Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as an ábhar seo a thabhairt faoi bhráid na Dála. As Deputy Daly said, vapes have inadvertently turned from a gateway out of nicotine to a gateway into nicotine. We need to see a step change in how we regulate and address this market to ensure that whatever consequences this leads to are not unintended. At this point, I will recall my work with the junior safety forum in South Dublin County Council, which was an initiative of the joint policing committee. When we asked fifth and s…

As a former Minister for Education and Science and someone who pioneered in the areas of early years education, the Taoiseach, like me, would agree that childcare is an important piece of social infrastructure. Coming from a constituency like mine where we have rapidly growing communities and 75% of demand for childcare is for the age range of between one and three, it is very clear that planning guidelines around leaving spaces for childcare have not worked. In the South Dublin County Council area over the last te…

I wish to ask about the current situation in Sudan. A civil war, which started over two years ago, has resulted in the death of over 500,000 children and the displacement of 14 million people. It has left 25 million people facing insecurity. Ireland's record has been strong in this regard. We were the country that initiated the discussion on sanctions and spoke on behalf of the EU at the EU and Gulf Cooperation Council summit. I would like to hear from the Taoiseach about what efforts are ongoing at an EU level to …

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach as ucht an deis labhairt ar an ábhar fíorthábhachtach seo. I commend the Minister on the interest he has taken in the matter since taking office. I also commend the previous Minister, Deputy McEntee, on the correct focus she placed on the importance of us as a society dealing with the legacy and trauma inflicted by domestic, gender-based and sexual violence. This was brought into focus as an issue for me when I chaired a meeting of the south Dublin joint policing committee so…

I wish to raise what I think everyone recognises as a growing threat to society, namely online disinformation and, more importantly, the urgent needs around how we promote and resource media literacy initiatives to counter it. We are all aware of the alarming rise in the weaponisation of false information online. It is no longer just a nuisance. It is being used to distort truth, polarise communities and threaten our public safety. We have seen it play out in real time, most recently in light of the Dublin riots th…

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. It is important to say at the outset that the proliferation of new technologies like artificial intelligence and the generation and communication tools associated with that are a massive opportunity in terms of connecting society and making information more plentiful, but also presents a number of challenges. I am a firm believer that innovation should always be promoted and welcomed, but should also be accompanied with safety and very clear expectations an…

I am encouraged to hear the importance of focusing on our public transport and water infrastructure, which I know the Taoiseach believes in, and the laser focus the Cabinet committee on infrastructure will have over the lifetime of this Government. As I have often mentioned on the floor of this House, public transport is extremely important in my own constituency of Dublin Mid-West where projects like DART+ South West, the Luas Lucan and additional capacity on the red line are all game changers not only to enable d…

The Taoiseach won that, though, did he not?

Will the Department issue guidance on the need for enterprise and employment zoned land to be identified in tandem with the industrial land rezonings that are being rezoned to enable further provision of housing and if that will then be used to enable relocation?

I thank the Minister of State for that reply. The context for this question is in the fact the Dublin local authorities are advancing development frameworks that involve the rezoning of existing industrial land to residential or mixed use to meet housing supply targets. As the Minister of State said in his reply, that is a function of the local authority but done under the auspices of the national and regional strategies. The most recent example is the Ballyboggan masterplan, where Dublin City Council will rezone a…

One of the reasons I am raising this is the shortage of land. If we want to promote compact growth, or initiatives like 15-minute cities, it is important with large-scale housing developments we have adequate amounts of industrial and commercial land there as well. While I fully take the point that planning authorities do set their own development plans, we are also familiar with instances where either the Office of the Planning Regulator or a ministerial order has been put in place to vary or alter a development p…

The Minister is no doubt aware of the cases of those who suffer with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a matter which has been raised in the Dáil a number of times, as well as with the Minister directly, not least because of the Thompson boys in my own constituency. This has brought into focus the need for an early access scheme for rare disease drugs. I know there is a commitment to this in the programme for Government that has been discussed before. What considerations is the Department is taking into account? Is it l…

It is great to hear about the progress that has been made in implementing the recommendations of the Mazars report on this subject that was published some years ago. That goes to the heart of the extra resourcing that the Minister spoke about. She is right; there needs to be a partnership between industry and the State to make sure that these applications are put through immediately and that the HSE can adjudicate on them accordingly. I am very encouraged to hear that the Department is considering other systems int…

I appreciate the efforts of the Minister in this regard and I have conveyed that to the families involved. I am very grateful for the Minister's proactive approach. The beauty of getting an early access scheme right is that it does not necessarily rely on the proactivity of the State to be involved in that process but, rather, the partnership is hardwired into every piece of the system and the State is empowered to get value for money but also to ensure timely access to these drugs. In many cases of patients with r…

We have often discussed the importance of policymakers recognising the effort and energy that goes into running a business and sustaining high levels of employment. The plight of SMEs in particular has been raised on the floor of the Dáil, as has the need for policies to make sure we encourage and incentivise SMEs to scale up to be able to pursue research and innovation for their own benefit and for upskilling their wider workforce. I also raise the importance of the all-island labour market. It was discussed at th…

I congratulate my colleague, Deputy McAuliffe, on his advocacy for Finglas Luas. The Minister will know Luas Lucan is very important to me. I am keen to know about the overall set of plans identified by the NTA for extension of Luas lines around Dublin. Will he consider putting a standing Luas project office in place to think of continued expansion of light rail? It is fair to say we have developed an expertise in the construction of light rail. We do it well, on time and in budget. We have a real opportunity to bu…

Like other colleagues, I want to raise not only the awful deteriorating disease that is Duchenne muscular dystrophy, but also the need for an approach to an early access programme along the lines of what is in Belgium, the UK and the US. In my constituency, there are two very unique and special boys, Conor and Dean Thompson, who have been spearheading the Build for the Boys campaign. Speaking to families like theirs last week when they were here about the impact it has on parents watching their boys deteriorate and…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Is mór agam an deis seo labhairt ar an mBille seo agus ar na himpleachtaí a bheidh ag baint leis do thionóntaí ar fud na tíre agus an éifeacht a bheidh aige ar mhargadh na gcíosanna. Gan amhras, tá an géarchéim thithíochta ar cheann de na géarchéimeanna is mór atá os comhair na tíre faoi láthair. Tá sé in am dúinn féachaint ar gach uile réiteach is féidir linn a chur i gcrích le cinntiú go rachaidh muid i ngleic léi. Is é an rud is tábhachtaí le cuimhneamh faoi seo ná…

Core to our transition to a green economy will be ensuring that the workforce has the skills necessary to enable it. A recent SOLAS report shows that, of all the jobs in the workforce, 75% require some sort of green or sustainability-based skill and that there are more than 400,000 people in employment in green occupations. Green jobs are an area of growth for the future, especially as Ireland embraces its position as a leader in climate action and developing the renewable energy industries that underpin it. Will t…

I thank the Taoiseach for the report. I note that in the conclusion of the European Council meeting in March competitiveness featured largely. I would like to hear more about what discussions were had about keeping the Commission honest in terms of following the simplification agenda. We know from the Draghi and Letta reports that there is a need for an impetus towards the simplification agenda that is not just the deferral of regulation but involves looking at how we ease the burden on businesses in the EU to allo…