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DÁIL ÉIREANN · FORMER

Joe Neville

Kildare North · Fine Gael · Ireland

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

With the pyrite mediation scheme closing in just four months' time, on 30 November, some people in my constituency have real concerns. Yesterday, I met two constituents who highlighted the fact that their neighbours had been impacted by pyrite in the past and they are concerned about how it might impact them in future.

SITTING OF 2026-07-14 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

One of the largest semiconductor plants world-wide is only a few hundred metres from my house. It is a large employer where a multitude of my friends, neighbours and even family, at times, have been employed. Intel has been hugely important in north Kildare and, indeed, internationally.

SITTING OF 2026-07-08 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

We are ahead of the curve from a European point of view in north Kildare in that we have Intel, which many other countries in Europe do not have. We have a knowledge base and a history. Intel has been there since I was a child. With that local knowledge and capability, we want to ensure Ireland stays a step ahead.

SITTING OF 2026-07-08 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

The issue I want to raise today is the national semiconductor plan. A lot of people wonder what exactly semiconductors are and what exactly that means because it can be a catch-all name in itself. Realistically, they are the chips that power modern electronics and modern computing.

SITTING OF 2026-07-08 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

Whatever element it is, its support to the State is enormous and that is something of which I think we are all very conscious. Once again, with its importance and the key impacts of the national semiconductor plan in mind, what I am specifically asking about today is the progress and plans we have regarding the clusters, growth and employ…

SITTING OF 2026-07-08 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

I welcome the response, as well as the many announcements that have come in and the efforts that have been made. Even going back to last year's budget, one thing I highlighted beforehand and discussed was the importance of the R and D tax credit.

SITTING OF 2026-07-08 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

The complete record

Every one of 408 lines we hold for Joe Neville, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 2 of 9.

  1. I am delighted to discuss tourism which is of national importance and significance. One thing we have in common across the country is the need for tourism. One very positive step we had with this Government is that we put tourism under the economic brief. With the Minister, Deputy Burke, in attendance, we have someone with an especially keen watch on tourism because it does show how tourism can impact. It is obviously great when people come to visit the country because, ultimately, what they do is spend money in our economy. They spend money positively. We do it ourselves when we go on holidays around the country. What we do is leave money behind us. As a country and as towns and villages, we have to be careful. We have to ensure that we do not try to take too much money. We cannot kill the golden goose.

    SITTING OF 2026-06-10 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  2. It ensured that we did not waste the money over the coming years. What we have done is put it into capital spending, infrastructure, businesses and housing, so we can ensure that in the coming years it could be the source of future economic success. Ultimately, we are going to be here and we are going to be judged before the next election. I want to ensure Ireland is on a good economic footing and that people in Ireland can benefit. A short win today, politically, would not necessarily be of benefit in the long term. I see this budget as being one of five budgets to ensure the future of Ireland. I welcome the initiatives that were put in place in the budget and in the Finance Bill we are talking about today.

    SITTING OF 2026-06-09 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  3. This is one of five budgets for this Government. There will be an aligned approach in the next budget. We might see a variance from a personal income perspective but that will go along with the budgetary and housing supports in this one. Research and development tax credits might not necessarily get the kudos, plaudits or headlines but improvements in that regard are what keep those large businesses in place in Ireland. Companies like Intel, which is based in north Kildare, can benefit from such a tax credit, but small companies can also benefit from it. Tax credits are the sort of initiative and incentive that make sure we have jobs in our country. While this budget might not have garnered the same headlines from a populist point of view, what it did was put the economy on a solid footing.

    SITTING OF 2026-06-09 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  4. In Ireland we are lucky that we do not necessarily have that division, but at the same time those risks and demands exist. As we continue to spend, there is a risk that we are not competitive for SMEs, which is another area I am very passionate about. We need to ensure that Irish companies are working in step with those US and other foreign-based companies that come to Ireland. Ultimately, indigenous Irish businesses and SMEs are what will keep us afloat, and are what have kept us afloat through the good and the bad. They are the people we rely on, so we need to ensure that they remain competitive and that we can support them. Most of the decisions we made in this budget were to support local businesses and ensure that we got extra housing delivery. They were the type of decisions that we made.

    SITTING OF 2026-06-09 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  5. As a councillor for a number of years in north Kildare, I saw the growth in the development of housing, which was obviously welcome, but we need the infrastructure to go with it. This is what the budget plans for and what future budgets over the next five years will continue to do. We need schools, roads, rail lines, wastewater plants and football pitches for people. That is one strong section of this budget and something that we have ensured that we deliver. It is very easy to write cheques for this and that and to keep increasing spending. That is broadly what populists wish to do. I do not mean just in Ireland but across the world. We have seen the difficulties in many countries where populists have taken over politically.

    SITTING OF 2026-06-09 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  6. We also have to be conscious of maintaining fiscal discipline and ensure that we do not just spend the tax receipts that are coming in because, ultimately, we do not know exactly how long they will last. We have a situation where we have windfall taxes of up to €20 billion. We have a budget surplus of €9 billion or €10 billion. We know that if the situation changes or the headwinds change the Irish economy would be in a very different situation and we would not have the money to back it up, but ultimately that is not the situation that exists here. The strong economic planning of this Government, and of previous governments, has led us into this situation where we do have that money. What this Government has decided to do is to spend heavily on infrastructure, which is something I would consider a significant need.

    SITTING OF 2026-06-09 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  7. I wish to speak today against the backdrop of the budget last year and the economic situation Ireland finds itself in. There is no doubt we find ourselves in a strange economic place. We are in a place where we have budget surpluses. We are not in an era of budget deficits, which was something we all grew up with in this State. It was a situation that came against us with the crash. This is also a situation that is widespread across Europe and in many areas across the world. We are in a situation where we have billions of a surplus. That brings a need for big and difficult decisions, some of which were taken in the budget. The easy thing is to continue to spend. We have done a lot of spending. We have significantly increased our public spending over the last number of years. That is something of which we always have to be conscious.

    SITTING OF 2026-06-09 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  8. It seems online ticketing is now the wild west of retailing. Will the Government examine what steps we can take to protect the consumer and local event organisers?

    SITTING OF 2026-06-09 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  9. Last week, when the Committee of Public Accounts met with the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, I raised the issue of dynamic pricing online and how it impacts the consumer. I highlighted how people go online with the intention of buying at one price but when dynamic pricing kicks in, consumers are quickly in the impulse buying position at a significantly higher price than that originally viewed. Over the weekend, we learned of the liquidation of the country's second biggest selling platform, Tickets.ie. This has dramatically impacted the people running these events, with potentially devastating financial losses, and the full knock-on impact of this liquidation is as yet unknown. Serious questions remain over the online ticketing industry and what safeguards we can put in place for promoters and consumers.

    SITTING OF 2026-06-09 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  10. Last year, the Minister said that we had €79 million secured for apprenticeships. I would like this increased significantly if it can be. We have to keep a focus on this and not have everything going one way, having regard to how the workforce is changing. Sitting behind a desk is not for everyone and, as a country, we need both skill sets. I thank the Chair for the opportunity to speak on this today.

    SITTING OF 2026-05-27 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  11. As somebody who has worked in businesses, especially where electricians and plumbers were required, I have seen where there have been deficits. As a country, we probably pushed everybody to university. That has worked for us, but we have lost the skills that would be required for the building of the likes of Intel, which I was thinking about when thinking about this topic. Intel is a huge multinational based in my constituency, and I can walk to it, but it should be remembered that the people required to build it are the electricians and plumbers. We need to ensure we have the skill sets for those apprenticeships while also having critical skills in the likes of AI, which will really change how we do things. As a country, we need to have a two-pronged approach. It is not just about going one way.

    SITTING OF 2026-05-27 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  12. Perfect. I welcome Ms Clodagh Hanna, chair of the politics society in Trinity. It is good to have someone who is beginning the journey from a schools perspective. Over the past 25 or 30 years, or indeed since I have been observing, we have been very good at sending children to university and then into the workforce. Ireland’s having a highly educated workforce has worked very well for it internationally, but that is beginning to change. We know of the impact of AI and that we need to consistently renew critical skills, not only in university, but also after university. The days of going to university and then getting a job had already changed, but we now have a situation where the skill sets required will probably change considerably.

    SITTING OF 2026-05-27 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  13. My ask today is that we work through planning and infrastructure to secure zoning, development levies and funding for multisport facilities such as Kerdiffstown in north Kildare, in order to address demographic shifts and allow for more sporting facilities.

    SITTING OF 2026-05-27 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  14. The issue I want raise is the need for sporting infrastructure. Last week, I met with GAA members who were working on the No One Shouted Stop Until Now report, which focuses on Ireland's demographic shift in the past few decades and the response to it. Key findings in the report included that just 50 clubs out of the 2,200 clubs in the island of Ireland account for 25% of all zero to five-year-olds. That is startling. Just six counties are home to more than half of all zero to five-year-olds on the island of Ireland; my county of Kildare is one. The majority of GAA clubs remain rural, with 78% in areas where populations are shrinking. Like me, the Taoiseach is a keen follower of the GAA, but this also impacts hugely on other sports such as rugby and football, which face similar statistical and demographic shifts.

    SITTING OF 2026-05-27 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  15. I raise the lack of childcare in north Kildare, where there is a growing population. Will the Minister provide an update on State-led childcare, which is desperately needed to address the shortages in towns like Kilcock, Maynooth and Naas? I get multiple emails each week from people who are struggling to get childcare in their areas and want to get back into the workforce. Many of them are mothers who are sacrificing their own careers. Often, both parents are struggling in this situation. I welcome that the State is for the first time pushing towards introducing State-led childcare frameworks. I ask for a timeline on delivery and that a town like Kilcock could be set out as a pilot. I know Kilcock is very dear to the Minister's heart. It is close to her own area. She will know at first hand the issues and the experience in a town like it.

    SITTING OF 2026-05-21 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  16. I am sure parents in Celbridge, Naas and Kilcock have real concerns about waiting lists for primary and secondary schools. Ultimately, we have a group of families who are delighted. As I said, I am sure other families might be in a position where they are still awaiting decisions. As I said, this is a new good news story for the Green Lanes schools and I am glad to be in a position to have that news.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-30 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  17. Ultimately, people want their children to have the opportunity to go to school with other children on their roads and, most importantly, with the children in their homes, namely their older brothers or sisters who are already going to particular schools. In this instance, that would not have been possible until the decision made today. That is why I was quite passionate about this issue, why I liaised, as much as I could, with the schools and the parents involved in respect of it and, ultimately, why I raised it in the Dáil. I also spoke at meetings and raised the issue with the Department. As I said, in this case, the issue has been resolved. There is a wider issue regarding north Kildare and other areas that have difficulties.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-30 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  18. It is not often that I table a Topical Issue and get the win on the same day. This is a matter I have been raising for a number of months. As already stated, this is a very positive situation. What has happened speaks to the work of Department in this case. The Minister of State stated that a specific issue can be targeted. I was conscious of the potential for the Department to look organically at this from a high level as opposed to looking at parish boundaries, different clubs and roads and what areas gravitate towards their own areas. Children want to go to school with the other kids who live on their roads. We have a Gaelscoil and an Educate Together in our area. The Green Lane schools all have a Catholic ethos. Each one offers different things.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-30 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  19. I am happy that I have been able to speak and receive text messages from a number of parents today who are so relieved and delighted. I thank them for their forbearance. I also thank the principals for their work. I thank the Department for seeing sense in this proposal and making the right decision. I thank the Minister for her decision as well.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-30 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  20. We need to be analysing those numbers clearly and in a qualitative way so we know where issues will arise in individual towns. Growing up in the expanding town of Leixlip in late eighties and the nineties, there was real growth in the area in which we went to school. As that boom declined, the numbers decreased but we are now seeing another housing boom coming back and those numbers are changing. We need to be alive to those changes. We must build for the future. All of these issues are real for the people who live in these communities. The idea of a parent with one or two children in a certain school having to ultimately put another child in the car for an extra 15 to 20 minutes depending on traffic – we all know how bad traffic can be in north Kildare – is just not tolerable. That was a real concern.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-30 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  21. This speaks to the wider issue we have in north Kildare and in the Minister of State’s constituency of Dublin West, the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach’s constituency of Wicklow, Deputy Tóibín’s area of south Meath and Wexford town, where Deputy Lawlor is from. There are big population increases in these areas and there is a need for increased school provision. There is an increased demand for Gaelscoileanna, which is hugely important for all our towns and villages. We have demand in our secondary schools. We have a need for secondary school places. We also have a need for extra special education classes. I know this is not hard but they need to be dealt with. We must have a focus on this area. Every few years, we carry out a census. Every year, we see new numbers coming into the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-30 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  22. As I said, there was real concern for those children, especially given that some of their siblings already attend the local school. It was a serious, live issue. I thank the three school principals, Anita Clarke, Seán O’Boyle and Áine Crotty, who liaised with me continually over the past number of months. They indicated to me that they wanted to get behind this to provide the extra places. Obviously, we had to convince the Department of the need for the class. The Minister, Deputy Naughton, was amazing throughout the process. She and her team kept going back and forth. I needed to explain to them the importance of delivering this extra school class in our parish. In fairness, it worked and the classroom has been delivered. That group of children will be able to go to school along with their siblings and friends.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-30 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  23. I was due to speak on the need for an additional class between the three schools on Green Lane in Leixlip. Those three schools are Scoil Bhríde, Scoil Mhuire and Scoil Eoin Phóil. I attended Scoil Eoin Phóil. There is a requirement for an extra class, but I am delighted to say that this morning we finally received the good news that it has been delivered. Obviously, I had put in for this speaking slot and I still wish to speak to the matter. I am thankful to the parents who raised this issue with me, as well as to the principals who worked with me in the past number of months. This was an issue for parents. It has caused major concern because there is a lack of school places in the Leixlip area. Parents want their children to attend school in their parish, but in excess of 20 parents had not been able to get places for their children.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-30 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  24. I was in contact with one business that only opened six months ago and has had to close for five days. We have given significant money to Uisce Éireann. We need to build houses but we also need to look after those people who have houses and ensure they have the vital infrastructure.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-30 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  25. I welcome the students and teachers from Confey College. I was on the board for ten years. Today I raise a fundamental local issue in Leixlip, Celbridge and Maynooth where we had another water outage this week. We have had a number of water outages affecting over 10,000 houses and 25,000 people. Indeed, the students in the Gallery, along with those in other schools, were not able to go to school on Monday because of the outages. This year we had outages on 24 February, 3 April and 27 April combined with six or seven last year and the previous year. I have raised it as a councillor and as a TD and I take the opportunity to raise it again today. Unfortunately, this impacts the most vulnerable in our society, including the oldest and the youngest people and our businesses.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-30 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  26. At the same time, I am just offering the opportunity to look across the board because the more GPs we can get back the better. I know that GP services are working really complementarily with the Department and I get that feedback from them, but it is just about that chronic shortage we see in the commuter belt. We are putting in the housing, the wastewater and the roads, and it is just that social infrastructure of the likes of GPs to go with it.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-21 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  27. There is a lot of information in the Minister's reply and I will take on a couple of the points. I have seen the benefit of the new primary healthcare centre in Celbridge, and we have one in Kilcock. It is about maximising the outputs we can get there. I am very conscious as well that in areas like Maynooth - and this is something we have mirrored all across the country - we might have seen a GP practice in the middle of a housing estate. That would have been very common years ago. Now the new GPs may be unwilling. Will they be able to set up a practice? Will they get planning permission? These are all serious complexities for those people. Extensions, as the Minister said, are really important. If we could get those extensions, that would be phenomenal because we could have more GP services, and it is probably easier.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-21 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  28. That is why I am really focused on this for the commuter belt area. Maynooth is just a mirror image of what I see across the constituency.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-21 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  29. I thank the Minister for her very positive reply. This has an impact especially in my constituency of Kildare North, where we see a huge need for more GPs, but I have also been very aware that it is not just commuter belt areas where we have this issue. There are also areas where there are rural sustainability challenges and indeed urban deprivation strategies. Analysis shows that it is in those three areas that we have the biggest issues. For the rural areas we have put in place a rural practice grant. For the deprived areas we have a deprivation grant. However, the one thing we have not really focused on as much is the need to help the GPs in the commuter belt. I look at the town of Maynooth. It had five GP practices 15 years ago. The population has expanded probably from about 11,000 to closer to 17,000. It now has only four GPs.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-21 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  30. I ask the Minister if her Department has considered introducing initiatives such as refundable tax credits on costs of new GP practices or extensions to GP practices to try to address the current GP shortage and incentivise more GPs to extend their practices; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-21 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  31. Football has helped to shape many of those communities, including, as I have laid out, my own. I want to be part of that and I welcome the opportunity to speak on the issue.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-15 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  32. In Limerick city, there is not necessarily space to develop but we need to have pitches for hurling, soccer and rugby in a multi-use facility. That is key, as we look towards the sports capital grants and, indeed, how we run things in the future. Ultimately, we need to have facilities for future generations. We need to have the places from which the next Nathan Collins will come. Just as important as the next Nathan Collins, we need to think about the children who might not necessarily have that talent but who want to be able to play with their friends. They want to turn up, whether for the first team, the second team, the blue team, the red team, the yellow team or the fifth team. We need to ensure there is space for them and their parents. All that most of us are trying to do is to make sure we have the best community possible.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-15 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  33. We must ensure that we have the facilities for the pitches. Liffeybank was sharing with Confey Celtic. It does not even have toilets that children or the ladies' team can use in close proximity. I am consistently having discussions with Kildare County Council to get that resolved. It is a basic facility. Deputy Boyd Barrett referred to the issue in the clubs in his area. While we are building the houses, we have other sports and facilities. As Deputy Clendennan alluded to, we must ensure we have multi-use facilities. Kerdiffstown has been a model. There are football pitches laid out and AstroTurf. With development levies in councils, that should be the place to which we are going. Deputy Quinlivan is in the Chamber.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-15 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  34. I look at Liffeybank FC, with Jim Keating, who was in my office recently looking for facilities. There are also Fiachra Kirwan at Maynooth FC, Debbie Morone at Ballyoulster United AFC and Derek Meaney at Celbridge Town AFC, which recently launched a new campaign for Astroturf in Celbridge. Those are the football clubs that are closest to me. I know there are other football clubs looking for even more, and we need to support them. I look forward to supporting them through the capital grants, which I know will be coming soon. We can see in the areas where we are building houses - and in north Kildare we have been fortunate to have built houses and apartments - that we have been slow to develop the social infrastructure behind them. We have been completely reliant on volunteers in the area.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-15 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  35. We in Leixlip have been very successful when it comes to football in my lifetime. When I think about football, I think about people such as Larry Kenny and Ray McCauley, the men who were there for me when I was six, seven and eight and went along with my brothers to the local football pitch at Leixlip United. Those were the lads who coached and inspired us, and inspired a generation of people. I also think of my other coaches and have the opportunity to think of them today. People such as Colm Harper, Liam L'Estrange and Tony Ryan are no longer with us but also made a huge contribution. That is where I want to think about the volunteers and how we can support them here today. North Kildare is a growing area with a need for growing infrastructure across all our football clubs. I look at Leixlip United, with Paul Martin in charge.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-15 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  36. I pay tribute to Republic of Ireland captain, Nathan Collins, who, like me, is a native of Leixlip. We both went to the same school, Scoil Bhríde. That is where the similarities end. On the football pitch, we were very different. Nathan is a lovely fella. He has been around the town and is a brilliant role model. I was also lucky enough to grow up on the same estate as Emma Byrne. I was across the green from her. She is another brilliant role model for Ireland. She was excellent with Arsenal. She was the year below me in school. I know the impact she made on women's sport, not only on the pitch but also off it. She has been transcendent and we have seen how the game of football has grown and developed for women in this country. Andrew Omobamidele is also from my estate in Leixlip.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-15 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  37. In the upcoming budget, will the Government put in place a refundable tax credit for a significant percentage of set-up costs or extension costs for premises fit-out, medical equipment and digital systems to assist in setting up and extending GP services?

    SITTING OF 2026-04-15 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  38. I note the Minister is here. As the House knows, there is an urgent need to address the issue of GP access across Ireland. Last night, I spoke on the Critical Infrastructure Bill. We need to view GP care as critical infrastructure in its way and incentivise its creation and extension. I see this in my area of Kildare North, which is one of the hardest places in Ireland in which to get a GP, where people move into the county from other areas and are stuck using the GP from those areas before they can access new ones in north Kildare. I have met doctors in my constituency who want to extend their practices and others who want to set up new practices, but we need to make it financially feasible.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-15 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  39. We need to ensure they have the best way of delivering it. This Government has put forward €102 billion to be spent in the next four years. That is a significant amount of money in a country that has a significant need for infrastructure. Hopefully, we will be able to deliver that in the term of this Government. I know it is a significant pressure. A key factor that ultimately will decide the fate of many of us who are on this side of the Chamber is whether we can deliver that infrastructure for the country. I hope to do so. I also hope this Critical Infrastructure Bill, not to mind its impossible imperfections or whether it does enough, is ultimately a step in the right direction. I hope it will have faster and better delivery and ensure the co-ordination and the streamlined nature of improved projects in the years ahead.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-14 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  40. Ultimately, we are all finding to our cost they are not doing so, hence the reason there is a need for this legislation. We all know the need for key infrastructure. Indeed, we have seen the impact of where there have been difficulties with infrastructure. Only in the last week, we have seen how quickly the country can grind to a half if that infrastructure is not in place in certain ways. What we are doing here is to deliver even more of that same infrastructure. Obviously, as someone on the infrastructure committee, I have seen many of the aforementioned groups who have come to us, be it from a building perspective, a planning perspective, local authorities, Uisce Éireann or whoever they may be and we all know the range of difficulties they face in delivering their own key infrastructure.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-14 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  41. There is a need for more GPs, new astro pitches and the schools we all know too well but what we are talking about here specifically is the critical infrastructure and the difficulties we have in the State in delivering it. In fairness, I heard Deputy O'Gorman asking key questions as well. All of those will be looked at and focused on. Deputy Boyd Barrett asked similar questions about the environment but at the same time, we have seen that as a country, we have got bogged down in judicial reviews and public authorities delivering what they should do. I think it was Deputy Hearne when I listened to him earlier on who said these should be basic things that should already be in place and about the idea and concept that public bodies are not speaking to each other as a matter of course and are not working each other as a matter of course.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-14 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  42. We have been an economic success story and indeed, an industrial powerhouse for our size but we do not have the infrastructure we deserve. This legislation may be one small step on the road to helping deliver that infrastructure. Hopefully, this Bill will be the start of that infrastructure being delivered into the country. As a public representative in north Kildare, I see all too clearly the lack of infrastructure, be it the lack of a second bridge in Celbridge, be it the DART+ not having gone out so far or be it a need for a second bridge in Clane for which there already is a need, not to mind the need for the type of social infrastructure Deputy Boyd Barrett spoke about.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-14 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  43. I speak here tonight on a fascinating day in its own way. In here in the Dáil Chamber, we saw many different things happening. At the same time, this ultimately is really important legislation before us here tonight. I have seen many contributors from different sides, some positive and some negative, but it really speaks to the importance of infrastructure for us and within our own areas. Many people spoke about their own towns and their own villages because ultimately, that is the infrastructure they are all aware of. Whether it was towns like Oranmore that was mentioned, towns in Cork or the aforementioned in south Dublin, the need for infrastructure with housing all across their areas is key. As a country, one thing we probably have failed to keep up with is the delivery of key infrastructure in Ireland.

    SITTING OF 2026-04-14 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  44. One thing I want to highlight with ETFs is the deemed disposal rule that it only really exist in Ireland. It further acts to discourage international funds from being offered to Irish retail investors. Can we work towards ensuring the abolition of the deemed disposal rule forms part of the Government's retail and investment plans in the coming term?

    SITTING OF 2026-03-26 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  45. The issue I wish to bring up today is something I have raised a number of times since I was elected. Like the Tánaiste, I believe that an Irish savings and investment account model, especially for young people, can make a huge difference. However, I also continue to believe that tax reform for ETFs would offer an effective and impactful means too for those people who already might be in a position to invest. The goal we have as a Government and one I know the Tánaiste has been really pushing is to transform investment behaviour in Ireland and assist personal wealth growth. This would complement the auto-enrolment scheme that we have already put in place but this would have minimal cost to business and the Exchequer, too. It would also help counter the growth in Irish deposits and provide an opportunity for personal wealth creation.

    SITTING OF 2026-03-26 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  46. The first thing they often do is look for the GAA clubs. However, we can bring the GAA under that umbrella and however that works best, it is important to keep those live connections between the people who might have just recently gone and the multiple generations in America.

    SITTING OF 2026-03-26 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  47. I am delighted that the Minister of State referenced college football because we have seen the tremendous impact that has had. Not only are we bringing the games but we are bringing people over. A lot of those people spend a lot of time in Ireland. The game offers a window to Ireland in America with huge numbers watching the games. They see the best of what Ireland has to offer from a sporting facility perspective but it also gives us the opportunity to promote ourselves the week before the season starts. The college football has been a tremendous boon to the economy and to how we promote ourselves. The Minister of State has referenced the sports but another way he has really reached out is through the promotion of the Gaelic games abroad and how we tie that in. The GAA really is a foundation stone for so many people who go abroad.

    SITTING OF 2026-03-26 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  48. We have direct flights into Nashville, not necessarily a place known for its Irish emigrants but, at the same time, a huge proportion of people have Irish or Scots-Irish ancestry. We need to ensure we get them here from a tourism perspective but also from a business perspective, which is really important.

    SITTING OF 2026-03-26 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  49. My question was grouped with Deputy McCarthy's. The Minister of State has partially answered it. I asked what the status of the diaspora strategy is and if the Minister or the Minister of State would make a statement on the matter, considering both of them are there. I know the Minister of State has specific responsibility for the diaspora. Coming on the heels of St. Patrick's Day, we know how important the footprint that Ireland has and that the people have had through multiple generations. As was said, it is not just about the first generation; it is about several generations and how we continue that work on through these. If we look at the US, I had a national chamber of commerce group in yesterday.

    SITTING OF 2026-03-26 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT

  50. As I said, people have been turned away from GPs, unable to get places, and in some cases people who have not used a GP for a number of years, in a positive way, have received a letter telling them they are no longer members of that GP clinic and that the GP has taken them off the list just because they have not turned up, in a good way as a result of being healthy. This is a basic need. I am glad to work with the Minister to get a solution.

    SITTING OF 2026-03-05 · READ THE OFFICIAL REPORT