I want to speak on the general Bill and the reason I tabled an amendment.

I welcome the Bill in that it seeks to transpose a worker's rights into law. It is something that will assist workers and we can support it. It was, however, an opportunity to go much further. The fact that this right was not transposed into law in the first place speaks volumes about the priority that successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments have given to workers facing insolvency. A court case had to be taken for the Government to bring this in. The Bill should have been an opportunity to bring in legisla…

I asked a question of the Minister. Out of courtesy, given workers and people ask what the Minister replied when I ask him a question, is there any chance he could actually answer it?

I asked a question about whether he would allow a moving forward-----

-----of the protection of workers.

Does the Ceann Comhairle think that is okay?

I do not think it is okay.

It is so ignorant.

It is typical of the Michael O'Leary type that the Minister is, I have to say.

We absolutely have to have the SNA cull, or sorry review, put onto the Dáil agenda this week. Every single TD has been plagued by a deluge of representations on this. Fair play to parents, pupils and staff in the school in Dublin who yesterday called out the Government and got it to pause it. However, it has not dropped it; it has just paused it. It has to be discussed in the Dáil. What we have from the Taoiseach is that suddenly students progress. God forbid a special needs assistant, SNA, should be left in a scho…

-----because, of course, there would not ever be another student who would have additional needs.

We all know that appeals very rarely go in favour of the parents or the student. Help with school refusal, anxiety and ADHD in mainstream schools is very important. It is very important that SNAs are maintained in schools. Shifting the focus away or on to the primary care needs of children, which is what the Minister is doing, will gut SNAs from so many schools. We need this put onto the agenda. We need to stop pitting schools, mainstream and special schools, against each other. It will not work.

I welcome this Sinn Féin motion, particularly because it focuses on vulture funds, investment funds, cuckoo funds or whatever you want to call them. We are talking about large-scale property ownership where they buy a property and sell it on or rent it at a massive profit. Tomorrow yet another family in my constituency is facing the sheriff. They have gone through all of the court process to try to save the home they have rented for ten years. They are actually a Palestinian family, which is ironic. Many Palestinia…

Yes. It is just factual and it is in the newspapers anyway. This is all from articles I have researched. Be Lettings and Vestry buy and sell from each other. It is unbelievable stuff. One effect of such house flipping in Dublin 15, in my own constituency, is that a three-bedroom, two-bathroom semi-detached house in Dublin 15 that was bought in November 2019 for €287,000 was sold in January 2025 for approximately €400,000. The transaction involved the same two companies that own each other. What is the Minister goin…

I want to ask about capital grant funding of €2.8 million that was given to Dublin Zoo by the OPW in 2025. That is part of a ten-year programme so there will be more funding in subsequent years. There is no scrutiny of Dublin Zoo. Who is going to monitor how this money is spent and what it is spent on? The zoo can also raise funds from the public through charity appeals and charging people at the gates. Wild Lights is an abomination that is very bad for animals. Who is going to monitor this money?

That is my problem. It has been consistently raised on the floor of the Dáil that nobody is properly inspecting Dublin Zoo in an independent way. The Minister of State talked about the South American house and play areas. The director also had his house renovated during that Covid period while making appeals to the public for funds. My issue is animal welfare. There is a dog-fighter working as an elephant consultant in Dublin Zoo. The chimps are obese and agoraphobic. They are afraid to go outside and are pushed ou…

Is the Minister of State a zoologist? A report was done recently by independent zoologists on Dublin Zoo. Elephants have half-----

-----the lifespan-----

May I have extra time? The Minister of State is barracking me as I am speaking.

It is unbelievable that he cannot sit and listen. I get little enough time to raise this topic. Elephants have half the lifespan in Dublin Zoo. Matriarchy and family are very important for elephants. These two sister elephants were split up. We should not be spending money sending children to zoos. Any money for conserving species and biodiversity would be better spent out in the wild where there are very good programmes under way, rather than diverting it to Victorian concepts like zoos. Many other issues with ani…