabled today and by the language that is in it. I will go through some of…

There are many more things I can say in relation to this, but the Minister needs to wake up. I appeal to all the TDs who are casting their vote against this motion to think long and hard about the suffering these homeowners and these children and families have had to endure through no fault of their own. It is absolutely disgraceful.

I am sorry, we have been fighting it for 15 years.

I have listened really intently to every word that has been said here today by all of the speakers. We are here today specifically because of scoliosis and the promises that were made. Families were threatened, ignored, and told to go away. They were told that they were the problem. They were reported to Tusla and it was all under the Tánaiste's watch. Children and young adults were told to go home and to go to their GPs. They were told to go home while their ribs and bones crushed their lungs until they could not …

Energy costs in the State are astronomical and are having a detrimental impact on competitiveness. This rip-off of Irish customers was confirmed again today by a recent international report, which revealed that our retail electricity prices are three times higher than wholesale prices, one of the highest price gaps in the world. We are completely exposed to the price of fossil fuels on the international markets and this is driving up the cost of doing business here, with businesses being ripped off. Decarbonising a…

Obviously we all welcome the ceasefire and we wait with bated breath but what is important is what is within our capacity here and the commitments that have already been made. My question to the Taoiseach is on the occupied territories Bill. Is the occupied territories Bill going to be implemented in this term of the Dáil, will that include goods and services, and can the Taoiseach comment, as the previous speaker said, on the authorisation by the Tánaiste of the plane that landed to refuel on its way to Israel ove…

There is a lack of transparency around this budget. It is disgraceful. Despite having 15 Ministers and 23 Ministers of State, we have no costings of existing levels of service. How does the Government know what is going on within the Departments if it does not know the costings of the levels of services that are already in place? How does the Government know how much it has for new measures? It makes a complete mockery of the budget. Imagine if Sinn Féin presented a budget without the existing levels of service cos…

I want to talk to the Minister about the defective concrete block legislation once again. We have been back for three weeks. Each week I look at the programme for the week and each week my colleague Deputy Mac Lochlainn, the Sinn Féin Whip, asks for the legislation to come before us here, to the House, to be able to be dealt with. We are in a situation where homeowners are still waiting for the updated grant rates and the increased timeframe for completion to be applicable retrospectively to all applicants. It is n…

At the outset, I acknowledge the protesters who gather every weekend around this country, and what the Irish people have done to stand up for Palestine and what they continue to do. I want to acknowledge that in the House today and thank them for it. I extend deepest solidarity to the Palestinian people who are living under unimaginable and horrific suffering and starvation at the hands of the Israeli Government and its allies. The outbreak of this horrific genocide is approaching its second anniversary. Gaza has b…

I raise the serious issue of the shortage of beds in Beaumont Hospital. An example of the impact of this shortage is brought home by the very serious case of one of my constituents. I have his family's permission to raise his case with the Taoiseach because they are absolutely desperate. His name is Henry Keane from Blacksod and he was recently diagnosed with a brain tumour. Since 17 September, he has been waiting in Mayo University Hospital for a transfer to Beaumont Hospital. He is listed under a consultant in Be…

It seems desperately unfair that the runaway house prices across the State have led to an increase in home insurance costs. Home insurance is becoming a real problem meaning that some struggling families opt to underinsure their home or go without insurance altogether. The consequences of families taking a chance and foregoing home insurance played out earlier this year when Storm Éowyn arrived on our shores. Families without insurance were left relying on the state to step in and cover the cost of storm damage whe…

Will the Minister outline the measures he is taking to ensure small- and medium-sized businesses can access affordable credit and avoid being burdened with high borrowing costs? Access to affordable credit is a significant barrier to our SMEs that want to expand and grow their market share. As they try to navigate their way around all of the challenges they face, they need access to credit.