Barry Ward
Dún Laoghaire · Fine Gael · Ireland
“I acknowledge all of the factors the Minister of State set out. I welcome them all and it is really important that we spread that message. The second part of the Minister of State's response is really important and that is the EU jobs part. I would not necessarily limit it just to the European Union.”
“Let us not abdicate responsibility for politically unpopular decisions, which are still the right decisions, made at European level with the involvement of Irish people.”
“There is little doubt about the positivity we associate with membership of the European Union. Some 82% of Irish people favour membership of the European Union, the highest rate of approval of any European state.”
“It is really important, not from the point of view of influence but from the point of view of presence, that there are Irish people around the table when decisions are being made so that the Irish perspective is understood and heard.”
“To look at it from a purely economic standpoint, the value of being part of the Single Market is enormous. In 1973, we imported €340 million more in goods than we exported. In recent times, we have had an export surplus. We have exported more than €53 billion more than we have imported.”
“As we hold the Presidency of the Council of the EU and are at the heart of Europe, leading the agenda and setting the tone in respect of our priorities during the Presidency, what is the Government doing to communicate to Irish people just how lucky we are to be part of the European Union?”
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“Tairgim: Go gceadófar go dtabharfar isteach Bille dá ngairtear Acht chun an Bunreacht a leasú. I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Constitution. Tá mé ag iarraidh cead an Bille um an Naoú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Mionn Oifige Breithiúnach), 2025 a thabhairt isteach. I seek leave to introduce the Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Judicial Oath of Office) Bill 2025. This is a short Bill and it addresses the judicial oath of office which is contained in Article 34.6.1° of the Constitution.”
“I appreciate that commitment. I will engage with the Minister. I do not know if this is something that is applied in a way that is intransigent by different State agencies. I do not know the answer to that. I also do not know if it is the case, for example, that a parent, now in the situation where a child needs a particular assessment goes to the District Court, can make that application in circumstances where he or she could not serve notice on the other parent of the application being made because there is no contact whatever. We know there are families where one parent is estranged. This specifically, and much more commonly, affects women who are left looking after a child in the absence of the father rather than the other way around. I appreciate the Minister’s commitment.”
“I am not even sure if the legislative framework covers that in circumstances where the specific scenario is where there is disagreement between the parents and, presumably, where both parents would be represented in an inter partes application. It feels like there is a bureaucratic block here and a scenario which has not been envisaged in the context of the legislation. A review might bring about a more functional system in relation to parents in these particular circumstances.”
“The Minister hit the nail on the head with what he said at the end. Much of the answer relates to the situation set down in law where there is an agreement between parents but that is not the circumstance I am envisaging. For example, if a child needs a medical or educational assessment or the renewal of a passport and one parent is simply not present, it is not a matter that the parents do not agree - one could almost assume that if a parent were present, there would not be a difficulty - it is the notion that a parent, in order to get their child’s educational or psychological needs assessed, requires the consent of a parent who may not even be in the jurisdiction. This is hugely problematic. The answer cannot be that they have to go to the District Court every time to make an application to overrule that.”
“This is a matter I raised with the Minister on 4 March by way of a question for written reply. It relates to the mandated requirement for two parents to give consent for certain processes or assessments, even passport applications, in circumstances where one of the parents is either absent or estranged from the family. It can be very difficult for both parents to sign those forms. This disproportionately affects women. Can this be reviewed?”
“On International Women's Day, my commitment is that, as a Member of this House, I will pursue policies that advance the rights of women and also the equality of opportunity for women.”
“I particularly direct this at my fellow males. We must all take responsibility. The thing that comes home to me most acutely is those of us in a domestic setting. I mentioned my wife. We have a little girl who is the light of our lives but I want her to be able to grow up in a country where she has the same opportunity as her male friends and cousins to do what she wants to do. That is not going to happen unless all of us take responsibility for making sure it happens. Men in the home is perhaps the most obvious example of where we need to share the burdens that exist in the household. We need to take responsibility for what needs to be done. I hope I do that but I know that I can always do more to lighten the load of my wife and friends throughout Ireland.”
“Whatever stumbling block you choose to identify, the reality for my friends, colleagues and family who are women in Ireland is that there is always something that makes it more difficult for them to achieve the same thing that I might want to achieve, more difficult to get to the same position that I am in as a man or more difficult for them to take whatever path it is. We as an Oireachtas, community, Government and State have to work towards eliminating those stumbling blocks and towards a situation where the pathway for people, irrespective of what their sex is, is clear and there is not the discrimination between sexes that we know exists. On International Women's Day, we should all take a step, because the responsibility lies with all of us. I do not just mean TDs. I mean all of us as a society.”
“I would not have won a seat in the election last year without the benefit of her counsel, advice and ideas about how we can approach issues as they come before us. Equally, I benefitted from growing up in a household where I had two sisters and a mother who worked and contributed. My mother, in the early 1980s, set up a business in Dalkey with her friend. It was rare to have two women set up a business and be self-employed at that time. In our household, that paved the way for us to understand that there should always be equality of opportunity. When we look at statements in the context of International Women's Day, I think women in Ireland today lack that equality of opportunity.”
“I think Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council was the first local authority in the country to achieve gender balance. I remember a couple of years ago, on International Women's Day, trumpeting the fact that of six councillors in Blackrock, I was the only man. I put a tweet out about that. My Fianna Fáil colleague at the time, Councillor Kate Feeney, commented that I was the only man she knew who managed to make International Women's Day about him. It was not my intention but I wanted to acknowledge that we have that policy. We have many strong, powerful women who work in our communities at a political level in Dún Laoghaire and Blackrock. I acknowledge that I would not be here without the support of the women in my life. My wife, Aoife, who previously worked in politics, but no longer does, is one of the people who helped me to get here.”
“I was going to say that laws that are brought in to encourage female participation in politics and gender quotas have definitely achieved results, but they have not addressed the issues that discourage women from getting involved in politics. In that regard, I would much rather see us pursue positive, progressive policies that make it easier for people from every walk of life to get involved in politics and to make it less difficult for them to contribute at that level. In that regard, we definitely have a great deal of work to do. I am lucky that in my own party and constituency, we have a balanced situation. The two Fine Gael TDs from Dún Laoghaire represent each side of the gender divide. Equally, our councillors do too.”
“I am very glad to be able to make a contribution to the statements on International Women's Day. It is important to recognise the extent to which women contribute, despite the fact that it is more and more difficult for them to contribute, at whatever level it might be. What is also important about these statements is that it is not an opportunity to score political points. I am disappointed that Deputy Réada Cronin chose this opportunity, instead of talking about the actual issues, to start to make political attacks. If Sinn Féin Deputies choose to do that, they should mend their own house first. If they want to talk about how comfortable parties are for women, let us look at how complaints within parties are dealt with when they come from women speaking about how they have been treated.”
“Anois tá fíorfhógraíocht trí Ghaeilge le cloisteáil, ní tokenism atá ann. Déanfaidh sé sin an-difríocht dúinn, go bhfuil an Ghaeilge sin ar fáil dúinn sa ghnáthshaol freisin. Sin píosa amháin atá á dhéanamh. Caithfimid é sin a dhéanamh arís agus arís i ngach scéim, i ngach Roinn Rialtais agus i ngach páirt den phobal. Má tá an dualgas orainn an Ghaeilge a choimeád agus an Ghaeilge a labhairt lenár bpáistí, is slí í sin ar féidir linn an Ghaeilge a úsáid gach lá agus a úsáid go dáiríre.”
“Tá a fhios againn go bhfuil níos mó Gaelscoileanna ag teacht an t-am ar fad, agus tá a fhios againn go léir faoin scoil i Synge Street, Baile Átha Cliath, a bhí le hathrú ó scoil trí mheán an Bhéarla go scoil trí mheán na Gaeilge. Is slí nó bealach dúinn é sin an t-oideachas a athrú agus a fheabhsú ar son na Gaeilge. Rud eile atá thar a bheith tábhachtach dom ná an fhógraíocht agus polasaí an Rialtais dheireanaigh go gcuirfidh eagraíochtaí poiblí 20% ar a laghad dá gcuid fógraíochta ar an raidió agus ar an teilifís trí Ghaeilge. Mar sin, tá seans ag gach aon duine sa tír an Ghaeilge a fheiceáil ar an teilifís agus an Ghaeilge a chloisteáil ar an gnáthraidió, ní hamháin Raidió na Gaeltachta, Raidió na Life, Raidió Rí-Rá nó pé raidió trí Ghaeilge, ach ar RTÉ, mar shampla, atá trí Bhéarla de ghnáth.”
“Cé go gcreidim go bhfuil ceart ag gach aon duine sa tír a chuid oideachais a dhéanamh trí mheán na Gaeilge, tá a fhios agam nach bhfuil an rogha ag gach aon teaghlach sa tír agus nach bhfuil an seans ag gach aon duine dul go Gaelscoil nó Gaelcholáiste. Is trua an rud é, má tá seans ag duine dul go Gaelscoil agus nach bhfuil an seans céanna aige dul go Gaelcholáiste. Tá sé thar a bheith deacair dom nuair a thagann tuismitheoirí chugam le páistí sa Ghaelscoil ach nach bhfuil áit sa Ghaelcholáiste áitiúil acu freisin. Caithfimid, mar Rialtas agus mar thír, rud éigin a dhéanamh faoi sin. Ag an am céanna, tá a fhios againn go bhfuil a lán rudaí ar siúl ag an Rialtas atá ann toisc go bhfuil éileamh ar úsáid na Gaeilge agus éileamh ar an nGaeilge san oideachas ann.”
“Tá scoileanna cosúil le Scoil Lorcáin agus Gaelcholáistí cosúil le Coláiste Eoin agus Coláiste Íosagáin. Timpeall na scoileanna agus na gcoláistí sin, tá pobal a labhraíonn Gaeilge agus atá thar a bheith buíoch as ucht an Ghaeilge a bheith acu. Is cóir dúinn, go háirithe sinn nach cainteoirí dúchais sinn, an Ghaeilge a úsáid agus a labhairt. Is cóir dúinn an Ghaeilge a labhairt lenár bpáistí freisin. Má tá foirm ann trí mheán na Gaeilge, ba cheart dúinn an leagan sin a úsáid in ionad an leagain Bhéarla. Má tá an Ghaeilge ag duine mar sin, ba cheart dó nó di í a úsáid san fhoirm sin ionas go n-úsáidfear í agus go bhfuilimid in ann a rá go n-úsáidtear an Ghaeilge ag an leibhéal sin. Sin an tábhacht a bhaineann leis, ach sin an dualgas a bhaineann linn freisin. Is fúinne atá sé an teanga a shábháil, a úsáid agus a labhairt.”
“Aontaím leis na cainteoirí a dúirt go bhfuil tábhacht a bhaineann leis an teanga náisiúnta agus ár dteanga dhúchais. Ní aontaím leis na ráitis a dúirt go dtiocfaidh bás ar an teanga i gceann 100 bliain nó mar sin. Ní aontaím leis in aon chor, ach is féidir linn a fheiceáil go bhfuil feabhas ag teacht i gcónaí ar an nGaeilge agus an méid daoine a labhraíonn í gach lá, cé nach bhfuil an líon céanna cainteoirí dúchas ann. Tá a fhios agam, agus táim ag labhairt anois mar dhuine arb as Dún Laoghaire dó, ceantar i mBaile Átha Cliath nach bhfuil Gaeltacht ann, ach ina bhfuil a lán daoine a labhraíonn Gaeilge gach lá. Dúirt duine éigin liom go raibh níos mó daoine ag labhairt Gaeilge gach lá i nDún Laoghaire ná in aon cheantar eile sa tír taobh amuigh den Ghaeltacht. Níl a fhios agam má tá sé fíor nó nach bhfuil, ach tá súil agam go bhfuil.”
“Do the Department or the NTA have any guidelines for the training of bus drivers or can anything be done to ensure the physical safety of passengers and those outside the buses?”
“I agree with what the Minister said. There is an ancillary issue. Obviously, my question contemplates personal safety in the context of the antisocial behaviour and criminality the Minister referred to, but a lady in Glasthule raised an issue with me today regarding the difference in the style of driving between different bus drivers depending on whether they were trained by Bus Átha Cliath or Go-Ahead. I do not know if the Minister has any information about the training regimes that are in operation but if the anecdotal evidence is to be believed, Go-Ahead bus drivers have a more cavalier attitude to speed and things like that. I have not seen this but the matter was raised with me today. From being on buses, I certainly know that some drivers can drive in ways that endanger passengers on board.”
“It means that passengers, particularly people on their own and especially women on their own, have to go through a particular point as they come in and out of the DART station. I have asked this question and it has been referred to Iarnród Éireann. I have not had a satisfactory answer. It seems to be a very easy way to ensure personal safety if people do not have to be channelled through a particular port every time they use a service.”
“I do not have to ask my constituents about this because I get the bus myself. The lack of a ministerial car means I have to get the E2. I was about to say the 46A but it is the E2 now. I appreciate what the Minister said. I presume it is not planned to have a transport security force person on every bus, DART or Luas. Are there other measures that could be put in place? I think of DART stations. In many DART stations, there is only one entrance. In Dún Laoghaire, you have to enter at the south end of the platform despite the fact that there is easy access at the other end. It is the same at Sandycove and Glasthule. There could be an access point at the Eden Road Upper end.”
“Déanaim comhghairdeas leis na hAirí. Go n-éirí an bheirt acu leis na poist atá acu. Baineann an cheist atá agam le sábháilteacht phaisinéirí ar iompar poiblí. What plans or measures are in place to protect passengers' safety on public transport?”
“Baineann sé le rogha. Ba chóir go mbeadh an rogha ag tuismitheoirí a bpáistí a chur i nGaelscoil agus, tar éis sin, i nGaelcholáiste. Is fadhb é sin i ngach áit. Teastaíonn uainn smaointeoireacht nua ar an ábhar seo. Teastaíonn uainn múinteoirí a bhfuil muinín acu múineadh trí Ghaeilge. Mar a dúirt an tAire, caithfimid na córais agus na cúrsaí a chur ann dóibh ionas go mbeadh na scileanna acu chun múineadh trí Ghaeilge. Tá na cúrsaí sin thar a bheith tábhachtach. Tá suirbhé déanta ag Conradh na Gaeilge dar teideal “Céard é an Scéal?”. Taispeánann torthaí an tsuirbhé go bhfuil ceisteanna ann do dhaoine atá chun an rogha sin a dhéanamh.”
“Muna bhfuil na Gaelscoileanna agus Gaelcholáistí ann, ní féidir le tuismitheoirí nó páistí an rogha sin a dhéanamh. Cuireann sé frustrachas orm nuair a thagann tuismitheoirí chugam ag iarraidh áit i nGaelscoil dá bpáistí nuair nach bhfuil an áit sin ar fáil cé go bhfuil Gaelscoil nó Gaelscoileanna sa cheantar. Caithfimid rud éigin a dhéanamh faoi sin. Aontaím leis an nglaoch sa rún go mbeadh oideachas trí mheán na Gaeilge ar fáil do chách. Is é an cheist thábhachtach ná conas a shroichfimid an pointe sin. Tá an t-ádh orm a bheith mar Theachta Dála i nDún Laoghaire, áit a bhfuil dhá Ghaelscoil sa cheantar: Scoil Lorcáin i mBaile na Manach agus Gaelscoil Phádraig i mBaile Breac. Tá Gaelscoileanna eile díreach in aice leis an Dáilcheantar. Níl an rogha chéanna ag tuismitheoirí i ngach páirt den tír. Caithfimid déileáil leis sin.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Oideachais as ucht an t-am seo a thabhairt dom labhairt ar an ábhar seo, atá thar a bheith tábhachtach domsa. Mar is eol dúinn go léir, ní gnáthrud é go mbeadh seans ag cúlbhinseoir Rialtais labhairt ar Ghnó Príobháideach de chuid an Fhreasúra. Gabhaim buíochas freisin le Sinn Féin as a chuid ama a thabhairt chun an cheist seo a phlé. Aithním go háirithe an Teachta Ó Snodaigh ní hamháin as an méid a dúirt sé anocht, ach as an obair atá déanta aige le blianta anois ar son na Gaeilge, chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn agus mar Chathaoirleach an choiste Gaeilge. Is ceist lárnach domsa go mbeadh seans ag gach éinne sa tír a chuid oideachais a fháil trí mheán na Gaeilge. Más mian leo, ba cheart go mbeadh siad in ann é seo a dhéanamh.”
“My colleagues on the council did not have to power to stop it. There seems to be a body within the council that pushed ahead anyway. Now we have a situation where the time of gardaí is being wasted. I am not sure how effective they can be because most of the people committing these offences are juveniles. Most of them are from the local area and, in some instances, are known to gardaí. Where antisocial behaviour, vandalism and criminal damage are ongoing, gardaí need the powers to deal with them. They need the resources to be able to go in there and do what needs to be done to stop it happening. It is grossly unfair on the people living in Honeypark that they have to live in an area where this is going on, night after night. Resourcing and support for the Garda are the only thing that will stop it.”
“Benches have been torn off the promenade and thrown into the artificial lake. It is totally unacceptable. I give credit to Superintendent Brian Halligan and his team in Dún Laoghaire, who have done their level best to attend when calls have been made. I do not know how many times I have been in contact with Superintendent Halligan about this issue. Even today, I spoke to him about it. He has confirmed that he wants people to report these incidents. Every time they have been reported, gardaí have attended, as have members of Dublin Fire Brigade from around the corner in Kill Avenue, who have come to put out fires. Is it not a ferocious waste of their time to be doing that? Residents foresaw this happening and said they did not want the council to remove the fence but they did not have the power to stop it.”
“Those wearing no reflective gear are almost invisible on the road. They are zooming through housing estates and parks and are an absolute menace. For a long time, gardaí were telling me they could not pursue them because the protocols did not allow them to do so. I welcome the change in that regard. Where I live, in Honeypark in Dún Laoghaire, there is a particular issue in that we have a massive problem with antisocial behaviour. There is a park within Honeypark that was taken in charge by the council. As part of that process, the council took down a fence. Local residents were implacably imposed to that decision because they foresaw that it would make it much easier for people to access the park after dark and engage in antisocial behaviour. We have had a myriad of fires set in playgrounds, in bushes and in trees.”
“I congratulate the Minister and wish him the very best in what is a tough role. I welcome the statements that have been made in the Chamber about support for, investment in and resources for An Garda Síochána. However, I was dismayed to hear on the news today that the bulk of new gardaí are going to Dublin city centre. We in Dún Laoghaire need gardaí as well. One of the complaints I hear from people locally is that they do not see gardaí on the beat or the Garda presence in the community that is necessary. Kill O'The Grange and Dalkey Garda stations have been closed. Although the gardaí in Dún Laoghaire are doing their level best, they need more gardaí to join their ranks to police the area. I welcome the Garda Commissioner's decision to allow gardaí to pursue people - it is mostly young people - on scooters.”
“It is an area that has been identified as needing a secondary school. Even a site has been identified. Will the Minister of State bring back to the Department the proposal that if we are truly to achieve the kind of diversity we are trying to eke out in terms of schools, we change that strict geographic criterion in respect of the assessment of patronage? We should ask people beyond that area if there is a basis on which we can put together a school that is a little bit different, in this instance, a Gaelcholáiste, a scoil trí mheán na Gaeilge.”
“There are necessarily fewer Irish speakers in a non-Gaeltacht community so they are going to be spread across a wider area, notwithstanding the fact that there are enough of them to justify a Gaelcholáiste. That is the issue. I can tell the Minister of State, from the point of view of a layperson, that the school planning areas are something of a mystery. They do not follow the criteria one might normally expect. If we stick to those areas, we are excluding people from a wider community who wish to come together to form a school committee that follows a particular and, according to the Minister of State's reply, diverse criteria. I use the example of Cherrywood. There are people from a wider area than just that school catchment area who dearly want a Gaelcholáiste in Cherrywood.”
“I appreciate entirely what the Minister of State said. The OPPS is excellent. The way we have changed how we assess patronage is a good thing. I also appreciate what the Minister of State said about the criteria. The key in his answer is that the process is open and "provides objective information to parents in the relevant school planning areas". That is the difficulty I have. If we are only taking about parents in a specific area, we are excluding parents outside that area. It is a particular problem. I did not give the Minister of State advance notice that I was going to talk about Cherrywood so I absolutely accept that he does not have that specific information. It is, however, a principle that applies across the country in relation to Gaeloideachas.”
“Therefore, there is a whole community of people whose children are leaving a Gaelscoil and graduating into the secondary school arena who would love to have education through Irish but who, because of the narrow system the Department operates, are not really recognised. Patronage is important but An Foras Patrúnachta, which has done great work in this area, is at a little bit of a loss in this regard. I wonder whether the system can be extended a little more flexibly.”
“There are a number of Gaelscoileanna in the area, particularly outside the immediate catchment area of Cherrywood, the Dún Laoghaire constituency included. Although we have a Gaelcholáiste, Coláiste Ráithín in Bray, and Coláiste Eoin and Coláiste Íosagáin in Stillorgan, there is not a school available for the people who are graduating out of the Gaelscoileanna, a Gaelcholáiste, for them to continue their education trí mheán na Gaeilge. If you apply the strict criterion of just asking the people who live in a strict geographic area what kind of school they want, it is less likely that they will say a Gaelcholáiste.”
“Blackrock Educate Together Secondary School, which will eventually be located at the top of Newtownpark Avenue, is temporarily resident in the Educate Together primary school in Cherrywood. However, there is another site earmarked for a post-primary school. One of the big issues is that if there is a plebiscite only in the Cherrywood area, it ignores the fact that the end of the Luas line is in Cherrywood. The Luas serves people all the way into town. Anybody who lives on the Luas line, whether it is in somewhere like Ranelagh or farther afield, can very easily get to school on the Luas. Therefore, consideration of where patronage extends should account for an area beyond Cherrywood. The reason I make this point is that there is currently a campaign under way by people seeking a Gaelcholáiste in the area.”
“This is particularly true of post-primary schools. The example that comes to mind for me is Cherrywood, Dublin. The local authority for the Dún Laoghaire area, certainly when I was a member of it, spent a great deal of time and energy putting together a de facto new city in Cherrywood. That is now starting to fill out with a new population and it is a wonderful, diverse place. As it fills up with shops and services, including schools, it will make for a really great place to live. It is already a great place to live, but as the things I have mentioned come, it will really come into its own. There are sites within Cherrywood that have been identified for new schools, one of which is for a post-primary school. There is already another post-primary school.”
“However, the way the Department assesses that need is by way of a plebiscite in a geographic area. Therefore, if there is to be a school in a particular area, the Department will ask the people who live there what kind of school they want. That is legitimate in its own way. The difficulty that applies in my constituency, Dún Laoghaire, in particular but also across the whole of Dublin is that the geographic area is not necessarily the only community served by the relevant school. With extensive transport links throughout Dublin, including the DART and Luas lines and the new BusConnects spines that go through the city, people may travel quite a substantial distance to get to school. Therefore, the community served by a new school may be much larger than the one next door to it or down the road from it.”
“Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Aire Stáit as a phost nua. Go n-éirí leis. We have had a really positive change in recent years in the way we assess patronage in schools. That communities actually get to have a say and indicate to the Department very directly the kind of school they want represents a very positive change by comparison with where we were when I was growing up. I have expressed the view before that it is probably unlikely that we will ever again have a Catholic school established under new patronage in this country because the reality is that communities are choosing to rebalance the way our schools are operated away from that kind of patronage and towards different forms that give a different service to different communities and address the needs that exist in them.”
“We do not have the circumstances that led to the crash in the 2000s. It is not going to happen again. There may be a plateau or something like that if the economic downturn that is so much talked about ever comes. The reality is that we have a generation of people who do not see a path to home ownership. In and of itself, home ownership is really important because it gives people a stake in society. It means they have a share, they count and they have something in which to invest. Everybody should be entitled to that. I encourage any measures we can put in place to allow people to do it.”
“The cost limit must be reconsidered. For so many young people, not being realistically able to afford a house in the place where they grew up is desperately unfair. That situation needs to be fixed. It is something we can do. We need to support people, especially first-time buyers. We must continue with the measures that have been put in place to help people in every respect to buy every type of home. At the moment, as we know, there is a real blockage. It is not for the want of trying on behalf of individuals that they cannot buy a home. People go to the pin of their collar to acquire a property. We have a situation at this time that is untenable. I know people in my area who say they will not buy a house now and will wait for the crash they anticipate is coming. I am afraid it is not coming.”
“The help-to-buy scheme is welcome. It makes it easier for people to acquire a home. However, the €500,000 threshold is arbitrary and is very disappointing for anybody who lives in an area where the average house price is €600,000, as it currently is in Dún Laoghaire. It means that people paying €499,000 for a home can get a €30,000 grant, while those paying €500,000 get nothing. I do not know whether the Minister has been involved in bidding for houses any time recently. Bidders go up in increments of €5,000. It would be better to have the threshold set at €501,000 rather than €500,000. As a general rule, we should be looking seriously at recalibrating that amount and applying it differently in different areas relative to average house prices. If the system is not working, let us fix it and make sure it works.”
“I have said on a number of occasions that banks do not help the current situation. They very much offer an umbrella on a sunny day and ask for it back when it is raining. We should be looking at encouraging them to be a little more reasonable in regard to mortgage applications. The fact somebody could be paying €2,000 in rent per month but that is not counted as proof of mortgage repayment affordability is absolutely ridiculous. It should be changed. It might not be something that can be done by the Department of housing but it is an issue the Government can deal with at Central Bank level. Allowing people to have rent payments taken into account would be very important. Regional differences are really important because of the cost of any type of housing, whether an apartment or house, in places like Dún Laoghaire.”
“However, when building apartments, we need to look to having liveable spaces that are family-sized. They must not comprise two bedrooms and a living room, which is not a space in which people can raise a family. There must be multiple bedrooms and multiple living areas. As every parent knows, there comes a time, no matter how lovable and wonderful their children are, that they want to exist in a separate space. We need to apply a system that allows families to do that. Recommendation No. 41 states: "Review and recalibrate regularly measures to assist with access to home ownership for first-time buyers, taking account of detailed evidence on income distribution, affordability, supply dynamics and regional differences." We need to focus on the regional differences aspect. Before discussing that, there are other factors we should consider.”
“Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, has advanced many initiatives to help with housing, certainly in terms of social housing. They have made a lot of inroads into the housing list. The council has, with the Land Development Agency, made an awful lot of progress. The very first of those LDA developments to come to fruition was Shanganagh in Shankill, with nearly 600 units becoming available there through a range of schemes. All of that is welcome. It couples with many private developments throughout the Dún Laoghaire constituency that are providing housing for people and bringing housing on stream. Of course, to the largest extent possible, that housing is made up of apartments. I do not have a problem with apartment living. I lived in an apartment for many years. That is not an issue.”
“I recognise the value of the report of the Housing Commission from last May. Of the 83 recommendations, approximately 65 are in train or at an advanced stage, which I welcome. Coming from the constituency of Dún Laoghaire where we have amongst the highest average property prices in the country, there is a real problem for people acquiring property that goes beyond what most people face around Ireland. It might well be said that they could live somewhere else or somewhere cheaper but that is not a reasonable thing to say to somebody who grew up in Dalkey, Blackrock or Dún Laoghaire, to say they must move away from their family and support system if they have children. It would mean moving away from the areas they know, where they went to school and where their friends and networks are. That is really important.”
“The problem is that if the Department uses a narrow geographic criteria which it currently uses, it will only ask the community immediately adjacent to Cherrywood. Of course, Cherrywood is on the Luas and is at the end of many bus lines. Therefore, there is easy access to the area for a much wider geographic community. I need the Department to look at wider criteria and the widespread community of people whose children are in Gaelscoileanna nó a labhraíonn Gaeilge sa bhaile so that they can be included in those criteria.”
“That is exactly the issue that has led me to ask this question, namely the criteria and how the Department assesses whether there is a demand. In my constituency, as I said there are two Gaelcholáistí colocated, Coláiste Íosagáin and Coláiste Eoin, but there is an enormous demand because although there are only two Gaelscoileanna in the adjacent areas - it must be remembered that in Dublin constituencies there are more condensed geographic areas - there is a demand for secondary education trí mheán na Gaeilge. In Cherrywood in south Dublin, a site is earmarked for a school. As far as I know, planning and everything else has been done. The Department has yet to decide on the patronage for the school.”
“I appreciate both the Minister's commitment and the commitment in the programme for Government to Gaeloideachas. There is a huge need. The Minister referred to providing more Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí where there is demand for it. I assure her there is demand for it, and I will come back to that in a second. There are, as far as I know, only 79 Gaelcholáistí in the country and 291 Gaelscoileanna. We only have two Gaelscoileanna and two Gaelcholáistí in my constituency of Dún Laoghaire, namely Coláiste Íosagáin and Coláiste Eoin, which are colocated on a campus in Stillorgan. The two Gaelscoileanna are Scoil Lorcáin and Gaelscoil Phádraig in Ballybrack. The latter requires resettlement to a site in Ballyowen Meadows. The school is waiting for a survey to be done on that and I hope the Minister will also progress that matter for it.”
“Is í mo cheist chun an Aire inniu ná faoin tábhacht a bhaineann leis an nGaeloideachas, na Gaelcholáistí agus Gaelscoileanna a chur chun cinn. I am wondering about the Minister's views on the importance of promoting the provision of Gaeloideachas, Gaelscoileanna and Gaelcholáistí. I ask her to make a statement on the matter.”
“It is not over, but I have faith in Ukrainians' ability to stand up for themselves, along with the necessary support of the European Union and European Union countries.”