Darren O'Rourke
Meath East · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“It is a statement of fact that in recent years we have seen a reduced number of classroom teachers. Budget 2026 led to the removal of 498 classroom teachers, a net reduction of 381 when one looks at the gains. The year 2025-26 saw a reduction of 290 and 2024-25 a reduction of 237. That has a real impact.”
“It has created duplication, inefficiency and a barrier to our natural prosperity. It has left the North underfunded by Westminster’s austerity and battered by the chaos of Brexit while the South has suffered from a fractured market and a divided island. We are both less than we could be. Irish unity is not a burden; it is an investment.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak on statements on the fiscal implications of Irish unity. We hear people tell us Irish unity is a cost we cannot afford but the truth of the matter is partition is the cost we have already paid for for a century and more, and it is a price that is too high.”
“I thank the Minister. She said from November that 97% of posts were filled. In real terms at the same time, 996 teaching posts were unfilled, which is almost 1,000. Figures as recent as last week tell us that over 39,000 primary school students were in classes of 30 pupils or more in the past school year.”
“Again, we have those figures from a briefing we had with the Department as recently as yesterday. It is all welcome progress but the question I am asking today is what is the unmet need as things stand? How many children do not have an offer of a school place?”
“I wish the staff and the Minister all the best for the summer. I know it will be a busy summer but I hope that everyone gets a break. I ask the Minister to state the number of children with additional needs who require but have yet to receive an offer of an appropriate school place for September 2026, based on her most recent meeting with…”
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“Will the Minister meet the principals and local TDs? As suggested by her Government colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, will the Minister meet them to discuss possible solutions to advance this and ensure every child has a school place?”
“I will speak frankly here. This is an incredibly frustrating process. I have to say that today feels like more of the same. We are in a situation in Dunshaughlin where, taking into account the additional places at the community national school, there will still be children from Dunshaughlin without an offer of a school place. That is where we are going to be at the end of today and into tomorrow. There are a large number of children who want Irish-medium education and they are being denied that opportunity. There is a clear solution here, and it was set out outside the Dáil when parents came up to protest. The much-needed additional capacity at the community national school is very welcome but also additional capacity and extra places are also needed at the Gaelscoil. There is a proposal in that regard.”
“I take from the Minister's response that it is her understanding that the extra class at Dunshaughlin Community National School will accommodate all the additional children who were on waiting lists. It is my clear understanding that this is not the case. There are children who are still without an offer and children who are not on waiting lists and there are certainly children - in the region of 30 - who do not have an offer of the Irish-medium school place that they want. In the first instance, I understand there were 26 additional places at Dunshaughlin Community National School. Today is the closing date for acceptance of offer. My understanding is that there are a number of children who are still without an offer. Does the Minister know what that number is? What are her plans to accommodate them?”
“I want to ask the Minister the number of children in Dunshaughlin, County Meath, on waiting lists and still without an offer of a junior infants place for September 2026, the measures she will take to provide additional places, including with respect to language and ethos preferences, the date on which she will meet with Meath East TDs and local principals to discuss possible options, and if she will make a statement on the matter.”
“The Government's approach locks out renters, people living in apartments and low-income households. Instead of a just transition, we see a two-tier system where the wealthy get the supports to go green while everyone else is left to foot the bill through higher taxes. That is the reality. In effect, it is a massive transfer of wealth. Those people who are proposing and supporting a carbon tax should say if they are net beneficiaries of the carbon tax and if they are being subsidised in terms of purchase of electric vehicles or retrofitting. Have they drawn down thousands of euro in taxpayers' money while at the same time the rural dweller is left as a massive net contributor? It is a massive transfer of wealth and a deep inequity at the heart of this Government.”
“There is no greater example of that than carbon tax. It has almost come to the point that you are not serious about climate action unless you support carbon tax but let us look at the Irish carbon tax and how it is employed. New research from Trinity College Dublin published in the Energy Research & Social Science paper lays bare the deep inequity at the heart of the Irish Government's approach and the Irish carbon tax. The study finds that adoption of sustainable technologies like heat pumps, solar panels and electric vehicles is overwhelmingly concentrated in affluent areas. It says that disadvantaged communities are being left behind by rates five to seven times lower than wealthier areas. The pay-then-reimburse grant model system disproportionately benefits those who can afford high upfront costs.”
“We have an incredible opportunity here for energy security and independence because of our massive wind resource, offshore wind in particular. We have the opportunity to democratise our energy system, give people cheaper bills and, more importantly, give them ownership of the energy system. We have the opportunity to deliver warmer homes, retrofitted homes, a public transport system that is accessible and affordable and, most importantly, the building of sustainable communities. That is what we can do and what we need to do. The Government, however, has taken an entirely different approach. It has taken the approach of targets that it has failed to meet at every hand's turn. It has taken the approach of pontification and hypocrisy, with one rule for households and another rule for data centres and large commercial enterprises.”
“I am certainly open to that. It would be welcome. It is an argument we have made. The starting point is that we have to protect our emergency department at Navan hospital. There has been a significant increase in population in the region. If there is an opportunity in terms of a surgical hub, the population base, infrastructure and potential are there for enhanced services at Navan hospital. That could work alongside Connolly, Our Lady of Lourdes, Beaumont and the Mater. There is potential there. The HIQA report needs to be the basis of increased investment and addressing the risks that may be present.”
“I welcome every euro invested in Navan hospital, as does the entire community in the county. The national standard 3.1 states that service providers protect service users from the risk of harm associated with the design and delivery of healthcare services, and the hospital was non-compliant in that regard in June 2024 and November 2025. Essentially, what management said at a follow-up inspection was that decisions regarding the transformation of the hospital on a national level were still outstanding and the hospital continued to operate as a model 3 hospital without the provision of acute on-site surgical services. That is stating that it is a model 3 hospital in name. In effect, it is a model 2.5 hospital because it does not have on-site surgical services.”
“Fórsa and the teachers' unions know exactly what needs to be done. Across the board, and it is certainly my experience, we have a Department and Government that do not listen. If ever we needed an example of that, all we have to do is look at the Taoiseach. The last time we were here with a Sinn Féin motion talking about the SNA debacle of the Government's own making, the Taoiseach said we have to be careful if we look for extra SNAs. Today, he said that the Save our SNAs campaign was a flawed campaign. That is to completely deny the fact that communities across the country - families, parents, SNAs and school communities - know exactly what needs to be done. It is now time for the Government, the Department, the Minister and the Minister of State to listen.”
“I thank those who contributed to the debate. The Government is not opposing the motion but this is only welcome if it actually acts on the proposals contained in it. The reason we brought forward this motion is because of a failure to predict and respond to the demand for special education. There are ample examples of Government failure. This year, it was a case of establish a portal, close a portal and lock people out of the system. There was a supplementary budget, a supplementary to the supplementary budget and delays. Delays mean access denied. We have a significant number of contributions of evidence and opinion, including the EPSEN review, the report of the Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters, any amount of hearings of the Oireachtas education committee and the Department's own roadmap for inclusion.”
“I ask the Government to please support this motion and let us begin the real work of building a system that guarantees equal access and opportunity for every single child.”
“This would be a Sláintecare committee for inclusive education to build a cross-party consensus on the long-term vision for inclusive education in Ireland and to make policy recommendations. We need the exact number of children without a school place for September published immediately. We need the cuts by stealth stopped. We need an end to the cruel restriction of SNA access. I ask the Minister to please engage with the Save Our SNAs campaign and advance their updated circular now. In this cost-of-living crisis that the Government seems so oblivious to, we need to reverse the reintroduction of exam fees and the hike in school transport fees. The current model of inclusive education is broken. Rationing by stealth must end. No child should be left behind.”
“We need a guarantee of appropriate school places for every child for September 2026, not merely an offer of a place but a real place. We need expedited access to speech and language therapy, SLT, occupational therapy, OT, and psychological services within schools. We need an independent review of the NCSE and special educational needs organisers, SENOs. We need the special education teaching, SET, allocation model reviewed and increased, reversing the removal of complex needs. We need a multi-annual programme to reduce class sizes to at least the EU average, starting in budget 2027. We need a timebound school building delivery task force. We need an all-party Oireachtas committee on the future of inclusive education to be established in June 2026.”
“The Government and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, restrict SNA access through an outdated circular that ties support to narrow primary care needs, ignoring behavioural, sensory, emotional and communication needs. They force parents to the courts to vindicate their children's rights and spends millions of taxpayers' euro in the process. We have the largest class sizes in Europe. For children with additional needs, that really is devastating. The Minister, Deputy Helen McEntee, as Minister, did nothing about this. Will the Minister, Deputy Naughton, be the same? Sinn Féin condemns this Government's abject failure to plan, invest and deliver. It is violating children's fundamental rights but condemnation is not enough; we need action.”
“It is also the reality of professionals, principals, teachers, special needs assistants, SNAs, and therapists who are forced to work in a system that fails children and who themselves are not adequately supported. Time and again, whether it be access to SNAs, language disorder classes, mild-general learning disability special schools or early intervention classes, the Government's response is diminution, cuts by stealth and reduction or withdrawal of support - in some cases, withdrawal of support before that support even materialises. It is cutting corners and it is cutting children off. The removal of complex needs from the special education teaching allocation criteria is another example of this - a deliberate act of rationing disguised as reform.”
“Across the State, thousands of families have been failed, ignored and exhausted by a system that claims to offer inclusive education but instead delivers ration, denial and despair. The State is systematically failing children with additional educational needs. That is not hyperbole; that is the lived reality of parents forced into legal action to vindicate their child's most basic right, the right to an education. It is the reality of children travelling impossible distances outside of their own communities because there is no school place for them at home. It is the reality of children who are lucky to have a school place but who are there for an hour a day because the support simply is not there.”
“I move: That Dáil Éireann: recognises that: — the State is systematically failing children with additional educational needs, their families, and the professionals who support them; — there is a chronic and worsening shortage of appropriate school places, denying children access and forcing other children to travel excessively long distances, often outside their own communities; — special schools for children with Mild General Learning Disabilities (MGLD) are being redesignated in practice and by stealth; — early intervention classes are being closed at a time when demand for early support has never been higher; — the vast majority of new special classes announced have been allocated to autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder, reflecting a continued pattern of concentration of provision in one category of support, despite the fact that students across the country present with a wide range of learning needs, including MGLD and language disorders, that require different educational supports and approaches; — the proposed changes in relation to access to school places based on assessment and diagnosis have the potential to further redesignate classes and or schools, dilute expertise in special education teaching and support; — access to essential therapies, both in school and in the community, is disgracefully lacking; — the inclusive special classes announced by the Government last week are no such thing, offering the same level of support with larger class sizes, they are a further diminution of support, introduced with no consultation; — Ireland has the largest class sizes in Europe, a reality that affects all children and particularly children with additional educational needs; — the decision to remove "complex needs" from the Special Education Teaching (SET) allocation criteria was a deliberate act of rationing, designed to reduce access to support under the guise of reform; — access to Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) remains restricted by an outdated Circular that ties support narrowly to "primary care needs", denying access to children with behavioural, sensory, emotional and communication needs; — the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) has an impossible task, and is forced to function as a rationing and gatekeeping body; — the Minister for Education and Youth has failed to provide the exact number of children with additional needs still awaiting an appropriate school place for the 2026/2027 academic year, disaggregated by county and educational setting (primary/post-primary, special class/special school); and — the system of inclusive education in Ireland is fundamentally broken, and as demand continues to rise, the State's response has been to ration access to essential supports in order to save costs, rather than to meet needs; condemns the Government for: — its abject failure to strategically invest, plan, and deliver appropriate school places and supports for all children with additional needs; — effectively denying children access to education based solely on their additional needs, thereby violating their fundamental rights; and — creating an environment where parents are forced to resort to legal action to vindicate their children's basic right to education; calls on the Government to: — establish an all-party Oireachtas Committee on the future of inclusive education, by June 2026, mandated to hear from all education stakeholders in a full public forum, and to report back with legislative and policy recommendations within 12 months; — immediately publish the exact number of children with additional needs still awaiting an appropriate school place for the 2026/2027 academic year, broken down by county and educational setting (primary/post-primary, special class/special school); — ensure that additional funding is provided to meet the unanticipated demand for school places for September 2026, to guarantee it does not reduce resources and funding elsewhere in the Department of Education and Youth; — immediately engage with the Save Our SNAs campaign to advance and implement their updated and improved Circular, ending the current cruel and arbitrary restriction of SNA access; — advance the SNA Redeployment Scheme and SNA Workforce Development Plan, in consultation with SNAs, to ensure recognition of their invaluable and expanded role; — immediately stop the cuts by stealth, redesignations and initiative announcements without consultation; — guarantee an appropriate school place, not merely an offer of a place, for every child with additional educational needs for September 2026; — reaffirm that genuine inclusion means the right of every child to attend their local school, alongside their peers, neighbours and friends; — expedite access to essential supports, including speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and psychological services within the school setting; — initiate an independent review of the role, function, and resourcing of the NCSE and Special Education Needs Organisers to improve efficiency, transparency and performance; — review and immediately increase the Special Education Teaching allocation model, to reverse the removal of complex needs from the qualifying criteria, and to ensure allocation is based on need rather than artificial caps or historical ratios; — commit to a multi-annual programme of class size reduction, reducing the average class size to at least the European Union average, beginning in Budget 2027, recognising that smaller classes are a prerequisite for inclusive education; — establish a time-bound school building delivery task force, with a mandate to ensure the expeditious and priority delivery of special schools and special classes, this task force must include relevant technical and departmental expertise and incorporate continuous engagement with local school communities and parents; and — to immediately reverse the decision to reintroduce Leaving Certificate and Junior Cycle fees, and to roll back the hike in school transport fees, including the doubling of fees for secondary students and the 33 per cent increase for primary pupils, in recognition of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis; and resolves that the current model of inclusive education is a failure, rejects the Government's rationing-by-stealth approach, and demands an immediate shift towards a properly resourced system, that guarantees equal access and opportunity and where no child is left behind, this shift will be well informed through the hearings of an all-party Oireachtas Committee on the future of inclusive education.”
“On the opportunity to innovate, I had correspondence this week on how we are further developing and innovating in our existing offshore projects, and how they are coming back and refining their proposals in a really innovative, progressive and environmentally considerate way. Of course, we need to think of the potential implications of nuclear energy, particularly in terms of waste but also in the context of planning consent. We need to think about base-loading. We have renewables. We should have more and a lot more but we also need to look at battery technology. On data centres, I am fundamentally opposed to the idea that we would bring nuclear power plants here in order to further expand our data centres. The opposite needs to be the case.”
“The real risk here is that we get distracted, go down a rabbit hole and continue to miss the really important milestones that we have to reach. That is where the focus needs to be.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. I appreciate his response. I wonder about this new focus on nuclear energy. There has been a lot of commentary and priority questions in respect of it. I mentioned the newspaper headlines which state that the Cabinet is considering it. I am deeply concerned about this matter from a number of perspectives. The Minister of State touched on it when he referred to the waste involved, public support and, more importantly, the fact that Ireland's strength needs to be in the delivery and advancement of renewable technologies, particularly offshore wind. That is our great strength. Others have strength, well-developed for decades, in the area of nuclear energy, and we will use some of that. I do not see a contradiction in that regard. We need to play to our strengths.”
“It is clear from the last priority question, and from the comments from TDs, MEPs and the Taoiseach himself, that Fianna Fáil has gone nuclear, probably in more ways than one, in the past 24 hours. I wonder if the Government is going nuclear.”
“We are light years behind. Croatia is a reasonable comparator. It has 190 full-time academy staff whereas we have just ten. I ask the Minister of State to please invest in academies. They are the places our future internationals learn their trade but they are being short-changed. The Government allocated just €3 million compared with an ask of €4.45 million. My final message is on Ireland versus Israel and Israel versus Ireland. Netanyahu is a war criminal. His regime is genocidal. We cannot facilitate this attempt at sportswashing. Stop the game.”
“There were no changing rooms or any other facilities. That was the reality. While it is better now, there are still many clubs in Meath, Louth and across the State that do not have anywhere near appropriate facilities. The standard of coaching has progressed light years from where it was. There are players from Meath, men and women, boys and girls, who are making progress like never before. All you have to do is look at the national team, the League of Ireland and elsewhere. Players who hail from Meath are right up there. The interest and the talent are there, but they are being let down by a lack of facilities, a lack of resourcing and a lack of investment. The Minister of State has to invest, particularly for our youngsters, both boys and girls, and in our academies. By any reasonable measure, he is coming up way short.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak on these statements. I am a lifelong football fan. I am wearing a Bohs jersey. I am a supporter, a season ticket holder and a member there. The work they do not just on the pitch but also in communities is second to none. I played a fair bit of football. In truth, it was an experience to change on the side of a pitch. Pitches were a set of goals, and a pitch marked out on a flat piece of agricultural land. Sometimes, it was not flat. We often had to clear dung off the pitch before a game. In the late 2000s, I played in the top division in Meath and Louth. We could not use our home pitch for games because it was just not up to standard, like so many others in the competitive league. In our case, our home pitch was where a decent farmer had let us use his land,.”
“Related to the public meeting last night to which I referred, another area is the roll-out of community CCTV, that is, the roll-out of CCTV in communities. There were restrictions in the past in terms of data protection and data management. What is the current position in relation to the roll-out of community CCTV across the State, the role of central government and the funding potentially available for that? Also, what is the role of local government in this regard?”
“I attended a large public meeting in Kells last night, called for by the community in the wake of a spate of burglaries, attempted break-ins and break-ins. There is a lot of concern in the community. It was a very well-attended meeting, hosted by Oliver Figgy Curran and Councillor Michael Gallagher. Representatives of An Garda Síochána were present and took questions. A key concern that I said I would take to the Dáil today is the number of gardaí in Kells and County Meath. The figure is the lowest in all of Ireland by population. What measures are the Taoiseach and the Government taking to address the low number of gardaí in County Meath and Kells in particular?”
“The Government committed to 400 new special classes for September. Over 300 have been sanctioned at this stage, and that is welcome, although very few of them are ready. The related major concern is that 400 new special classes will be far too few. By how many, the Government knows but will not tell us. It is reported that we could be 200 classes or 1,200 places short. It is simply unconscionable that 1,200 children would be left without appropriate school places. Representatives of the Department of Education told the Committee of Public Accounts that a memo would go to Cabinet to provide extra school places. When will that happen? Will every child have an appropriate school place come September?”
“In the context of all the additional information on how we are going to spend funding in the future and identify priority projects for further tranches, this project will not be considered. I am asking that this project be put on the list of tranche 1 funding in light of the particular circumstances involved.”
“The Minister of State has the details of how far advanced the project was before it was pulled back and of how far it was advanced again before demands were made by the Department in relation to decarbonisation. It is almost back to square one again. If this project does not proceed, there is a risk that the planning permission will expire in a handful of months. I have a written response from the Minister which states, "My department is conscious that the planning permission for the project ... will expire in August 2026 and the Department will work with the school authorities to identify an appropriate pathway forward". Will the Minister of State please explain what that means? As he will appreciate, the real concern is that the planning permission will expire, and then the whole school community will be back to square one.”
“I think the Minister of State has made my case for me. One TD after another will say that their local school or a school in their constituency should be included when it comes to funding under the NDP. Very few - I would suggest none - would say that the planning permission is about to expire and that the project, through no fault of the school, has been to the brink and back on two occasions. Covid interrupted this project. It was interrupted again in light of other circumstances. This school is in desperate need. Very particular circumstances obtain in the context of Dunboyne junior and senior national schools here. Will the Minister of State bring those circumstances to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton?”
“I make the case to the Minister of State that not all schools waiting to get onto the list for the next tranche of funding, or even the existing one, are equal. I make a specific case for Dunboyne junior and senior national schools. This project has been in the offing since 1995 and in planning, in some shape or form, since 2008. Its ten-year planning permission for works will expire in August. I have told the Minister of State this is an excellent school. I have also told him about the conditions staff and pupils are living with at the minute. The school's ten-year planning permission is about to expire and we need to get works commenced on this school before it does.”
“The junior school is 30 years old but the senior school was built in 1971 and some of the prefabs are 20 years and older. The conditions are dire. The school has leaking roofs in five classrooms and uneven flooring. In one portacabin, the floor collapsed recently and the class had to be relocated. There are infestations of rodents - rats, mice and more. It is simply unacceptable. There are nine portacabins housing ten classes, and there is an autism class in one of the prefabs. There are proposals for another autism class in the senior school but there is a question regarding what space will used to accommodate it. Since the announcement of the first tranche of NDP funding, we know there are many disappointed schools which are not on the list.”
“The staff are absolutely excellent and dedicated, but the building is letting them down. The principal stated that while the school has a large number of accolades and awards, staff are working in terrible conditions, which is bad for the morale of staff and not fair on students. The chair of the senior and junior national school parents association, Karen Gunning, stated that while the staff handle the situations with professionalism and calm, the stark reality is that young children are being educated in infrastructure that is visibly failing. Hundreds of children continue to learn in an ageing building that no longer meets the needs of a modern primary school. The staff are excellent, incredible and innovative, but they do not have the facilities to match.”
“I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this important Topical Issue. I raise the issue of the need for a new school building for Dunboyne junior and senior national schools. This is, in the first instance, an excellent school. The principal there is J.J. Brennan. There are 470 pupils in the senior school, while the junior school has in the region of 450 pupils, so it is a large school. The principal says the staff are very dedicated. It is the only school in Meath that has a platinum STEM award for science and technology. It is one of only 25 schools in the State with that award. The school is involved in local history projects, and clean air and pollinator projects. It also has a tremendous new drama club, with over 80 people involved. However, the condition of the hall has recently been commented on.”
“There is concern, and this was raised with me at a constituency clinic, that assessments are being done without notification being given to families where it applies, such as in the case of wards resident in nursing homes. It seems the system is not working in a joined-up way that allows it to communicate effectively with whomever it needs to communicate with. Regardless of whether she is accepting amendments or not, the Minister of State is hearing clearly what is being said about the willingness to engage, meet and ensure that the system is robust and responsive.”
“A lot of the amendments are along the same theme and are similar to Committee Stage and the Second Stage debate, which I contributed to. I do not know if the Minister of State is accepting amendments, but what is more important is the principle that she is hearing what is being said and showing a willingness to engage and be responsive to what she is hearing. I have a number of questions and queries in relation to the system as it exists from people affected. For example, what is the complaints mechanism for bringing a complaint against the DSS if one has a complaint? What is the degree to which IHREC is assessing the legislation, if it is doing that? If it is not, why not?”
“In addition, Sinn Féin has published a comprehensive plan to tackle the recruitment and retention crisis in An Garda Síochána. The Government should heed both. Community safety cannot wait any longer.”
“How can communities feel safe when their local station's long-term future is in doubt, like in Kells, or where it barely opens, like in Dunshaughlin, Dunboyne, Duleek and Laytown? In early 2022, the then Minister for Justice, Deputy Helen McEntee, promised a new Garda station for Laytown. The problem is that she did not say which decade it would be delivered in. The latest indication from the current Minister's Department is that it will not be this one anyway. This would be laughable if it were not so serious. It is not a laugh; it is a disgrace. Garda numbers are lower now than in 2020. With population growth, we have 10% fewer gardaí per capita than five years ago. The Government can no longer ignore this. I welcome this motion.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion and again raise the fact that County Meath has the lowest number of gardaí per population in the State. This is the case by a long way and has been the case for years. As a direct result, community safety in Meath is being sacrificed. In recent days alone, I could point to a spate of burglaries in Kells, car break-ins elsewhere and constituents being turned away from their local Garda station in Ashbourne, unable to make a statement because the station does not enough members. These are not just statistics; they are breaches of the basic contract between the State and its citizens. This Government's failure has direct consequences.”
“Will the Taoiseach contact the Department and the Minister for education to ensure a response issues to this local community?”
“On 5 March a large public meeting was held in Dunshaughlin, County Meath on the shortage of mainstream junior infants classes for September 2026. I was there with my colleague Fionnan Blake. The Taoiseach’s party was represented by a local councillor, as was the Minister's party. An Independent TD was there. There is a commitment from the Department in written responses to me that families can be assured that all children who require a school place will be provided with one but, three weeks on, despite repeated correspondence and repeated requests, there is no indication at all when that plan will be in place or what the detail of it will be. A number of clear proposals were put forward by local principals and the local community at the Gaelscoil and the community national school.”
“This is just the type of direct support families need. The EU's energy chief has called on member states to lower taxes on energy where possible, so the Government has absolutely no excuse. This motion gives every TD in this House a clear choice and there will be a vote tonight. TDs can stand with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil as they impose more pain or they can stand with workers and families. Vote for this motion, cut fuel costs now and end the energy rip-off once and for all.”
“In a few weeks, on 1 May, it plans to increase the carbon tax on home heating oil. That will put an extra €22 on the cost of a fill. It is a tax hike people simply cannot afford. The motion before the Dáil is about providing immediate, tangible relief. We are calling on the Government to scrap the planned carbon tax increase and to enact Sinn Féin's legislation to cut fuel costs now, not at some unidentified time in the future.”
“Workers and families across the State are being absolutely hammered. They are facing an unrelenting cost-of-living crisis and now we see the price of petrol, diesel and home heating oil spiralling once again. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are doing nothing, absolutely nothing. They are sitting on their hands while people are being pushed to the brink. They come before us tonight and say they are planning to do something. Let us be clear about the reality facing people. More than 320,000 households cannot pay their electricity bills. One in four cannot pay for their gas. People are being forced to choose between heating their home and putting food on the table. One-in-four people have less than €500 in savings. They have no buffer at all. What is the Government's answer?”
“I am very happy to co-sponsor the introduction of these two vital Bills. As families and small businesses struggle with the relentless cost-of-living crisis the Government continues to act as a mere commentator while energy companies line their pockets. The standing charges Bill addresses the enduring scandal of unregulated standing charges. It is unacceptable that energy companies have free rein to hike these charges by hundreds of euro without any oversight. That is hundreds of euro a year before a single light is switched on. That is a massive cost baked into every family’s budget. Our Bill would require companies to justify these charges to the CRU and they would have to prove any increase related to their fixed costs rather than their profit margin.”
“He mentioned the option to use recommender systems that do not rely on profiling and said the option to turn them off should be available. That is not enough. He said, "The DSA approach requires platforms to mitigate the risks and thus improve and enhance their recommender systems, which is preferable to the unknown risk of switching off those recommender systems." What is the risk of the status qu o, which he is essentially suggesting should be maintained? We know the risk and the harm because of it. Time and again, the Government and the Minister do not do enough. In fact, he comes in as a spokesperson for those companies; that is what he sounds like. It is not enough. Like Deputy Joanna Byrne, I commend anyone trying to fight the good fight on this. We need to see action.”
“For our young people, this means being fed an endless loop of content. We know these algorithms amplify extreme material, promote unrealistic body images and create hate-filled echo chambers that can cause immense damage. Large tech companies claim they are doing everything they can to ensure safety, yet without sufficient regulation, we cannot take their word for it. All of the evidence proves that to be the case. The failure to collect the vast majority of fines issued by the Data Protection Commissioner shows a lack of seriousness from the Government in holding these companies to account. They must be held responsible for what is on their platforms. The Minister's response and the fact that he is opposing this legislation is deeply disappointing. While it is probably not surprising, it is concerning.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. I welcome the intention of it, which is one that Sinn Féin shares: protecting our children from harm in the digital world. Digital participation is not a luxury in Ireland; it is a necessity. Our children have a right to be online, and it is enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. They have a right to participate, to access information and to be protected from exploitation. It is our job, as legislators, to ensure the digital environments they inhabit are safe. That is why we must urgently address recommender algorithms. These are not neutral tools. They are engagement engines programmed to maximise the time we spend on a platform. It is eyes on the screen. Their success is measured in revenue raised, not in well-being.”
“I will make the case, as I have done before, for the Ratoath municipal district in Meath, which is underserved with swimming pools.”