I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It is important. I will engage with the relevant Ministers. Dublin City Council has a role and the private sector is also involved. There is an issue to be resolved. From the perspective of the arts community and citizens generally, the role of the centre, which is of benefit to generations and is in the public interest, is one we would like to retain. I will get an update from the relevant Minister on this.
Sentiment score: 0.27
Yes.
Sentiment score: 0.40
All parties in the last Government invested hugely in cycling. Successive Ministers for public expenditure, in particular, invested very significantly in active travel more generally, and that is to be seen across the country in the form of transformative projects. That is a good thing. I reject any stereotyping or categorisation of cyclists.
Sentiment score: 0.27
I do not want to breach any rule concerning the separation of powers but I am very clear that any general comment that impacts negatively on the perspective on cyclists is wrong. It should not be made. We should be very clear about the importance of cycling and about facilitating cyclists.
Sentiment score: 0.18
Also, we should be very careful regarding contested space on our roads to ensure that we protect cyclists. About €1 billion been invested since 2021 in walking and cycling projects across the country. The active travel and sustainable transport programme of the National Transport Authority, NTA, continues to be very significant, with higher amounts being provided again this year.
Sentiment score: 0.45
We have been recruiting. We need to be a little more analytical on this as well. I take the Deputy’s point in that the waiting times are not satisfactory whatsoever. The model needs to be examined. I do not believe it works at all in terms of the referral system and how we are utilising the disciplines. We are recruiting. There have been challenges with recruitment. CORU is improving its performance in respect of those who are qualified who wish to come from the United Kingdom, the EU or elsewhere. A lot of restrictive approaches were being taken to the recruitment of people from overseas, particularly regarding the therapies. More broadly, and standing back, are we deploying the resources we have adequately, effectively and optimally in respect of these issues? I am doubtful about it. I am doubtful about the model that exists within our health service in respect of therapies. We can keep recruiting but the recruits will not have an appreciable impact.
Sentiment score: 0.12
It is not eight years. It is a little disingenuous to say it is but I understand where the Deputy is coming from. The Government did not introduce a Bill eight years ago. What has been put forward is wholly inadequate in terms of constitutionality, etc. We will not go back over all of that.
Sentiment score: -0.08
What is going on with the settlements is wrong. It will render non-viable the prospect of a two-state solution, which in our view is the only sustainable way to have peace, including between Palestinians and Israelis, in the Middle East. I decry the continuing expansion of settlements in the West Bank. In our view, we need to move on to phase 2 of the peace process in Gaza, have a sustainable transitional force there, achieve decommissioning and have proper reconstruction of Gaza. We received a legal opinion from the Attorney General recently in respect of the occupied territories Bill. There are significant implementation issues. This will not stop anything in terms of the Israeli policy on the expansion of settlements. We just need to be clear about that as well.
Sentiment score: 0.30
The Government took its decision last week notwithstanding that significant improvements and safeguards were achieved. Quite a number of MEPs, including Barry Cowen, Billy Kelleher and Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, worked effectively and all tabled amendments that were accepted. That was important in making sure the strongest possible safeguards, including market safeguards, would be in place. Now the threshold has gone from 10% down to 5%, which is a pretty significant improvement regarding any disruption to the market here. Also, in terms of production standards, the EU sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, safeguards already in place are non-negotiable to protect human, animal and plant health. They are among the highest in the world, and they are non-negotiable. The Commission, as part of the safeguards, has already said it will include a 50% increase in the number of audits carried out on all non-EU countries over the next two years, a 33% increase in audits of the EU border control posts and closer monitoring of non-compliant commodities and countries.
Sentiment score: 0.61
I did not have enough time to come back on that.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I thank the Deputy for raising a very important issue. I agree with the thrust of what he is saying. We have to grasp the nettle here. By the way, under the 2024 regulations, it is an offence for children under 16 to use e-scooters on public roads. That is an important road safety measure, enforcement of which, of course, is a matter for An Garda Síochána. The wearing of helmets is a no-brainer, given the damage to the head that can happen if you do not have a helmet, and also given the issue of registration and high-vis clothing. The Minister of State, Deputy Seán Canney, is discussing this with his officials. I will come back to the Deputy with the concrete outcomes from those discussions.
Sentiment score: 0.09
I thank the Deputy for raising this. I will discuss it with the Minister, Deputy James Browne, and the Minister of State, Deputy John Cummins, in respect of whether we can improve the cash flow dimension to this.
Sentiment score: 0.54
Stage payments would mean that people have to claim back afterwards, and so on. I will come back to the Deputy on that.
Sentiment score: 0.00
The point that the Deputy has raised raises the issue more generally of how one responds to issues that emerged in respect of Grok, for example, and its use and application or manipulation. What is important is the laws we have in place and our enforcement regime. Child pornography is banned in Irish law under the 1998 Act. It is an important point to make. That is across-the-board, whether it is AI-created or in other forms. That is important. We need to focus on the laws we have in place to prevent the type of activity that people are understandably horrified by.
Sentiment score: -0.02
We also have laws pertaining to adults. The Attorney General has already given me preliminary advice in relation to this. The issue is that what is a problem on one platform today can be a problem on another platform tomorrow, and on another platform the day after. We will look at it.
Sentiment score: -0.16
We will look at that.
Sentiment score: 0.00
First, I want to pay tribute to An Garda Síochána for the work it did over the Christmas period. It carried out a dedicated road traffic enforcement operation throughout that period, with 10,000 checkpoints, as the Deputy said, statutory and mandatory intoxicant testing and regular high-visibility policing checkpoints. It made 765 arrests, seized nearly 3,000 vehicles for different offences under the Road Traffic Act and detected nearly 26,000 speeding offences. At the moment, as the Deputy said, there are some 638 gardaí assigned to roads policing. Recruitment is continuing apace and is accelerating, so additional garda numbers will become available to be deployed to priority areas. My view is that, over time, we will be in a position to assign more gardaí to roads policing units. Twenty-nine gardaí were assigned to the DMR roads policing unit last year. Last June, 26 gardaí were assigned to roads policing units in the eastern and north-western regions. Diaidh ar ndiaidh, mar a deir muid, beidh na huimhreacha ag méadú. We will increase the numbers.
Sentiment score: 0.00
That is an issue I will check up on further. I will talk to the Minister for Finance and Revenue in respect of this. The taxation law and framework, as the Deputy knows, covers all income earners and, obviously, you are taxed if your income goes above a certain threshold. There has not been specific tax treatment, to my knowledge, in respect of this area. I will follow up and try to examine what exactly is afoot in respect of this.
Sentiment score: 0.34
But we are providing huge-----
Sentiment score: 0.00
If the Deputy will let me finish the point. We are providing huge facilities across the country. There is a problem in Dublin city. The relationship between clubs and Dublin City Council and the other councils, for example, is much different to the relationship between clubs and sporting organisations and other local authorities down the country. There is a huge gap. I have seen it when I have been out canvassing in Dublin. There are too many restrictions on the utilisation of playing facilities and a lack of access for clubs to such playing facilities. There has been a record allocation of funding - there is no question about that – but there does need to be serious examination within Dublin collectively between clubs and councils in particular about freeing up land but also removing restrictions. We tend to do 100-year leases with clubs in Cork. We have done it for decades. That is almost unheard of, it seems to me, in Dublin. I was at clubs last year where they could not use facilities during the winter. It makes no sense to me, as someone who is involved.
Sentiment score: 0.04
I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. I am very fond of Clonmel. It is a very vibrant town. Senator Goldsboro has been on to me about the same issue as well. I will talk to the Minister involved. It is James Browne in this case or it might be Dara Calleary. I think it is the urban renewal fund that the Deputy is looking at here. I will certainly pursue that in terms of the public realm application.
Sentiment score: 0.28
I mentioned earlier the growth in population in this country over the past two decades. It has been a quite dramatic exponential growth in population. I accept the comments by the inspector of prisons. It is a real issue. It has been growing over the past decade, consequential on the increased population and increased crime. We are now undertaking the fastest-ever expansion of prison capacity in Ireland. That has to happen and it is happening. The money has been allocated. However, I acknowledge that even with that there will still be challenges and pressures on capacity in our prison system. It is absolutely correct that we should have proper facilities and that we should expand capacity.
Sentiment score: 0.05
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. TII and NTA are examining all these issues on an ongoing basis. Investment in public transport is happening apace. That will be key to reducing pressure on our roads. However, there is no easy solution in the short term. Park and ride does work. We will work and support the agencies and councils in respect of such facilities.
Sentiment score: 0.17
There is a responsibility on the services concerned and on the agencies concerned to do this properly and effectively. The Government cannot run every agency. I will alert the Minister to the issues the Deputy raised here but there is an obligation on the services to do this and enforce and fulfil the law so that the penalties are applied and the consequences which flow from such penalties are given effect to.
Sentiment score: 0.20
I thank the Deputy for raising this. It is a very pressing issue for Cork educate together. I will engage with the Minister for Education and the Department to get urgently required clarity for the school and the school community and I will get back to the Deputy.
Sentiment score: 0.33
Déanfaidh mé teagmháil leis an Aire chun soiléiriú a fháil maidir leis na tograí sin sa Ghaelscoil agus sa Ghaelcholáiste. Más féidir liom freagra a fháil, cuirfidh mé in iúl é.
Sentiment score: -0.28
The figures I gave yesterday and the comments were from the Department of Finance presentation to me. I have asked that the business case be published. There was an FOI in relation to that. There was a suggested contribution from officials of €150 million, if there was a wish to go further. The Minister agreed on the €141 million. I will seek to reconcile the various notes the Deputy has with the notes I have, which I articulated yesterday in the Dáil. We are talking about the 75 poorest countries globally that are supported by this organisation. That was the context.
Sentiment score: 0.05