Barry Heneghan
Dublin Bay North · Independent · Ireland
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an bPáirtí an Lucht Oibre. This highlights what many families are experiencing right now. Many people have been in contact with me. Even today, I met parents who were under enormous pressure because of the cost of uniforms, books, transport and school activities.”
“I refer to the hundreds of vacant spaces over shops in Dublin, the capital city in which I grew up. I welcome the above-the-shop grant but could we re-examine it in terms of microcompanies or SMEs availing of that grant? It can be difficult for them to avail of the above-the-shop grant.”
“They deserve to know how that supplier was selected, whether public procurement guidance has been followed and why students cannot use an equivalent device that they may already own. Technology undoubtedly has an important role in education. I do not dispute that fact. I came through education while the technology was developing.”
“Anois sa choiste fuinnimh táimid ag caint faoi plug-in solar. In 2024 there was a consultation done by the Department in which Bord Gáis Energy said that plug-in solar systems should be mounted on roofs where possible and hardwired into a dedicated circuit.”
“That contradiction leaves parents and students whom I represent caught in a middle ground. On one hand, the Department is saying they are not mandatory and, on the other, schools are telling parents that they must purchase one. I understand that the Minister of State was in north Dublin.”
“My granny drank raw milk and she lived to 98. We need to look into alternative ways to have locally sourced food. In that regard, I will point to what is happening at EU level and how it ties into this.”
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“I want to raise a big issue in north Dublin, namely the Oscar Traynor Centre. I also want to raise the Northside swimming pool, which has been closed. The Oscar Traynor Centre is a grassroots football centre built by people in Coolock and Kilmore. Why and how was it effectively handed over to a professional club when local clubs have been effectively cut out? Hundreds of young girls and boys cannot use the centre now. Why was it sold for a fraction of its valuated price? I would love the Tánaiste to look into this. I was in Kilmore recently, where a playground had been burned down. These young children have been cut out of the sports centre.”
“We see in Dún Laoghaire that oysters are being brought in to treat the water. Can we get that on the north side as well? I have a mandate for that. It was on my four-pager. Oysters are great natural filters of E. coli and other contaminants.”
“I have raised the issue of water quality in Dublin Bay time and time again. I am not going to just single out the north side. This is a north and south Dublin problem. We saw the rain that fell at the weekend. We have all seen the drone footage of the bay being polluted. I have swimmers whose only way of socialising is getting into that water and having the chats but the E. coli levels are not acceptable at the moment. In Dublin Bay and with the way the plumes work with the tides, the north side is affected worse when there is a high level. Some of these constituents are here today with the visual artists from Palestine who raised money for Artists Without Borders in Clontarf Castle. They are going to be swimming in that water. These are the people who need this water protected.”
“I ask the Government today to honour the commitment it made to the Irish people, to honour the commitments it made to me during the Government formation and to honour the people who voted on those commitments. I always say that in politics you give a contract to your constituency on what you are planning to do. If you do not break that contract with your constituency, it will not break its contract with you. However, we are breaking that contract. We said we would enact the occupied territories Bill. Eleven months on and it has been kicked down the road. I ask the Government to honour its commitments and to honour international law - legal obligations we proudly say we defend - because history will not remember the delays but it will remember how and whether we acted. Right now, we are not acting.”
“As Deputy Gogarty says, we know famine, occupation and hunger strikes. I bring attention also to the prisoners across England engaged in a rolling hunger strike for Palestine, refusing food to protest the repression of the Palestine Action group and the denial of the basic legal rights they are facing. Some are already in serious medical distress, with healthcare withheld and punitive measures imposed, yet they continue their strike in solidarity with the Palestinian people. They are joined by prisoners internationally, from Italy to the United States, showing that this struggle crosses borders. Their courage and refusal to be silenced, and their willingness to put their own bodies on the line, demand our attention and our action.”
“I have spoken to him and know he is on the same side on this. Ireland has always claimed to stand with the oppressed, from the anti-apartheid struggle, which I heard Deputies mention, to the Good Friday Agreement. We have never been neutral on injustice and we must not be neutral now. We have such great political power as a nation. As a small population, we are respected worldwide, which is why the enactment of this Bill will hopefully trigger more countries to act, like Spain has already done and as Belgium, Norway and other countries are now considering in their parliaments. Passing the occupied territories Bill does not make us radical. It makes us consistent and credible. It makes us Irish. We have done this before with South Africa. We triggered a bulldozer effect that led to peace and a solution.”
“I have spoken to Israelis who are against what the current government is doing. When we are called antisemitic, we need to be clear and say we are not antisemitic. We are anti-Zionist and against what the current Israeli state is doing. When a TD and a Senator are illegally abducted, mocked and brutalised against every international law - look at where we were abducted - does Israel not have to abide by international law? It clearly has not. All the activists who went on those flotillas did not do it to be on the selfie yacht, as Israel portrayed. They did it to bring aid and open a humanitarian corridor to a population that is facing genocide and famine. Doctors Without Borders was in here last week talking about the struggles it is having getting the aid in. This is not directed at the Minister of State.”
“When I am going to these doors, this is one of the main issues people still see. We need to do it immediately. These people out protesting are not extremists. They are not disrupters. They are the conscience of this country. I saw it in my own constituency two weeks ago with the Hope Palestine action, great northsiders who cycled and raised money for Doctors Without Borders. They understood that humanitarian organisations are often the last lifeline when politics fails. I stood on the flotilla. When we were illegally abducted by the IOF, when I had a gun pointed at my head and was called an Irish terrorist, when we were mocked, I was told that Ireland is the most antisemitic country in the world. We are not antisemitic. We had Israelis on the flotilla with us who are against the current government.”
“What good is recognising a state that is on its knees, completely crumbled? I recognise what Deputy Gogarty said; we do know occupation. When our ancestors with grass-stained faces were on the side of the ditch during the occupation of country, would we not have liked another country to stand with us? We did have the Choctaw Nation. We did have the Ottoman Empire deliver three ships of grain, despite the UK insisting that they send only one ship. What country was in the Ottoman Empire at the time? Palestine. They were under occupation at that time but we will not talk about that. The Irish people outside this Chamber sometimes know about moral clarity. Over the past year, I have seen thousands of young people on the streets. Many of them are just so frustrated.”
“"Never again" means for everyone. I have been on the phone to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank who I am now friends with. There is a young Palestinian living in Marino in my constituency, Amir. His family are in Gaza. His house has been blown up. His mother and father were doctors. All of their life savings are gone. They have nothing to go back to. How can I knock on his door again and not tell him that I did everything I could possibly do for him? That is the only reason I will not ever do it again. The international community has suggested that we did not know, that we were not sure, that we needed more time. It has been too long for that. Hundreds of thousands are dead. We do know. It is on our screens. How many reports have there been from the UN? Every country is now recognising the Palestinian state.”
“He was in negotiations with me and knew I was fighting for Palestine in there. We have a commitment for this. Before the election, the Government parties had a commitment to this. We have the strongest mandate possible. Look at what the Spanish are doing. They have done it. Look at what South Africa is doing. I do commend the Government on joining the ICJ case but I am disappointed with the delays, the excuses and, as everyone has said, the verbal dances. I met Senator Frances Black and she has shown so much patience, dignity and resolve. The rest of us should learn from her. She carried this legislation further and for longer than she should have had to. Patience cannot be extended any longer. Again, I urge the Government not to oppose this motion but to immediately enact it. The Geneva Convention did not fall out of the sky.”
“I would like to join with Deputy Gogarty's point about the emails we get. We all get thousands of emails about what we need to do, but we also get the negative ones from the other side. After I came back from my humanitarian mission, I can sympathise with the Deputy about how there is a strong lobby against this. We have to really focus on this. The decision should be straightforward. When I was sitting over there, I was supporting the Government. I still am. I was told that if we amended it, it would be done within six months. It has now been 11 months. The only time I have ever voted against this Government was for Palestine and I will continue to do that. I am committed to the programme for Government. I am not shouting at the Minister of State, Deputy Moran.”
“The people who use that station to commute to work every day would definitely have a better say than some engineer who is going to be plopped onto that project and will not have a clue about where there needs to be a ramp for a buggy or for someone who has accessibility needs. That is why I would like if the Minister of State would, and I appreciate that his office will, look in on behalf of these residents to see why they were not consulted because they have a right to be.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit and I appreciate that he will address that. It is ridiculous that when it comes to the next election, it is politicians who will be taking the brunt on public transport, as the Minister of State knows himself. When I send an email, from the office of a Deputy, I do not get a response from Iarnród Éireann asking for a clear date and time of when a drop happened. The northside has been neglected for far too long. I do not know if it was previous TDs on the northside who went fighting for them or what was happening. There are some stations that only have shelters for the southside users. This is something I am trying to fight for, but if you look at this, people in Donaghmede and Kilbarrack did not receive a leaflet drop. Their station is going to be changed.”
“I would like it to be clarified by Iarnród Éireann when the leaflet drops happened and the information notices were displayed in the Donaghmede area, what streets and estates were included in these drops and the corresponding dates on which this occurred. I ask this because the company is not answering my queries, so I hope it might answer the Minister of State.”
“I thank the Minister of State very much for that reply. A lot of the DART stations on the northside are currently not updating their social media quickly when lifts are unavailable to let people with accessibility issues know this is the case. They then get off at the station, and have to go through the process of getting to another station. In relation to what I said about the Donaghmede estate residents, we have changes going on in the Donaghmede-Howth Junction station. Iarnród Éireann has insisted it did a leaflet drop in the area to consult the residents, but I was at a meeting of more than 150 residents and they had not received a single leaflet. I have emailed Iarnród Éireann through our Oireachtas email query facility.”
“I rise to speak about transport across my constituency, especially regarding the DART and to see overall investment in the DART train stations in Clontarf, Killester, Harmonstown and Raheny and up to Clongriffin and out to Howth. There is a huge need for investment. I understand there is going to be a large investment going in. My issue is that I was at multiple meetings of residents and they had not been consulted on the current changes to the platforms. This is the matter I would like to raise.”
“I also wish to raise the issue of the 123 service. Multiple constituents, in particular the elderly and people with disabilities, are very upset about the change. They had a routine set as to where the bus was ending, but now there has been a change, not only of the bus number but also the destination. I welcome that the Minister of State will look into this. These people are set in their ways. They really liked what was there and they are upset about the current status. Deputy Ó Muirí and I receive the exact same emails on this. The elderly and people with disabilities need this to be looked at and they need the 123 service to finish near O'Connell Street, where it once did. That will make it more accessible, get people into social situations and allow them to go about their day-to-day business.”
“By decentralising supply and removing single points of failure, we make Ireland far more secure against these hybrid attacks.”
“We need to have back-up protection. If there was hybrid interference or direct sabotage, the consequences would be immediate and severe. As I am sure the Minister of State is well aware, every European warning and Baltic incident tells us the same thing. We cannot assume we are safe simply because we are offshore or because we are not part of a military alliance. Neutrality without capability is vulnerability. How do we respond? One part is obvious. Our Defence Forces need the capability to monitor, defend and respond to both cyber and physical threats. As a neutral, sovereign nation, strengthening our defence is very important and a necessity. I go back to private wires in the sense that local energy hubs supporting long-duration storage give communities and critical services back-up in case we are attacked.”
“Europe’s energy infrastructure has become a priority target. We have seen repeated incidents involving Russian-affiliated vessels interfering with various submarine cables. In December 2024, the Finnish authorities apprehended the Eagle S after it cut the Estlink 2 cable between Finland and Estonia. That ship had military grade detection equipment on its hull. That was not an accident; it was a message. Are we prepared? Our Defence Forces really needs to look into how we can look after our seas. How can the EU, as a whole, protect our energy? This obviously matters for Ireland as an island that depends almost entirely on undersea cables, although we have a lot onshore, for our connectivity, our banking and our economy. These cables carry all of these transactions and if they were to be damaged, it would be absolutely devastating.”
“Many players on the rugby team I play for are of Ukrainian descent. It is hitting us close to home as we are EU allies. The recent attacks in October and November triggered nationwide blackouts. What we are seeing with these targets is that we need to look at our own systems and protection. We should look at what Russia has been doing to Ukraine. That is something I continually pushed for last week with the former Minister for foreign affairs, the now Minister for Finance and the Tánaiste, regarding our offshore cables and how we need to protect them and, hopefully, decentralise our energy systems to prepare for this. To return to speaking about Ukraine, we have to be honest about this. Russia is engaging in hybrid aggression across the Continent, targeting electricity cables and gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea.”
“When we talk about strategy or security policy, we have to begin thinking about the reality of this war. I have friends who have come from Ukraine and friends whose families are still in Ukraine. According to the United Nation’s report, and I am sure the Minister of State is well-aware of this as I have spoken to him about it before, the number of civilian casualties - this is something we are seeing across the world, that is, civilians being drawn into wars they had nothing to do with starting - is devastating. Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, more than 53,000 civilians have been killed or injured. These are families and communities. These are my friends' families. It is difficult to see this and to speak to these people. At least 148 civilians were killed in October.”
“I thank the Members. I am aware that I only had two minutes. There is much more I wanted to say. On another thing I have heard about referendums, I urge the Government to look at how the Geneva system works with referendums. A huge issue we have in this Government is the cost of referendums. If we could speed up and copy the Swiss system, we could really listen to our citizens and to what changes we want as a society, in a more economically viable way.”
“I have heard Members across the House talking about the progressive ideas of young people. That is something we need to encourage in politics, because young people will bring fresh ideas, fresh perspective and lived experience. My generation and the generation below me are the ones who are going to be going through this housing crisis and are dealing with the health crisis. As other Deputies have said, young people can be carers. They can go into the Army, but we are not allowing them a voice in democracy. It makes no sense. I will not go into repeating everyone else who talked about Brazil, Scotland and Austria. Studies show that it has been done. On the matter of 24 months and maturity, young people under the age of 18 can consent to medical surgery, but they cannot give a vote in democracy. That is a bit hypocritical.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Farrelly for tabling this. I am in full support of it. One of the main reasons is taxation without representation. If we are not going to give young people the chance to vote, are we going to make them exempt from taxes at the age of 15, 16 or 17? When I started work, I was on €6.06 an hour at the age of 15, but I was not able to vote until the age of 21. The thing I am trying to say is that the way the general election falls can make a huge difference here. When I knock on doors in north Dublin, I meet young people who have just turned 18 and therefore missed out on voting in last year's general election. Their voices will not be heard until they are 22 or 23. We need to bring down the voting age for exactly that reason.”
“The Minister has been speaking to representatives of EnergyCloud. With the amount of renewable energy we have in this country, there will be a huge surplus. That is being used for households experiencing poverty, but it would be great if people with disabilities could be added to that. I hope my Bill on private wires will enable the Government to use that surplus energy to power households and give people free gas boilers full of such energy. This is something the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has been working on. I urge the Minister opposite to work with his colleague.”
“I appreciate the update on the work the Minister is doing and the meetings we have had. The issue is that the existing threshold does not reflect the hidden cost of disability, which has been mentioned by Deputies across the House this morning, or the medical, transport and energy costs people face. I welcome the fact that the Minister has been carrying out a consultation. We need to modernise the system but we also need to give people confidence that taking up work will not leave them worse off. I would welcome the provision of any clarity on that matter as soon as possible. Correct me if I am wrong, but the increases to electricity and gas prices since 2017 have been fixed at €35 per calendar year. It would be really welcome if the old rate of 300 units per month for the four winter months could be increased.”
“I know there will be some coming in over the coming year, but in relation to what Deputy O'Reilly said, it is not being felt on the ground. I understand the body of work the Minister has ahead of him, but this matter needs to be dealt with urgently. The winter months are coming. Inflation and the cost of living are all there for people with disabilities, and it is being felt on the ground.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire agus gabhaim leithscéal leis, bhí orm sin a rá tar eis an comhrá sin. The reason I posed my second question is because many families and people with disabilities in my constituency have been telling me that even a small amount of work or training can push them over the threshold, which creates a barrier rather than an incentive to work. Saoirse Smith, who I have met multiple times, is considering not working because she thinks she will be better off. She is currently planning her wedding and is worried about losing her medical card or travel pass because of the amount of work she is doing. Will the Minister consider a review of the income disregards in order that people will be supported rather than penalised. I appreciate the update he gave.”
“Bhí an tAire ag rá rud éigin ansin faoi bheith ag caint faoi dhaoine le míchumais, or people with disabilities. One of the things we could definitely do in this House would be to allow the wage subsidy scheme to be taken on by Deputies and Senators, in a sense that it would give people with disabilities easier access to policymakers. My parliamentary assistant, Michael Reynolds, has a disability. We tried to get the wage subsidy scheme but were told "No". If we could allow people in this House to employ people with disabilities in an easier way, we would have them closer to policymakers. That does not relate to my question, but the Minister mentioned the cost of living and ensuring that social protections do not act as a disincentive for people with disabilities to work.”
“Stapolin in Dublin Bay North. I can send details to the Taoiseach’s office. These children are locked out. I urge that the NCSE look at this school. It has brilliant staff who are really hard working. Gabhaim míle buíochas leis an Aire, Deputy McEntee, i dtaobh Ghaelcholáiste Reachrann. Tá sé iontach go bhfuil rudaí ag bogadh ar aghaidh air sin.”
“Is there an update or timeline from the Cabinet committee on disability on assessments of need? In my own constituency, Stapolin Educate Together primary school is looking for two additional autism classes. It has a very powerful image of 12 chairs outside that school representing children locked out. I would urge the Taoiseach push-----”
“The programme for Government states that we are going to assess this. I hope we can review this and support Deputy Ó Snodaigh's Bill.”
“They are all constantly working and when the recent announcement to extend the scheme for artists was announced, it did crush them because it was not only comedians, but other artists, who were expecting to reapply to see if they could get into this scheme. When the Minister looks at extending the scheme again, he needs to look at what people are doing for the money they are getting because some people are not doing enough. These comedians are dying to get that funding. Regarding the basic income for artists, in the programme for Government we said we were going to assess it and pilot it to the max. I ask the Minister to look at that. I want to say to all the comedians in the Gallery today that they have my full support. By postponing this by 18 months, the Minister is just kicking the can down the road.”
“I do not understand how comedians are left out of this. This is not a joke to them, no pun intended. This is about the livelihoods of these comedians. I held a comedy night as I was a comedian before I got involved in politics. We had a fundraising event, raising money for Ukraine, and multiple comedians came along without any payment. They knew it was for a good cause but this is a constant for them. I spoke to them and they generally do not get paid for these acts. They are shining a light into people's lives for those 20 minutes. I was more afraid speaking on a comedy stage than speaking in this House, which is very funny. I am afraid I would give Deputy Ahern a run for his money, going head-to-head in a comedy act. It is something that needs to be said. I spoke to the comedians, Craig Moran, Rob Nother and Emman Idama, today.”
“Míle buíochas le Aengus Ó Snodaigh as an gcuireadh inniu. Bhí sé an-tábhachtach dom labhairt leis na daoine seo ar fad inniu chun scéalta a gcuid saolta a chloisteáil agus na trioblóidí atá siad ag dul tríd faoi láthair. Tá sé an-deacair do na daoine seo mar níl aon support ann dóibh. I thank every Deputy who spoke today. Many Deputies spoke about the loss of talent, talent being drained from this country with regard to the arts and comedy. My cousin, Amy Walsh, emigrated to Canada due to not being able to get this funding. She would love to be in Ireland, creating in our daytime and night-time economy, and adding to our economy by creating these nights that are very important to Irish society. The programme for Government, which I signed up to, believes that culture and art are essential for a well-rounded society.”
“It will also help with the housing crisis and it will help with the cost per unit of electricity because we are increasing the supply and reducing the demand. Everyone will benefit from this. I met with the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers, OPLA, last week regarding my Bill and I hope to get support from across the House.”
“I thank the Tánaiste for his kind words. Back to the same point, I am delighted to hear about the investments going into protecting our offshore infrastructure. However, in relation to the benefits of private wires not only will it help the investments the Government will be making but it will allow critical infrastructure, businesses and communities, to generate and use power locally. By creating those semi-independent energy hubs, they can then operate off the grid if our grid is ever physically attacked or there is a cyberattack. By decentralising the supply and removing the single points of failure of our offshore supply, private wires make Ireland's overall energy system more resilient, more secure and far better.”
“The private wire piece will help in this regard when paired with long-duration energy storage, which we are discussing in the climate and energy committee. It will strengthen our national security by reducing our dependence and decentralising our current energy system. It will create micro grids across the country in specific areas with hospitals and schools that need energy, in case we ever come under attack or suffer damage to our cables, although we hope we never will.”
“I thank the Minister for the update. Saturday is the one-year anniversary of the death of former Senator Billy Lawless, on the day the general election was called. I want to put on the record of the House that his previous PA is working with my team. In her words, there is not much to say about him but simply that it was a huge pleasure to have worked with him and he was one of a kind. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam. This issue is important because the economy and our infrastructure now depend heavily on undersea cables and other hidden networks. As an island, we are uniquely vulnerable, something I know the Minister is well aware of. Therefore, the ability of the Defence Forces' ability to respond to cyber and physical interference is a matter of national security and resilience.”
“This question has been asked twice already, so it is good that I have a clear insight. My question refers to the preparedness within the Defence Forces to respond to cyber and physical interference. I will discuss how we should strengthen our interconnectivity in terms of not only data but also electricity. The Minister knows I want our system to be decentralised and for there to be private wires. I want an update on the readiness of our Defence Forces.”
“You go to the top of the river to see why they are getting in there in the first place, to prevent them falling into homelessness and drug us, and to give them that support at the start of their lives. That is something I really support. Ba mhaith liom míle buíochas a ghabháil le Páirtí an Lucht Oibre for bringing this back in. It is something I signed up to support during the election, with multiple people. I look forward to voting for this motion.”
“When we talk about reform, it is important to look at Portugal, which Members spoke about, and the change it made to personal possession in 2001. The evidence is clear. It is not just about statements. There is clear evidence that decriminalisation does not lead to a surge in drug use. In the years that followed Portugal's change, the use of most substances fell below the original levels in 2001. What changed was the stigma around it, the access to care, and people stopped dying alone. I have always used this analogy about the homeless crisis when I worked for Peter McVerry, but it goes hand in hand with drug use; if you see people floating down a river, you eventually stop just pulling them out of the river.”
“Going back to cannabis, the cannabis currently on the streets has a synthetic cannabinoid sprayed on it. Natural cannabis is not physically addictive but when synthetic cannabinoids, which are generated and sprayed by drug dealers, are used, it makes the stock they are giving to young teenagers physically addictive. Not only that, it is completely frying their brains. People are getting schizophrenia and psychosis, which is really bad. If we could look into what other countries, such as Canada and the Netherlands, have done, and look into reducing the amount and making it a regulated system, it would be very much better for young children and anyone going into it. It would bring them out of criminal connections. That is something we need to look at.”
“We need to put in education and preventative measures and treat this like a health issue because these people who have addiction need to be treated as such. The programme for Government promised a health-led approach. That is the programme for Government I signed up to support. I also favour decriminalisation and the possible legalisation of medical cannabis. Constituents of mine who have been diagnosed with cancer would like to be able to use it as an easier measure. It has been shown it can help with appetite and anxiety for those going through chemo. It is something I will continue to push for. In the meantime, drug use has been exploding. In 2024, the Health Research Board reported that cocaine accounted for 40% of all treatment cases. We are also seeing a dangerous increase in potency and synthetics.”
“We all remember. I have read the record of the Dáil from that time and the strong statements of that day. Deputy McAuliffe mentioned the citizens' assembly report in January 2024 and the Oireachtas joint committee report in October last, but a lot of what we see in this House is report after report but no action. As Deputy McAuliffe said about Deputy Tóibín mentioning the legalisation and how it would reduce use, the definition of "insanity" is doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different outcome. Clearly, the system we have is not working. I grew up with the current system. I have witnessed the amount of drug use in my Dáilcheantar. It is important to say that the current system is not working.”
“Aontaím go láidir le go leor rudaí a bhí á rá ag Deputy McAuliffe ansin. Tá ár Dáilcheantair an-ghar dá chéile agus bímid ag obair ar na rudaí céanna. Míle buíochas le Páirtí an Lucht Oibre as an rún seo a thabhairt isteach sa Dáil. Tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach dom. I rith an toghcháin bhí mé ag dul ó dhoras go doras agus bhí go leor páirtithe sa Teach seo ag rá go mbeadh siad ar son an rud seo. It is important that what we said during the election is brought in to this House and carried through. Parties across this Chamber said that they would be for decriminalisation and some that said they would be for reducing the current system. I also acknowledge a former Deputy in my constituency, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, for the work he did on this. In November 2022, the Dáil agreed to move towards the decriminalisation of people who use drugs.”
“I am well aware 53,000 jobs are directly or indirectly linked to the data centre industry in this country. I will not say the industry needs to be removed. I understand the FDI that comes from it but we need to mitigate the damage it is causing. That is something we can do right now. Solar farms across the country are waiting 18 to 24 months, on record, for a connection. It is ridiculous that they are built, sitting there and not supplying homes. I urge the Minister of State and his Department to look into fast-tracking private wires as a simple win for the Government and for our climate, our housing and our entire grid system.”
“If we could build infrastructure at our ports in the west using offshore renewable energy off the coast of my constituency, we could tackle the curtailment, take in the surplus energy, build electrolysis centres with private wires and have long-duration energy. The end goal is being as efficient as possible. No other country has the potential we have on our coasts to build our grid. With this great Bill, which I welcome, it needs to be done correctly. We need experts there. It cannot be brought down by inertia and indecision. Private wires can play a major role in reducing emissions, cutting connection delays and supporting economic activity. Eco-villages across the country help us decarbonise the data sector while allowing it to grow responsibly.”