I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 12, inclusive, together. The Cabinet Committee on Justice, Migration and Social Affairs will oversee the implementation of programme for Government commitments that regard matters under these headings. It was established in February 2025 following the appointment of the new Government in January. The Cabinet Committee on Justice, Migration and Social Affairs had its first meeting on 10 April and it is expected the next meeting will take place in July. The Cabinet committee will cover a range of policy areas, including domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, policing and justice reform, and initiatives tackling local area disadvantage. Among other items, it will also oversee the development and delivery of whole-of-government responses to migration and integration, including through a national migration and integration strategy. In addition to meetings of the Cabinet committee, I have regular engagements with Ministers at Cabinet and individually to discuss issues relating to their Departments.
Sentiment score: 0.09
I thank the Deputies for their contributions. Deputy Brabazon has consistently raised in the House the issue of how the regulations are currently operating in respect of e-scooters and scrambler bikes. He referenced how some of these new vehicles are being utilised as part of criminal enterprises, particularly the utilisation of young minors in the distribution of drugs. This is a very serious issue which demands a review of the entire regulatory framework governing scramblers and e-scooters. There are positives too, particularly for the elderly population in terms of people getting access and go up hills and so on. However, it merits a review because many negative aspects have happened as a result of their deployment. Deputy Bacik raised the issue of the IPAS site in Coolock. The Minister made a decision in that regard. In my view it made sense in the overall context. We need to move to State-owned and State-controlled facilities. That is the direction of travel from here onwards.
Sentiment score: 0.04
I understand the issues the Deputy and her colleagues have raised in respect of it. It was a shocking situation overall. Deputy Smith raised the issue of reconfiguration of Garda districts. I will talk to the Minister for Justice in respect of the point about the unique policing demands of Border areas requiring specific resourcing. Deputy Ó Murchú supported that. As for community safety partnerships, these are important and the Minister is moving with regard to implementation. On migration processing times, the first phase is now being processed relatively quickly. The appeal stage needs significant attention and the Minister is working on that and has specific proposals to speed up the second phase. I appreciate the comments Deputy McCormack made on the increased visibility of gardaí on our streets but also the need for greater Garda presence in smaller towns in the county of Offaly. He mentioned Banagher and a few other towns. I have asked the Minister, in the context of more and more people coming through Templemore, that we look at proper deployment throughout the country, particularly in rural Ireland and the smaller towns because it has an impact. On the matter raised by Deputy Paul Murphy, I have no issue at all with making sure we have long-term social housing provision for those fleeing domestic violence. We need more permanent structures as well and more secure units. They are all at varying degrees of progress but we need to accelerate that also. Deputy Currie raised the issue of safety partnerships. I will talk to the Minister. Obviously, the Deputy has specific ideas in respect of the area she represents. I am sure if she discusses it with the Minister he will respond with flexibility on how the groups and subgroups are set up and so on. Deputy Malcolm Byrne is correct. There is overcrowding in our prison system. It is, again, a feature of a growing population. Rehabilitation is very important. Education provision is very important in our prisons and that opportunities are given to people, as well as follow-on services. We help to reintegrate back into society through work, placements and so on. We often do not hear of the success stories where it does work. That reintegration is to the benefit of the individual and to society as a whole. I will check with the Minister about capacity on the female side to which the Deputy referred. Deputy Coppinger raised the issue of deportations. They are in respect of people whose asylum application has failed. They are not eligible for asylum, having gone through the process, and, therefore, they should not be in the country. We must always have security in our borders. What we mean by that is that not everybody can simply come into the country. We have work permits for people who wish to work legally in the country and we have various visas and legal frameworks that facilitate the flow and egress. That is not just Ireland; it is every country in the world. It is not virtue signalling to racism or the far right when we say that.
Sentiment score: 0.18
It is not, really. It is also sending a signal that we have asylum laws for people who genuinely need asylum, not for everyone who comes in. A lot of economic migrants come in who should be applying for work permits. That is the point. Deputy Lawless followed up on the costs ballooning. We have obligations. There has been a significant inflationary cycle but we are reducing the numbers in hotels quite significantly and moving towards a State-owned model.
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Apologies. Deputy Connolly raised the issue of local area disadvantage. I accept his point that health figures are not as good, by definition, in areas of disadvantage. It is extremely important, both on the education and health fronts. In education, we have a successful DEIS programme. We are now looking at DEIS plus. The Minister was at the Cabinet today signalling a move to DEIS plus for areas of profound socioeconomic disadvantage, with different types of supports being available to the small number of schools that would gain access to such a DEIS plus programme. Health probably needs to do better, or run in parallel with the pace that education has moved over the years, in respect of specific health initiatives in areas of economic disadvantage. In 2002 I established the Niche project on the northside of Cork, in Knocknaheeny, and it had a profound impact. It dealt with issues such as lifestyle, access to gyms and was pioneered by the local health board at the time. We need more of that from the health side. They are getting better at it and there is more of it happening but, compared with what is happening in education, we could be doing better in health.
Sentiment score: 0.15
I propose to take questions Nos. 13 to 19, inclusive, together. On Thursday, 27 February I met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Shannon Airport during a scheduled stopover on his way to Washington. We had a warm and substantial meeting. We discussed the most recent developments with regard to the situation in Ukraine. I reiterated Ireland's steadfast support for Ukraine and its people as they continue to defend themselves against Russia's ongoing illegal and brutal aggression. I reaffirmed Ireland's readiness to offer practical humanitarian and financial support to Ukraine, both bilaterally and with our EU partners. We discussed how, together with the EU, we can advance a just, sustainable and durable peace in Ukraine. This was a key focus of the discussions among EU leaders at both the special meeting of the European Council on 6 March and the European Council meeting on 20 and 21 March. I also took the opportunity to offer my support for the acceleration of Ukraine's membership of the EU. This will be an important part of broader security guarantees for Ukraine. I also had an opportunity to meet President Zelenskyy with other leaders at the conference in Paris on peace and security for Ukraine, hosted by President Macron on 27 March. There we agreed that this war, and the threat posed by Russia, is not only an existential issue for Ukraine, but also a major challenge to the security of Europe. European Union leaders agreed that a ceasefire can only take place as part of the process leading to a comprehensive peace agreement and that any such agreement needs to be accompanied by robust and credible security guarantees for Ukraine that contribute to deterring future Russian aggression. Ireland will continue to engage with partners on ongoing efforts towards a meaningful ceasefire, how we can support that ceasefire if and when it comes and how we can contribute to bringing about a just and lasting peace that respects Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. It is more important than ever that we remain steadfast in our support so that Ukraine can negotiate from a position of strength. The EU has provided substantial military support to Ukraine to enable it to defend itself and, in doing so, to defend the values we all hold dear. Ireland is playing its part. Our support to date has focused on humanitarian and stabilisation assistance, alongside non-lethal military support, both through the European peace facility and bilaterally, and strong political support, including for Ukraine's European perspective. In March, the Government approved a significant €100 million package of military support for Ukraine, including non-lethal elements of air defence, anti-drone devices and demining.
Sentiment score: 0.44
I again thank all the Deputies who contributed. Deputy Bacik spoke about the European Union membership of Ukraine. We were one of the steadfast early supporters of Ukraine's membership of the European Union, believing it would end a vacuum geopolitically, create its own implicit security for Ukraine and also enable it to be a full participant in the economic benefits and basic liberties that go with being a member of the European Union. The European Union is probably one of the safest places in which to live in the world today. It is where we have the protection of basic fundamental rights of freedom of academic autonomy, freedom of speech, a free media and so on. It is interesting that the European Union gets attacked in the House a lot but actually, jurisdiction-wise, and if we look at different parts of the world, it is probably one of the better places in which to live for most citizens. That is why it is so attractive to so many people who want to come to live in Europe. They come from all over the world, migrating from autocracies and authoritarian regimes. The Deputy is correct in saying we need to highlight more clearly the abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia. That is a very shocking war crime. The repatriation of those children and reuniting them with their families has to be a core objective. Deputy Ó Murchú raised the issue of the peace process. The US initiatives are welcome in respect of trying to engineer a peace pathway, faltering as it has been to date, between Ukraine and Russia. The UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, and the French President, Emmanuel Macron, have been particularly active in endeavouring to move the situation on while supporting and protecting Ukraine in this entire process. I appreciate the Deputy's condemnation of Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Deputy Malcolm Byrne raised the issue of Russia having a veto over whether we join or participate in peace missions. I could not agree with him more. Russia should not have a veto over a sovereign decision that Ireland should be able to take to participate in peacekeeping missions around the world, or in civil protection mechanisms. That is something the Government will deal with legislatively, which makes absolute sense given the performance of the Security Council in recent times in respect of a whole range of appalling conflicts. On 2026, the multifinancial framework and the Common Agricultural Policy, protecting the Common Agricultural Policy by having a separate line allocation and budget for it will be key. We are awaiting proposals from the Commission. We also want to accelerate, and Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan also raised this issue, the accession of Ukraine to the European Union. Hungary is holding that up. It has paralysed many issues, including the European Peace Facility. We have had to move bilaterally to provide financial support to Ukraine. That is financial support which would ordinarily have gone through the European Peace Facility but was not facilitated by Hungary because of its obstructionist tactics in respect of that facility and the beginning of the process of facilitating a pathway to European Union membership. There are real challenges within the European Union regarding Hungary's behaviour to date on quite a number of these issues. It is something that needs to be resolved as quickly as possible involving all member states. Deputy Murphy raised the issue of Russia's criminal enterprise in its invasion of Ukraine and then moved quickly to the US. The US did not invade Ukraine and did not start this war. The US has supported Ukraine quite extensively - more than anybody else. Without US support, it is quite clear that Russia's criminal enterprise would, to all intents and purposes, have worked. Russia would be in control of the entirety of Ukraine by now if it was not for US intervention and the support of other European countries, such as France, the United Kingdom and others, for example Denmark, which have made very significant contributions to the Ukrainian military enterprise. The Deputy also made the point, and I think used the phrase, that Europe was deliberately using military expenditure to suspend fiscal rules. That is not a correct definition or characterisation of what has occurred. Many member states on the eastern flank, particularly the Baltics, feel an existential threat from Russia. Financially and fiscally, they are not as strong as others. They feel they need supports and cannot defend themselves, or strengthen their military and defensive capability, without having military expenditure by those countries taken out of the fiscal rule framework. That is the motivation. It is a realistic-----
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It is not.
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For people who live in Estonia, Poland, Lithuania or Latvia, the daily fear and number one overriding consideration is whether they continue to exist as a sovereign country, and how they protect their territorial integrity, because of what history has taught them, what they have experienced historically and what they fear. The Deputy cannot tell them what they should be afraid of, no more than I can, but I can tell him that is what they are afraid of above and beyond everything else. That is why they are spending far higher percentages of GDP on defence than we are or ever will.
Sentiment score: -0.09
I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 to 30, inclusive, together. The Government has established Cabinet committees across a range of policy areas: economy, trade and competitiveness; housing; infrastructure; climate action and energy; disability; health; EU and international affairs; justice, migration and social affairs; water quality; Northern Ireland; and children and education. Issues relating to rural affairs and community development can be discussed, as required, at any of these Cabinet committees, given their relevance to multiple policy areas. As with all policy areas, rural and community development issues are also regularly discussed at full Government meetings, and these are where all formal decisions are made. The Government continues to invest heavily in rural communities, and support for rural Ireland is a priority across government. The Department of Rural and Community Development’s rural development investment programme is providing unprecedented funding for rural Ireland. In budget 2025, the Government committed a total of €472 million to the Department of Rural and Community Development, the largest allocation since its establishment. This is a clear demonstration of the Government’s continuing commitment to supporting and developing our rural towns, villages and communities right across the country. The range of schemes available support projects in communities all across rural Ireland in areas such as town regeneration, the development of community facilities and the enhancement of our outdoor recreation facilities. The Government’s policy for sustainable rural development in Ireland is called Our Rural Future: Rural Development Policy 2021–2025. Our Rural Future has been in place for almost five years and has provided vital investment and supports, strengthened local economies and improved the lives of many people across rural Ireland. The scale of this investment ranges from projects with a value of up to €65,000 under schemes such as CLÁR to larger multi-million euro projects under the rural regeneration and development fund. The new programme for Government includes a commitment to publish and implement a new Our Rural Future policy from 2026.
Sentiment score: 0.30
I thank all the Deputies who contributed. I congratulate Deputy Cleere and join him in his comments on the camogie teams from Kilkenny and Carlow. I note his heartfelt concern about Cork's defeat on Sunday and the sincerity of how he expressed it. The season is young yet. There is a theme all around the House of the need to deploy as many gardaí as possible in rural Ireland as well as the big cities. It would be fair to say the majority of redeployment of new gardaí went to Dublin initially over recent years. That has had a manifest impact. Now, as more and more gardaí come through Templemore, we need to see that they are redeployed and spread more evenly across the country. We have to be patient in terms of roll-out, but I take the point Deputy Cleere made about rural towns and villages. Deputy Ó Murchú was not to be outdone in congratulating the Louth ladies. Louth and Offaly are doing exceptionally well these days. We often use "per capita" as a phrase. Per capita, the sporting prowess of both Louth and Offaly is fantastic. The rural housing guidelines are important in terms of sustainable living and rural communities. I will ask the Minister for housing about where we are on that. I know he is working on it. Deputy Paul Murphy raised the chronic shortage of public health nurses. He said our nurses are leaving the country and so on, but the bottom line is that 28,567 extra staff have been recruited into our health service since the beginning of 2020. That is a 24% increase over the last four and a half years. About 10,000 of them are nurses and midwives. According to the OECD, Ireland has the second highest number of practising nurses per capita of any country in the European Union. I acknowledge there is a specific issue as regards public health nursing. The HSE is working in terms of recruitment of public health nurses, who provide a vital link in terms of identification of issues particularly among newborns and children in their earliest months and years. That is particularly important. We should not forget that the bottom line is that we have recruited more nurses than anybody in Europe or within the OECD in recent times and continue to do so. Deputy Currie raised the same issue Deputy Cleere raised in respect of garda numbers, but in her case she was referring to urban villages. Again, we need as even a spread as possible. I note Deputy Currie's reference to Castleknock and other locations. Perhaps she should talk to the Minister for public expenditure. He might be able to find something in his treasure trove to facilitate the local area. I have no doubt that with all of them working together, they can pull something out of the hat. Deputy Martin Daly raised a very important point about development within rural towns and villages, particularly the planning issue. The planning commission will be established shortly, as per the new Act. Wastewater treatment plants are critical. I have discussed this with Irish Water. My understanding is that new protocols have been developed to facilitate agreements between Irish Water and local developers or builders such that if they are building a new housing scheme, they would have permission to build a wastewater treatment plant in accordance with specifications laid down by Irish Water while facilitating regular inspection of same. I think that would unlock the problem for many rural villages and towns. With the best will in the world, Irish Water will not get around to every rural village and town in Ireland, but this could unlock a lot of housing potential cumulatively across the country. We will continue to focus on that. The Minister for housing is working on this with Irish Water. In response to Deputy McCormack, well done to the Offaly minor team. As regards rural communities, he raised a very good point about the issue of ageing in rural Ireland. There are lots of vulnerabilities and insecurity around ageing in rural Ireland and we need specific policies on that. I will talk to the Minister for rural development, Dara Calleary, about that. In fairness to the outgoing Government and the former Minister, Eamon Ryan, and others, the rural transport link has been a very significant advance and has not got the recognition, perhaps, that it deserves. I hear very good feedback and reports in terms of its impact on rural Ireland. That helps our older people as well - housing adaptation, security issues, neighbourhood watches and all that - but we have to give greater supports for ageing. It is a theme the Deputy should continue to press on, as should we collectively as a House. As regards Galway East, I hear Deputy Dolan. I think he is not the first Deputy to have raised the development levy waiver in respect of one-off housing, in particular. I will talk to the Minister for housing about that. I agree that there should be greater ringfencing of some of the revenues from development levies to specific locations where, perhaps, a significant revenue generation occurs. It could be a housing estate or a new area at the edge of a town that does not have the footpaths or the lighting. There is merit in that proposal. Aontaím le Deputy Ó Muineacháin go bhfuil sé an-tábhachtach ar fad níos mó airgid, infheistíochta agus áiseanna a chur ar fáil do na bóithríní beaga ar fud na tíre, go háirithe i dtosach an turais agus i ndeireadh an tráthnóna. Admhaím - beidh mé ag caint leis an Aire - gur cóir níos mó airgid a chur ar fáil do na local improvement schemes. They need a push but they need consistent resourcing as well. There is a significant amount of work to be done in respect of this issue. The local improvement scheme is a valuable scheme. Deputy Coppinger raised the issue of community development in Dublin West and the links between the suburbs. I do not understand fully why the 11 families could not get into the local school. Was it just capacity?
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One often wonders whether local solutions in terms of accommodation could have been resolved. I do not know but I will talk to the Minister for education about the school and what the issue is there. Is it school transport we are primarily talking about here?
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They have been hit twice in that respect, both in not getting a place in the first place and then not getting transport. I hear Deputy Cahill loud and clear in terms of the need to accelerate the regeneration schemes in a variety of villages in Kerry. I think he referred to Killorglin and Dingle, and there are many more. I want to say publicly that I note his recent correspondence to me as well. It was comprehensive and covered a range of initiatives in south Kerry in particular.
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It does not work the same way.
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