Aengus Ó Snodaigh
Dublin South-Central · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“In a reply to a parliamentary question on MetroLink in April of this year, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, again stated his belief that the MetroLink terminus can facilitate any potential future MetroLink expansion to serve the south west, south or south east of Dublin should sufficient demand develop. That demand is already there.”
“A millennium and a half later, with Ireland serving as the President of the Council of the European Union, it is the same law we want to see enforced in the era of AI. In the words of the author Scott Turow, in paraphrasing The Atlantic's Alex Reisner, the bold future promised by AI has been "created with stolen words".”
“Tá roinnt samplaí anseo agam. Glacaim leis gur chuir an conradh agus BÁNÚ roinnt samplaí eile chuig an Aire ag léiriú an damáiste a dhéanfaidh sé sin. In ainneoin an méid atá ráite aige, i gceantair áirithe, tá coinníollacha ar leith ann ó thaobh forbróirí atá ag forbairt iliomad tithíochta faoi láthair.”
“Theft is being rewarded and creativity is being punished to the tune of €22 billion globally in music and film, according to the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers. The European directives are no longer fit for purpose because of the exemptions granted to train AI.”
“Cloisim é seo. Chuala mé é thar na blianta ó dhaoine a bhí ag iarraidh go laghdófaí teorainn na Gaeltachta. Bhí siad ag iarraidh díriú isteach ar na ceantair a bhí in ísle brí ó thaobh labhairt na Gaeilge chun iad a chaitheamh amach ón nGaeltacht. Bhí siad ag iarraidh go mbeadh an Ghaeltacht srianta go dtí ceantair ina bhfuil 50% ann.”
“Bhí líne den scoth sa leabhar Ag Caint Linn Fhéin , a scríobh Joe Steve Ó Neachtain, laoch an Ghluaiseacht Chearta Sibhialta na Gaeltachta agus ealaíontóir ildánach, "Is é an croí atá i gceol na hÉireann a dhéanann náisiún mór den náisiún beag seo ar fud an domhain." Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam. Tír gan ealaín, tír gan chroí.”
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“It needs to accelerate all of the other ones. The communities have spent time and effort and have had consultation after consultation, yet they are getting knocked back. Communities will not continue to engage in those consultations. Is that what the Minister of State wants? Does he want to break the communities and separate them around the city, as has happened in the past, because of the delays? Blocks are detenanted, people are moved out of the community and they are no longer part of it. They are elsewhere. Is that the intention? Then, all of a sudden, the Government has a greenfield site it can build public-private apartments on. That is the wrong approach. These communities are proud.”
“It should acknowledge that it has increased the rent in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. It should also acknowledge the increase in rent is for substandard accommodation, pure and simple. These flats are substandard and people know it. They are not fit, in some cases, for human habitation. I have had many cases over the years where residents have come to me about the level of mould and damp, with water running down their walls, not the windows but their walls, and into sockets, making it dangerous to live in. The floor gets saturated and the furniture they have starts to warp and attract mould and damp. The Minister of State would not expect to live in that, yet the State expects people to live in those conditions. It needs to end now. The Government needs to reverse the decision taken on Oliver Bond House and not just that.”
“They would not live in the conditions they are asking residents in my constituency to live in, whether it is Oliver Bond House, Emmet Buildings or Basin Street. There are quite a lot more, including Bernard Curtis House, Dolphin House and Seagull House. In some places, they have pulled them down. People might remember the Emmet estate, or the old St. Michael's Estate. How long has that been waiting for the building? They are only on-site, yet the buildings were pulled down many years ago. That is scandalous. It is strange that the Labour Party even bothered trying to amend our motion because it tried to take out the criticism we had of the party increasing the rent. Shame on it for that.”
“Where are phases 2, 3, or 4? Nobody knows. The last we heard was 2035. That is supposed to have started 20 years ago. All of the deadlines set by the council or the Government have never been met because they do not involve them living in it, pure and simple.”
“In that instance, they keep telling lies, coming up with new dates and then turning them upside down, and it does not happen. I have documents and questions here where we have been continuously told that phase 1B of Dolphin House will proceed. It was supposed to be finished by the end of this year; it is now 2029. Let us look at how disgraceful the Government amendment is. Most people do not normally look at it because they know it is a negative. The Government parties are crowing and saying how great they are at delivering social housing regeneration. They picked out Dolphin House and said that they completed it in 2018. They did not complete phase 1 in 2018; they are still working on it. That is how badly the work was done. It is not complete. There is still no movement on phase 1B. We are still waiting on it.”
“I commend the residents, especially those here today, and all those who have to live in these unfit conditions. All of a sudden, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour has decided that there is an increase in their rent. If it is unfit, there should be no increase. In fact, there should be no rent for the conditions some of these tenants are living in, pure and simple. The council has been informed for many years of the unfit conditions, and that includes, for a long time, sewage coming up through the baths in some of the flat complexes. That is how bad it is and how bad has been, yet we have a Government that is willing to put on hold any chance of regeneration in Oliver Bond Street. I have sat on the Dolphin House regeneration board for many years.”
“Tuigim cad atá á rá ach tá ról ag an Aire tríd reachtaíocht na Tithe seo. Bhí an díospóireacht ann agus léiríodh an bhuairt ag an am. In fact, sular éirí sé as, léirigh Éamon Ó Cuív, duine do chomhghleacaithe an Aire, an bhuairt chéanna. Chuir sé Bille chun cinn chun tarraingt siar ón gcinneadh a glacadh in Acht 2006. Thug sé an Bille an Choláiste Ollscoile, Gaillimh (Leasú), 2017, chun cinn a bhí dírithe ar cinnte a dhéanamh de go raibh stádas níos daingne agus níos láidre ó thaobh na Gaeilge de sa choláiste, agus go mbeadh tús áite ann ó thaobh na Gaeilge de. An bhuairt atá ann ná muna bhfuil inniúlacht sa Ghaeilge acu siúd ag an leibhéal is airde sa choláiste go ndéanfaidh sé dochar don straitéis atá ann. Tá straitéis ann a bhí ag tabhairt borradh don Ghaeilge sa choláiste agus tá dainséar ann anois.”
“Ní féidir agus ní ceart go mbeadh Pontius Pilate á dhéanamh sa chás seo. Is cinneadh Rialtais a bhí ann Acht Ollscoil na Gaillimhe a thógáil isteach in 2005 nó 2006. Rinneadh ísliú ar stádas na Gaeilge ó thaobh coinníollacha a bheith ann maidir leo siúd atá i gceannas ar an gcoláiste. Is féidir leis an Rialtas, tríd leasuithe a dhéanamh ar an Acht atá ann faoi láthair, dualgas a bheith ann go mbeadh cáilíochtaí ar leith ann - toisc an príomhról atá ag an ollscoil seo maidir leis nGaeilge - agus go mbeadh ar iarrthóirí a bheith inniúil sa Ghaeilge. Ní caitheamh anuas é seo ar na daoine atá sna poist seo. Fuair siad an post tríd an ngnáthchóras. Is caitheamh anuas ar an gcóras é nach raibh an coinníoll ann sa chéad dul síos. Dá réir, tá ísliú tugtha don Ghaeilge.”
“Tá an cheist seo dírithe ar an imní atá ann maidir leis an bpolasaí Gaeilge agus an ról lárnach atá ag an nGaeilge in Ollscoil na Gaillimhe, áit a mbeidh seans ann nach mbeadh Gaeilge inniúil ag an uachtarán, meabhránaí, rúnaí ollscoile nó an déan feidhmiúil agus go mbeadh sé sin mar dhroch-chás don Ghaeilge agus do stádas na Gaeilge san ollscoil.”
“Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh: Táimid ag díriú isteach ar cheann de na ceisteanna go gcaithfimid mic léinn a mhealladh isteach sa chóras chun na hábhair seo a dhéanamh. Ní bhíonn a fhios acu. Níl an cúrsa ar fáil. Faoin am atá sé ar fáil, tá na mic léinn seo tar éis bogadh ar aghaidh. Mar shampla, bhíodh céim san iriseoireacht ann go hiomlán trí Ghaeilge. Níl sé ann a thuilleadh, in ainneoin go bhfuil TG4 againn anois agus tá fás i ngach uile gné den saol ó thaobh na meán cumarsáide. Tá roinnt réimsí ar féidir linn daltaí a mhealladh isteach ann an-tapa. Tógfaidh sé i bhfad Éireann níos faide do chinn eile. Caithfidh straitéis a bheith ann ionas go bhfuil a fhios againn go bhfuil innealtóirí, dochtúirí, lianna de shóirt eile, fiú garraíodóirí agus a leithéid, go bhfuil an tomhas acadúil acu as Gaeilge, ní díreach an Ghaeilge.”
“Ar a laghad tá tuiscint ann anois go bhfuil gá chun gníomh a dhéanamh agus díriú isteach ar an gceist seo. Tá roinnt de na hinstitiúidí tríú leibhéal ar an eolas faoin ngá díriú isteach ar an gceist, ach don chuid is mó tá siad ag caint faoi láthair ar modules a chur ar fáil sna cúrsaí, seachas go mbeadh an cúrsa iomlán i nGaeilge. Tá buntáiste ag an dá chóras, ach sa deireadh thiar thall, muna bhfuil an cúrsa ina iomláine trí Ghaeilge, déanann sé níos deacra do roinnt de na gairmeacha a chur i láthair i gceart as Gaeilge. Ní leor do dhochtúir a bheith in ann Gaeilge a labhairt. Is gá dóibh an t-eolas a bheith acu agus é a chur i láthair sa Ghaeilge theicniúil a bhainfeadh le dochtúir, innealtóir nó aon duine mar sin.”
“An bhfuil maoiniú breise chun a bheith tugtha do na hinstitiúidí tríú leibhéal chun a dhéanamh cinnte de go bhfuil siad ag soláthar cúrsaí trí mheán na Gaeilge chun cuidiú leis an Stát an 20% atá leagtha síos ó thaobh earcú isteach sa Státchóras a shroicheadh?”
“We are a welcoming society and always have been but there have always been elements which have wished to make us a close-minded, conservative and retrograde society. Gabhaim buíochas arís le gach duine as a bheith liom sa díospóireacht, go háirithe iad siúd a thug tacaíocht dom leis an mBille ar an gCéad Chéim. Tá a fhios agam nár chóir dom labhairt faoin Uachtarán ach bhí sí anseo nuair a bhog muid an Bille seo ar an gCéad Chéim. Tá súil agam go mbeidh sí i láthair nuair a théann an Bille os comhair an Uachtaráin. Beidh sí an-sásta go raibh sí mar chuid den phróiseas, idir thús agus dheireadh an phróisis.”
“It is not just coarseness in debate or discourse. It goes beyond that to physical attacks now. It seems to be becoming acceptable to attack people who stand up for gay rights or LGBTQ rights or even speak about it. I know that on my Facebook tonight I will be targeted just for having the gall, in their eyes, to stand up and raise an issue. It is easy for me; I just delete, hide, block. I am not the one who has to move around the city and make a display of affection with another man or another woman. That can draw physical attacks from some of these idiots. We have to stand against that type of attitude. We have seen it in other countries in the EU and we will not tolerate it here. We have come a long way and need to stay well away from that which gave us the title of a conservative society. We are not.”
“They then became open to being targeted by conservative elements in small communities. The Valley of the Squinting Windows springs to mind. There was definitely that kind of view in small-world Ireland, not rural Ireland but Ireland as a whole. You had it in urban communities as well. That persecution, prosecution, marginalisation, isolation and ostracisation went with it. We are trying to right that in a small way. This is not the end of this. There were 95 recommendations. Many have been addressed. There are still some we need to address. By us having this debate today, I hope it sends the message we will not stand by and allow the comments that Deputies O'Gorman and Donnelly referred to. There is now an increase in homophobia again. As a Parliament, we are united on that and will not stand for that.”
“I have 30 more years to do since the founding of the State. That is me, an amateur historian, throwing in a word. We need to find out the full effects and we will when the disregard scheme is up and running. We will hear people's stories or, maybe more so, become aware of them, especially those who, as my colleague, Deputy Devine, said, emigrated. There are so many people. I and probably everybody in this Chamber know people who feared prosecution and the persecution that came afterwards, and sometimes before. Even my cursory glance showed people not turning up in court. It is obvious they got the hell out of Dodge before their whole world collapsed. In many cases, it did collapse. They had to leave their jobs and had their full details published in local newspapers and endured the scandal that drew upon them.”
“It is 100 years old and still grappling with the legacy of colonial laws. Every couple of years in this Parliament, we have legislation repealing hundreds or thousands of old colonial laws. We do that but the legacy here is still live. My colleague, Deputy O'Reilly, quoted from a case in 1992. There are probably more. I have taken a cursory glance through files and shared some of the documentation with others. If people want them, I am happy to share. It is just what is available in this new modern age in the archive of newspapers online. You put in a search and, all of a sudden, get results. I was only searching for two words: "gross indecency". I did not search for the other charges that might have been brought. I have not finished. I have about 80 pages - one page per newspaper article.”
“That was bad enough but it was the glee - I do not know whether I am using the wrong word - with which the gardaí took it upon themselves to seek out nearly every gay person in this city, interrogate them, visit their workplaces and hound them day in and day out until they gave their fingerprints or accounted for their movements, just by virtue of the fact they had got it into their heads that a person who was gay had committed the killing and stabbing of Charles Self. I do not think that murder has ever been brought to a conclusion but its effects are explained in this booklet. The booklet was put together to encourage us as parliamentarians to address this issue. That is when, in many ways, I came to this issue. A redress or disregard process is not something that happens all the time. We have a relatively new State.”
“In its few short pages, it outlines the effects much better than I can on the people affected by the criminalisation of homosexuality in this State and, when people went before the courts, what they were faced with. Mention was made of Declan Flynn. There are a number of them in Rathmines and so on in the seventies. I was a very young child at that stage but I remember the eighties, similar to Deputy Donnelly. The one I remember is when Charles Self was stabbed to death in 1982. It was not the fact of the horrific death.”
“Nuair atá seans againn ceart a dhéanamh nuair atá ciapadh tar éis a bheith déanta ar dhaoine, ba chóir go dtapaímid an deis chun ceart a dhéanamh agus an rud sin a chur i gceart. It has been a good debate. I thank those who contributed today and those who have been raising our awareness over the years, in particular the LGBT+ Restorative Justice Campaign. I mentioned Brian, Kieran and Karl earlier. Some of them are with us today. There are also the drafters, Céile and Ciaran. I draw people's attention to the booklet they produced, Disregard and Redress . It is a useful introduction if there are people listening or looking in who are interested in the topic.”
“I wish it was this good all the time. I thank the Minister for his positive comments throughout - from the get-go when I asked the parliamentary question to the First Stage, when I talked to him afterwards and the debate today. I thank all of those who took part, including na Teachtaí Louise O'Reilly, Máire Devine, Paul Donnelly, Eoin Hayes, Pádraig Rice and Roderic O'Gorman agus, dar ndóigh, an tAire féin. Gabhaim buíochas leo mar, go minic, bíonn sé deacair daoine a fháil chun páirt a ghlacadh i ndíospóireachtaí tráthnóna Déardaoin. Gabhaim buíochas leo siúd a sheas an fód agus a bhí anseo. Is léir ón oiread daoine a bhí anseo don díospóireacht cé chomh tábhachtach is atá sé mar ábhar.”
“Ours is not the only country in the world that has gone down the road of trying to address this hateful persecution. This Bill establishes a process for applying to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission for a disregard of one's conviction as well as an appeals process and a review of the process within three years, along with annual reporting of the performances of that function. A disregard will provide clarity that there are no grounds for dismissing or prejudicing a person from office, profession, occupation, employment or any other right or privilege which citizens are entitled to on the basis of such conviction. Acceptance, recognition, justice: no less is deserved by the generation of men who did nothing but take part in the love that dare not speak its name.”
“It is unsurprising that victims of injustice would feel that they would have to go back to the perpetrators to seek their help. Between 2021 and 2023, the working group was set up to examine the disregard for convictions. It produced a comprehensive report outlining the harsh realities of this gross human rights abuse. It proposed 95 recommendations for a disregard scheme. As I said, this Bill does not address all of those. It cannot. There are restrictions on us as Opposition TDs. We cannot put a charge on the Exchequer. Such practical things like resourcing and counselling supports cost money. We will hopefully get into some of that when we deal with the Minister's amendments. We address the need for research and redress to find out what the consequences are.”
“I will not read out any more but I have done a job of work and, as I have mentioned, there was a piece of work done in relation to Tullow. It just shows that, in certain areas, certain gardaí or certain judges had a specific bent towards convicting and persecuting those who they felt were criminal. That was their approach. This Bill does not accomplish everything that was set out in the report, which was to address our failings. The justice Minister at the time, Charlie Flanagan, and the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, issued apologies on behalf of the State in June 2018 to those affected, but the criminal records of the convictions still remain. A first effort and progress to expunge those convictions using confidential Garda email addresses failed utterly as nobody came forward.”
“As I said, this is a cursory glance through snippets in time. I go up to one that I found quite horrendous in The Nationalist & Leinster Times on 25 March 1950. It records the following case. It is quite a substantial report, which usually is not the case. They were usually one or two lines, but this one went into quite some detail. His Lordship [that is, the judge] said to the accused that it was sad to see a man of his stamp in court in a case of this kind. As Counsel said, his case was one more for scientific medical treatment than one for ordinary imprisonment. "Dempsey, are you determined to make a manly effort to cure yourself of this trouble?" his lordship asked. Prisoner [who was obviously scared to death of what was in front of him]—I am. That is the type of fear there was.”
“I can and will continue, but I hope in all this that we look at this and that when the Minister produces legislation, we get into looking at funding a piece of research to see the level of persecution in the State and the effects it had on people. In the Irish Independent , on 26 October 1929, it says the following. It is short enough because these were very short notices. Exemplary Sentence .—Judge Davitt sentenced Victor Furley, who pleaded guilty to a large number of counts of gross indecency, to 15 years' penal servitude, and in commending Det. Officers Madden and Cryan, who had assisted in bringing the accused to justice, said it was revolting that police officers and Irishmen should have to be employed in detecting such crimes. That is from 1929, and it does not stop there.”
“It was talked of as a crime, and they were expected to pay extortionate bail bonds. I have done a bit of research since I embarked on this legislation and the passage of First Stage. It is only a cursory snapshot through the papers that are online. These are the files here in my hand, and each one of them is just one story out of one paper, a snapshot in time, but they reflect the attitudes of the day. The attitudes from the first one I have, from 1929, remain the same right up to the last one I have found at this stage. My work is not complete. I am missing two decades of research. This is only from a search for "gross indecency", which was what most men were charged with.”
“We must remember that the mere threat of prosecution was used to blackmail gay men. They would be named and shamed in the newspapers. They might lose their jobs or their families. In some cases, they faced judges whose unbridled homophobia was plain for all to see as they spoke openly about how they would have given a higher sentence if they could. Some local gardaí also demonstrated particular vindictiveness. Of the 68 criminal proceedings commenced in 1969, 20 were charged in Tullow, in County Carlow, alone, including teenagers aged 15, 16 and 17. So much for protecting children, when children were in fact being criminalised by the State. Imagine the fear that was felt by those largely working class men and juveniles whose sexual activity became the talk of the town.”
“For gay men, the State was against them, the church was against them and in many cases their communities were against them. At the very least, they feared that their own families were against them. The criminality associated with gay sex meant that there was little support during the AIDS crisis and sometimes homophobic violence was normalised in our society, which meant that they lived in fear of their life with nowhere to turn. Decriminalisation came ten years after the brutal murder of Declan Flynn in Fairview Park, which sparked the first Pride march in Dublin in 1983. In the ten years leading up to the decriminalisation, the State commenced criminal proceedings in 309 cases, resulting in 94 convictions. Dozens more cases of buggery were known to the Garda in 1993 and more men could well have been prosecuted.”
“When the Government of the day was finally dragged kicking and screaming into decriminalising consensual sex between men in 1993 following the famous case taken by our good friend in these Houses, David Norris, who took the case all the way to the European Court of Human Rights, there was little acknowledgement then or since of the lives that were utterly destroyed by the horrific penal system that existed for generations or of the lived reality of being gay in this State and the climate of fear in which gay men lived or left Ireland to escape. There was no space for people who did not conform. This was also the time of the Magdalen laundries, the industrial schools, forced adoption and record incarceration in psychiatric hospitals.”
“Consensual same-sex activity was lumped in with bestiality. It also stated that offenders shall suffer such pains of death and losses as felons be accustomed to. When the Free State was founded, this homophobic bigotry was enshrined in law again in the running of our Defence Forces where consensual activity was deemed a military offence subject to court martial. That was reinforced as late as in the Defence Act 1954.”
“I hope we can then get the Government's approach to the need for this legislation before us and then we can deal with the amendments shortly. This will allow us to put to an end once and for all the wrong committed for many years. Every day wasted is a day where we are failing to account for the nation's dark history when it comes to the persecution of gay men. That persecution can be traced way back to Act for the Punishment of the Vice of Buggery (Ireland) 1634, which was imposed by a British colonial regime. That law remained on the books in this State until 1993 along with the other draconian laws from the Victorian era that criminalised men who engaged in consensual sexual activity with other men. The first law stated it was for "the detestable and abominable Vice of Buggery committed with Mankind or Beast".”
“The fact that this Bill has been co-sponsored by TDs from Sinn Féin, the Labour Party, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit, the Green Party and the Independent Catherine Connolly before her election as President indicates the groundswell of support and consensus across this House on this issue. Not alone was the Opposition united on the need for a disregard process, but the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, indicated at the time that he was not opposed to this. He has also indicated that he will not oppose the legislation on Second Stage and, in fact, intends to bring his own proposals forward in the very near future. I know he has promised that before, but he promised me that it would be within weeks this time.”
“Gabhaim míle buíochas leo siúd who contributed to the drafting of this legislation, which in many ways I plagiarised from them: Céile Varley, Cillian Bracken and the law firms, Goodbody and Clifford Chance. Gabhaim buíochas leis na Teachtaí eile a shínigh an Bille seo – Teachtaí Ged Nash, Pádraig Rice, Paul Murphy, Roderic O’Gorman agus iarTheachta Dála agus Uachtarán na hÉireann reatha, Catherine Connolly. Is é seo an Bille deireanach a thionscain sí agus tréaslaím léi as an éacht atá bainte amach aici ó shín. Is Bille é seo a chuirfidh deireadh leis an éagóir a rinneadh ar fhir leis na glúnta de réir géarleanúna coilíní.”
“Tá áthas orm an Bille um Neamhaird a Thabhairt ar Chionta Stairiúla i dtaobh Gníomhaíocht Ghnéasach Chomhthoiliúil Idir Fir, 2025 a bhogadh ar an Dara Chéim tar éis don Dáil glacadh leis an Chéad Chéim d’aon guth nuair a foilsíodh é i mí Iúil 2025. Gabhaim míle buíochas leis an LGBT restorative justice campaign, go háirithe na daoine a bhunaigh é, lena n-airítear Kieran Rose, Karl Hayden agus Brian Sheehan. Bhí siad ag brú na ceiste seo chun tosaigh. They addressed TDs and Senators in the audiovisual room of Leinster House earlier this week. Throughout the process, they have been in contact with me and other spokespersons on this issue. Some of them are here in the Gallery this evening.”
“I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." Is iontach gur shroich muid an Stad seo leis an mBille seo. Bhí sé seo foilsithe ach ní raibh muid ag súil go roghnófaí é go tapa is a bhí don díospóireacht ar an Dara Chéim. The Bill states: ...it is declared and recognised that all those, whether applicants or otherwise, who were prosecuted or convicted of offences arising from consensual same-sex sexual activity between persons of full capacity are entitled to and hereby receive an apology and an acknowledgement that maintaining such offences was, on the part of the State, improperly discriminatory and contrary to human dignity and that it infringed human rights including in particular the right to personal privacy and autonomy. That is the basis of the Bill I move today.”
“Níor chóir go mbeadh muid ag imirt an chluiche sin agus ba chóir don Stáit tacaíocht a thabhairt don fhoireann náisiúnta agus seasamh ceart a ghlacadh seachas an seasamh atá á ghlacadh go dtí seo. Níor chóir go mbeadh Iosrael ag glacadh páirt in aon spóirt idirnáisiúnta ag an stad seo tar éis an áir a dhein sé.”
“Tá fadhb agam leis an astro agus bhí orm labhairt leis an Aire faoi sin cheana gur chóir go ndéanfaimid cinnte de go bhfuil an stuif ceart á chur isteach ann seachas an stuif a thugann ailse do dhaoine. Tapóidh mé an deis seo chomh maith chun cáineadh beag tapa a dhéanamh ar FIFA. B’fhéidir gur chóir don FAI glaoch ar FIFA anois agus gur chóir an duais don tsíocháin a thug sé don demi-God nua sin atá ann, Trump, a tharraingt siar de bharr an chogaidh atá á fhógairt timpeall an domhain; ní síocháin atá sé ag cur chun cinn. Tapóidh mé an deis chomh maith tacú go huile is go hiomlán le mo chomrádaí an Teachta Joanna Byrne as an seasamh a ghlac sí ar son na Palaistíne.”
“Tá an oiread sin rudaí gur féidir linn a dhéanamh chun cuidiú leo ach go háirithe sna spóirt áit a bhfuil mná ag teacht chun cinn i bhfad Éireann níos mó ná mar a bhí agus ag ráta níos tapúla. Níl na seomraí feistis acu, ní féidir leo gléasadh agus tá easpa leithris agus sin ann. Is jab mór é sin le déanamh nuair atáimid ag cur leis na háiseanna atá ag na clubanna seo. Tá ceantair timpeall na tíre nach bhfuil aon pháirceanna féir acu cosúil leo siúd atá bainteach le Sporting Liberties. Chuala mé Teachtaí ó thuaisceart na cathrach ag caint faoi seo chomh maith. Caithfimid cinnte a dhéanamh de nach bhfuil ceantair ann nach bhfuil páirceanna peile - páirceanna féir nó AstroTurf - cearta acu.”
“Tá sé go hiontach go bhfuil an díospóireacht seo ar siúl. Is sórt ráitis atá i gceist agus caint faoi rudaí seachas díospóireacht. Is trua nach bhfuil rún os ár gcomhar gur féidir linn ar fad tacú leis, mar shampla go dtacaíonn Tithe an Oireachtais le gach uile iarracht chun an spórt seo a chur chun cinn le cinntiú go bhfuil infheistiú ceart ann ar gach leibhéal. Mar atá cloiste agam ó tháinig mé isteach sa Seomra agus fiú roimhe sin, táimid ag tabhairt aitheantais don obair leanúnach atá ar siúl acu siúd atá gafa le clubanna sacair, clubanna peile agus gach uile sórt clubanna timpeall na tíre. Mar Pharlaimint, táimid ag tabhairt an aitheantais sin dóibh agus cloisimid iad nuair atá siad ag lorg cabhrach agus cúnaimh.”
“Ba chóir go mbeadh straitéis ag an gcomhairle, ag an Stát nó ag Údarás na Gaeltachta na tithe seo a cheannach lena gcur ar an liosta tithe sóisialta nó inacmhainne le ligin do theaghlaigh bogadh isteach sna ceantair sin. Ní hamháin go bhfuil gá le tithe nua a sholáthar agus na cinn atá tréigthe a chur ar ais in úsáid, ach ní mór dúinn na tithe samhraidh atá ar díol faoi láthair a aistriú ina dtithe teaghlaigh.”
“Níl mé ag rá nach bhfuil aon rud ag tarlú. Aithním go bhfuil nithe ag tarlú. Tá siad ag tarlú i gceantair ar leith ar luas rómhall, áfach. Caithfidh muid straitéis a bheith againn sna háiteanna ina bhfuil na scoileanna i mbaol de bharr easpa páistí. Má aithníonn muid é sin anois, is cóir go mbeidh straitéis ann. Níl de dhíth ach dhá nó trí theach le teaghlaigh iontu chun scoileanna a choimeád oscailte i roinnt de na ceantair seo. Ní mór dúinn dul isteach agus féachaint ar líon na suíomhanna atá ann agus, mar a dúirt an tAire, líon na dtithe atá tréigthe agus iad a chur ar ais in úsáid. Muna bhfuil straitéis ann, fágfar é seo. Beidh na háiteanna seo tréigthe. Beidh na scoileanna agus na clubanna CLG dúnta dá réir de dheasca nach bhfuil aon dream ag teacht isteach. Tá tithe samhraidh sna ceantair seo, agus bíonn siad ar díol.”
“Tá tionsclaíocht ar chuid de na suíomhanna sin ach d’fhéadfadh an chuid eile de na suíomhanna a bheith ina n-eastáit thithíochta dá mbeadh cead aige, nó ag dream éigin eile, an córas séarachais atá aige don eastát tionsclaíochta a úsáid do thithíocht chomh maith.”
“Tá súil agam go mbeidh Bille Údarás na Gaeltachta ag teacht chugainn ar Chéim an Tuarascála gan mhoill mar tá obair fós le déanamh ar an mBille sin le cinntiú go mbeidh, ó thaobh an róil a luadh maidir le tithíocht, ról ceart ag an údarás amach anseo maidir leis na suíomhanna atá aige ach chomh maith leis sin ó thaobh chuir chuige. Tá ról ag Údarás na Gaeltachta maidir le pleanáil teanga, ní díreach tionsclaíocht. Déanann daoine dearmad go minic ar an ról lárnach sin atá aige. Ní gá an talamh atá ag an údarás a dhíol le AHB; s féidir leis an údarás an talamh sin a ligean ar léas. Luaigh an tAire cruinniú le hUisce Éireann le déanaí. Mar chuid de róil Údarás na Gaeltachta, tá suíomhanna aige.”
“Tá brón orm as bheith beagáinín déanach. Ghlac an Dáil seo le cinneadh nuair a bhí rún os comhair na Dála maidir le cúrsaí tithíochta. Laistigh den rún sin bhí cáineadh ar an gcur chuige a bhí ag an Rialtas ó thaobh na tithíochta sa Ghaeltacht go dtí seo. Cad atá chun tarlú dá réir?”
“The reason they got DEIS plus status is along with the pressures on the community already, there is additional pressure because this build has not happened.”
“Cosúil leis an Teachta Ardagh, ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an Aire Stáit as díriú isteach ar an gceist seo. It is important the message goes out here that progress will happen. It is pity that it did fall well behind because we still do not have even the integrated project team in place. For anything to happen that has to be in place, and planning permission has to be sought, along with tenders for that building. I do not wish to be dismissive in some ways, but given the answers I have received in recent times, it does not look like any building works will be on this site for at least the next two to three years. We want that to be fast-tracked to ensure those pupils who went in for first year in 2023 see some progress, rather than continuously, year after year, going in and being spread over two campuses.”
“Yet, despite the fact that the planning for this started well before Covid and the amalgamation happened in 2023, there is no sight of any progress of any type in relation to the new build that was promised and the special education units and classrooms, six of which were promised. Despite the fact that parents were told by Catholic Education In Irish Schools Trust, CEIST, along with Le Chéile, that it would only initially be over two campuses and that this was the best thing for students into the future, they were told that progress had already been achieved. When we look at where they are now in terms of a school build, that seems to be a lie. There was no movement. There is still no movement. At this rate, it will be 2030 before any new build will be completed.”
“Like Deputy Ardagh, I also commend the school community and in particular, those students who are attending the school who have had to put up with two campuses, which is a very difficult thing when a person is trying to concentrate on his or her studies and education. I commend Sarah Green, the school principal, and the whole team and the board of management on their work in trying to hold this together. This project is an amalgamation of three schools: Caritas College, St. John's College De La Salle and St. Dominic's College. This was sold - and that is the word I am using - to the school community and the public at large as a step forward. They were told that a single campus would be best and would serve the educational needs of Ballyfermot and the children best and would also address special needs education on a single campus.”
“Is léir cé chomh mídhleathach atá an t-ionsaí agus cogadh barbarach seo nuair a fhéachtar ar an tslí ar caitheadh leis na páistí scoile agus leis an bhfrigéad Iaránach, nach raibh aon áit in aice leis an gcogadh ná ceantar na hIaráine. Caithfear é sin a cháineadh amach agus amach. Caithfimid seasamh i gceart. Tá obair á déanamh ag Teachtaí anseo tríd an ngrúpa parlaiminte atá againn a thugann tacaíocht agus a tharraingíonn aird ar cheist na Palaistíne. Táimid ag déanamh ceangal le tíortha eile chomh maith chun labhairt amach. Is cóir é sin a dhéanamh. Ba chóir don Rialtas seo labhairt amach i gcoinne Mheiriceá agus Iosrael, go háirithe sa chás seo. Tá aon duine a sheasann leo gafa le briseadh na rialacha idirnáisiúnta.”