I am happy to be able to speak on this issue as well because I had my constituency clinics in Kildare North yesterday, and the issues of housing, homelessness and eviction notices were coming in thick and fast. I was not a bit surprised at the record homeless figures released last week. Housing is required for everybody, for all the reasons that make life worth living, including safety, security, family, privacy, dignity, access to education and health. When people do not have proper homes, lives often take a turn …

I welcome many aspects of the Bill and am happy to speak on it. Unfortunately, it does not do anything for the appalling conditions under which our non-consultant hospital doctors are working in terms of the gruelling hours and careless, slapdash and sometimes downright insulting institutional approach to their pay and conditions. That they have to take to social media to highlight this is shameful. It is no wonder doctors are emigrating in their droves or planning to do so, as are swathes of medical staff generall…

I am glad to speak on this Private Members’ motion because there is so much worry and uncertainty about energy and keeping warm this winter. The issue is coming up at all the doors when I meet constituents in Prosperous, Naas and Kilcock. They are so worried about their energy bills and so scared they will not be able to turn on the heating for their children when they come home from school, they cannot even consider the Government’s retrofitting plan. People are particularly concerned about older parents who worry…

I thank the Minister of State for stepping in to take the matter tonight. I do not know what bus na scoile is like in Waterford but in north Kildare it is absolutely dire. In all the years I was a councillor, and since I have become a Deputy, I have never seen anything like the avalanche of messages, requests and emails I am getting from parents in north Kildare, contacting me about bus na scoile. It has been an absolute fiasco. The Department announced free seats without making sure it had the actual seats in the …

That is a problem I am hearing about as well. Buses are not full and yet kids have been refused places on them. I know of 29 children from the Rathcoffey-Straffan area. There is no public transport from Straffan into Maynooth secondary school. There is a public bus service from Rathcoffey, but there is not one from Straffan and there are 29 children without a seat. This is all in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis where women are thinking about having to give up work so they can bring their kids to school. I kno…

There has been nothing like this year previously, though.

As Deputy Ó Broin has outlined, my party will not be opposing the separation of Irish Water or Uisce Éireann from Ervia. As we are addressing the issue of water services, which are essential to sustaining human life, at a time when there is so much public uncertainty and distress in the matter of other vital services, namely, heat and light, and whether people will have them at all or be able to afford them, this debate gives an urgency and impetus to our work here and gives us a chance to put water and its provisi…

I expect Deputy Lawless, my constituency colleague, to join me. I hope he is running across the corridors as we speak. Tá an t-ádh linn scoil cosúil le Gaelcholáiste Mhaigh Nuad a bheith againn i dtuaisceart Chill Dara. Is scoil iontach í. Cuireann sí go mór le deiseanna oideachais i Maigh Nuad. I am glad to share my time and am glad that an Teachta Lawless has made it. I give my best wishes to Deputy Durkan, who is at home with Covid. He would be here if he could, as would Deputy Catherine Murphy, if she were free…

With regard to delivery of the school's permanent accommodation and the promised refurbishment, works have not started yet. The school has been aware of this for several months according to the parents in Maynooth. I can tell the Minister of State that you could not move anything with regard to their children's education without the parents of Maynooth knowing. It actually has not started yet. This school opened in the middle of a pandemic and it has done really well to reach a student population of more than 100 f…

Perhaps it is imminent.

I am also delighted to be co-presenting this Bill with my party comrades, given the urgency of the climate crisis we are in and the need to adapt to clean green technology as soon as possible. I have noted the Government's amendment. Normally I would be very disappointed with such an amendment but I acknowledge that we are having a public consultation with interested stakeholders. It is very important that we get this right so that is welcome. I have a particular constituency interest in green hydrogen which I will…

Our Uachtarán was right. This is no longer a housing emergency; this is a housing disaster. I was there when he spoke in Naas in my constituency in north Kildare last month and his words really crackled like electricity in people. One person who lived those words is a spokesperson for Focus Ireland, Ms Kelly Anne Byrne, who addressed us in Maynooth last week at a Raise the Roof public meeting. She was electrifying too but it was traumatic to have to listen to her - she has given me permission to speak here about it…

When Sinn Féin criticises the increases in carbon tax, we are lambasted and told that this is all being ring-fenced for climate action. The Minister is taking €40 million from an underspend in retrofitting houses. That is a case of missed targets. It will be used to spend on gas and diesel plant infrastructure. Old people have contacted me and they have been freezing for the past few weeks. They have to turn on the heat for an hour or two every night. They are grateful that the weather forecast is good. This is all…

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this highly technical Bill about the process of substitute consent. It also addresses some issues and gaps caused by the rushing of earlier legislation. In addressing some of the detail, changing substitute consent from a two-stage process to a single-stage process is problematic given how critical scrutiny and accountability are to the planning process. Public participation is vital. The public should not be excluded from a planning process that affects it. Far from re…

I am pleased to speak on this Private Members' business, given the back-to-school pressure on my constituents in north Kildare. I am pleased that the Government has seen some sense and responded to an Teachta Ó Laoghaire's lead in addressing the back-to-school costs before the Dáil recess. What we are discussing is essential. Hardworking mothers are coming to me and saying that they feel sick to the pit of their stomachs. They are trying to manage the grocery shopping bills and see the school uniforms back in shops…

Before I speak on this Stage of the Bill, as we are coming up to the end of the Dáil term and as I therefore might not have the chance to address issues regarding special education again, I want to remind everyone here that we are not really discussing process, procedure or provision here. We are talking about our children and, more specifically, children with special educational needs and their right under the Constitution to an appropriate education. They are citizens of our State. I will also mention their paren…

I am glad of the opportunity to speak on this Bill. The war in Ukraine has brought a new urgency to the discussion on all aspects of our energy, its use and where it is sourced. The political upheaval, added to the climate and biodiversity upheaval wreaking havoc among communities across the planet, brings a new urgency to our energy considerations, not only practically and economically but also, as my colleague said, ethically and morally. In the context of the latter considerations, the amendments Sinn Féin will …

Equality, inclusion and diversity are three things that should be central to any and every republican who wishes to build and live in a real republic. Together, we took a leap of love in the marriage referendum in May 2015. We kept faith with our brothers and sisters, our aunties and uncles, our friends and neighbours, our political comrades and our political rivals. As we descended on the polling stations and as all the home-to-vote aeroplanes landed - I know they meant so much to our LGBTQI+ community - they were…

I am very happy to speak on Second Stage of this Bill about the future of our land and the people who create the politics in it. I commend Deputy Pringle on giving us an opportunity to speak on it this evening. I did not read his piece on thejournal.ie so I will not be able to give him any notes - good, bad or indifferent. As far as Sinn Féin is concerned, our young people should have the vote at 16. There really is not a moment to waste. Attempts to push it back a year are misguided and outdated. A few weeks ago a…

Today is the longest day of the year but every day must feel like the longest day of the year for women and their children enduring domestic violence. Men are victims too and often have a great reticence about coming forward because of the stigma around that but the fact remains it is mainly women who are the victims of domestic violence. There is the thump because he was in trouble at work, the dig because she spoke to her mam or sister or the slap or pull simply because he can and the children hiding behind the s…