Tá an daonlathas ag obair go maith faoin am seo.

I must now deal with a postponed division relating to the motion regarding childcare. On Wednesday, 7 May, on the question, "That the amendment to the motion be agreed to", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 85(2), that division must be taken now.

I add my voice to the condolences to the colleagues and family of Garda Kevin Flatley. It reminds us of the dangers that gardaí face every day. We can see the recent work that has been done in my constituency in dealing with incredibly serious organised crime, and I commend the Garda on that. Our thoughts are also with the families of the two teenagers who were lost in Donegal. As my constituency colleague has stated, in case anyone needed to be told, it was an historic weekend for Louth after 68 years, and all the…

I appreciate it.

I welcome what the Taoiseach said in the sense of supporting a public inquiry into the murder of Sean Brown. We have all heard about the huge level of collusion, the number of agents who had information and who had been involved in this and the questions in relation to surveillance. The question I have for the Taoiseach relates to whether this is Government policy. On that basis, how does the Taoiseach intend to engage with Hilary Benn and the wider British Government because we have to deliver for the family of Se…

The Tánaiste, when he was Taoiseach, spoke about the need for a cross-Border hub that could deal with some of these issues and make sure that they are on the political agenda. We know that there will be no difficulty engaging with the Northern Executive.

We should be able to engage with the British Government at this stage. We are not dealing with the madness we would have had previously.

We are in an unstable world, whether we are talking about tariffs or the impact of AI will have that includes many positives that will need to be utilised, although we also know there are dangers in the short term for employment in specific spheres. On that basis we need to make sure we have our act together. I refer to the Regional Development Centre that operates out of DkIT in Dundalk. We need support for these operations that carry out the necessary research in the college setting and combine that with a compan…

I could not agree with the Minister more.

This has been a really great time for Louth football. We had the Leinster final win by the under 20s against Meath, the minors won last night against Dublin and are now through to their Leinster final and, hopefully, an historic injustice will be righted on Sunday against Meath. I would say there is much support around the House on this. It is vital that the GAA stadium in Dundalk is delivered upon. While there has been good news from Croke Park, it is about ensuring the Government is playing its part in it.

The Minister of State might have an interest in a particular game at the weekend, I would imagine. We will all be glued on Saturday to the match between Armagh and Donegal. It should make for a very good weekend of football. I commend the work done by Louth GAA and the teams under Fergal Reel, Ger Brennan and Johnny Clerkin. I wish them the absolute best of luck and we all hope for a great game of football. From a Louth point of view, death or victory is what we require. We all welcome the engagement and the packag…

It is necessary that LSSIF funding would follow through for the stadium in Dundalk. My understanding was Louth GAA and Drogheda United were on that reserve list. The argument that was made was shovel-ready projects would get first dibs but given what is happening, particularly with Louth stadium, the first phase of which will be under way, we have to consider additional funding. We have to make sure that happens. I want to find out whether my understanding is the case. Are we talking about the LSSIF being opened mo…

Crime is an incredibly serious issue that many of us are dealing with at the minute. Yesterday in my own constituency, 20 pipe bombs were found in a ditch behind a property in Ardee. This happened after great work by An Garda Síochána in relation to a significant drugs find. It shows the reality on the ground, particularly when combined with an incident last Friday in Ardee in the early hours of the morning between 4 a.m. and 4.40 a.m. Gardaí are looking for information because a garda on routine patrol was injured…

Could the Tánaiste detail the plans this year as regards funding, resourcing, recruitment and retention at the Defence Forces? We all know that if we take this over a five-year period, we have had more losses than we have had recruitment. It is a huge issue. We are well away from reaching what is necessary for level of ambition 2. I think that at present we could be below the numbers required even for level of ambition 1. What is to be done?

I appreciate the answer, particularly the statement that we still have more to do. Obviously, we are starting from a point of view of legacy issues as regards pay and conditions. Has any detailed study been done of the reasons for the discharges? As much as there was an improvement last year, and we hope for a greater improvement as regards recruitment versus discharges this year, we have a significant journey still to go. Then it is a matter of, on the basis of where we are at the minute, through forecasting, when…

I would appreciate it if that information could be shared.

My question is about Private Seán Rooney. The Tánaiste put in the public domain the fact that he was having engagements in Lebanon and that he was dissatisfied. The family and the rest of us all want to see justice. We have not seen that progress. I believe the Tánaiste and the Government are dissatisfied. How did the engagement go there? Has he any update on the post-incident internal inquiry? I think there is a bit of time still to run on that. I ask particularly about the engagement with the UN from the point of…

Will the information be supplied to the families?

We do not have a fit-for-purpose childcare provision system in this State. It is failing and I will provide examples of how that works in the real world. One person told me: Regarding the ongoing struggle we are facing in securing childcare for our 12 month old son, his name has been on multiple waiting lists since November 2023 while my partner was still pregnant. Despite regular follow-ups, we are now being informed that while this was initially a 12 to 18-month waiting list, this has been extended to 18 to 24 mo…

Okay. The Deputy put his question.