Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin
Wicklow-Wexford · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“This is Groundhog Day in terms of school transport. It is the same as last year. The only thing that has changed in the school transport system is the families affected. We are still inundated with emails from frustrated parents from Rathdrum to Kilmuckridge. Children who have always qualified have suddenly been refused tickets.”
“Children in Coláiste Bhríde, Carnew, who had always received transport were told no service was available, but when we contacted the provider, it said that a service was available. The waiting time to hear back from Bus Éireann is unacceptable.”
“Irish author Emma Donoghue stated, "They are robbing us in hopes of replacing us." That is a shocking statement. Irish artists, writers, musicians, actors, composers and performers are being ripped off by big tech billionaires through plagiarism or, to give it the proper term, theft.”
“They tell our stories and shape national identity. However, they are now forced to take on some of the world's largest tech companies simply to vindicate their rights. It is creating a dystopian nightmare. We have to stop it.”
“Higgins, Joseph O'Connor, Gerry Adams, Anne Enright, Colm Tóibín and Sally Rooney. We need to see action on this in Ireland and at a European level to protect artists' rights and income, respect their creativity and defend their livelihoods. It has to stop now.”
“I highlight the serious case of a ten-year-old called Poppy, whose experience is a compelling example of a wider service failure for children in my constituency of Wicklow-Wexford, which covers south Wicklow and north Wexford.”
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“They cannot live in the area so people are getting exported. I met quite a lot of young people from farms who cannot get permission to build. This is like something out of Stalinist eastern Europe as far as I can see. Local post offices are closing as are local Garda stations. People are finding impossible to access GPs. There is a lack of affordable childcare, affordable housing and reliable public transport in these areas of north Wexford and south Wicklow. In many ways from my memories I see that rural Ireland has been abandoned by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. I see similar stories in villages all the way from Ballindaggin up as far as Barndearg, and from Kilmuckridge up as far as Knockananna. I read through the document. There is plenty in it about remote working and rural development.”
“Lack of State support is one thing, but that to which I refer is particularly infuriating for the entrepreneurial minded people I met today who want to build small clusters of houses in these villages and those who want to develop facilities for tourism or maybe repurpose an old building or a closed down building. They are, however, met with obstacle after obstacle, bureaucracy over regulation and strangulation due to the lack of wastewater treatment capacity. This is preventing people getting planning permission and is replicated in many other villages I represent, including Camolin, Ferns and others. I also visited the schools in Camolin and Aughrim. The lack of infrastructure is having a really bad impact because young families cannot build houses and settle down in either village.”
“Many of our rural villages are being allowed to die on their knees because of Government inaction. They are being strangled due to the obstacles that are put in the way of people who want to develop changes. My journey here today took me through the village of Aughrim, which has not seen any proper development for the past decade and a half. The lack of infrastructure such as wastewater treatment is strangling the development of desperately needed housing in the village, which would keep local people in the local school and living locally instead of exporting them across the world.”
“How did it come to this? I have been working for the past year on transport and I feel we have Groundhog Day coming up this summer. I am working with parents from the Castletown, Camolin, Bunclody and Gorey Educate Together areas, working with the Minister's Department and working with parliamentary questions and everything else. I have a feeling we will be back to square one in a couple of months' time. Lastly, there is Our Lady of Fatima School in Wexford being re-designated in a very underhand way. This has to stop. I ask the House to support the motion and guarantee that anyone who needs additional support will receive it in September.”
“That has a temporary building which is expanding into the grounds of the adjacent Gaelscoil, where I used to work, and that is now full. It will not be able to take a single student in September. It needs a new greenfield site for a bigger school. Some children cannot get school places in my area. Others may have to stay at home and wait another year, which is absolutely shocking, as my colleague pointed out. Public transport is a huge issue. Others said it would prevent them from actually going to school. The principal in Bearna Chlé, Johnstown, spoke of a shocking shortage of help in assessing assessment-of-need applications, with an allocation of just three hours per day. I also had a Kilmichael parent of three autistic children on to me. Another mother has to get a solicitor to get an assessment of need and had to travel to Cork.”
“Before starting here, I taught in schools for 34 years, the last ten years in special education, but I have never seen things so bad in terms of the shortage of appropriate school places and SNA provision for those with behavioural, sensory, emotional or communication difficulties. The State is systematically failing these children, their families and the professionals I worked with. This week I have been contacted by school principals from the Wicklow-Wexford area, many distraught, with harrowing stories of struggles they face to get their children the education and the services they need and deserve. We have the new Gorey Hill School for students with special needs, which I know the Minister has visited. I met her there.”
“I am not knocking it but the Government's attitude towards the working-class sport of soccer is another story and this needs to change.”
“I will support any application by such clubs in the upcoming round of sports capital funding, which will be coming after the summer. As a country we owe massive credit to the management and many trainers in all of these local clubs, the ticket sellers, those who fundraise, those who get pitches ready, those who fill the bottles and those who give lifts. The fabric of Ireland is held together by an army of volunteers who give of their time so selflessly. The Government really needs to up its game in this regard and match the public support with proper funding for facilities as we see in other European countries. We need to see far more project support through the large-scale sport infrastructure fund. We see €400 million committed to projects related to the Ryder Cup in Adare.”
“There is a really good club at Avonmore FC in Rathdrum. There are also Aughrim Rangers, Coolboy Rangers and Killenagh Wanderers. We also have Ferns United, Tombrack United and Shillelagh United. There are also other clubs in the south, including St. Joseph's AFC in Kilmuckridge, Bunclody FC and St. Cormac's AFC in Boolavogue. Wexford schoolboys represented Ireland in the Gallini Cup last week. This was a great achievement for Ireland. All the fundraising was local with no support through statutory funding. These are all fantastic clubs that need greater Government support and investment in facilities, including clubhouses, pitches and AstroTurf. This is an investment in our youth. Sport is crucial, as we know, for people's mental and physical well-being.”
“We all know that grassroots soccer in the League of Ireland is severely underfunded, particularly in regard to facilities, infrastructure and academies in comparison with other countries such as Croatia. Countries smaller than Ireland boast of having 190 full-time club academy staff in comparison to Ireland's ten. Our budget for League of Ireland academies is comparable to those of Andorra or San Marino, which are very small. Our clubs cater for the youth of Ireland and therefore need proper supports. It all starts at grassroots level. I am thinking of so many fantastic grassroots clubs in my area, such as Gorey Rangers, Gorey Celtic, Arklow United, Arklow Celtic and Arklow Town. There is huge demand for places in these clubs but they lack pitch space. There are also Courtown Hibs, Carnew FC and Camolin Celtic.”
“Obviously, Trump and Netanyahu's war on the Middle East has caused huge chaos for the Irish people, as well as the slaughter of people in the Middle East, but the Government compounded the problem. The fact that it is taking €40 when someone puts €60 of petrol or diesel into their car is compounding the problem hugely. During the week, nobody I met wanted to be out protesting on the roads. It was the Government's failure to act and listen to them that forced them into desperation. The Government showed huge arrogance, demeaned people and threatened to call in the Army, which was really shameful. We are approaching the anniversary of the Easter Rising on Friday week and it is worth remembering the famous Pearse quote. He wrote: Beware of the thing that is coming, beware of the risen people, Who shall take what ye would not give.”
“I have met many young lads on tractors who cannot make a living and may be driven out of this country. It is shameful that they would be robbed of a future in their own country while there is any amount of money available for data centre preferential policies. They get tens of millions of the people's money wasted on all sorts of pet projects while the people who need it cannot get it. The Government could have cut diesel and petrol prices by the maximum amount at the pumps as we proposed. It could have scrapped excise on home heating oil instead of leaving prices at double what they were before. It could have completely scrapped the carbon tax increase. It could have listened to all of these fine people struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, but it just did not do so.”
“I was really proud during this past week to stand alongside so many sound people from Wexford and Wicklow - men, women and children - the finest of people who took to the roads out of sheer desperation in peaceful protest at a Government of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independent TDs that simply was not listening to them. They demanded meaningful supports and real change. They got neither in the Chamber today. The Government survived but its days are numbered, judging by the anger on the street this evening. I met many of them outside. I have listened to many farmers, contractors, bus operators, taxi drivers, lorrymen, elderly people who cannot heat their homes, and couples commuting to Dublin every morning, of whom there are 6,500 from my area in the Wicklow-Wexford constituency.”
“The Government could have adopted Sinn Féin's proposal to completely remove excise on home heating oil because people are really struggling. We are talking about 320,000 people who are now saying that they cannot afford to pay their electricity bills. One in four people are saying they cannot afford to pay their gas bills. What the people need really are meaningful supports. I was contacted today by bus and coach operators-----”
“We are talking about farmers getting fleeced while workers, drivers, bus operators and taxi drivers are still being hammered. Regarding home heating oil, the weather has taken a very cold turn today and sleet has been forecast. Two thirds of households in rural Ireland, including Wexford and Wicklow, rely on home heating oil to heat their houses but the Government even plans to increase the upcoming carbon tax. The price of a fill has doubled in a matter of weeks. A measly cut of €2 is basically an insult. We are talking about maybe a €20 reduction in a fill that can cost up to €1,700, which is a massive amount, so this is really a drop in the ocean compared with the surge in prices that workers and families are being forced to pay as well.”
“If a driver pays €60 for petrol or diesel, this Government takes roughly €40 off that so before the crisis hit, Ireland had some of the highest fuel costs in all of Europe. The Government could have chosen to deliver the maximum excise cut possible on diesel and petrol and remove excise entirely from home heating oil but it chose not to do that. Instead it chose to short-change people basically - to give with one hand and take it back with the other. Four weeks into the crisis, it only acted after a lot of relentless pressure from Sinn Féin and a very angry public that is desperately crying out for support. We got a package of half measures that had to be dragged out of the Government. I see commuters absolutely livid over this - travelling every day to from Wexford and Wicklow to Dublin and getting fleeced.”
“Instead, Trump, supposedly the hard man who yet seems to be Netanyahu's poodle, chose bombs over diplomacy and a deal which experts say Iran was open to. This is not strength. It is an absolutely reckless foreign policy gamble. We do not know where it is going to lead us. A lot of these people are quite compromised, as we learned from the whole Epstein episode. What has been Ireland's response as a neutral State, apart from allowing a war port to be used in Shannon? The foreign affairs Minister, Deputy McEntee, said that she cannot really say whether the US or Israel's strikes on Iran are illegal under international law. I wonder why not. Why is it so hard to state the truth, as Spain was prepared to do? It is also a member of NATO. Why are we so beholden to the White House that we cannot utter the truth?”
“We do not know where these reckless and illegal actions are going to lead us, in terms of the potential chaos across the Middle East. It is a potential Pandora's box, a tinderbox really. We know Iran may have a brutal, fundamentalist regime that has been massacring its own people but there is no evidence Iran is building a nuclear weapon. That is according to the head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi. We know that Israel and the US have no regard whatsoever for the welfare of the ordinary Iranian people, whose decision it is to make. Just one day before the strikes began, Oman's foreign minister announced that Iran had agreed to submit to full UN verification. Diplomacy was working. The UN Secretary General said that the military operation was squandering the opportunity for a negotiated resolution.”
“We know Israel is in the only country in the Middle East with a nuclear warhead and of course the US is the only country that has ever used one. We have heard all this total rubbish before. Back in the early 2000s I can remember the oft-repeated lie about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which we all knew was a lie. One million deaths and the partial destruction of that civilisation later, everybody found out it was a complete lie. Unfortunately it was just regurgitated by many sections of the media and the political establishment. You wonder when they will ever learn. I guess they already knew what the truth was because they have been providing cover for western war crimes. There are a multiplicity of news sources these days so there is no excuse for wilful ignorance.”
“After the full-scale assault against Iran, he even admitted this was the day he had been dreaming about for 40 years. He has often spoken of conquering Iran so that the plan for a two-state solution with Palestinians living side by side with an Israeli state is completely unviable and will not have any backers across the Middle East. That is the reason Netanyahu wants to destroy Iran. There is no other. He sees this US Presidency as his best possible opportunity of fulfilling his 40-year-old fantasy. Trump said that the US attacked Iran because the country could not, in his words, allow it to have a nuclear weapon. This is the same person who said back in June that Iran’s nuclear facilities had been "obliterated".”
“These international issues like Iran are therefore highly relevant to the Irish people, no matter what any of the foreign-funded, pseudo-patriotic charlatan groups online might like to tell us. Aside from our neutrality, they are highly relevant to everything and directly hit us in our pockets. However, most horrendous of all is the human cost of war. Mothers and fathers have buried 165 children after an attack on a girls’ primary school by the United States and Israel. We can see from Gaza to Iran that this is what liberation by these western monsters looks like in reality. Line upon line of tiny white shrouds is the defining image of this conflict for me. We know Netanyahu is a genocidal monster with a seemingly insatiable bloodlust for destruction and endless war, which he is still carrying out against the West Bank as well as Gaza.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. Over 24,000 Irish citizens who had been living peaceful, happy lives in the Middle East are now stranded due to a war waged by the US and Israel. Their parents are worried. This Government must do everything possible to guarantee their safety and welfare and to get back home to Ireland those who wish to return here. Hard-pressed Irish householders, farmers and businesses are being fiercely hit in their pockets, whether directly or indirectly, because of this Israeli-US war. They are being ripped off and fleeced by rocketing fuel costs, some of it price-gouging by companies. As Deputy Aird referred to, the Government is responsible for almost two thirds of this cost through its gouging.”
“I cannot understand how any Government that claims to be in favour of the rights of children could oppose regulating these big tech giants, which are basically the modern day vampires of the world.”
“An outright ban on social media may be well intentioned; however, it has not proven to be very effective in France or Australia. For this reason, we are proposing amendments that will work and ensure we have control over the big tech giants based just a stone's throw from this building. We can do that and we know it will or should work. The need to have proper safeguards is urgent. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children must be protected from harm, not exploited and have access to proper, accurate and truthful information. We welcome the intention behind this Bill and what it tries to do in terms of restrictions and protecting children from harm. We will bring forward amendments to improve the Bill. We support it progressing to the next Stage.”
“We have to have a number of elements for safe and responsible participation, which would include appropriate and effective regulation of digital content. We have seen the damage Grok can cause and how children are exposed to such dangers and harmful behaviours. This is why we strongly need to stand up to big tech companies. These companies are based just a stone's throw from this building. It would be criminally irresponsible for us not to take on the big tech giants we seem to have prostituted this country to, in many ways. We need to hold them to account for what appears on their platforms. They are making billions of euro from this country and exploiting the children of this country and of the world. We need to rein in the big tech companies because it has been the wild west until now.”
“In the digital age we need to keep up with technology, keep a close eye on it and ensure children are safe. As we all know, algorithms are designed by the big tech giants to be addictive - the equivalent of digital cocaine. They know, insidiously, that they are destroying the physical and mental well-being of an entire generation of young people today for one sole purpose, namely, to broaden their customer base. Our online safety recommender Bill proposed amendments to the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act and how video sharing platforms use the recommender algorithms. Algorithms are designed to keep people endlessly scrolling, as we all know, which has a huge impact on young people's mental health. They are designed to amplify extreme content, promote unrealistic body image and distort reality.”
“Níl Gaeltacht ann mura bhfuil muintir na Gaeltachta in ann socrú síos ansin agus a bheith ina gcónaí ann. Faoi dheireadh, tír gan teanga, tír gan anam. A country without its language is a country without its soul. Molaim don Aire ár gcáipéis a léamh. I recommend the Minister read our document.”
“Caithfimid a chinntiú chomh maith go gcuirfear fáilte Uí Cheallaigh roimh eisimircigh atá ag filleadh abhaile a léiríonn spéis sa Ghaeltacht agus atá ag iarraidh pobail Ghaeltachta a thógáil, clann a thógáil trí Ghaeilge agus Gaelscoileanna a fhorbairt ina gceantair áitiúla. Caithfimid a chinntiú gur féidir leo filleadh abhaile agus é sin a dhéanamh. Tá a lán daoine thar lear a bhfuil an-spéis acu i gclann a thógáil trí Ghaeilge i gceantar Gaeltachta. Tá a lán daoine ann a d'fhág an Ghaeltacht sna caogaidí, sna hochtóidí agus ó shin i leith. Ba chóir tús áite a thabhairt do chainteoirí Gaeilge agus daoine ón nGaeltacht i ngach réimse. We need to welcome home those who speak and promote the language and give them priority in all of our policies. Níl aon rogha eile ann má tá an Rialtas seo dáiríre faoin nGaeilge.”
“Táimid ag éileamh ar an Rialtas to introduce a strong national planning statement nó ráiteas pleanála náisiúnta láidir a fhoilsiú agus a chur i bhfeidhm láithreach don Ghaeltacht. Táim ag lorg scéim deontais do thithíocht Gaeltachta a thabhairt ar ais de réir Acht na dTithe (Gaeltacht). We are looking for the grant scheme to be brought back. Táimid ag rá gur chóir don Rialtas tacú leis an bplean deich-bpointe atá ag Sinn Féin i leith tithíocht don Ghaeltacht, darb ainm Ag Pleanáil don Athchóiriú. I ask the Minister to read our ten-point plan, which contains really constructive proposals.”
“Buíochas le Dia, tá daoine ag troid ar ais. Molaim go hard na spéire na grúpaí seo. I salute na grúpaí feachtais cosúil le BÁNÚ, a bhí taobh amuigh de na geataí inniu, Todhchaí na Tuaithe, TINTEÁN, Conradh na Gaeilge, AMLÉ agus na cumainn Ghaelacha, CATU, agus Inside Airbnb. Ó thaobh na meán, molaim The Ditch , TG4, Tuairisc.ie , Raidió na Gaeltachta agus Raidió Fáilte. Molaim freisin na pobail áitiúla a bhain úsáid as na cúirteanna chun an fhírinne atá leagtha amach sa tairiscint seo anocht a fháil amach. Molaim na hoifigigh phleanála a dhéanann obair na gcapall chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn níos forleithne sna pobail Ghaeltachta in ainneoin easpa tacaíochta ón Stát. Cad a chaithfimid a dhéanamh? What do we do? What are our constructive proposals?”
“Tá a fhios againn go ndeachaigh líon na dtithe iomlána ar Airbnb in airde 88% ó 2019 go 2025, i gcomparáid le hardú 48% sa Stát i gcoitinne, a jump of 88% in comparison with a State-wide average of 48%. Tá a fhios againn nach raibh ach deich dteach ar fáil ar cíos fadtéarmach ar daft.ie sa Ghaeltacht in 2024 agus 1,017 teach ar cíos gearrthéarmach liostáilte ar Airbnb. That is incredible. Ten houses in the Gaeltacht were available on daft.ie while 1,017 were available for short-term letting on Airbnb. Tá a fhios againn go bhfuil smacht ag cúigear tiarna talún ar 216 aonad Gaeltachta atá liostáilte ar Airbnb. Tá sé sin dochreidte. Tá a fhios againn go bhfuil 53 aonad liostáilte ag an tiarna talún is mó, atá ina chomhlacht Briotánach. These are really shocking figures. I ask the Minister to look them up because they are really shocking.”
“Ar mhaith leis an Rialtas seo go mbeidh sé scríofa in annála na hÉireann gur eisean a lig don Ghaeltacht bás a fháil? It is a language that has held majority status in some communities, however small and isolated, on this island for the past 2,600 years as a living, breathing, spoken language. Would any government that calls itself Irish want to have as its legacy that it put the final nail in the coffin of an Gaeltacht after 2,600 years? Muna bhfuil cainteoirí Gaeilge fágtha sa Ghaeltacht, ní Gaeltacht a thuilleadh í. Is í sin an fhírinne lom shearbh. Ó thaobh tithíochta de, tá a fhios againn gur teach saoire é teach amháin as gach cúig cinn sna ceantair Ghaeltachta.”
“Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam. A country without a language is a country without its soul. Is ráiteas fíorthábhachtach ó Phádraig Mac Piarais é sin. Tá dealbh de thuas anseo sa Ghailearaí. Faraor géar, don chéad uair riamh i stair na hÉireann agus i stair ársa 2,600 bliain na nGael, tá baol ann anois in 2026 nach mbeidh pobal ar bith fágtha in Éirinn, fiú pobal beag iargúlta, ina mbeidh an Ghaeilge mar phríomhtheanga laethúil. Cad a chiallaíonn sé sin? Ciallaíonn sé sin bás na Gaeltachta, the death of the Gaeltacht. Is é seo uair na cinniúna do thobar na Gaeilge, the well, spring or fountain of our national language. Níor éirigh le hAnraí II ná reachtanna Chill Chainnigh é sin a dhéanamh. Níor éirigh le Cromwell ná le hEilís, Banríon Shasana, é a dhéanamh. Níor éirigh le haon tíoránach gallda ó shin é a dhéanamh.”
“Tá borradh nua faoin nGaeilge agus tá spéis ag na mic léinn í a chur chun cinn. Tá polasaí an Rialtais i leith na Gaeilge ag an tríú leibhéal scannalach. Níl mórán deiseanna ag mic léinn leanúint ar aghaidh le hoideachas trí Ghaeilge. Caithfimid i bhfad níos mó tacaíocht a thabhairt do na cumainn Ghaeilge, na heagrais Ghaeilge agus na daoine atá ag obair ar son ár dteanga náisiúnta. Caithfimid bealaí Thír na mBascach agus na Breataine Bige a leanúint. Tá an Ghaeilge anseo do chách in Éirinn. Caithfimid tacaíocht a thabhairt dóibh siúd atá ag iarraidh an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn agus í a labhairt. Mar a dúirt Pádraig Mac Piarais, "Ní tír go teanga" agus "Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam". Is í sin an fhírinne lom.”
“Níl ach 6% ag freastal ar oideachas Gaelscolaíochta faoi láthair. Tá tascfhórsa ag an Rialtas ach cad é an sprioc? An é 7%, 8%, 9% nó 10% an sprioc? An bhfuil 16%, 26% nó 36% i gceist? Níl a fhios ag éinne. Ba mhaith liomsa 100% a fheiscint. What is the Government's target for children to be given the gift of an Irish-medium education? Níl a fhios ag éinne céard é an sprioc sin. Is géarchéim eile í an líon daltaí a bhfuil díolúintí ón nGaeilge acu. In 1999, bhí díolúine ag 2.5% ach, in 2023, bhí sé tar éis léim go 13.5%. A huge number of secondary school children, 55,660, are now receiving exemptions from learning the language. This crisis needs to be addressed. A change of approach is needed. Caithfear an bronntanas seo, an dátheangachas, a thabhairt do gach uile dhalta in Éirinn. Ag an tríú leibhéal, tá gluaiseacht iontach ar siúl.”
“To use the metaphor of an scríbhneoir, Máirtín Ó Cadhain, the Gaeltacht has been reduced by neglect and bad Government policy to become a mere hare's corner left precariously in the meadow waiting for the scythe. Caithfimid polasaithe a athrú chun muintir na Gaeltachta a choimeád ina bpobail dhúchasacha féin, chun ligean dóibh cead pleanála a fháil agus chun tithíochta a chur ar fáil do mhuintir áitiúil na Gaeltachta, atá á bánú faoi láthair. Mar sin, tá meas mór ag dul chuig na gníomhaithe ón eagras BÁNÚ a bhí taobh amuigh de na geataí seo inniu. Mholfainn go mór do dhaoine dul amach ar na sráideanna faoi na ceisteanna sin, mar a chonaiceamar i mBéal Feirste agus i mBaile Átha Cliath maidir leis an Dream Dearg agus a leithéid. Is é an Ghaelscolaíocht nó Irish-medium education mo chúlra.”
“Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam. A country without a language is a county without its soul. Is ráiteas fíorthábhachtach ó Phádraig Mac Piarais, a bhfuil dealbh de thuas sa Ghailearaí anseo, é sin. Tá athbheochan nua ar an nGaeilge ar siúl faoi láthair. Tá borradh mór faoin nGaeilge. Tá dearcthaí agus meonta fhíordhearfacha ann ina leith ach is a mhalairt a fheictear ón Rialtas. Tá sé an-difriúil ar fad. Tá an Rialtas gan meon neamhspleáchais. I go leor bealaí, tá a mheon bunaithe ar an tseoinínteacht agus ar neamhaird ar an nGaeilge, ár dteanga náisiúnta. Déanann an Rialtas neamhaird ar thobar na Gaeilge, the well, spring or fountain of our language, the Gaeltacht, atá i ngéarchéim nó in crisis faoi láthair. I bhfocal Mháirtín Ó Cadhain, tá an Ghaeltacht ar nós chúinne an ghiorria ag fanacht leis an speal.”
“Human trafficking is a problem that needs to be eliminated. I believe Ireland is ranked in tier two in terms of international comparisons, which means we are not really doing what we should be doing or can do to eliminate human trafficking. In the region of 67 victims of trafficking were formally identified, including five to ten children, and in many cases they ended up being subject to labour, sexual and other of forms of exploitation. It is clear the State is not doing nearly enough in comparison with other countries to eliminate this pernicious form of exploitation.”
“Similarly, and as I have a background in primary teaching, I am quite concerned at giving Tusla more of a role. Many people would certainly question the merits of this because over the past five years, there have been 7,000 recorded cases of children going missing from Tusla care. I remember Tusla came before one of the committees, when it acknowledged that 33 separated children or unaccompanied minors who were seeking international protection are now officially missing. They are still missing today. That is 33 separated children; God knows where they are. With the amount of sexual exploitation and trafficking going on in the world at the moment, who knows where they are? I certainly have concerns about giving an extra role to a body that seems to already be overburdened and under-resourced.”
“I will briefly reinforce Deputy Carthy's points. Two years ago, the Secretary General of the Department of integration gave out the figures for payments per night. He highlighted how the State was paying the private accommodation providers over twice the amount that was being paid to house asylum seekers in State-owned accommodation. That just reinforces the contradictions within this system yet again.”
“We had an instance of a VAT overcharge of €7.4 million by one company to the State and the taxpayer. There is a complete lack of due diligence. No one in their right mind can oppose transparency in these contracts. There has to be transparency.”
“We have to have transparency. There is the example of the two directors of a cafe which had a profit of €2,992. Three years later, they paid themselves €4.6 million. There is something very strange there. Looking at my area of County Wicklow, €1.3 million was spent on security for the vacant site of a failed IPAS centre. It is just a site sitting there. Deputy John Brady brought it into the public domain at a recent meeting of the public accounts committee. The Comptroller and Auditor General's report has raised serious concerns about all of these things. There is very poor compliance and safety. For example, a demolition order was granted for 65 units that were built illegally by Seefin Events in Blessington, according to what I have read. There is huge profiteering and overcharging.”
“At the end of the day, for me, it comes down to the best way to unite people, which is just to listen to the people, listen to local communities and try to have fair planning policies. As I said, how many centres are in Dalkey? How many centres are in Foxrock? It is about fair planning. That is the way I look at it.”
“They were looking for planning to put 400 into the Great Southern Hotel in this tiny village. Luckily, people stopped it because it was not sensible. This is the way to oppose racism. It is about uniting people and listening to people. That has not been happening so far. I could mention numerous other examples all across Ireland, like Achill Island, etc. There are just so many of them. I think of Seefin Events, the company in Blessington that I mentioned, and Kippure. They received €5.6 million during last summer. Then we have Wicklow County Council telling them that they have to demolish because it was done in breach of planning regulations. How could that be good policy? Why would anybody on the left support that? Why would my colleagues to my right support people making €1.2 billion, finance capital groups-----”
“More people were put into this centre than was the population of the village. How is that good planning? My colleague, Deputy Doherty, mentioned the Gaeltacht area of Gweedore. The whole idea was supposed to be about developing Irish speakers in the Gaeltachtaí, which are basically dying. How would Gweedore be a suitable area? How would Carna, in Connemara, be a suitable area? In my own county, Rosslare is an area which is probably the most welcoming in Ireland. You could not find a more welcoming area or village. They had two IPAS centres. There was a fantastic response to the Ukrainian war. They organised a €100,000 fundraiser in the first couple of weeks. They were due to have a nursing home in the Great Southern Hotel. What happened then? It was flipped by a big speculator - finance capital again.”
“They always seem to be in working-class and rural communities that are isolated and which lack services. I would assume that any progressive-minded person, whether on the left or on the right, would want to call out greed and speculation. I am looking at €1.2 billion given to private providers last year. I am looking at people who did not have much money becoming millionaires overnight, people speculating and people running a train through planning laws. I look at Blessington and Kippure, in Wicklow. Seefin Events has been through the courts numerous times. Wicklow County Council had to order it to demolish 65 units because apparently it did not follow planning laws. It is about sensible planning. I look at Dundrum, County Tipperary, and a manor house. Often there is a speculator and international finance capital involved in this.”
“For me, this is about listening to the people and that is about uniting rather than dividing people. We need to communicate with local communities. It is disappointing to see the Government and fellow colleagues on the left, when we are tabling sensible amendments which are about good planning, making this issue about Sinn Féin, which it should not be. I absolutely despise racism. I have been to many of these centres, sat down and drunk tea with the people there. As a councillor, I have been involved in integration days, lots of different collaborations, cultural evenings, etc. This is about planning, really. It is about a policy that is sensible and sustainable. We have roughly 320 centres, I believe, across the State. Seventy-eight of them are in Dublin. How diverse is Dalkey? How many centres are in Dalkey or in similar places?”
“What is the Government planning to do about the devastation of the coastline in north Wexford and south Wicklow? I am talking about Cahore, Glascarrig, Courtown, Castletown, Arklow and right up to Brittas Bay. There are few people in Dublin who do not have fond memories of Courtown. The beautiful and historic Courtown Woods have lost an area equivalent to 18 football pitches over the past few decades. The Kiltennel walking trail is being swept away and the Arklow walking trail all the way up to Brittas is being devastated. These coastal walks are very important for health and well-being. They are being absolutely devastated. What measures is the Government taking?”
“We are not training enough GPs to replace retiring doctors and their conditions need to improve if we want to keep graduates here in Ireland. We are losing them rapidly. For those with medical cards, the HSE may be able to arrange a GP but private patients have no such support. They must navigate an overstretched, largely private system on their own. This system has to change because lives will be lost. I ask the Minister to personally intervene.”
“It is crazy. As a result, hospital accident and emergency departments are being used as a stopgap. It is unsafe, unsustainable and places even greater pressure on emergency staff, contributing to longer waiting times. Private patients currently have no mechanism for GP assignment through the HSE. Families are unable to register infants, creating risks for children's health. I have constituents in south Wicklow who are registered with one GP but must register their infant with another, in some cases, on the far side of the county or even across the county boundaries. As has been pointed out, Ireland has one of the lowest GP-to-population ratios in western Europe but Wicklow and Wexford are officially designated by the Government as pressure zones for GP practice and capacity.”