Go raibh maith agat. Before I start on the main topic of my contribution, because it is pertinent to the school in question, I will take a moment to acknowledge that the community of the Divine Mercy Senior National School staff, students and the wider school community have experienced a particular tragedy this week. They are in my thoughts and prayers and have the full support of the community behind them. I wish to raise the case of a school I attended and I am proud to have done so. My alma mater was then known …

I thank the Minister of State for that answer. I am a little disappointed that we still cannot give a date for this meeting of stakeholders. I note that the need to evolve the presentation is attributed to the passage of time. I hope that, in a few months' time, we are not looking at the passage of time again as being a reason this has not progressed to a point where it is being delivered. The boards, staff and students in Divine Mercy Junior and Senior National Schools stepped up to the plate when they were asked …

I condemn unreservedly the attack on the IPAS centre in Drogheda and all attacks on IPAS centres up and down the country. In each of those cases, a human being has made a decision to inflict a violent act on another human being and that cannot be justified under any circumstances. I am proud to be a TD for Dublin Mid-West, one of the most ethnically diverse constituencies in the country. I am proud of the fact that we have many people in my constituency who have come to our country from abroad and add hugely to our…

I welcome the urgency in the Taoiseach's reply on the need for us to build critical infrastructure to secure the growth of the country. As we seek to build more complex public infrastructure, such as public transport systems like the Luas for Lucan or primary care centres, in rapidly growing communities such as, in my constituency, Saggart, Rathcoole and parts of Citywest, it is important we ensure the international expertise we need to attract to the country to build that infrastructure is not put off by the long …

I encourage the Government to prioritise them as a matter of urgency.

The territorial integrity of any nation state is a sacrosanct principle and should guide any of our interventions in the area of foreign policy. What preparations are being made by the Government in terms of the overall reparations that need to be made to the Ukrainian people at the end of the war? How will the Government support a special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine in the future to ensure that whatever war crimes have been committed during this war by the Russian aggressor will be dealt w…

I ask about the role the Tánaiste and his Department are playing in supporting, strengthening and expanding the areas for co-operation under strand two of the Good Friday Agreement through the operation of the North-South Ministerial Council, which had its plenary meeting a few days ago.

I thank the Tánaiste for that reply. For sure, the North-South Ministerial Council is one of the great institutions under the Good Friday Agreement to advance co-operation on the island and to embed that co-operation between the two administrations. In the communiqué that was published, there is the sheer fact that was pointed to with regard to the investment that has been made, such as the greenway investment and the soon-to-be-started Dublin to Derry air link. The A5 being stalled in the courts is obviously an is…

I am encouraged to hear the Tánaiste talking about the importance of those dynamic co-operations. When you look at three strands of the Good Friday Agreement, while there have been stops and starts with strand one, the Executive and the Assembly in Northern Ireland, by its very nature strand two cannot operate without strand one being in place, so it is good to see that renewed momentum. The challenge for us now is to embed that co-operation so that it is not just about investment but, as the Tánaiste said, it is a…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle as ucht an deis labhairt ar an mBille seo. Bille tábhachtach atá ann a léiríonn cur chuige nuálaíoch i leith na hearnálacha breisoideachais agus ardoideachais. I thank the Ceann Comhairle and the Minister for bringing this Bill to the Dáil. Fundamental to my reading and understanding of it, after a decade of working in skills research, is that it is essential we now view this form of tertiary education as an integration of further and higher education. The idea of them bein…

I thank the Minister of State for being here to deal with this issue. We made a big leap forward in last week's budget with the raising of the income disregard for carers, both in single situations and in couples. I welcome that and hope to see a continued progression of that over the lifetime of the Government. I am here today to point out what I think is a loophole in the system. I have raised it through parliamentary questions and wanted to give it an airing in this forum to see if there is any resolution for it…

I thank the Minister of State for the response. I will start by saying that I acknowledge again the huge step forward that we have made in supporting carers, with our long overdue recognition of the role they play in our economy and society by looking after those who need care. However, it is also important to ensure that when we are spending money on supporting carers the income supports are effective, are working and are not causing unintended consequences, which is the case here. While I accept the facts the Min…

I have raised the issue of public health nurses in my constituency on a number of occasions and I thank the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health for their engagement on same. However, in my area funding has been made available for six public health nursing positions and these are still in a recruitment process that has lasted months. How does the HSE currently measure the time it takes to fill and recruit for a position? Are those tracked as key performance indicators, KPIs, and are those KPIs reported to an exter…

Cuirim failte roimh an dul chun cinn atá á dhéanamh i leith saorthrádáil timpeall an domhain. Key to any free trade and any strong trading relationships is a strong, export-led economy driven by our indigenous firms. While the budget made some moves in increasing the attractiveness of entrepreneurship and developing an entrepreneurial economy, could other issues be considered such as setting up a number of metrics around how we measure the number of employees employed by indigenous SMEs and the proportion of corpor…

Before the summer, I raised with the Taoiseach the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe that is happening in Sudan, the fact that over 150,000 people have been killed and almost 14 million people have been displaced. Ironically, of all the conflicts in the world at the moment, the conflict in Sudan seems to be the one that has the most unanimity among European Union members. Therefore, I would call on the Taoiseach, while welcoming the recent renewal of the sanctions against members of the RSF regime in Sudan at the Co…

Tapaím an deis seo chun labhairt ar son na cáinaisnéise agus na sonraí atá leagtha síos mar chuid di. Ar an mórchuid, ceann de na teachtaireachtaí is mó a thugann an cháinaisnéis seo ná go bhfuil infheistíocht láidir á déanamh againn inár seirbhísí poiblí, ag cur le daonra atá ag fás ach ag déileáil le go leor de na gnéithe agus na fadhbanna sóisialta atá le feiceáil i sochaí an lae inniu. I thank the House for the opportunity to speak on this week's budget announced by the Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and Chambers.…

I am conscious of the discussion we have just had. I want to put on the record of the House my support, the same as the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste today, for the fact that there was an attempted focus on humanitarian aid that is necessary for Gaza, and thank the Tánaiste and his officials for all the work they are doing in delivering consular assistance for Irish citizens and for drawing broader international attention to what is happening in those waters at present. As well as that, I put on the record of the Hous…

I welcome the Tánaiste's utterance that it will be a digital first as opposed to a digital only approach. It is important to acknowledge that for many older people, these barriers they perceive to entering a digital world can be ones they do not feel comfortable expressing. That is why any services we design to embrace those people and bring them in should be designed to be proactive and offer that help in a way that feels respectful, discreet and empowering. I encourage the reframing of the strategy with the Minis…

I am speaking today on behalf of the Wade family in my constituency. They had great success in the European kickboxing championships in Italy last year. The three Wade siblings, three unique young people, are Abbie, who is 13 years old and won two bronze medals; Ryan, who is 16 years old and won one bronze medal; and Amy, who won two gold medals and was named as the fighter of the tournament. They represented their country with pride and distinction against other national teams from across Europe and around the wor…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an deis seo labhairt ar cheist na bpinsean agus an phleanáil fhadtéarmach atá taobh thiar de pholasaí dá leithéid seo le cinntiú go mbeidh slándáil agus cinnteacht airgeadais do dhaoine amach anseo nuair a éiríonn siad as obair. At the outset, I pay tribute to the Minister for prioritising the introduction of My Future Fund as a landmark policy in terms of how we, as a country, prepare our citizens and population for achieving and ensuring security in retirement. When he took office, it was clea…