Conor D McGuinness
Waterford · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“Vincent de Paul, both of whom, to be fair, are stepping up but that is not the way it should be. I have also spoken to principals who are told to stretch their ICT budgets, and, in fact, that is the response I got from the Minister of State’s colleague, the Minister, Deputy Naughton, when I queried this. Those budgets have been cut.”
“Every July and August, families steel themselves for the cost of children going back to school, including uniforms, books, and shoes, and, as the Minister of State well knows, school transport. Now, for thousands of parents, there is another bill waiting on the kitchen table. It is one for hundreds of euro for a digital device.”
“It is simply passing responsibility on to families and calling it policy. A child's education should never depend on his or her parents' ability to buy a digital device, and no student should be disadvantaged because they cannot afford the device his or her school requires.”
“I dtaobh chúrsaí Gaeltachta, ní aontaím leis an Aire in aon chor go bhfuil dearcadh nó aighneachtaí na ndreamanna éagsúla atá ag obair sa spás seo iniata leis an gcáipéis seo. Is léir go ndearna an Roinn agus an bheirt Airí sa Roinn tithíochta neamhaird air sin.”
“Today is a very important day because the State has finally and formally apologised to the survivors of Bill Kenneally's abuse. Those who should have been protected were instead failed in the most profound and devastating way. No apology can undo the harm that was done.”
“It is a recognition of the persistence and bravery of you men who are here in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery and those who are not here today. Those of you who refused to give up in your pursuit of truth and justice, I thank you for what you have done. I thank you for your courage and for your power.”
The complete record
Every one of 843 lines we hold for Conor D McGuinness, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 3 of 17.
“Caithfimid an stádas agus an t-infreastruchtúr a chur timpeall air sin ionas gur féidir linn a rá go bhfuilimid ag cosaint ár gceantair Ghaeltachta agus an fás nua seo chomh maith don todhchaí ionas gur féidir linn an Ghaeltacht - pobal mór lucht labhartha teanga na tíre seo - ní hamháin a chosaint ach a mhéadú amach anseo agus an fhís uaillmhianach sin a bheith ann. Is cinnte go mbaineann sé sin le hacmhainní, agus acmhainní sa bhreis ar an méid atá dáilte amach ag an Rialtas go dtí seo. Tá sé bainteach le cúrsaí stádais agus aitheantais chomh maith.”
“Cé go bhfuil an dualgas orainn an Ghaeltacht a chosaint agus tá an Ghaeilge rófhada faoi chosaint ar pháipéar agus faoi bhrú sa saol fíor amach ansin, tá gá anois an chéim uaillmhianach chun tosaigh a ghlacadh. Tá an-taithí agam ar na scéimeanna, na tionscadail agus na heagrais ar leith atá ag obair ar an talamh agus atá ag fás an phobail sin agus ag tacú leis an bpobal leis an nGaeilge a bheith mar theanga chumarsáide inár dteaghlaigh i mbailte, i sráidbhailte, i scoileanna agus sa phobal i gcoitinne.”
“Nílim ag déanamh glaoch inniu mar gheall ar theorainneacha na Gaeltachta a athrú nó a leathnú láithreach, ach táim ag iarraidh go mbeidh an tAire ag glacadh leis an bprionsabal go bhfuil pobail láidre Ghaelacha taobh amuigh den Ghaeltacht ar fiú iad a aithint agus tacú leo. Baineann sé sin le stádas chomh maith, b’fhéidir stádas Gaeltachta nó stádas ar leith taobh leis an nGaeltacht. Táim ag smaoineamh ar na bailte seirbhíse Gaeltachta atá taobh leis an nGaeltacht, agus, i gceantair áirithe, laistigh den Ghaeltacht, agus na líonraí ó Thuaidh agus ó Dheas.”
“Aontaím leis an Aire go bhfuil an Ghaeltacht lárnach agus go bhfuil pobail Ghaeilge breá bríomhar fud fad na tíre seo ó Thuaidh agus ó Dheas. Caithfimid an Ghaeltacht a chosaint, a chothú agus a neartú. Níor cheart go mbeadh cosaint agus fás curtha i gcoinne a chéile. Tá gá le seasamh cosanta cinnte mar gheall ar an 100 bliain d’fhaillí an Stáit seo i dtaobh na Gaeilge agus na bpobal Gaeltachta. Tá gá freisin le fís fháis - fís atá uaillmhianach. Ní leor a rá go gcaithfimid an méid atá fágtha a shábháil. Caithfimid oibriú i dtreo pobal nua, líonraí nua, spásanna nua agus todhchaí níos leithne don Ghaeilge.”
“-----a load of funding to build a community centre. If it is big enough, we might even name it after the pair of them. An cheist ba mhaith liom a chur ar an Aire ná mar gheall ar phobal láidir Gaeilge taobh amuigh den Ghaeltacht. Tá pobail nua ag fás ar fud na tíre, mar is eol dó, go minic bunaithe ar Ghaelscoileanna agus ar eagraíochtaí pobail. An bhfeiceann an tAire acmhainn i scéimeanna nua tacaíochta agus in aitheantas foirmiúil do phobail den chineál sin, áit a bhfuil an Ghaeilge á húsáid mar theanga phobail agus oideachais?”
“Glacaim leis nach bhfuil rudaí den saghas seo éasca ach it is not beyond the realms of human endeavour é seo a chur i gcrích leis na hacmhainní atá ag an dá Roinn agus na hacmhainní ama atá caite air seo go fóillín. Cad iad na pointí easaontais idir an Aire agus an Aire tithíochta?”
“Is cúis le frustrachas sna pobail Ghaeltachta seo an mhoill ar an straitéis nó an ráiteas, mar a dtugtar air anois. Ba cheart go mbeidh roinnt mhaith oibre déanta idir an dá Roinn le blianta anuas mar bhí sé seo geallta blianta ó shin. Athghealladh é anuraidh. Tá an tAire ag rá nach bhfuil sé éasca agus tuigim é sin ach cad iad na pointí easaontaithe? Muna bhfuil sé aontaithe idir an Aire agus an Aire tithíochta, cad iad na pointí nach raibh siad in ann aontú orthu go fóill? Cad iad na coimhlintí atá ann idir an dá Roinn? Cad atá ag cur bac nó srian ar an straitéis a bheith foilsithe? Tá dhá Ranna Rialtais anseo. Tá na blianta caite air seo.”
“Ní féidir le daoine áitiúla sna ceantair seo suímh a fháil ar phraghas inacmhainne. Is ceann de na fadhbanna é sin chomh maith. Caithfimid dul i ngleic leis an gceist iomlán seo, ag tabhairt san áireamh tithíocht shóisialta, na húdaráis áitiúla, an t-infreastruchtúr nó bonneagar, agus an córas pleanála.”
“Tá sé ráite ag an Aire go bhfuil obair idir-rannach ar siúl agus is léir go bhfuil. Tá cúrsaí pleanála, údaráis áitiúla agus an Roinn tithíochta luaite aige. I dtaobh na fianaise ar an talamh, tá pobal na Gaeltachta tar éis fanacht rófhada cheana féin. Cé go raibh sé geallta arís ag deireadh na bliana seo caite sa phlean tithíochta, níl tásc ná tuairisc ar an straitéis nó ráiteas sin. Níl sé feicthe againn. Tugaim faoi deara nár thug an tAire aon dáta daingean dúinn faoina mbeidh sé foilsithe. Glacaim leis go mbaineann sé seo leis an Aire tithíochta chomh maith ach tá freagracht ar an Aire agus ar a Roinn as an gceist seo freisin. I dtaobh cúrsaí pleanála agus cead pleanála a fháil, tá an ceart ag an Aire i slí amháin. Ní hé an fhadhb nach bhfuil na húdaráis áitiúla ag tabhairt cead d'iarratais phleanála.”
“Cuirfidh mé ceist ar an Aire faoi mholtaí an Rialtais maidir le tithíocht sa Ghaeltacht agus faoin ráiteas nó straitéis pleanála Gaeltachta atá geallta le fada. Tá géarchéim thithíochta ag brú daoine óga agus teaghlaigh óga amach ó mo cheantar féin. Gan tithíocht, ní bheidh pobal inmharthana againn. Gan pobal inmharthana, ní bheidh todhchaí ag an nGaeilge mar theanga bheo phobail. Cathain go díreach a fhoilseofar na moltaí agus an ráiteas pleanála?”
“Has the Minister and his Department, or the Cabinet, given any consideration to rural development schemes that could be tailored or used to support local pubs, be they under current ownership and management or under the management or control of a social enterprise or community organisation?”
“I am glad to hear the Minister mention rural transport because that is often a key factor in accessing pubs in rural Ireland. It speaks to the need to see this not just as a matter of taxation, licensing or enterprise support but, rather, as a matter of safeguarding and maintaining rural community infrastructure. Has the Minister raised this directly with the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Deputy Burke? Has he had a specific conversation about this issue? Will he seek targeted measures or a package for rural pub viability in next year's budget?”
“Rural isolation is already one of the great hidden social crises in this State. We cannot say that we are serious about tackling loneliness while allowing rural social infrastructure to disappear. I am not asking the Minister or the Government to take responsibility for every tax or cost-cutting measure affecting pubs or for everything that is happening, but the Minister's Department and the Government must recognise rural pubs as part of the social and community fabric of rural Ireland.”
“The Minister is correct that the supports are matters primarily for the Ministers with responsibility for enterprise, finance and taxation and that they fall under enterprise, taxation, tourism and hospitality policy. However, as he acknowledged, rural pubs also sit squarely under rural development. When a rural pub closes, the impact is not just limited to the licence holder or business. It is not just the loss of enterprise, economic activity and employment. The community loses its social anchor in many respects. In rural areas, older people, single men, farmers, musicians, local sports clubs, tourists and community groups all lose a space. This is particularly serious given that Ireland has been identified as having the highest prevalence of loneliness in a recent European survey.”
“More than 2,200 pubs have closed across the State since 2005, with closures now accelerating to around 128 per year. In rural areas, the pub is often far more than a business. It is a meeting place, a social hub and a venue for music, sport and local culture. It is sometimes the last remaining indoor public gathering space in a village or rural community. Does the Minister share my concern at the scale of rural pub closures? What engagement has he had with the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment on protecting their long-term viability?”
“Communities paid the price. Young people paid the price through emigration, unemployment, unaffordable housing and lost opportunities. Nearly 20 years later, many are still paying through huge rents, underfunded public services and deep inequality. As we debate the winding up of NAMA, we should not allow anyone to sanitise or rewrite what happened during that period or minimise the hardship imposed on so many people across the State. For our part, Sinn Féin will engage constructively on the Bill. We support the orderly winding down of NAMA and the completion of the IBRC process, but we will continue to demand accountability for the failure of the banking collapse and the deeply damaging and flawed political choices that followed it.”
“Rather than retaining strategic assets for public development or managing them over the longer term for the benefit of the State, vast quantities were transferred into private hands. Similar mistakes have been repeated elsewhere. AIB shares were sold at prices that deprived the State of billions in potential value. Now we see the same approach with Permanent TSB. Time and again, the State socialises losses and privatises gains. The Bill closes an institutional chapter, but it does not close the political and economic questions arising from that period. The central lesson of the crash is that the Government made political choices about who would bear the cost of economic failure. The people who paid the price for the banking collapse were not the speculators, banks or international investors. Ordinary workers paid the price.”
“Coincidentally, the same generation in many cases bore the brunt of the economic crisis and the decisions taken by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in its aftermath. When we examine the financial returns achieved by NAMA, the picture becomes even harder to justify. NAMA was handed billions in property assets at the absolute bottom of the market following the crash. Property values subsequently recovered dramatically, yet NAMA's projected surplus to the State amounts to approximately €5.2 billion, including corporation tax paid. Against the backdrop of a bailout that cost the State tens of billions, those returns are remarkably modest. The reality is that many assets were sold too cheaply and too quickly.”
“These were assets that could have been strategically retained for long-term public housing, instead of becoming investment vehicles for global finance. The legacy of NAMA and austerity and the economic ideology of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are still visible across every community in the State. Following the crash, Irish property and land banks were sold at rock bottom prices to vulture funds and institutional investors while ordinary people carried the burden. Today we are living with the consequences, including record numbers of evictions, the highest homelessness figures in the history of the State, eye-watering rents, families trapped in insecure accommodation, workers commuting impossible distances and an entire generation effectively locked out of home ownership.”
“The banks incurred losses of more than €42 billion on those loans, losses that were ultimately borne by ordinary people through austerity, including cuts to services, higher taxes, emigration and lost opportunity. The Comptroller and Auditor General estimated in 2022 that the net cost of the bank stabilisation measures amounted to €45.7 billion. Nowhere is the failure of the post-crash political and economic model clearer than in housing. While NAMA was established to manage distressed property assets, what followed was the large-scale transfer of Irish property into the hands of international vulture funds and institutional landlords. Entire developments of apartment blocks and offices and land banks were sold off at rock bottom prices.”
“The Government will try to present this Bill as the final chapter in a successful rescue story, but the story of NAMA is inseparable from one of the darkest economic periods in the history of the State. Following the crash in 2008, the State undertook extraordinary measures to stabilise the banking system. Banks were recapitalised at massive public expense. Blanket guarantees were introduced and NAMA was established to acquire toxic property loans from the banks. The stated purpose of NAMA was to protect the interests of the State and manage distressed assets in a way that maximised public value, but when we examine the legacy of NAMA honestly, serious questions remain. NAMA paid €31.8 billion to acquire loans with a face value of more than €74 billion.”
“I will continue with that noted. Last year, the so-called housing tsar plan collapsed under pressure and now the Government wants to fold an individual back into the NTMA while preserving the same extraordinary pay package. Contrast that for a moment with the National Ambulance Service workers who have been forced onto picket lines simply to secure modest improvements in pay and conditions and address chronic recruitment and retention problems. Front-line workers are told there is no flexibility, no urgency and no money, but when it comes to protecting a senior executive associated with NAMA, or any senior executive, suddenly the State can move mountains and seems very motivated to do so. We also need to be honest about what NAMA represents and the political choices that followed the collapse.”
“It is more than €100,000 higher than the salary of the Governor of the Central Bank. Last year, the Government even attempted to appoint this same individual as a so-called housing tsar, effectively sidelining the Minister for housing, before backing down under sustained pressure from this side of the House. Therefore, the public is entitled to ask whether there are any lengths to which the Government will not go to protect Mr. McDonagh's extraordinary salary package. The Government continues to bend over backwards to protect the NAMA CEO's salary of €430,000 per year. Last year-----”
“Sinn Féin will not oppose this legislation progressing to the next Stage. We support the orderly winding down of NAMA and the completion of the IBRC process, but we have serious concerns about accountability, governance and the extraordinary salaries that will be paid, which are utterly out of kilter with public sector norms. Sinn Féin will bring forward amendments on Committee Stage to address those concerns. Before we close the book on NAMA as a State, a people and a Government, serious questions have to be answered. Under the Government's plans, the CEO of NAMA, Brendan McDonagh, appears set to transfer into the NTMA on the same terms and conditions he currently enjoys. We are talking about a salary of approximately €430,000 per year. That places him among the top 0.1% of earners in the State.”
“They also deserve proper staffing, recognition and meaningful engagement from Government. No more than paramedics and the rest of their colleagues in the health service, nurses are essential to society and to humanity. They deserve action, fairness and protection. They need to be acknowledged. If it boils down to one word, it is "respect". Gratitude and platitudes are easy but respect costs.”
“We must tackle the burn-out, exhaustion and unsafe workloads. The figures from the INMO are deeply worrying. Too many nurses report unsafe staffing levels, serious stress and pressure to work additional hours. Many are considering leaving their workplace or leaving their profession entirely. It speaks to the compassion, dignity and discipline of nurses that, when they are asked to do more, they tend to do so until they hit the point at which they can do no more. That is not sustainable for workers or for patients. As we are speaking here, I will also express solidarity with nurses' colleagues in the National Ambulance Service. These workers taking industrial action today are paramedics, advanced paramedics and EMTs and provide extraordinary front-line clinical care under immense pressure.”
“She taught nursing and midwifery in some of the largest and worst refugee camps in the world. Today, on International Nurses Day, I think of her and of all of those nurses, healthcare workers and health facilities that have been attacked, particularly in Gaza but also in the West Bank and Lebanon, as Israel continues with its genocide. Today is also an opportunity to recognise the international character of modern nursing in Ireland. Nurses working in our health services have come here from every corner of the globe. We are deeply grateful to every nurse, whether from Ireland or beyond, who cares for people here with dignity, skill and humanity. Gratitude alone is not enough, however. If we truly value nurses and nursing, we must ensure safe staffing, fair pay, decent and safe conditions and affordable housing.”
“Today, on International Nurses Day, we recognise and thank nurses working across every part of our health service and at every stage of life. We think of those nurses in our hospitals, in GP surgeries and in communities. We think of public health nurses, addiction nurses, mental health nurses, intensive care nurses, palliative care nurses, paediatric nurses, geriatric nurses, and those working in disability services, cancer care, maternity care, health promotion and the Irish Blood Transfusion Service. Irish nurses have earned a reputation across the world for excellence, professionalism and compassion. That is a source of enormous pride for this country. My aunt Stephanie worked as a nurse and a midwife for much of her life. She cared for patients here in Ireland but also in many areas affected by war, famine and insecurity.”
“Has the Taoiseach spoken to the incoming First Minister of Wales and leader of Plaid Cymru, Rhun ap Iorwerth, or with the current and likely future First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney, following last week’s seismic election results? In the context of the growing constitutional change taking place across these islands, does he intend to meet them alongside the First Minister and deputy First Minister in the North to discuss future relationships and co-operation?”
“The scenes in Tycor in Waterford over the weekend have been devastating for residents, businesses and workers. I commend the firefighters, emergency services and front-line workers who responded. On Sunday morning, my colleague, Deputy David Cullinane, and I visited the area to meet those residents, the workers and the businesses affected. While the immediate danger has passed in many respects, enormous concerns remain around livelihoods, the clean-up operation, asbestos, air quality and long-term safety. I welcome the response under way by Waterford City and County Council and the local enterprise office, but once the national attention moves on, Government support cannot move on too. Will the Taoiseach commit to ensuring sustained Government support for affected residents?”
“They know it quite clearly because they see both sides of the equation. They see the increasing costs and increasingly difficult nature of life and getting by, for workers and families. They also see the other side of things, where going to work is becoming more and more difficult for those who want to have dignity and fairness in the workplace. This situation is being made more difficult by the Minister and his Government.”
“We have seen it when it comes to workers in all types of sectors, whether they are working in retail, in an abattoir, on a factory floor, as a winch operator on a search-and-rescue aircraft serving this State or as a special needs assistant, SNA, it does not really matter. The Government seems to have the approach that it is always about holding them back, holding back progress and frustrating the trade union movement and its ability to do its work and to stand up for workers. It has already been said, but the countermotion put forward by the Government is shameful. Sadly, though, it is not shocking and not surprising. At the end of this week, on May Day, as workers reflect on who has their backs, they know it is their trade union and us Sinn Féin members and others in the Opposition.”
“Workers today are under sustained pressure from a deepening cost of living crisis and, in that context, it is even worse that the Government is trying to delay, prevaricate and hold back progress on workers’ rights, so that trade unions, those people who workers select and elect to stand up for them in the workplace, are not even allowed to get into the workplace to make representations on their behalf and to meet workers to increase union density. This is the Government taking a side. It is taking the side it has always taken, that is, the side of the bosses. We have seen it when it comes to the Debenhams workers in Waterford and across the State.”
“As we move towards May Day, we recognise the proud tradition of the trade union movement and all those women and men who have served, joined and organised. As working-class people, we know that every time our class, the workers, has made an advance and a gain, it is because they struggled, fought for it and stood up and were counted. I am very proud to come from Waterford, a county and a city imbued with a strong trade union tradition. I have been a member of a trade union since I was a teenager. It was Mandate first and then the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union, ATGWU, now UNITE the Union. I am still very proud to be a member of the Dungarvan branch of UNITE the Union.”
“Investment in water, transport and connectivity must come ahead of and alongside development, and there must be targeted supports for Gaeltacht, island and coastal communities, recognising the unique pressures they face. Rural island does not need another consultation process that leads nowhere, it needs leadership at Cabinet, alignment across Government, delivery and an about-face from this Government.”
“It means aligning housing delivery with employment patterns and regional economic development and ending the contradictions between planning policy and rural sustainability. We have put forward plans for additional gardaí, enhanced plans for primary care and meaningful steps to reduce deprivation and growing energy poverty. We need clear targets, defined timelines, assigned responsibility and annual reporting to the Dáil in the new iteration of the plan. Without that accountability this will simply be another strategy that describes problems rather than solving them. It will be another thing to gather dust on top of the shelf somewhere. This requires an infrastructure-first approach.”
“Rural Ireland is facing a double burden; too little new supply and often poor existing housing stock. At the same time, infrastructure deficits are holding communities back. Water and wastewater capacity is preventing development in towns and villages, transport options are limited, road networks are underfunded and digital connectivity remains inconsistent. Without addressing those fundamentals, no rural strategy will succeed. The question is not about consultation; it is about whether Government is willing to change direction. We in Sinn Féin have made our position clear any time we have spoken about this, which has been often. Housing must be central to the next rural strategy. That means annual rural housing delivery targets, a serviced-sites programme that works and a sustained investment in water and wastewater infrastructure.”
“It has identified centralised decision making, weak local delivery capacity and a lack of accountability as structural weaknesses in Ireland’s rural policy. It also rightly identifies housing as a central determinant of rural development. That is a core issue that has long been ignored. Housing is now the defining challenge for rural Ireland. Communities are losing young people, population decline is accelerating, local services, schools and clubs are under pressure, the GAA’s own national demographics report confirms that many rural communities are already experiencing decline that is undermining their long-term sustainability, and yet housing delivery remains concentrated in urban areas, insufficient in scale and misaligned with rural needs.”
“In doing so, he belied an approach that has underpinned Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s attitude to rural communities for far too long in this State. The consultation paper published last year contained no targets, timelines, funding commitments or clear delivery mechanisms. It asked communities for their views but did not set out how any of these things will be delivered. That reflects a wider problem as far as I am concerned. The programme for Government, national planning framework, national development plan and housing plan are not aligned with the stated ambition of the consultation, the last strategy or indeed the Minister's strategy of supporting rural Ireland. In fact, any objective analysis would suggest they are working against it. The OECD report on the old rural policy made this clear.”
“Where was Our Rural Future when post offices were being closed right, left and centre, when GP clinics were being closed, when the, at this stage, annual school transport chaos was unleashed across the State every August and September, when LEADER funding was being cut, when local roads budgets failed to keep pace with construction inflation, when ambulances and gardaí were rarely available on time and when a generation was locked out of home ownership and sent packing to Dublin or Dubai? Rural residents have seen no evidence of a Minister or indeed a strategy at the Cabinet table successfully arguing its case or actually standing up for communities. The reality is this; there is a growing gap between what Government says about rural Ireland and what it actually does. Last week, former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the quiet part out loud.”
“Where was the Minister when budget decisions reduced investment in rural development, including cuts to LEADER? Where was the Minister when families in rural Ireland were hit first and hardest by the fuel crisis, calls for meaningful support were ignored and workers, farmers, contractors and hauliers were being demonised? Where was the Minister and this policy when fishing communities faced devastating quota cuts?”
“We are here discussing the consultation process, but if we are being honest about it, rural Ireland does not lack for consultation or for strategies and plans. What it actually lacks is delivery, urgency and alignment across Government policy. This is where the Government has failed. The Minister is the one tasked with rural-proofing this Government. He is meant to be the voice at the Cabinet table defending rural Ireland, so this is a fair question to ask him. Where was Our Rural Future when the national development plan doubled down on urban concentration and left rural communities fighting for basic investment? Where was the Minister when housing policies stalled again and again and rural housing delivery was effectively frozen in large parts of the country, an Ghaeltacht san áireamh?”
“I want to ask the Taoiseach directly. Has he challenged Germany’s position and role in shielding Israel from accountability? Will he move on the occupied territories Bill? When will this Government finally take even the most basic, moderate steps of introducing real sanctions rather than continuing a policy of delay and inaction?”
“It is a number of months since the World Economic Forum in Davos. In the past few weeks, however, the Taoiseach has met the German Chancellor and we have had the German foreign minister here in Dublin. We now know that Germany has once again blocked even the most modest EU action to suspend the EU-Israel trade agreement, which grants preferential access to a rogue state that is systematically violating international law, human rights norms and the very terms of that agreement. At the same time, countries like Spain and Italy have taken unilateral steps and shown that action is possible. This Government has done neither. There have been no domestic sanctions, no leadership at EU level and no meaningful consequences from Ireland for Israel’s actions, its brazen contraventions of international law and its genocide.”
“There needs to be a good piece of work done by both the Minister's Department and the Department of Transport to get to the bottom of that issue and to make sure there is serious co-operation between authorities in Britain and authorities here when it comes to policing our roads and pursuing those who flout the rules of the road in Ireland, regardless of the jurisdiction in which they are registered.”
“Road safety concerns and the policing of road safety are a particular issue not only in the northern third of our country but also in the south east, where I am a representative, because of our links with Wales, in particular. The N25 is widely regarded as the most dangerous stretch of national primary road in the State. It is also a European route and one of the most dangerous ones in the European Union. The N24, which connects Rosslare onwards with Limerick and skirts Waterford, is also a very dangerous stretch of road. Both roads have not had their share of investment and safety improvements. What is making that situation all the worse is the sheer volume of traffic on both those roads comprising vehicles generally registered and regulated in Britain.”
“It seems to be undoing, maybe, some of the limited protections that were appended to the Lisbon treaty several years ago by stealth, without adequate levels of scrutiny and without adequate levels of debate. It might not be the case in this particular instrument that has come before us but there is a need for greater scrutiny and greater transparency when these opt-ins are proposed, debated and scrutinised in this House and in the Oireachtas as a whole. This relates to serious criminality but there is another issue I want to use this opportunity to highlight and it is about road safety. As Deputy Carthy said, the nature of partition complicates policing on this island. We have a porous Border, and rightly so. The only thing that would improve it would be if we were to take it away altogether, and that is another day's work.”
“As Deputy Carthy set out, Sinn Féin is not opposing this. I recognise the importance of the item before us in terms of targeting serious criminality. However, we have to be very clear that Britain is now a third country and has been since Brexit. It is very important that there are strong measures when it comes to data protection and that the regime that will underpin the sharing of data here is as strong as if not stronger than the general data protection regulation that is in force within the European Union. I share the concern and the criticism, or certainly the analysis, outlined by Deputy Carthy with regard to the real increase in the number of Protocol No. 21 opt-ins, which have become a feature of this Government.”
“What we need to see now is parity between the remuneration offered to youth workers working in the community in voluntary organisations and that of employees doing similar work, and, in many cases, with similar qualifications and similar demands on their time, in the public sector. That is a method we can use to maybe keep people in jobs where they are at the coalface and are doing front-line work that is so valuable in all our communities.”
“I note the Minister's response and thank her for it. The difficulty is not the absence of strategy, it is the absence of delivery. We see the results of the workforce survey. There is also the workforce development strategy that is taking place at the moment. This is another case of too little too late. The issues in terms of recruitment and retention are not new. In many cases, they have always been thus. However, they have accelerated and worsened since the economic crash in 2008 and 2009 and the years of austerity that followed. Youth services have never fully recovered from all the cuts that were imposed by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael-led Governments since then.”