Those are all very fair questions. My understanding is that the independent chair for the lookback on the cases that were closed during the Covid pandemic is due to be appointed very shortly. We will certainly keep everybody across the House updated on that. The Deputy is right that this case raises very significant issues. In the first case we need to try to establish as many facts as we possibly can. We then need to work collaboratively across this House to make sure that our legislative basis is right. There will be a couple of opportunities to do this: the commitment in relation to the Child Care Act to increase the powers of Tusla and provide for interagency co-operation; and also the commitment to put the national review panel on a statutory footing. I do not want to overcommit until the facts are established. The point the Deputy made about the need for those checks to just become somewhat automatic is not unfair. We live in a world and a country that are much more transient. While I am not talking about this specific case, I am not sure we could just take the word of somebody that someone was just in one school and presume that they moved to another. How we close those loops is a legitimate policy question and we would be happy to work constructively with the Deputy on it.
Sentiment score: 0.24
I thank the Deputy for her kind words. On this matter, very serious issues have been raised here. I am reluctant to overly comment on them because I am trying to establish all the facts of this case. I am concerned over what I have heard and read this morning. My understanding, based on a note provided to me, is that the DPC first became aware of the matter when contacted by "Prime Time" and is extremely concerned by it. That is what I have been told here. Location data can obviously reveal a very significant amount of information about individuals, including information about an individual's habits and personality, information that is inherently sensitive. It can be more sensitive in relation to people carrying out particular jobs or duties in our State. Of course, any individual's location information in that regard can pose a serious risk to the security and well-being of an individual. The Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration is aware that the Data Protection Commissioner is looking into these matters. I have no doubt we will require further answers on this in the days ahead. It raises a broader issue, which I hope we can have time to discuss in this House, about online regulation. There are new things coming in about political regulation and regulation of online political content, which is grand, fine and no problem, but that is not really what is threatening our democracy, in my view. The problem is not with political parties taking out ads on Facebook; it is with those people who are not political parties often with anonymous accounts threatening to subvert our democracy and spew the place with misinformation. There is a need for a debate on this also.
Sentiment score: -0.04
We should work collaboratively on this. When is anybody going to bring forward proposals or ideas? As this is a legislative Chamber, I am interested in the Deputy's ideas on this. I am interested in working constructively with people on this as well. This is information that I am trying to respond to in real time. The Data Protection Commission has advised that it is taking the assertions made in the programme very seriously and that it is investigating the operators concerned. Key issues will be whether these operators are complying with data protection law and whether the brokers concerned are based in the State, elsewhere in the EU or in third countries. This raises very significant issues. There is also the point that every time someone goes onto a weather app, they agree to give their location. There is a very significant issue here with the information that people are providing perhaps without full knowledge because of the jargon and the amount of material people have to read. Based on the initial reports that I have read, although I reserve the right to see the full programme and have all the facts established, I am also concerned when I hear of particular references to this place and other institutions in the State and the potential issue that Deputy Bacik raised as well. I look forward to having more detailed briefings from the Minister for justice and the Data Protection Commissioner in due course.
Sentiment score: 0.20
I thank Deputy O'Gorman. I appreciate his sincerity and his work on this, including in his previous role. The Taoiseach and I have both said there will be a particular focus on child poverty in this budget. The child poverty unit is doing good work for us on that. We have had a Cabinet committee meeting which had an initial discussion on the matter. We should be endeavouring to tackle child poverty regardless of who the child is, where the child is from or where the child is living, once the child is residing here in our State. I am certainly open to considering that proposal but the specific measures will be a matter for budget day.
Sentiment score: -0.02
I thank Deputy Tóibín. I acknowledge this is an issue he raises frequently in this House. I also acknowledge that we have taken a number of steps to try to improve child protection in this country, such as the referendum we had and the establishment of a dedicated Department and of the stand-alone State agency Tusla. There is a hell of a lot more that needs to be done, however. After the shocking developments of recent hours in relation to Daniel as well as the other cases the Deputy referenced, the Government will wish to engage constructively with the Opposition on what steps can be taken next. I have already outlined to the Deputy the Government’s intention to bring forward legislation around the Child Care Act, which will be looking at the powers of Tusla and how it operates with other State agencies. I will be very eager to engage constructively, as will the Minister, with Opposition parties in that regard.
Sentiment score: 0.32
I thank Deputy Guirke. I do not doubt those challenges are real for families. We have taken a number of measures to try to help students and their families. We expanded the rent tax credit and ensured that students could qualify for it, as that was not originally the situation. We have reduced college fees for the past three years in a row. There is a clear commitment in the programme for Government on the direction of travel in which the Minister wants to go in the time ahead. While I heard the Deputy and different people mention the €500 figure, there has been no budgetary decision made on any aspect yet. Let us see where the budget gets to on 7 October. We have also increased the students grants. While I do not know the individual in question, many students who are entitled to student grants often do not realise or think such grants are for them. Many families qualify. Similarly, the Minister and I were just talking about how many people, including students, qualify for the GP access card, which can help with costs too. We are committed to helping students with the cost of living. The budget will show a way forward in that regard on 7 October.
Sentiment score: 0.27
I thank Deputy Currie very much for raising this issue and for the focus she rightly keeps on early learning and childcare. I thank her for her work in that regard. Certainly, we will discuss this with the Minister, Deputy Foley. The Government will be publishing an action plan on childcare, which endeavours to knit together the 21 programme for Government commitments on childcare. I expect that to happen in the coming weeks, either just before or, perhaps more likely, just after the budget. I wish to make one broad point that is slightly linked. While I fully accept the point about baby rooms and the need for us to do more in that regard, I am also proud of a number of the steps we have taken to help parents have more time with their child in that first year. Obviously, we know babies benefit most from individual attention from loving and responding caregivers, enabling them to form strong bonds and foster that parent-child relationship. I am pleased that the combination of maternity, paternity and parent’s leave and parent's benefit now equates to 46 weeks’ paid leave for a two-parent family. This is supplemented by an entitlement to 16 weeks of unpaid maternity leave and 26 weeks of unpaid parental leave for a parent, as well as annual leave entitlements. I wish to provide that context of the importance of the child’s first year of life.
Sentiment score: 0.43
I thank Deputy Dolan. He is entirely right on this. I remember vividly the day the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, in his former role brought these proposals to Cabinet. It was seen as a reforming step to identify that there were a number of relatively small villages and townlands that would take forever and a day to get there through the traditional Irish Water way and to put ring-fenced funding in place. It is appalling that this has taken so long. It is an example of where bureaucracy, red tape and sometimes a lack of willingness from various stakeholders have led to this. I will ask the Minister to get back directly to the Deputy about Craughwell and Clarinbridge. I know this is a particular issue in east Galway because I read some data about a number of townlands and villages there where, as a result of this, no houses can be built in the middle of a housing crisis. Directly in response to the other two points, as a result of the NDP. investment plans will be published by all Ministers in the coming weeks, showing exactly what the additional money for water and sewerage will be able to do. As a condition of giving Irish Water a hell of a lot more public money, we have said it needs to get on and allow developer-led infrastructure schemes as well. It is really important that it now deliver on that commitment.
Sentiment score: -0.02
I thank Deputy Byrne very much for raising this issue. I know this is a priority for both the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan. They tell me that 178,945 tickets have been issued to children and young people for this school year, including 23,300 children and young people with special educational needs. That is an increase of 3%. However, that is no use to the child Deputy Byrne references if she is still waiting for this service. I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, to directly engage with the Deputy on the matter to see if anything more can be done to assist the family. I will ask them to get back directly to the Deputy.
Sentiment score: 0.16
First, I thank Deputy Collins for his kind words and solidarity. I appreciate it. Second, he is right; anybody at the ploughing who did not hear very clearly about the tillage issue probably needs their ears cleaned out because the IFA and farmers have been very clear about it. He is correct that my colleague the Minister for agriculture was at the crisis meeting called by the IFA in Naas last week, which around 1,100 farmers attended, or at least several hundred of them. There was a very clear message. We often have debates in this House about climate versus agriculture. To be honest, I think they are silly debates, as we should not put them against each other. This is an area where they work together. Helping tillage farming also helps our climate objectives and it helps on every level. There are clear commitments in the programme for Government on financial support for the tillage sector. Obviously, specific measures are a matter for budget day. The Minister is working very hard on this. I met the IFA on this at the ploughing championships and in my own office a couple of weeks ago. We will endeavour to bring forward proposals as part of the budget.
Sentiment score: 0.25
I thank Deputy Coppinger. First, I was very angered to see how Kitty O'Brien was treated. My Department and our embassy have conveyed that to the German authorities. I say that on the record of this House. I am not fully convinced. Deputy Coppinger may end up being right but I hope she is wrong. I know she will hope she is wrong that we cannot have a majority in Europe voting to implement the sanctions. The coming days will tell us whether that is the case or not. We are advocating very strongly to try and build a coalition. I believe there is a majority of member states. The question now is whether we reach the threshold of there being a qualified majority. It is certainly a possibility. We all need to try very hard on that. Ireland will introduce its own occupied territories Bill. The detail of the Bill will be clear when we publish the legislation. I will meet Senator Black when I return from the UN high-level week, which is the week after next.
Sentiment score: 0.01
I thank Deputy Burke very much. I know he has been in direct contact with the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, on this issue. She has looked into the matter. My understanding is that the treatment has now been confirmed, which I am very pleased is the case, and that she will confirm that directly to the Deputy. I wish his constituent, Aishling, the very best in her treatment. I know that the Deputy, everyone in Cork, and those of us here are thinking of her. The broader policy issue is something the Minister and the HSE will reflect on, based on the best clinical advice. I am pleased that the treatment has now been confirmed in this case.
Sentiment score: 0.34
I thank the Deputy for his kind words and solidarity. I thank him for the work he did as Ceann Comhairle on the issue of public safety. He led on this with the appointment of former Commissioner O'Sullivan. I was grateful to the Ceann Comhairle for her leadership yesterday as this Dáil term resumed. I wrote to her last night about her suggestion of convening party leaders to look at this wider issue. I appreciate Deputy Ó Fearghaíl's comments in relation to myself and my family. As I said in my statement, it will be me today and someone else tomorrow. We need to act together on this in the interests of our democracy and the safety of everybody involved in public life. I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of thalidomide. The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and I have discussed this. I discussed this with the Taoiseach as recently as one week ago. This an area we really want to see a resolution to. I accept it has gone on for far too long. Deputy Barry Ward has regularly raised this issue as well. We decided in September 2024 to appoint Mr. Justice Paul Gilligan to facilitate a thalidomide resolution process. I know the judge is continuing to engage with survivors and their representatives and is expected to revert to Government as soon as that process is completed. I can assure the Deputy this is an area that is receiving priority attention at the highest levels of Government. We all intend to pull together on this and try to get this resolved for once and for all.
Sentiment score: 0.33
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. He is right that this was a big part of the general election. We all put forward our stalls on it. There was almost political unanimity around the figure of €200 per month per child. We certainly had it in our manifesto and our colleagues in government did too. It is also in the programme for Government. I always say to people at every opportunity that these are commitments in terms of projects we will get delivered over the lifetime of the Government. We all want to see progress made as quickly as possible. The Minister, Deputy Foley, is working her way through 21 commitments on childcare in the programme for Government. That gives the Deputy an indication of the priority - 21 specific commitments. She will produce an action plan that will go to the Government on childcare. We will have to decide the sequencing in a logical way in terms of capacity, fees and the impact of a reduction on one in terms of capacity and the likes. I expect around budget time that we will have greater clarity on the next steps. I know this is a hugely important issue for so many people.
Sentiment score: 0.25