As I said earlier, I heard of the case yesterday. The Department of foreign affairs has been aware of the case since October and has been engaging with homeland security through the consulate general in Austin and the embassy in Washington. There are further meetings being held today. When I finish Taoiseach's Questions and so on, I will be updated in respect of the matter. I will proceed as I see best in helping Seamus Culleton. We are very concerned about the conditions he is being held in and in terms of his seeking permanent status in the US.
Sentiment score: 0.31
I will ask the Minister for justice to review this case.
Sentiment score: 0.53
Again, however, it speaks to the issue the Deputy raised earlier in the context of America and migration law. The Deputy has raised two deportation cases today-----
Sentiment score: 0.00
-----I mean this sincerely - one in terms of the US implementing its law and the other in terms of Ireland-----
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-----implementing its law.
Sentiment score: 0.00
What is interesting is that the debate moves along the continuum, depending on given situations. I take the Deputy's presentation in very good faith and I will talk to the Minister for justice in respect of it. There were quite a number of cases like this seven or eight years ago. That reversed and the mood changed in Irish society and more generally. There have to be rules for migration. The key issue is that we accelerate the applications for asylum as quickly as we possibly can in order that people are not here for any undue length of time, and that we also accelerate the appeals dimension. However, there has to be a framework governing migration to give everybody-----
Sentiment score: 0.26
First, welcome all the students from UCC, both those who were here earlier and those who are here now.
Sentiment score: 0.46
The study of politics in UCC has always been a very positive and productive endeavour, as I know myself to good effect. The issue the Deputy raised is very serious. The Central Mental Hospital relocated to the new state-of-the-art purpose-built health facility at Portrane in November 2022. The new facility cost of €240 million, which was a demonstration of moving to a new era in respect of forensic psychiatry. It is now one of the better facilities of its kind in Europe.
Sentiment score: 0.38
Please wait, and I will give the answer. We either want a genuine debate or Deputies just want to score points. They should make up their minds. Some 93 patients had been transferred at that stage, and 114 beds are now open in the Central Mental Hospital. In 2025, we funded the recruitment of 41 additional staff to open a further 18 beds, two of which opened in December. The other 16 will be opened next month.
Sentiment score: 0.08
That is progress. We want to do more. We want to get to 140 beds.
Sentiment score: 0.19
I will discuss this with the Minister for justice. If a garda or any other person is guilty of domestic abuse and violence, that takes away from acts of heroism or courage. There is no doubt. I do not know the specific case or the act of bravery that merited the award of the Scott medal, but it must have been a significant act of bravery and perhaps An Garda Síochána took the view articulated by the Commissioner. However, I think there needs to be a broader look at that. If a person engages in domestic violence or sexual abuse , it takes away from courageous acts the same person may have undertaken.
Sentiment score: -0.06
No, it is not.
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That is a serious assertion-----
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-----which should be taken off the record
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That is in breach of Standing Orders. It has to be.
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Insider trading is a criminal act. The Deputy will have to withdraw that.
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Then there is a problem.
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I will deal with the question, but the point I am trying to make is-----
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On a point of order-----
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-----I do not like having to do this but it seems that Standing Orders-----
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It is either a clear breach of Standing Orders or it is not.
Sentiment score: 0.38
We have had a history in this House, where people-----
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Sorry now a second, if I may, through the Chair.
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I am not talking about this case, but when will the House get serious about people's names being undermined and their reputations-----
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Who? It is in Standing Orders.
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I know that, but I want to make a general point before I go on. It is a point worth making.
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It is worth making this point.
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Of course, the Ceann Comhairle is going to refer it to the committee.
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All I want to observe is that this has been going on for quite a long time. I am making------
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There is a casualness and nonchalance that is making a joke of Standing Orders.
Sentiment score: 0.30
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I know he has been particularly strong on the DART+ South West project and the need to have it greenlighted. He has, more or less, been successful in achieving the latter. I will support the Deputy's dialogue with the NTA. I have made the point that, generally speaking, there has been a great deal of negotiation, dialogue and engagement with residential groups across the country, particularly in Dublin and Cork, in respect of BusConnects. This has created a lot of challenges. Given the fact that the NTA is a State agency, there needs to be a constant, robust mechanism for engagement with communities, because some of these proposals are not landing well. Different age cohorts have different responses to how BusConnects manifests itself in the context of, for example, safety and so on. I have made that point to the NTA. It has improved in many areas regarding its consultations with communities. As the services are being rolled out, some communities do not feel they are getting what was envisaged.
Sentiment score: 0.41
I agree with the Deputy's condemnation of the horrific murder of Mary Holt and Tadhg Farrell. The savagery involved absolutely numbed people. We are increasing throughput in Templemore. The Commissioner is taking a position of allocating substantial numbers to given locations. The first tranche was given to Dublin in order to increase visibility in a meaningful way, which happened. Cork and Limerick have now benefited. Instead of putting dribs and drabs of two or three here and there, the bulk have been allocated to the centres. That will happen gradually. There will be three more attestations this year. We have healthy numbers coming through, so we will be in a position to get to Edenderry and Laois-Offaly more generally. The policy in this regard is having an impact where it is being rolled out. However, I fully accept the frustrations of those locations which have not yet received the benefit of the increased number of gardaí being recruited.
Sentiment score: 0.01
Seventeen extra gardaí have been recruited to Waterford since last August. The Minister visited Waterford and Dungarvan Garda stations recently and had good conversations with the chief superintendent, superintendents and gardaí more generally. People are seeing many more gardaí much more often now. The good news is that 215 trainees entered Templemore last Monday. That is the third intake in a row where the numbers have exceeded 200. Those candidates were all recruited from the 2024 and 2025 recruitment campaigns. We are on target. The Government is making progress on significantly increasing the number of gardaí in the force. That will continue.
Sentiment score: 0.15
We are concerned about the situation pertaining to Seamus Culleton. We fully accept people's concerns. I heard about the case yesterday. As I said earlier, our officials are engaging. The local consulate general in the US is engaging with ICE officials. We do not have the authority to interfere in the application of law but we do have the capacity to advocate strongly on behalf of our citizens to ensure that they are properly and humanely treated. We are conscious that this happened is in the middle of an application for status. We do not want to do anything that would undermine the securing of that status for Seamus Culleton. The Minister and the officials are engaging. They were meeting before I came in. I will have a further update when I leave here and I will see where we take it from there.
Sentiment score: 0.19
I dealt with this issue during Leaders' Questions. In the budget, we brought in specific measures to target those most in need and most under pressure as a result of the cost of living and the elevated level of the cost of living over the past four years, which is easing. Nonetheless prices are still high for people generally. In the budget, we brought in significant measures to deal with that. In terms of affordability, the CRU and the task force have published their work in respect of this. We will work with the European Union in respect on energy pricing given that the system and model that operates within the EU has impacts here and in terms of our own regulatory framework but that will take time to develop. Regarding the budgetary measures we have taken, we do not agree with universal supports, particularly providing support for those who do not need it, which seems to be Sinn Féin's position.
Sentiment score: 0.21
Deputy Cahill has made equally strong representations to me on this issue. He has been in my ear about this now for the past month or two months and has not stopped talking to me about it. The point is the Government decided that towns with a population below 20,000 will not be affected by the short-term letting legislation. Planning laws were there prior to this legislation. Any variation to commercial use requires planning permission. The Deputy referenced seven years plus. He is on the ball to a certain extent; that is the existing position, which is not changed by anything.
Sentiment score: 0.15
I do not have specifics in terms of the individual school but the numbers of SNAs have increased exponentially. The budget for special education has increased significantly and somewhat dramatically over the past three years and continues to increase so we need to work this out now as well. I will refer the case to the Minister for Education and Youth but it is not a context of cutbacks or anything like that. We are expanding the budget and we do have to allocate SNAs to children in line with best advice on our side.
Sentiment score: 0.58
That was absolutely horrific and I condemn very strongly what happened. Obviously, An Garda Síochána will have to follow up and the relevant authorities will have to pursue those guilty of this horrific crime. I appeal to people who witnessed this to give their evidence to the authorities, so that prosecution can follow.
Sentiment score: -0.72
I will talk to the Ministers concerned about this. It is never as simple as one issue but nonetheless I will talk to the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation and the relevant Ministers, so that whatever issues pertain here can be progressed.
Sentiment score: 0.00