The only part of this island where phone pouches have been rolled out by a government is in Northern Ireland and where the First Minister is a member of Sinn Féin. I challenge the Deputy to talk to parents, principals and teachers in Donegal because they have been asking for support in relation to phone use. If the Deputy does not recognise the challenges posed by social media and smartphones, that is on him. Yes, I listen to my constituents when it comes to energy prices and yes, we will continue to support people with the cost of living. However, who I do not listen to when it comes to what to do about energy prices is Liz Truss which is exactly what Sinn Féin proposes, namely, to give taxpayers' money to subsidise energy companies with the cost. That is not the way the way to go. We provided significant assistance to people in regard to energy credits and we will continue to do so. However, what we will not do is adopt the policies of Liz Truss, which was a Sinn Féin proposal.
Sentiment score: 0.28
Yes, it is very serious.
Sentiment score: 0.27
What we will do is bring forward a budget with proposals to help people with the cost of living.
Sentiment score: 0.40
I thank the Deputy for bringing up this issue. I undertake to pass that on directly to the Minister for housing and ask him to look into the matter immediately with the local authority and come back to the Deputy directly on the issue. There is a housing emergency. We need to build homes and take every opportunity to do so. We will have a national development plan review next month which will significantly increase further investment in housing and housing-enabling infrastructure. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Browne, to look at the issue affecting the Deputy's constituents.
Sentiment score: 0.14
I thank the Deputy for bringing up this issue. The INTO has rightly highlighted the issue with the Deputy and colleagues across the House in recent days. Many of us have had the opportunity to hear directly from the INTO. The Deputy is right that real challenges are faced by our schools. It is objectively fair to say we have increased the education budget a lot. Much of the focus has been on reducing class sizes and on special education needs. We all support that but there is a legitimate issue around capitation and a sustainable level of funding. The Minister for education, Deputy McEntee, will consider all of this in advance of the budget due in October. She will meet and engage with the INTO and others in the run-up to it.
Sentiment score: 0.26
I thank the Deputy. I have been discussing this matter with my colleagues in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade today. We are monitoring the situation very closely. I have asked for an update from our embassy in Egypt and that our consular section keep me directly updated on these matters. The protection and well-being of any Irish citizen in any part of the world is something my Department and the Government takes extremely seriously and I will be keeping a close eye on this.
Sentiment score: 0.03
I appreciate why the Deputy raises this issue but there are two things I will not do. First, I will not interfere in any sort of judicial process around the status or examinership of a company. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle surely would not allow me to do so under the rules of the House anyway. Second, I will not interfere in the awarding of State contracts. We know where that has got the body politic in the past. The awarding of State contracts is independent of the political process. More broadly and from a policy perspective, we always want to support Irish companies and industry. I have heard reference to this company before in this House during a debate around the circular economy. State agencies including Enterprise Ireland are always available to meet any Irish company to discuss what supports can be put in place. I will ask the Minister for enterprise to link with the Deputy on that.
Sentiment score: 0.22
I thank the Deputy. He is right. I have been in the Chamber since the news emerged. I join the Deputy and everybody in extending the sympathies of the House and country to all those affected, to the people of India and to those likely to be affected in our nearest neighbour, the United Kingdom. My Department is actively monitoring the situation in real time. We stand ready to assist any citizen, though I am not aware of any citizen in relation to this. More broadly, from a humanitarian point of view, we are always eager to assist. The situation is very much evolving.
Sentiment score: 0.23
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I had the pleasure of meeting Councillor Nealon from Sligo yesterday and discussed this with him. I also met yesterday pupils from a school in Claremorris in the Deputy's constituency who were in the Dáil. When I bumped into them and asked if they had any questions, the first question they asked was what I would do about this idea of the social media ban. It was interesting to note the amount of them in favour of it. These were sixth-class students in Claremorris National School. It gave me a real insight into the pressure young people are feeling. The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has an online health task force in her Department to look at the health and well-being impacts of online and social media on young people. She met the chair of the task force this week and its interim report is due shortly. The Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, has asked his officials to examine international initiatives under way or being considered elsewhere to protect the safety of children. My position is really clear on this. We live in a country where the digital age of consent is 16. Therefore, I do not believe we should be on social media in advance of that age. I heard the comments of President Macron in a similar vein this week. I have an open mind on how to enact these things. We have age verification structures that clearly do not work and industry would acknowledge that. We need to get serious about this. It is a ticking time bomb that is having a really detrimental impact on the health and well-being of our young people and often on their safety as well. The digital age of consent is 16 and I believe that should be applied in a very real way. The Government is considering how best to examine it.
Sentiment score: 0.18
The Deputy may or may not be aware that there is a prison in my constituency.
Sentiment score: -0.51
Do not shout at me, please. The Deputy may or may not be aware that there is a prison in my constituency, Shelton Abbey. I have visited it many times.
Sentiment score: -0.06
I do not know if the Deputy has visited any prisons recently. I have visited-----
Sentiment score: 0.00
Can the Deputy please stop shouting? Just please stop shouting.
Sentiment score: 0.03
I would like to be allowed to answer a very serious question. Thank you. Prison capacity is a very serious issue. There are far too many people out on the streets, causing chaos in communities, who need to be in prison.
Sentiment score: -0.20
They cannot be in prison unless we expand prison capacity. Our population has grown. I believe in alternatives to prison but there are some people who need to be behind bars. This House has passed laws to extend prison sentences but has not put in place the prison capacity to support those extensions. I have been Minister for justice. No Minister for justice wants to receive reports notifying him or her that people are being released from prison because there is not enough prison capacity. We need to fix this. The location of prisons is a matter for the Prison Service. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, has my full support in expediting the delivery of prison capacity and prison spaces. We need a new prison as well, by the way, to keep up with our population.
Sentiment score: -0.14
I thank Deputy O'Shea for raising this important issue for his constituents. The N20 is a strategically important route. The proposed project aims to enhance regional accessibility, to improve the network, to connect the cities of Cork and Limerick, and to improve connections to west Cork and Kerry. It will really help to allow balanced regional growth and development. The N20-M20 Cork-Limerick project will provide much better connectivity between Ireland's second and third largest cities, as well as other towns along the route including Buttevant, Croom, Charleville, Mallow and Blarney. As the Deputy said, it will address safety deficiencies on the existing route. It will also deliver active travel infrastructure along the corridor. I am very supportive of this project, as I know the Deputy is. My understanding is that the scheme's preliminary business case is expected to be submitted to the Department of Transport in early 2026. I believe the Department allocated €4.5 million to Limerick City and County Council to progress the scheme during 2025. We will keep a close eye on this. The national development plan will provide an opportunity to accelerate funding for crucial infrastructure projects like this one.
Sentiment score: 0.42
I thank Deputy Clarke for raising this very important issue. After I leave the Chamber I will discuss it directly with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, who has responsibility for mental health. There are a number of actions that the Minister of State is already working on. I want to say that funding is not and will not be a constraint to this. There are real challenges around recruitment, retention of services and, more broadly, reform of CAMHS services. I will ask the Minister of State specifically to come back to the Deputy on what more can be done in the here and now. Nobody wants to see a child or young person left in a significant state of distress. Those numbers are far too high.
Sentiment score: 0.04
I thank the Deputy. It is my intention to bring the general scheme next week. There is a very small chance it will go to the following week but it is my working assumption that I will get it to the Cabinet next week so, yes, I believe we will meet the timeline in June. I have been keeping in touch with the Chair of the foreign affairs committee, Deputy Lahart, about this. The Attorney General is doing that for me. I believe I will have that advice to help inform the PLS process. I probably will not have it in advance of the Bill going to Cabinet next week. It is likely that this Stage of the Bill will be published, as envisaged in the programme for Government, with goods. I reiterate that I want the PLS process to genuinely consider if the inclusion of services is possible from a legal point of view. We intend to bring the Bill forward next week, hopefully, and get it to the committee this month.
Sentiment score: 0.25
I thank Deputy McCormack. I agree with the premise. All of us on the Government benches feel very strongly about this. There was very good engagement with the INTO by many of us in our constituencies and at the day it held this week in Buswells Hotel. I thank the INTO for the constructive way in which it has engaged with us. Obviously, all of these matters will be considered in the context of the budget but this Government is fully committed to education, supporting our schools, principals, teachers, and crucially, our children. I hope we can make more progress in these matters in the budget in October.
Sentiment score: 0.57
The Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and I are listening to Deputy Ó Muirí and he is so right. What has haunted me from the programme, and he has captured it very well, was the lack of basic humanity. Yes, there is more this Government needs to do and will do. The Minister, Deputy MacNeill, and the Minister of State, Deputy O’Donnell, are leading on this as regards safeguarding legislation and all of that. We will do it as a priority and we are taking it extraordinarily seriously. However, there is also just basic humanity. How can any human being do that to another human being? How can anyone take an elderly man and thrown him on a bed like that, or hurtle someone with dementia down a corridor? It sickens all of us. There are questions for HIQA to answer. I want to say that in a balanced way as HIQA has done a lot of good. It has been a positive development in our healthcare landscape. The way it went into University Hospital Limerick is an example of robust examination. Nobody gets everything right but on this occasion there are legitimate questions. The Minister will be engaging and meeting with HIQA next week. We will continue to pursue this. No organisation is beyond reproach and it needs to reflect in this instance.
Sentiment score: 0.08
I think the INTO will be very satisfied with its very effective campaign this week. I say that in all sincerity because it did have a very effective campaign this week and clearly met with so many TDs as it should in doing its job in highlighting the needs of its schools. To reiterate the point I made earlier to Deputy Mythen, and on the concerns he raised regarding schools, in particular in Wexford, Government will look at how we better financially support our schools. We do not make specific announcements on how best we do that until the budget in October but education is a key part of our programme for Government and we are very committed to doing more and supporting our schools. There are legitimate issues which the INTO has highlighted this week. We will consider all of these in the context of the budget in October.
Sentiment score: 0.51
I have got a bit of this today. Everybody does their best in representing their constituents but with the position I hold within Government I need to be conscious even if cases can be readily identified, even if not named. I do not want to comment on that but take that as read. I am not aware of the correspondence from the UN but I will make myself aware of it now the Deputy has brought it to my attention and I will inquire into that now. More broadly, on the whole issue of SLAPP and the likes, the defamation Bill the Minister for justice is bringing forward will give consideration to these issues. I will ask the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, to consider the Deputy's comments and revert to him directly.
Sentiment score: 0.18