Is í seo an chéad uair dom labhairt sa Dáil seo. Mar sin, gabhaim buíochas leis na vótálaithe i gCill Dara Thuaidh a vótáil ar son Shinn Féin. Unfortunately, I stand here frustrated with the same issues I raised when I was first elected in 2020. The programme for Government is not serious about addressing the urgent issues of housing, childcare and public transport, among a long list of other matters, and things have only got worse over the last five years. The number of homeless persons has risen. Shamefully, the …

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Ó Broin as an rún seo. It is clear that the Government's affordable purchase scheme is failing, yet the Minister is here trying to keep the charade going. House prices are continuing to spiral out of control, increasing by 10% in the past year alone. The Government's so-called affordable purchase homes, with prices ranging from €365,000 to €560,000, are nothing short of unaffordable for ordinary working people. Even worse, if a person manages to buy one of these so-called affordable…

There is endless delay to the permanent building for Gaelscoil Ruairí in Maynooth which was to move from stage 2B during the summer, only it has not budged. Is breá agus is iontach é go bhfuil an dara Gaelscoil ag teastáil i Maigh Nuad mar tá éileamh ann. The families of north County Kildare live in real time, and they see their children's lives slipping away in a prefab. Parents want the specifics of where the plan is. They want the precise date this Government will move on to the next stage. Will the Tánaiste ple…

I was amused on the first day of the new term to see the words "public good" in the Government amendment. Between the lot of you, you would not know public good from public bad if it jumped up and bit you. There is the overpriced daylight-robbery bike shed or the abuse of Irish airspace to commit genocide in Gaza. All of a sudden when Sinn Féin publishes its childcare plan, the Government is out of its private traps on the public road to Damascus. Who is it kidding? It knows full well that our plan is an emergency …

I also wish to thank the OPLA for its work on this Bill. I am very glad to be co-proposing it with na Teachtaí Pa Daly agus Paul Donnelly and that we have this opportunity to address it further at this stage before the Dáil rises for the summer recess. The purpose of our Bill is to keep the practice of vetting as effective and as safe as possible and to make the process as efficient as possible, both for community and the gardaí, and through them, wider society. With something as important as vetting, it is extreme…

I accept everything the Minister of State said. The Bill is about making sure children and vulnerable adults are safe. That is what is most important. There are different areas of risk. The Bill's provisions are relevant to people going for certain jobs or looking to do volunteering. During the Covid period, there were people in my area delivering food shopping to older people living singly. I wondered at the time about how those people might be vetted. The Bill is about maximising public safety. Its provisions wil…

Ireland needs a register of people who have been convicted of crimes of animal cruelty. Following the "RTÉ Investigates" programme on Shannonside Foods in Straffan, I wrote to the Minister and asked if we could create such a register. He indicated that we do not need one because all cases are reported in the media. That is not the position at all. I will be bringing forward legislation in respect of this matter in the autumn. I also asked the Minister about the horses that were moved from Straffan following the "RT…

It did not seem so.

The Shane O'Farrell case has a special place in people's hearts on this island because of the way his family has fought for justice for their son. I welcome the O'Farrell family to the Dáil. I am sorry I could not stay for the whole of the presentation in the audiovisual room today, but I have met Lucia O'Farrell before and I remember a determined woman when I meet one. I recognise that in her. I also commend Matt Carthy and all the O'Farrell family on their perseverance on this case. We have seen brick walls, cult…

We stand here month after month, year after year talking about dead women, raped women, murdered women and beaten women. Each time, we say “Never again, this is it now, no more. This is a watershed moment.” Then the beating, murdering and raping happen again and we do all this all over again, as girls and women’s names become hashtags or are carried on placards at candlelit vigils while we mourn. The Cathal Crotty case and his savage beating of Natasha O’Brien is the latest outrage. The case of the lad trained by t…

I again state our objections to the process by which the Tánaiste is seeking approval from the Houses of the Oireachtas for involvement in military missions. This is at a time the people of Ireland want to remain militarily neutral. This is at a time people are traumatised by the high-tech savagery being inflicted on Palestine with the full support of the EU under Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, with more than 17,000 children killed in Gaza, more than 20,000 children missing, buried alive in the rubble o…

That is because we were in this Chamber.

I did not try to suppress debate.

No, he did not say that. You cannot say that. He said he would take every one as it comes, look at it and decide then.

He said he would take everything you are bringing forward to us and we would look at it. We are looking at it------

We are having a bit of a back-and-forth.

The Minister has encouraged debate.

I told the Tánaiste I will look at every motion he brings before us and we will decide on that basis.

If we had a decent health service, nobody would need private health insurance.

Those of us who have had children in college know what a money pit third level education can be. I advise anybody watching who has small children to start saving now. When they have to go away to college and digs, that is when the rent cruelty and the risk often happen, which is what we are trying to prevent with these provisions. I commend my comrade an Teachta Mairéad Farrell on her work on this Bill along with Eoin Ó Broin. I was listening to Martin Kenny talking about rag week. We have Christmas Day and there i…