I thank Deputy Doherty. He is right with regard to making sure people can be assisted with the cost of living but I would point out this Government has taken a number of measures, and that wages in Ireland are now growing ahead of inflation. We have taken action with regard to reducing childcare costs. That is just one example. We have made school books free and provided free school meals, measures that really help many families right across our country. People in Ireland know the long-established policy in regard to carbon tax and they now know where that carbon tax money goes. It goes into things like the fuel allowance, helping people on a social welfare, retrofitting and agri-environmental schemes for our farmers. We have been very clear with respect to the policy direction on that.
Sentiment score: 0.38
I thank Deputy Sheehan and assure him the Government is getting along very well, and Ministers are active and busy in a whole range of areas. If there have not been sightings of different Ministers together - I will have to inquire into that - it is probably because they have been too busy doing their jobs. We are at one with regard to the need to establish a housing activation office. I very much welcome the plans brought forward by the Minister, Deputy Browne, this week to get that up and running. It derives from the Housing Commission and many proposals put forward by opposition TDs in advance of the last election to break down silos, second expertise and bring in utility companies. That is the decision, and the only decision the Government has made. As the Taoiseach said in this House yesterday and as I will say today, there has been no decision made with regard to the staffing of that office yet. We will continue to engage on these matters, and that will be the next decision to be made.
Sentiment score: 0.18
He can bring forward his proposals and we will consider them.
Sentiment score: 0.00
Nothing like that has happened at all. The Government has established a housing activation office. We would be delighted to constructively engage with the Deputy and all of the Opposition in terms of how this office can work effectively. We have all seen the need to break down silos, second people and bring in expertise. We should not be referring to people outside the House by their surnames and calling people tsars and all that sort of stuff. There are no such plans to create any tsar. There are plans to create offices, which will have to be staffed and populated. The Government will decide in due course, as we tease this through, how best to do that. All of this has to be about building more homes. The success or otherwise of the next five years will be in how we make progress in building more homes for more people in our country.
Sentiment score: 0.20
The Minister, Deputy Calleary, tells me he intends to engage directly with the Minister, Deputy Browne, on planning guidelines specifically for the Gaeltacht. I will ask the Minister to engage directly with the Deputy in regard to her feedback on the issue.
Sentiment score: 0.34
The Government and I share the Deputy's view on what we are seeing in terms of the stopping of aid getting into Gaza. It is despicable and it is causing untold harm, to put it very mildly. One cannot find the words to capture how horrific the situation is in Gaza. I thank the Deputy for his comments regarding the Government's intervention on behalf of Ireland at the ICJ. I assure him that our work continues. We recently had an EU-Palestinian high-level dialogue, which was the first engagement between the EU and Palestine. I represented Ireland at that engagement. We have provided very significant funding at an EU level to support the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA. Regarding the occupied territories Bill, I remain absolutely committed to acting on the commitment in the programme for Government to bring forward legislation. I am due to meet the sponsor of the original Bill next week. I am eager to get to work with her on this but I am also every eager that any legislation we pass can genuinely be meaningful and lawful. I am happy to come back to the Deputy in the next week regarding my plans.
Sentiment score: 0.29
I fully agree with the Deputy's description of what needs to happen. The word "partnership" is really important. We have such good examples of childcare providers across the country. We also have significant gaps in provision. I meet people who are frustrated when they hear we have reduced the cost of childcare. They say, "That is great but I cannot get a place". Cost and access, along, of course, with quality, really do matter. There are 21 commitments in the programme for Government in regard to childcare. The Minister, Deputy Foley, is looking at how we can bring forward the action plan. This is an absolute priority for the Government and it will require public intervention, that is, State intervention, starting with areas where there are particular gaps in service provision.
Sentiment score: 0.14
I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of pedestrian safety and the need for the Government to make sure we adequately fund and provide support to local authorities for that purpose. In recent years, there have been a number of initiatives, including the walking to school programme, where there has been a real effort to make walking routes safer, particularly for schoolchildren and others. I certainly will take up this matter directly with the Minister for Transport and ask that he gets back to the Deputy to see what can be done.
Sentiment score: 0.57
I thank Deputy Cahill very much. I agree with him that Skellig Michael is such a beautiful treasure and an amazing place. I share his view that it is so important to support the maintenance and protection of what is a UNESCO heritage site and also to examine how we can assist tourists in getting there in an appropriate way. Therefore, I will certainly speak to the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran, on the issue the Deputy has raised regarding licensing and ask that he revert to him directly.
Sentiment score: 0.59
I thank Deputy Ó Muirí for raising this issue. We do need to consider the timeline for implementation. We find ourselves in a very new trade environment and we always say we have to try to control what we can control. This is certainly something that at least merits consideration when we hear the concerns expressed. I believe this falls into that category. I am not in a position to say today what exact decision the Government will make but I can say that the timeline around implementation is certainly under consideration.
Sentiment score: 0.24
I thank Deputy Ó Murchú. I cannot really win on the GAA question because by pleasing him I could offend the Minister, Deputy McEntee. There is no winning on this other than to wish everybody well. On the serious issue the Deputy raised – it is not that the GAA is not serious – on Liberty IT, the challenge there and, no doubt, the real worry and stress for workers, I too will speak directly to the relevant Minister, Deputy Burke, and ask that he keep in touch with the Deputy on it. More broadly, on the issue of artificial intelligence, ensuring we provide good ethical frameworks and clarity around artificial intelligence is going to become increasingly important for workers in both the public and private sectors in the time ahead.
Sentiment score: 0.17
On the legacy Act, the Irish Government took a case not because of pressure from any political party but because it believes in international law, human rights and the Good Friday Agreement. We took one in a very difficult situation. We did not want to find ourselves in that position, but I can report to the House very good and constructive engagement between me and the Secretary of State on behalf of our respective Governments to try to get to a better place on legacy. The Irish Government’s clear landing zone here is that if there is to be an agreed position between the British and Irish Governments, it will have to be human rights compliant and try to bring victims and their families with us. I believe the next few weeks will show it is possible. Specifically on the Sean Brown case, I have read the statement of the Secretary of State on Sean Brown. I understand the Secretary of State has filed applications with the Court of Appeal seeking an extension of time for decision-making and seeking protective leave to appeal to the Supreme Court in the case brought by Bridie Brown, whose husband was murdered by loyalist paramilitaries in 1997. However, as I said to the Secretary of State in private last week – I also said it publicly at our joint press conference – the Brown family has waited far too long to find out the truth about what happened to Sean Brown. We are approaching the 28th anniversary of his murder and, in the absence of an effective investigation into his death, which the UK Government has not yet agreed to, the passage of time makes it absolutely and increasingly pressing. Bridie Brown has shown enormous strength in pursuing this case through every available channel and I intend to continue to pursue it also.
Sentiment score: 0.19
As the Deputy can imagine, since both of us live in the area, I share her frustration on this. We know very well that as the review was carried out, there were some people, including in our constituency, who saw significant fare reductions, but there have also been what I regard as anomalies in that some towns have seen significant fare increases. In this regard, the Deputy rightly referred to Greystones and Kilcoole, two towns we know well. The NTA and others will tell us that the changes are broadly revenue neutral, which is true, and that we are moving to a distance-based zonal system. The NTA believes the latter is fairer and easier for passengers to understand. However, this needs to be kept under review. From a policy point of view, we have taken a number of steps to try to help people with the cost of public transport, including the young adult card and the 90-minute fare. We have had money to extend that. We have seen a number of initiatives that have helped to reduce the cost and I would not like to see anything that counters that, so I am happy to continue to engage with the NTA on this, as I know the Deputy is. I will keep in touch with her on it.
Sentiment score: 0.27
I know this is a serious issue and has been in Dublin Mid-West, where it seems to arise particularly as an issue. There are approximately 1,803 public health nurses employed in the HSE and we have provided funding for another 26.7 - let us call that 27 - whole-time-equivalent posts in this year’s budget. My note here tells me that the HSE is making good progress recruiting those people, has recently been given commissioning letters to fill the new development public health nursing posts and recruitment has now commenced. My understanding is that, in parallel to this recruitment, the HSE is trying to carry out a number of short-term temporary solutions, including integrating services, reorganising work, engaging with the graduate nurse scheme to fill vacant positions and the redeployment of staff to make sure that areas retain a level of service while new staff are coming on stream. I will ask the Minister for Health to revert to the Deputy directly on the 27 new posts are they are rolled out.
Sentiment score: 0.26
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am aware of the commitment that was made and the anxiety people are feeling. I do not have the information in front of me today but I will ask the Minister directly to revert to the Deputy. I will outline that the Deputy has raised the issue and the urgency of trying to resolve this matter for her constituents.
Sentiment score: 0.28
I think the Government’s position in relation to Palestine is very clear and so does the President of the Palestinian Authority, its Prime Minister and its ambassador to Ireland. Ireland stands in solidarity with the need for a two-state solution. Ireland believes in two states and we recognise the State of Palestine to keep that hope alive. We have taken a number of practical measures, that have not just been words, including, as Deputy Gogarty referenced, our submission to international courts like the ICJ, providing additional funding to UNWRA to provide direct humanitarian assistance to people in Gaza, and working at EU level on the EU Palestinian dialogue.
Sentiment score: 0.53
I believe very much in protest in a democracy, that is, protest obviously within the law. I also believe our gardaí generally do a very good job in this country. I am not familiar with the protest the Deputy mentioned. I truthfully am not.
Sentiment score: 0.03
If anyone has any concerns on that, there are mechanisms by which they can be raised. However, protest is absolutely lawful in this country, that is, peaceful protest. It takes place and is an important part of a healthy democracy.
Sentiment score: 0.20