Conor Sheehan
Limerick City · Labour Party · Ireland
“If a student does not have access to one of these devices or access to one at home, there is often no alternative and that could leave them excluded. Many families are forced to pay hundreds and thousands, particularly with the rising cost of microchips, for these devices.”
“I thank the Minister for her considered response. We need to get rid of voluntary contributions and move to generic school uniforms. This is something that has been done in the UK.”
“This digital divide is resulting in a severe and growing level of inequality where so many communities, students and families are unable to purchase the devices they desperately need for their children's education.”
“I raise the issue of the community access support team, CAST, in Limerick, which has prevented 133 detentions under section 12 of the Mental Health Act and reduced the number emergency department presentations. It has responded to over 1,000 incidents.”
“Do not worry. We need to have a debate this week before the House rises about the imminent report on Aughinish Alumina. There are up to 2,000 direct and indirect jobs at stake in Limerick. We cannot have a situation where the State is inadvertently complicit in the export of alumina to Russia. Where there is a will, there is a way.”
“It is absolutely reprehensible that planning permission has been granted for apartments on the site of the former mother and baby home at Bessborough. We have 19 mothers and 859 infants associated with Bessborough still missing. Now 140 apartments are going to be built on a mass grave. We need statements on this next week.”
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“Cuirim fáilte i bprionsabal roimh an mBille seo. Mar a dúirt an tAire, tá moill ollmhór againn sa tír seo maidir le cúrsaí bonneagair. Ceann de na fadhbanna is mó atá againn maidir leis an ngéarchéim tithíochta ná an ghéarchéim nó an mhoill leis an mbonneagar. Sa tír seo, tá fadhb mhór againn i gceithre réimse thábhachtacha: cúrsaí tithíochta, sláinte, iompair agus leictreachas. I welcome this Bill in principle and I would like us to work constructively on it. I am disappointed, as a member of the infrastructure committee, that a decision was taken to waive pre-legislative scrutiny on this. I would like a commitment from Government that the legislative guillotine will not be used for amendments on this legislation because this is really important. We have to get this right.”
“As I said, this is a practical proposal. It merits much more consideration than being thrown out, essentially, by the Government. If the Organisation of Working Time Act is not the appropriate vehicle through which to legislate for this I really hope the Minister of State can find out if we can do it through the 2023 work life balance Act.”
“There is no legal entitlement to paid leave for cancer screening and employees are often forced to choose between using annual leave or taking unpaid leave, which many people cannot afford, especially given the cost-of-living crisis we are in. There is also an issue with employers not allowing people to take a partial day off or a few hours off for an appointment. This means some people have to take an entire day of annual leave for a 15-minute test. There is an imbalance between the person in low-paid and more precarious work and their employer. These people are often younger and from working-class and migrant backgrounds. There is a real fear there of being perceived as unreliable or of receiving unfair treatment for asking for time off for health-related reasons, especially if they have already used their statutory sick leave.”
“This is something that disproportionately affects people who are in lower-paid jobs in front-line industries like hospitality, retail and manufacturing. They have rigid rotas and cannot just nip out for an hour or a couple of hours. It is a fact that most of our screening services operate day-time appointments only and clinics rarely operate at the weekend or late in the evenings. This legislation is also something to benefit those who are in precarious work because employees on casual, temporary or zero-hours contracts may, because of the imbalance that is there with their employer, fear requesting time off for a non-urgent medical appointment will lead to them, for example, being offered fewer hours or affecting perception of their reliability to attend their job.”
“Many EU countries include preventative health check-ups within their broader paid sick leave regulations and studies have shown that when paid sick leave is mandated and used often for screening, cancer screening rates are higher compared with areas without such mandates. We have problems with cancer screening and we should not kid ourselves we do not. The European Union’s Beating Cancer Plan, which we have signed up to, ensures 90% of the target population is offered screening but in many ways the country is going in the wrong direction. BreastCheck has missed its attendance target for a number of consecutive years up to 2026. Approximately 40% of first-time screening appointments are missed. If we look at BowelScreen things are even more concerning and we are going in the wrong direction. Our figure is 65% and it is also declining.”
“I thank my colleague, Deputy Smith, for bringing forward this Bill. If the Organisation of Working Time Act is not the appropriate vehicle by which to legislate for this proposal, I ask whether it could be done through the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023. I am very disappointed by the attitude the Government has taken to this Bill because it is a practical one the provisions of which would cover HSE cancer screening programmes and other screenings recommended by a doctor based on age or health status. Workers must currently use their annual or sick leave to attend appointments, which can create financial and workplace barriers to early detection.”
“Some of the rhetoric coming from Government in relation to this is markedly different and departs from what the official policy position is. The Taoiseach said Cork City Council should have purchased it, the Tánaiste said he was deeply uncomfortable with the situation, and the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, said the solution was not to CPO the site. The State needs to step in here. This should be a site of conscience and national commemoration. The way survivors have been treated here, as survivors are consistently treated by the official mechanisms of the State, is absolutely appalling. The fact of the matter is that only two people, Carmel Cantwell and my colleague, Councillor Peter Horgan, bothered to lodge a formal objection to this. The Minister for housing has powers under section 28 and can issue ministerial guidelines.”
“That brings me back to an experience in my own family. My grand aunt was in a mother and baby home in the 1950s. Her child was taken from her and sent to Australia. We only found this out approximately ten or 12 years ago. She could not make contact with her biological daughter for decades afterwards. There was no paperwork surrounding her daughter’s birth or registration of birth; it was extremely difficult to obtain. I note the previous application was for a SHD but this was ruled by An Bord Pleanála as being unsuitable. The fact of the matter is that the Bessborough site requires a national intervention to prevent development. The State has obligations under the ECHR to investigate this and it should be responsible for surveying and protecting the site itself. It should not be something that is left to any private entity.”
“I thank the Government Chief Whip for facilitating time for this debate at my request. I was struck by something my colleague, Deputy Ó Laoghaire, said earlier in relation to the tendency of the State to treat issues of institutional abuse as piecemeal and individual. If we look at industrial schools, Magdalen laundries and mother and baby homes, the fact of the matter is this was incarceration funded by the State and facilitated by a corrupt institution, the Roman Catholic Church. I was struck by some aspects of the Minister’s speech in relation to there being no information about burial arrangements. While the Minister stated that there are a number of locations in the grounds where burial could have taken place, no evidence of burial was found anywhere except the congregation burial ground.”
“At the very least it is something the Government could, and should, do because this cost-of-living crisis is impacting renters the most. They are the most vulnerable people in the housing system at the moment.”
“The Tánaiste selectively quoted from a number of sources, including the Housing Commission. The fact of the matter in regard to short-term lets is the Government is already talking about weakening the legislation by increasing the population cap and putting in exemptions that were not there when the original legislation was mooted. The housing crisis has become so severe that an 88-year-old with dementia is being evicted in County Sligo as we speak. That is how bad it has become under the watch of this Government. In his response, the Tánaiste did not actually address the question I asked, which was: what new cost-of-living measures will the Government bring forward to protect renters? Will the Government look at increasing the renter's tax credit?”
“In Spain, as part of its response to the crisis, the Sánchez Government has extended rental agreements by two years, which will stop evictions and freeze rents, while here in Ireland, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are facilitating a wave of mass evictions and allowing landlords to hike the rent to the market rate in between tenancies. As rents surge and a tsunami of evictions gets under way, will the Government intervene to protect renters? Will it freeze rent increases like Spain has and will it put a moratorium on evictions? What new cost-of-living measures will this Government bring forward for renters? Will it at the very least double the renter’s tax credit, as Labour has called for?”
“While the Minister and his Department roll out the red carpet for institutional investors in Cannes with the promise of higher rents and higher returns, 41% of renters are at risk of poverty and a growing number spend 50% of their income on rent. Tomorrow the homeless figures will set another shameful record and there has been nearly a decade of foot-dragging on the regulation of short-term lets. The housing crisis is being paid for by renters, who have nowhere to go when evicted, and Fianna Fáil told us six years ago it would solve the housing crisis and Fine Gael said the same thing a decade ago. We are still waiting and the problem is getting worse.”
“Today we learn house prices are up again, this time by nearly 4% in the year to March, which pushes home ownership further out of reach. This rolling series of mass evictions is the result of the housing policies of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. We have had 20 families in Limerick, 14 families in an apartment complex in Ballybane in Galway and six incredibly vulnerable households in a retirement village in Sligo, including Frank, an 88-year-old wheelchair user with dementia, and his wife Elizabeth, aged 84, who has been his carer. Is the eviction of an elderly couple with dementia from a retirement home the housing policy the Tánaiste stands over?”
“-----to wish Troy Parrott and our boys in green all the best of luck tonight in Prague. We are all hoping for a hat-trick. Tá cruachás na gcostas maireachtála ag éirí níos measa, go háirithe ó thaobh tionóntaí de. The cost-of-living emergency is getting worse. The measures the Government announced mean the cost of living will remain stubbornly high for workers and families who cannot make ends meet. Renters are not immune from this crisis and are in fact the worst hit as they face double-digit rent increases under the Government’s rent hike Bill and sky-high energy and grocery bills. We are also seeing a growing wave of evictions - in fact, the highest rate of evictions since the Famine. There was a 41% increase in evictions in the last quarter of 2025.”
“I welcome the work that is being done in relation to Cuan but I have had a number of these cases come to me in the past year or so and it is frightening. Regarding what my colleague, Deputy Kelly, said about the suspended gardaí in my own city of Limerick, that was completely unacceptable. How can you have a case where €3.5 million of taxpayers' money is spent on a near decade-long prosecution leaving Garda morale in Limerick on the floor and the officers stripped of their dignity? Even when the Taoiseach himself and the Tánaiste both agree on the need for a review, I note the Government's countermotion has completely ignored this. On high-visibility policing, I welcome the additional Garda high-visibility policing plan in Limerick and the additional probationers but we need a permanent funding solution for live monitoring of the CCTV.”
“To address these weaknesses, the inspectorate recommends the Garda Síochána develop a domestic abuse-related training plan in partnership with relevant agencies and support services. Recently a constituent of mine, who was a survivor of domestic abuse, told me that when she called An Garda Síochána to the home she shared with her ex-partner more than a year ago, she was told by the garda who attended the scene that they "did not get involved in domestics" and she was effectively ordered to leave the home. When she refused to leave, she was threatened with arrest, so she left the home and her two children with her ex-partner, and this was after he pulled her down the stairs by her hair in the home they shared. The inconsistency in the approach between different members of An Garda Síochána is something that needs to be addressed.”
“Time and again we have seen Women's Aid and other organisations criticise the Garda response to domestic violence. Last year, almost half of survivors surveyed described their Garda experience as unhelpful. The issue here is not all gardaí; the issue is some gardaí and an inconsistency in their approach. We need more consistent mandatory and specialised training to properly protect survivors of domestic abuse. The 2024 Garda ombudsman report sets out very clearly what the issues are in relation to training. It is not trauma-informed or responsive. The shift to online training has removed opportunities to enhance learning through discussion and sharing of operational experience, and domestic abuse support services are no longer involved in developing and delivering training.”
“There have been three mass evictions that we know of this year. A total of 20 families were served with notices of termination from The Park on Lord Edward Street in Limerick, along with 14 families, as stated earlier, on Ballybane Road in Galway. The RTB data from this morning is stark. The Government is presiding over the largest level of evictions since the Famine. Last year, 20,033 people received notices of termination. That is the population of Swords. There was a 41% increase in the number of notices of termination in quarter 4 of last year alone. We need emergency action. There must be an emergency moratorium on evictions. If we bring forward legislation on this in the coming weeks, will the Government work with us to progress it?”
“This evening at 5.30 p.m, my colleague, Senator Harmon, will lead a protest against the unconscionable planning decision we have seen at Bessborough. This site should become a site of national conscience. We cannot concrete over a site where 923 children died while the Government sits idly by. We need to have statements on this.”
“There were 9,089 built. That is still, over the lifetime of Housing for All, beneath the target of that plan. I am asking, in particular, about the 2026 budget allocation. For example, that does not take into account that there was an underdelivery of around 4,000 units under the previous housing plan and the Minister has already underestimated the level of need in his new housing plan. He has not actually taken into account that the figures suggest that overall, under Housing for All, the Government did not reach its targets. The fact of the matter is that the Minister's measures are already having an effect in his own county. We have not seen housing assistance payment, HAP, levels increase and the market rent reset is going drive rents up and increase homelessness because people will not be able to pay the rent.”
“The Minister's rental reforms are going to increase homelessness, certainly in the short term. One of the leading issues in regard to addressing homelessness is having an adequate supply of social and affordable housing. Based on the quarter 3 construction status report, the Minister is only going to, as of that date, meet 30% of his target for social housing delivery. In 2024, 10,596 were delivered against a 12,930 goal. Is the Minister going to revise the targets he has for an average of 12,000 new social homes in his current housing plan in order to deal with that deficit? The targets in that plan are too low given the demand that already exists, given the issue with the Minister's rental reforms and given the fact that a 56% increase in social homes is needed just to close the deficit.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. I want to ask the Minister today about the targets for social and affordable housing delivery under Housing for All. Given that it has become abundantly clear that the Government will not meet the targets this year, and it has never met them for social and affordable housing, will the Minister revise the targets contained within the new housing plan in order to take account of this and deal with the growing housing deficit?”
“Seasaim le muintir na Gaeltachta, go háirithe le daoine óga sa Ghaeltacht agus cainteoirí dúchais Ghaeilge. Molaim an rún seo anocht. Mar a dúirt mé, tá mé an-sásta a bheith anseo chun labhairt faoin fhadhb ollmhór tithíochta sa Ghaeltacht. Tá mé sásta nach bhfuil an Rialtas ag dul i gcoinne an rúin. Ag an am céanna, áfach, caithfidh sé éisteacht agus rud éigin a dhéanamh. Táthar fós ag fanacht ar na treoirlínte pleanála, agus beifear ag fanacht go dtí 2027. Dúirt an Rialtas roimhe seo go dtiocfadh na treoirlínte pleanála isteach in 2021. Tá muintir na Gaeltachta ag fanacht le fada ach níl siad ábalta fanacht go dtí 2027.”
“Tá scéim eile in Eanach Mhéain ina bhfuil 14 teach folamh. In ainm Dé, tabhair ciste do Chomhairle Chontae na Gaillimhe nó comhlacht ceadaithe tithíochta éigin chun na tithe a cheannach agus a athrú go tithe sóisialta do mhuintir dhúchas na Gaeltachta. Tá an ghéarchéim folúntais níos measa sa Ghaeltacht. Deir an Rialtas an t-am ar fad nach bhfuil tuairim ar bith ag an bhFreasúra, ach is tuairim úsáideach amháin í seo don Rialtas. Gabhaim buíochas le BÁNÚ as ucht na hoibre a rinne sé chun solas a chur ar na fadhbanna ollmhóra seo. Bhí deis agam bualadh le gníomhaithe dá chuid taobh amuigh den Dáil inniu. Mura ndéantar an méid a dúirt mé, beidh sé dodhéanta na Gaeltachtaí a choimeád agus an Ghaeilge a fhás mar theanga bheo agus teanga oibre mar ní bheidh na cainteoirí dúchais againn.”
“Bhí mé ag éisteacht leis an Uachtarán, Catherine Connolly, a bhí ina Teachta Dála ag an am sin. Chuir sí agus Teachtaí eile roinnt leasuithe chun cinn don Bhille a bhí faoi bhráid na Dála ag an am sin an bhliain seo chaite chun níos mó cumhachta a thabhairt d’Údarás na Gaeltachta le cinntiú go mbeadh an chumhacht aige feabhas a chur ar chúrsaí. Is náire é nár thug an Rialtas tacaíocht dóibh. Mar a dúirt mé, is bagairt ollmhór don Ghaeltacht í an ghéarchéim tithíochta. Is í an bhagairt is mó don Ghaeltacht. Mura ndéantar beart ó thaobh na géarchéime seo, ní féidir linn na Gaeltachtaí a choimeád ná iad a fhás. Tá gá le plean tithíochta speisialta don Ghaeltacht, lena n-airítear plean tithíochta sóisialta agus inacmhainne, go háirithe ó thaobh raon leathan seirbhísí de. Tá scéim i Ros an Mhíl ina bhfuil 42 teach folamh.”
“Ba chóir go raibh na treoirlínte foilsithe in 2021. Tá sé dodhéanta saol a bhunú gan an cumas teach a cheannach i do cheantar féin. Bhí mé i nDubrovnic dhá bhliain ó shin, agus mé ann, thug mé le fios go raibh fadhb ann maidir le longa crúsála. Bhí a lán long crúsála ollmhóra ag teacht isteach i nDubrovnic gach uile lá agus muintir na long sin ag siúl trí na sráideanna gan mórán airgid a chaitheamh agus an áit a fhágáil díreach ina dhiaidh sin. Measaim go bhfuil an fhadhb chéanna ann le Airbnb agus tiarnaí talún móra Briotánacha sa Ghaeltacht. Is gá rud éigin a dhéanamh faoi. Is gá an bhéim a athrú i bhfabhar daoine áitiúla. Caithfidh an Rialtas níos mó cumhachta a thabhairt d'Údarás na Gaeltachta. Bhí mé sa Teach seo an bhliain seo caite agus mé ag éisteacht le roinnt Teachtaí ag labhairt ar Údarás na Gaeltachta.”
“Caithfidh an Rialtas cumhacht a thabhairt do na comhlachtaí Stáit agus maoiniú cuí a aimsiú d'Údarás na Gaeltachta chun go bhféadfaí talamh a cheannach agus suímh a fhorbairt le seirbhísí a chur ar fáil do mhuintir na Gaeltachta. Tá gá le ráiteas pleanála náisiúnta láidir mar tá deacrachtaí le fada ag daoine cead pleanála a fháil sa Ghaeltacht. Bhí ráitis sa Dáil i mbliana faoi chúrsaí a bhaineann le hUisce Éireann. Tá an fhadhb chéanna ann sa Ghaeltacht maidir le cóireáil séarachais ach tá sé níos measa. Is deacracht mhór é sin chomh maith. Dúradh go mbeidh 2027 ann faoin am go mbeidh cóireáil á déanamh ar an séarachas ar an gCeathrú Rua sa Ghaeltacht i gContae na Gaillimhe. Caithfear déileáil leis na fadhbanna pleanála ar dtús. Is é sin an fáth go bhfuil gá le ráiteas pleanála náisiúnta láidir.”
“Tá siad ag cur isteach ar mhuintir na háite agus iad ag iarraidh tithe a thógáil nó a cheannach. Nuair a bhí an iar-Theachta Dála, Éamon Ó Cuív, mar Bhall den Dáil, labhair sé go minic faoi chúrsaí Gaeltachta agus faoi chúrsaí tithíochta inti. Caithfidh an tAire éisteacht le muintir na Gaeltachta agus lena sheanchomhghleacaí, Éamon Ó Cuív. Tá gá leis an gcothromaíocht a athrú maidir le cúrsaí tithíochta sa Ghaeltacht i bhfabhar daoine áitiúla. Chun an méid sin a dhéanamh, is gá ráiteas pleanála náisiúnta láidir a thabhairt isteach. Tá a fhios ag gach uile dhuine nach bhfuil suímh ann le seirbhísí do mhuintir na Gaeltachta. Is í fadhb an easpa bonneagair an fhadhb is ollmhóire sa Ghaeltacht agus i roinnt áiteanna eile in Éirinn faoi láthair.”
“Gabhaim buíochas le Páirtí Shinn Féin as ucht an rún seo a chur faoi bhráid na Dála anocht. Tugann Páirtí an Lucht Oibre tacaíocht don rún. Bhí mé ag éisteacht le mo chara, an Teachta Ní Fhearghail, agus dúirt sí rud éigin spéisiúil. Chuir sí ceist faoi bhráid na Dála; céard is fiú é? Aontaím leis an méid a bhí le rá aici. Céard is fiú Seachtain na Gaeilge gan Gaeltacht bheo agus gan teanga bheo? Tá a fhios ag gach uile dhuine go bhfuil an ghéarchéim tithíochta sa Ghaeltacht ina bagairt ollmhór dár dteanga náisiúnta. I ndáiríre, níl an Rialtas ag déanamh móráin. Níl sé ag déanamh an iomarca chun feabhas a chur ar chúrsaí. Mar shampla, labhair a lán Teachtaí faoi chúrsaí Airbnb agus faoin bhfadhb atá ann. Maidir le cúrsaí tithíochta sa Ghaeltacht, tá fadhb ann le polasaithe an Rialtais seo agus polasaithe an Rialtais dheireanaigh.”
“Ba mhaith liom a rá le gach uile Chomhalta anseo agus le gach Ball den Dáil agus den Seanad, fiú amháin i rith Sheachtain na Gaeilge, úsáid a bhaint as an nGaeilge atá acu.”
“Beidh mé ag labhairt níos mó faoi chúrsaí tithíochta sa Ghaeltacht anocht ach ba mhaith liom a rá nach bhfuil aon chearta teanga ann don Ghaeilge gan cearta tithíochta sa Ghaeltacht. Deirim an méid sin mar níl cainteoirí dúchasacha in ann saol a chruthú sa Ghaeltacht faoi láthair toisc na faidhbe Airbnb agus toisc go bhfuil siad fós ag fanacht ar na treoirlínte pleanála. Dúirt an seanRialtas go raibh na treoirlínte pleanála chun teacht isteach in 2021. Is gá i bhfad níos mó tithe sóisialta a thógáil sa Ghaeltacht mar níl aon tithe sóisialta ann, fiú i nGaeltacht Chonamara. Tá mé an-bhródúil as a bheith ábalta mo theanga náisiúnta a úsáid anseo sa Dáil, cé chomh briste is atá sí.”
“Ansin, chuaigh sí go dtí an ollscoil i gCorcaigh. Rinne sí céim sna healaíona ansin. Bhí fadhbanna ollmhóra aici ag an am sin, sna hochtóidí, maidir le haistriúchán Béarla mar bhí oideachas lánGhaeilge aici go dtí sin. Tá na fadhbanna sin fós ann. Is gá grúpa oibre earnála a bhunú chun scrúdú a dhéanamh ar an gcaoi ina bhféadfadh le hoideachas tríú leibhéal cur le spriocanna teanga na seirbhíse poiblí. Ba mhaith liom a fháil amach inniu an bhfuil an obair sin tar éis tosú. Caithfidh an Rialtas díriú isteach ar úsáid na Gaeilge sa straitéis náisiúnta atá le teacht maidir le hoideachas treasach. Bhí an tAire breisoideachais ag labhairt faoin méid sin cheana. Tá rún ag Páirtí Shinn Féin anocht maidir le cúrsaí tithíochta sa Ghaeltacht.”
“Leis an mórathrú sin, caithfidh an Rialtas a chinntiú go bhfuil maoiniú ceart curtha ar fáil chun an bplean gníomhaíochta do sheirbhísí poiblí Gaeilge 2026-28 a chur i bhfeidhm go rathúil. Caithfidh an plean sin teacht isteach ina iomláine roimh an bplean um sheirbhísí poiblí. Mar a dúirt mé, tá gá le hathrú iomlán. I ndáiríre, ní bheadh an plean sin ábalta an méid sin a bhaint amach gan na fadhbanna sa chóras oideachais a leigheas. Mar shampla, tá deacrachtaí móra ann maidir le haistriú daltaí ó iarbhunscoileanna lánGhaeilge go dtí an tríú leibhéal. Is gá obair a dhéanamh leis an Roinn Oideachais agus Óige agus leis an Roinn breisoideachais chun scrúdú a dhéanamh ar aistriú daltaí. Is fadhb mhór é sin. Dúirt m'aintín an méid sin liom nuair a bhí mé óg. Bhí sí ina scoláire i gcoláiste lánGhaeilge i Luimneach.”
“Bhíomar taobh amuigh den Dáil in 2004 nó 2005 ag damhsa mar nach raibh foirgneamh buan againn i nGaelscoil Sáirséal. Tá an t-ádh againn go bhfuil foirgneamh buan ag an scoil anois ach bhíothas ag fanacht ar fhoirgneamh buan le 20 bliain. Tá an-bhród agam a bheith in ann mo theanga dhúchais a labhairt sa Dáil seo. Is gá níos mó díospóireachtaí Gaeilge a bheith againn, fiú i rith Sheachtain na Gaeilge. Nuair a bhí an tAire anseo, labhair sé faoi sheirbhísí poiblí Gaeilge agus faoin bplean straitéiseach. Tá sé tábhachtach a rá go mbeidh inniúlacht sa Ghaeilge ag 20% de na hearcaigh nua sa tseirbhís poiblí faoin mbliain 2030 de réir an phlean sin. Chun an méid sin a bhaint amach, is gá mórathrú a bheith ann.”
“Tá gá le hathrú ó thaobh seirbhísí poiblí agus ó thaobh cúrsaí oideachais. Nuair a bhí an Teachta Ní Raghallaigh anseo, labhair sí faoin bhfadhb atá ann i roinnt contaetha sa tír seo maidir le meánscoileanna lánGhaeilge nó Gaelcholáistí. Is iarscoláire de chuid Ghaelscoil Sáirséal i Luimneach mé. Ní raibh mé ábalta freastal ar mheánscoil lánGhaeilge mar ní raibh meánscoil lánGhaeilge ann nuair a bhí mé óg. Ba é 2005 an bhliain a bhí ann. Tá sé dochreidte go bhfuil scoláirí i roinnt contaetha sa tír fós ag fanacht ar Ghaelcholáiste lánGhaeilge. Bhí ceannaire Pháirtí an Lucht Oibre, an Teachta Ivana Bacik, i dteagmháil le grúpa a bhí ann, Gaelcholáiste Bhaile Átha Cliath 2, 4, 6, 8, mar bhí easpa Gaelscoile fiú i mBaile Átha Cliath. Nuair a bhí mé óg, bhí Mary Hanafin ina hAire oideachais.”
“Is mór an onóir dom labhairt anseo i rith Sheachtain na Gaeilge ar son Pháirtí an Lucht Oibre. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire, an Teachta Calleary, a bhí ann. Rinne an tAire cur i láthair iontach. I ndáiríre, aontaím leis an méid is mó a bhí le rá aige. Mar a dúirt an Teachta Ní Raghallaigh, a bhí ann cheana, i rith an toghcháin uachtaránachta, thug an tUachtarán atá ann anois, Catherine Connolly, spreagadh do dhaoine an Ghaeilge a úsáid agus a choimeád. Faoi láthair, tá athbheochan nua ar an nGaeilge ar siúl. Ní gá ach féachaint ar Kneecap ná éisteacht ar na céadta podchraoltaí atá ann anois, cosúil le "How to Gael", "An Pod Gaeilge" agus "Gaylinn". Tá a lán podchraoltaí eile ann ach nílim in ann iad go léir a chur faoi bhráid na Dála. Tá gá le níos mó ná podchraoltaí chun an teanga a fhoilsiú.”
“Without stable and sustainable housing, I do not believe it is possible for me to recover safely from surgery or maintain my health. How have we arrived at a situation whereby a woman who is awaiting a serious medical procedure cannot have the operation done because she is currently living in a hotel? She is not the only person I am dealing with who is in a situation like this. It is absolutely shameful. It is something on which all of us, especially the Government, need to seriously reflect. I urge the Minister of State to go back to the Department and listen to some of the solutions we have put forward to try to chart a way out of this.”
“In the meantime, I am experiencing significant pain, heavy bleeding, anaemia, fatigue and stress. [...] Alongside my own health issues, I am under considerable emotional strain due to family circumstances. My father is seriously unwell and has been hospitalised since August ... [and] in addition, my daughter Emily is autistic and relies heavily on routine and stability to cope. Living in emergency accommodation has already had a detrimental impact on both of us. The combined effects of serious ill health, housing instability, and ongoing family stress have left me exhausted and struggling to cope day to day. I am currently on illness benefit and experiencing persistent pain, fatigue, anxiety, depression and declining wellbeing.”
“In the time I have left, I will read into the record a letter I received from one of my constituents in relation to her situation: I am experiencing ongoing and severe health problems due to fibroids and an enlarged uterus ... I have already undergone ... [a procedure] in December 2023 and ... [another one] in September 2024, which failed, leaving hysterectomy as the only remaining treatment option. Due to ... [medical complications], this will require an open abdominal procedure rather than keyhole surgery, which is a longer and more difficult recovery. My consultant has confirmed that I require a hysterectomy, and that I cannot be discharged into emergency accommodation following surgery, which has resulted in surgery being postponed [repeatedly].”
“We are going to have to pay those people redress because we are in a situation where children's physical and mental development is being stunted by the length of time they are spending in emergency accommodation. The Minister informed me at a meeting of the housing committee on Tuesday that he wants to focus our funding on building new social homes and getting people into social allocation as opposed to second-hand acquisitions. The Government needs to do both, such is the scale of the crisis we face. The Minister needs to reverse course on second-hand acquisitions and revert to the old scheme that was in place pre-2025 because under the rental changes, these numbers are going and grow. I have become nearly completely numbed to the people who come in to my clinic in my constituency office every week and tell me harrowing stories.”
“I ask the Department to move on our Bill because it would ensure that local authorities place the best interests of children at the centre of decision-making when supporting homeless families, building on the work we did in the children's rights referendum. The Government should repeal the flawed rental legislation. At a minimum, it should pass our 2021 Residential Tenancies (Tenants' Rights) Bill 2021 and introduce a rent break in its deeply flawed legislation that will gouge renters. I am convinced that in years to come, when we are all old people and long gone from this House, our successors will be here giving a State apology to a generation of children whose life chances we have absolutely destroyed through failed housing policy.”
“There is a plan focused on families. As of last December, there were 7,300 adults in emergency accommodation. I am frustrated because I and my party have brought forward policy proposals. In March of last year, I wrote to the Minister, Deputy Browne, who, as the senior Minister, should be here to hear this debate, and set out five measures for tackling homelessness. The most obvious and simple measure is to pass our Housing (Homeless Families) Bill, which has been lost in the ether around this place since 2017. That Bill passed legislative scrutiny in October 2019. There was talk of it being contained in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024. That did not happen.”
“The Minister talks about the second-hand acquisition fund and ring-fenced funding for exits, but he has cut the ring-fenced funding for preventions. We know that because the data on preventions show that over 43% of preventions into emergency accommodation were done through the tenant in situ scheme. That then dropped to a little over 11% between December 2024 and December 2025. Today feels like Groundhog Day because at every turn, this Government is exacerbating homelessness. The whole idea that we will fulfil our obligations under the Lisbon declaration is laughable. To be honest, we might as well bloody come out of it because the gulf between what the Government says and what it does is massive. We also need to have a specific strategy within the housing plan for getting single people out of emergency accommodation.”
“It needs timebound commitments and ring-fenced funding, otherwise it will be absolutely meaningless. The bit that I find laughable in the new housing plan is that the Government is implementing a national homelessness prevention framework. It says it is focused on early intervention. The best and earliest intervention in most cases is to keep a roof over someone's head. The tenant in situ scheme, as it existed in 2023, was very effective. Over 1,500 units were acquired in 2024. That dropped to 750 in 2025. There was €133 million cut from that scheme. In 2024, €420.9 million was spent on it. The figure in 2025 was significantly less. The fact is that any day, night or week that somebody spends in emergency accommodation damages their physical and mental health, and it really damages their children.”
“They do not take into account the growing housing deficit of at least 256,000 units in the Housing Commission report, which is growing and widening because the targets for social and affordable housing under Housing for All were never met. The Government is not going to need them this year and it will need a miracle of Fatima to meet the slightly increased targets in the new plan. Moreover, the Housing Commission was clear that social and affordable housing should make up 20% of all housing stock. It is currently about 10.7% of all housing stock. We need to double our output of social and affordable housing. There are aspects of the housing plan that I welcome. I welcome a specific action plan on child and family homelessness but this must not be another paper exercise.”
“I cannot take the Government and this housing plan seriously when it continues along the same lines as the stuff that was in Rebuilding Ireland and Housing for All that have created this problem. The Government talks about accelerating supply. We are on the same page with regard to that but the big difference is how we, on this side of the House and in the Labour Party, feel we go about solving this. First of all, scrapping annual completion targets is not going to solve this. In fact, it is only a mechanism for Government to avoid responsibility. There is constant reliance on a volatile private market, as if it will somehow build us out of this crisis, when it has not done so for the past ten years. The social and affordable housing targets in the new plan are too low.”
“This happened by design and as a result of the failure of this Government's housing policy, and the interventions that this Government is making are making this crisis worse. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, signed up to the Lisbon declaration to end homelessness by 2030. When he signed up to the Lisbon declaration, the number of homeless people was at around 12,000. It is now at 17,000. How in the name of God can we be serious about ending homelessness by 2030 when in a little over three years, we are supposed to fulfil the obligations that we have signed up to under that declaration while the numbers are persistently and consistently growing every single year?”
“I genuinely do not know where to start. I was flabbergasted by what the Tánaiste said earlier on about this Government apparently being on the side of renters, when we know that IRES REIT owns 3,627 properties and made €49.7 million in profit last year. It said that it welcomes Government's proactive approach because its portfolio is currently 20% undervalued and it has a potential 25% rental income uplift. That is going to take a terrible situation and make it inherently worse for those who are on the margins because since January 2016, homelessness has increased by 200% in this country. Child homelessness has increased by 450%. At the same time, the Irish economy grew by 5% every year. This did not happen by accident.”
“Before I call the next speaker, I welcome to the Gallery Mr. Gerry Reilly, president elect of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors, and Ms Valerie Fitzpatrick, the vice-president elect. I call Deputy Cian O'Callaghan.”