Joe Neville
Kildare North · Fine Gael · Ireland
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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…”
“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.”
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“Often when we talk about an area like north Kildare with a population that has grown so significantly, we can talk about physical infrastructure, Uisce Éireann or the need for housing. Ultimately, however, we also need the social infrastructure, in whatever guise that comes in, be it locations for elderly people or, in this case, GP services. Social infrastructure makes a community what it is and that is what everyone needs. While I will continue to advocate for new GPs, I am conscious of the expenses associated with land and offices and the difficulties younger GPs face when setting up in the likes of Leixlip, Maynooth and other growing towns in north Kildare. As I said, north Kildare’s population has grown by 40% in the past 20 years, which is significant. We are lacking in some of those basic services.”
“The Minister and I have discussed primary care centres being a key source of that. Indeed, Deputy Daly alluded to GPs potentially having free use of those primary care centres. Those are the sort of things we need for my constituency of Kildare North.”
“The Minister referred to her discussion earlier with Deputy Daly, which I listened to, about the need for GPs and how we roll them out. He was speaking about both the rural and urban areas in his area, but where I see a real need is in those urban centres of Leixlip and Maynooth. They are two large towns with a university on top. There are 60,000 residents and there is not a primary care centre between them. Likewise, there is a huge need for GPs. I have known of many cases where people have come into our towns and have been refused a GP because there are no places available for them. They are stuck having to use their GP in the area from which they have come, be it a rural area or Dublin. They have to keep those GPs and, realistically, that is not good enough. We have to ensure we can have more GPs.”
“We need to ensure a post office service in the smaller villages and towns but we also need to ensure the post offices in larger areas remain in locations that are helpful to everybody as opposed to the one or two shop owners who might see it as beneficial to give the postmaster a corner in their shop who will bring in hundreds of people on a weekly basis but nobody else benefits but the businessperson. In Leixlip we have seen a downturn for other businesses because this happened. An Post can provide other services and it has done so in the past. I would like to ensure we continue to reinvigorate the An Post services because it will be hugely beneficial into the future.”
“There has to be a degree of responsibility with An Post to ensure that the post offices remain central. That is the key issue. Obviously there are other towns and villages in Ireland that will probably come under the same duress. There might be a place in towns like Celbridge but then all of a sudden somebody is asked to go to a shopping centre outside the town. It could be Naas or another town in the future. We need to ensure people are able to go into the town centre because that is how other businesses will benefit. A shop could have parking and we could make it free or even pay a postmaster to have a post office in that shop. It benefits them being in one location but it does not benefit anybody else. That is where those opportunities are. We need to put safeguards around that too.”
“Today we are all talking on the issue of post offices and post offices being retained. I want to emphasise the need for post offices to be retained in our town and village centres. All too often we talk about retaining the service but the key for me is that we retain them in the town centres. In my home village of Leixlip, we lost our post office from the town centre when it was put into a shopping area outside the town. That has had a huge impact on the other traders and the other businesses in our town. We have to be very conscious of this. An Post is a national entity. It is part of our government. We cannot sit here talking about redeveloping our town centres and about how our town centres are becoming derelict on the one hand while on the other hand allow the services to be taken out of those very same town centres.”
“I acknowledge that this is not just a north Kildare issue but one that our colleagues in Ashbourne, Athy, Oranmore, Bray and Blanchardstown also know about. When will it be introduced? Can we ensure that this initiative will not just be about future housing development areas but also about areas which have had significant development over past five to seven years so that we can ensure that we backfill those areas too?”
“I wish to raise the topic of URDF or its successor, the new cities and towns initiative. I welcome the Taoiseach's announcement yesterday that the housing Minister had raised this at Cabinet and that a new round of funding will be provided for populated areas which are in desperate need of it. In my constituency of Kildare North, towns like Leixlip, Celbridge, Maynooth and Naas are all areas which have seen huge population growth in the past 15 years and new housing continues to be built in these areas. This is being done without much State investment in communities or facilities. URDF funding typically had been given to rejuvenate older large towns and I hope this funding is now being directly used for our rapidly growing towns.”
“An rud is tábhachtaí ná go mbeidh seans ag gach éinne an Ghaeilge a labhairt. Má tá an seans againn, caithfimid í a úsáid. Gabhaim buíochas le gach duine a d’éist liom. Níl mo Ghaeilge chomh maith le gach duine eile, ach fós tá mé ag cleachtadh. Sin cad atá mé ag rá. Caithfimid seans a thabhairt do gach duine atá ag iarraidh é sin a dhéanamh.”
“Dúirt tuismitheoirí liom an tseachtain seo caite go bhfuil a páiste Uimh. 29 ar liosta amháin, agus Uimh. 15 ar liosta eile chun áit a fháil i nGaelscoil i Léim an Bhradáin agus Maigh Nuad. Níl sé sin ceart. Caithfimid níos mó ranganna Gaelscoile agus Gaelcholáiste a fháil. Tá sé an-tábhachtach go mbeidh an deis ag aon pháiste ar mian leis nó léi foghlaim trí Ghaeilge é sin a dhéanamh. Beidh a lán daoine ag rá an rud céanna, “Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam”. Tá seans againn é sin a athrú. Tá Wales agus áiteanna eile in ann an teanga a thabhairt ar ais, agus beimid in ann an rud céanna a dhéanamh, ach caithfidh sé tosú ar dtús sa chóras oideachais. Caithfimid seans ceart a thabhairt do gach duine atá ag iarraidh teacht go dtí Gaelscoileanna. Tá mé ag rá anois go gcaithfimid é sin a dhéanamh.”
“Tá siad ag tabhairt deis do na daoine óga atá ina gcónaí taobh amuigh den Ghaeltacht – cosúil liom nuair a bhí mé óg, cé nach raibh seans agam – an teanga a labhairt gach lá. Díreoidh mé ar cheist a bhaineann le hoideachas trí Ghaeilge. Más mian le tuismitheoirí nó páistí rochtain a fháil ar a gcuid oideachais trí Ghaeilge, ba chóir an deis sin a thabhairt dóibh. I mo Dháilcheantar, Cill Dara Thuaidh, tá fás daonra tagtha le blianta anuas. Mar thoradh air sin, tá éileamh níos airde ar áiteanna scoile feicthe againn. Tá tuismitheoirí ar mian leo a bpáistí a chur go Gaelscoil nó Gaelcholáiste, agus tá sé i bhfad níos deacra dul go Gaelcholáiste nó Gaelscoil, ach tá fós fadhb againn leis na Gaelscoileanna. Tá cúig Ghaelscoil agus dhá Ghaelcholáiste i gCill Dara Thuaidh.”
“Nuair atá mé ag éisteacht le daoine cosúil leis an Teachta Shane Moynihan, táim in ann Gaeilge iontach a chloisteáil. Ceapaim gur cóir go mbeadh an seans céanna ag gach duine agus gach páiste in Éirinn agus a fhaigheann go leor daoine i rith na tíre anois. Ceapaim go bhfuil Seachtain na Gaeilge an-tábhachtach ar fad. Is deis í le haghaidh daoine nach mbíonn ag úsáid Gaeilge. Le haghaidh cúpla seachtain, tá an seans acu an Ghaeilge a úsáid. Ceapaim go mbeidh an seans againn Seachtain na Gaeilge a athrú go dtí mí na Gaeilge. Ceapaim go mbeidh sé sin ag tarlú i gceann cúpla bliain. Molaim an obair atá déanta ag daoine sna Gaelscoileanna agus sna Gaelcholáistí inár bpobal.”
“Chuala mé an focal “faitíos” ón Teachta Farrell. D’úsáid sí an focal sin. Sin an focal a bhfuilim ag smaoineamh faoi anois agus mé ag caint as Gaeilge. My Irish would not be as good as many people’s Irish. I did not get the opportunity to go to the Gaelscoil in Leixlip growing up, but I did go to the Gaeltacht. I actually got to learn quite a bit of Irish afterwards. I try to use it when I can. I am going to speak about access to Irish-speaking schools in our area. Ceapaim go bhfuil sé an-tábhachtach. Mar a dúirt mé, ní raibh an seans agam dul go dtí Gaelscoil, agus fós is fadhb mhór í sin. Chuaigh mé go dtí an Ghaeltacht agus ansin bhí mé ag caint is ag caint, agus fós ceapaim go bhfuil sé tábhachtach a bheith ag caint as Gaeilge nuair atá an seans ann.”
“That is a longer term solution, however. We all know that new schools are not built too quickly in this country, so we need a proper solution for these children in the immediate future.”
“I thank the Minister of State for his response. I just want touch on a couple of the matters. The two modular units have been set down and the children are using them. However, the units are very small and way too cramped for proper classes. Also, there are no toilets in the modular units, which are located away from the school building. That poses its own difficulties. I was at the school yesterday morning. The scaffolding has been put up. There is no work going on and the scaffolding is blocking some of the fire exits. This emphasises the dangers and risks for the children. Obviously, I welcome the two-pronged approach being taken, particularly as we need to have the emergency works to fix the school. However, we also need the delivery of the new school building. Ultimately, a three-school campus needs to be put in place.”
“The principal and her partner had to clean the classroom after a weekend of rain at the start of January, but the situation has only been exacerbated since then. The Minister, Deputy Naughton, visited the school, and she saw the issues that exist at first hand. She has highlighted the issue, but more work needs to be done as a matter of urgency. The principal and the teachers are doing amazing work, and the school has a great community, but the parents are really concerned. We need a resolution.”
“These children are the some of the most important and most vulnerable people in our community. They deserve a much better and safer building in which to attend school. Much of what is in the report was made public on a KFM programme over the weekend. The report has also been covered in the Liffey Champion on a number of occasions in recent weeks. This is an ongoing issue. As I said, it is 18 years since the prefabs were put in. I raised this matter with the Minister for education at a meeting on 18 June last year. I also raised it in the Dáil last October and again in January. The pictures of the classroom that I have with me were taken at the end of January. It is not a place where kids should be. There is water running down the walls.”
“I am raising the very serious issue of St. Patrick's Primary School in Celbridge, which opened in 2008. It is housed in a prefabricated building that was only supposed to be in place for five years. Unfortunately, 18 years later, the school is still in that building. In June 2025, a report was submitted after the work had been done at the end of March. It states: I am of the opinion that the existing building in the current condition is not fit for the purpose to operate without considerable risk to the occupants and users as a school, is unsafe and poses a serious immediate threat to the well-being, health and safety of the occupants and users. That is how a primary school in Celbridge in which there are more than 300 students and also SNAs and teachers is described.”
“There are a lot of positive projects in north Kildare and I am pushing for them, but we need to ensure other things, such as Local Link buses and buses to the likes of Johnstown Bridge, as well as more Bus Éireann buses, while at the same time ensuring we get DART+ South West in place in order that everything links up cohesively.”
“While we are discussing north Kildare specifically, there are a couple of projects that have been set in train. The M4 bus corridor, for example, has been built. I was recently in touch with the Minister's Department looking to ensure that we get the legislation passed so we get that bus corridor open. That would be one way to take traffic off the motorway. DART+ South West has been delayed. We really need it because there has been that increase in population all the way down towards Naas and all along that corridor. We need to ensure we have a full, live DART system, as well as the one we are going to have from Leixlip to Maynooth and coming out to Kilcock within the term of this Government.”
“We need to ensure those data are captured. I would like any information that the Minister of State has to be shared with us.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit for the response. The reason I raise the issue is that in the fast-growing area of north Kildare, which has had a huge population increase, we have significant challenges when it comes to transport and public transport. As we all know, the roads, including the M4 and the N7, are full coming into Dublin in the morning. We want to give the opportunity to as many people as possible to use buses and trains. Ultimately, many of those buses and trains are full. It is good to hear that the surveys are in place, that we are assessing the capacity and that the information is there. At the same time, we need to ensure the information is shared and we understand that it gets used in the best way possible. Trains coming from Kildare in the morning can be delayed. There can be buses that do not turn up.”
“I welcome to the Gallery my son, Liam, who is taking a mid-morning break from school. He is welcome. I wish to ask how many transport surveys have been carried out over the public transport networks to ensure there is adequate capacity on routes and efficiency in delivery; and to ask the Minister of State to make a statement on the matter, especially pertaining to north Kildare.”
“In Naas all the schools have come together - the eight primary schools - and have said they do not have spaces. They are all making applications at this stage to the Department but, ultimately, this information should be known ahead of time in the local areas. If we have that data, we need to use it. This is the key point I want to make. We are not forward planning well enough. We are putting in the houses, as we said earlier, but at the same time in the likes of Leixlip, Maynooth and Celbridge, we are not seeing planning ahead.”
“Today I want to highlight the issue of school spaces, or the lack thereof, and the desperate need for joined-up thinking between Departments to ensure early indicators are there, so we know where we will have issues. More conversations are needed between the Department of Education and Youth and the Department of Social Protection, potentially, around the number of ECCE applicants we are seeing in local areas, which I do not believe is taking place. Otherwise we need to look at the census data from year to year to see who is coming on stream. Ultimately, these children are applying for schools but the schools do not know how many kids are coming in and we are left short of spaces. Currently in Leixlip the population is continuing to rise and there are over 40 children still without primary school places.”
“We know that ultimately the people in this room will be held accountable in 2029 on the doorsteps. I want to ensure that we deliver these projects so that we will get the response we need from people.”
“I really sympathise with the Minister's final point. Potentially mistakes will be made and we must ensure that people will be backed through the various projects. I am a member of the public accounts committee and we look retrospectively at decisions. We need to ensure that people are backed. The main thing is that they are supported and that proper guidelines are in place so they are not afraid to make decisions. This is at all levels, including at the highest level. The Minister has taken responsibility himself centrally. We need to ensure this responsibility is sent out to all areas, such as to the CEOs of local authorities or further down to the local engineers. We need to see delivery on the ground. We all know how the various people in these roles are judged. The question is whether they are judged and held accountable.”
“We have €102 billion available to be spent in the next four years and €275 billion to be spent on capital projects over the next nine years. That is extremely welcome. The reason we need to ensure the right culture and accountability are in place across the Civil Service and local authorities is to ensure we get to spend this money. It is really important that we make sure people make decisions. Sometimes, the most difficult thing in the Civil Service is to make a decision because the worst thing people can do is get something wrong. Sometimes, making no decision is actually better for those individuals. That is what we need to control.”
“I thank the Minister very much for his response. I know he is very passionate about this issue, which the Joint Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery has seen. As Vice Chair of that committee, I am very focused on it. As a councillor, I saw a lot of houses being built in north Kildare, for example. I am sure the same applies in the rest of the country. In Celbridge, we need a second bridge. In Leixlip, we need development at the top of Confey and in Maynooth, a relief road is required. These are simple things but we see delays. A change in culture is required across the Civil Service and local authorities. In fairness, we have significant funding available due to good governance.”
“Large-scale URDF funding has not gone into these towns and villages in the past and ultimately that is where we need to get to. Overall, I welcome the plan but at the same time we need to renew our communities. We also need to renew our town and village centres.”
“These have been coming on my desk in the last couple of weeks and indeed are continuing today. I am working closely with the Minister, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, on those but at the same time these are emblematic of the issues we are facing in north Kildare. Houses are being built by the thousand in my constituency, which is great and ultimately that is what the Government desires, but at the same time, we are not delivering on behalf of our communities. The national development plan addresses major infrastructure issues that are needed for the area but at the same time it is not building for the communities behind that. Kildare has another problem to go along with these issues. Towns like Leixlip, Kilcock and Naas are thriving as regards housing but ultimately their town and village centres are not thriving.”
“We think of water and wastewater which are underground. Often what is not considered is the social infrastructure that is needed to knit communities together. North Kildare, with its rapidly growing population, is lacking vital social infrastructure. I have referenced many times before in this Chamber the need for school improvements, new school buildings and more crèches to be introduced into large growing towns along with other amenities such as playgrounds and greenways as well as obviously the need for a new swimming pool in north Kildare. In the last couple of weeks, I have been dealing with the need for a new school in Celbridge and we have major issues with St. Patrick's National School. We have an issue with spaces for children going into schools in Naas and Leixlip.”
“I am Vice Chair of the infrastructure committee. I know the Minister will be coming to the committee later on and we may be able to discuss some of these topics in detail. I welcome the national development plan of €102 billion, which is a huge amount of money to spend. Ultimately, we are only playing catch-up on the money that probably should have been spent in previous years. The percentage that we were spending was not commensurate with the 16% that we are going to be spending in the future. I also welcome the accelerated infrastructure task force and the plan behind it which is an attempt to rid Ireland of the unnecessary blockages and bloated bureaucracy that we have become all too accustomed to in this country. When people think of infrastructure we think of roads and rail which are overground.”
“As with everything, we can do better and get more things in the capital plan, including in local areas, for example, getting water bursts in Leixlip resolved too.”
“I will not say it was not advertised enough, but I am not sure the people of Celbridge are fully aware of what is planned in respect of the work coming downstream. I put it to the county council that I do not think the plan in place is good enough. I am working with Kildare County Council and Uisce Éireann to fix that ahead of the problem coming. We have also had huge traffic issues with the works being done on the Maynooth transfer pipeline. People were caught on the hop by that project. Uisce Éireann is doing a lot of work. The Government is prepared to innovate and Ministers are ready to listen to our ideas on this side of the bench. As part of my role on the infrastructure committee, I will continue to liaise with Uisce Éireann. I commend the company on the work it is doing.”
“Notwithstanding that, it is also very positive that the Government is prepared to have developer-led innovations. Deputy Ó Muirí alluded to the Shannon-to-Dublin scheme and it is very important that we are able to do that. I raise the issue of communication, which Deputy O’Sullivan also referred to. If there is one thing we need to fix, this is it. As I said, from my work on the infrastructure committee, I can see it works well at the top, but at councillor level and in local communities, we can do things better. In Celbridge, for example, a new programme of works is being planned for the next nine months. It is hugely significant work on the main artery into Celbridge. I attended a communication evening - I think I was one of the few public representatives who did - and I learned a huge amount.”
“I will follow up on many of the themes raised by many of my colleagues on this side of the House. I welcome the level of investment to go into Uisce Éireann over the next few years. From meeting the Uisce Éireann team at the infrastructure committee, I know the company is very positive about having the funds in place, not only to do the work it wants to do to repair water lines but also to help as regards the housing needed over the coming years. Uisce Éireann is very positive that the funding it is getting from the Government puts it in a strong position. As much as we hear about the negative things happening in the country, the fact that this country is being run so well gives us a financial capability that is very positive, as we are seeing with Uisce Éireann.”
“The Government has been at the forefront, as I said, with the AI office, but we also need to ensure that that gets out to the individual businesses. In a way, what we can do there is invest in the companies, put out funding into the companies and monitor all the way through. Something we have been really good at from an IDA perspective is going abroad, but Enterprise Ireland is building companies from within. We really need to use that to champion AI and to push it across all systems, be they supply chain, business, financial or even sales tools, in order that all across that AI ecosystem we can ensure that our companies are ready, more so than anyone else, to be there for the future generations of what the business world might look like. As a Government, we have taken the proper steps to date and we need to continue that.”
“As we know, AI offers benefits but it also means that we need to be strategic. We also need to be fully ready, through governance and everything else, to make sure we do not fall behind. Ultimately, if we delay AI adoption, or if the skills are not put into the Irish companies, we risk ceding advantage not just to the US or maybe the UK, which we previously would have been focused on, but all across the world. We deal in English in business. That would have been an advantage we had before, but we see all across Asia and all across eastern Europe that all these countries are as adept at the business world as anyone else. There is no reason to think we will be special and will continue to stay ahead. That is why I come back to the Government support.”
“We need to ensure that Enterprise Ireland is part of the network that is going out to these SMEs to make sure that they can actually use those tools and involve themselves in getting those tools because some people will have the ability and the knowledge but not everyone will. We also have to be aware in many ways in Ireland, because we have so many of these high-skilled jobs, that AI integration into business will change how business is done. As someone who came through from PwC, I saw many people starting off in year one. You wonder in a few years about all the work. Will people starting off in their careers be there to do it, or will an AI model simply go through invoices and do checks and spot checks? Obviously, the world is changing. If we are not there at the forefront, we will lose that but we will have nothing else to replace it.”
“All across the areas we have seen these companies start up, but we need to ensure that they are using AI and that we are in the position as a Government to supply the companies with the relevant supports. Earlier today I raised a question during Questions on Policy or Legislation on that point specifically. We need to ensure that we are driving SMEs with innovation in SMEs, that we are driving not only funding but also the knowledge and the need for these AI tools. We know that Enterprise Ireland is an amazing section of our Government and how our country runs. As a CFO previously, I sought its benefit. It helped keep so many businesses afloat during Covid, but sometimes the difficulty with Enterprise Ireland is how you navigate getting into it.”
“Under the leadership of the Minister, Peter Burke, we have seen the announcement of a dedicated AI office to co-ordinate strategy, policy and implementation across all sectors. This really needs to be done to ensure that our businesses are at the forefront. We know that AI can lead to a huge competitive advantage, possibly for different companies, but if we are not at the forefront, we will lose out. We are at the forefront in many ways in Ireland, mainly because of the FDI we have had over many years, its impact and how it has soaked in around the country. We have so much knowledge coming from those companies that came here, including ex-employees who have gone on to build other companies and smaller companies. We have seen it in med-tech, finance and agri-tech.”
“I want to speak about AI because it is obviously so important, it will become so important and, as Deputy Geoghegan has outlined, it will cut across different boundaries and different areas. Other speakers will probably choose to speak on other areas on which we all well know the impacts. We can see even on social media that it has become a topic of conversation not alone in Ireland but across the world. I think that will be covered in the debate. It needs to be covered and we really have to be conscious of it. I will focus on the impacts AI will have on business, what we can see, the positives and the negatives, the risks associated with that and, ultimately, how we need to be ready, as Deputy Geoghegan outlined, countrywide. I will focus on business.”
“What specific measures are the Minister's Department and Enterprise Ireland undertaking to ensure that SMEs in Ireland stay up to date with advancements in AI and digital technologies as they grow at a rapid rate? Local enterprise offices, LEOs, have been very good at giving grants to small companies but what I am talking about are mid-range SMEs that would like to get involved with Enterprise Ireland but sometimes struggle to do so. What steps can we take this calendar year and next year as we look forward? These changes in our society are huge. Rapid improvements are being made and we need to get them into our companies to ensure that we stay in touch with technologies and companies from outside Ireland.”
“I wish the Ceann Comhairle a happy Christmas. I want to raise targeted tax credit adjustments. The budget was significant, with an extra €9.4 billion spent. We got a lot of criticism and many questions were asked. It was suggested that, potentially, we had spent too much. There was a real focus on the part of this Government on supporting the most vulnerable, which is exactly what we did. We put a lot of extra spending in social welfare to really look after people in need, and correctly so. There was also significant capital investment. Is there any way we can look at the next part, namely - and as a previous speaker mentioned - the people who get up early in the morning and how to deal with them? How can the budget benefit families?”
“So much money has been repaid to the Exchequer, even though we took such a risk. How do we take the learnings from that and how does the Tánaiste see we will be able to put that in place for future generations?”
“NAMA has been one of those interesting bodies in my lifetime. It came in during a significant economic crash and was seen almost a set-up of last resort. I wondered about the impact it would have. As we look back now we can see it has had a positive legacy. It has turned out positively for the Government, notwithstanding what has happened over the past few years and that is worth reflecting on. How do we take the learnings, and not just from NAMA itself? If something like this happens again, how do we ensure the knowledge we built up and the success, ultimately, of NAMA is replicated? It was one of the great benefits of the last 15 years considering the crash we had, to be able to put together a body like NAMA. The Opposition probably ultimately considered it would have been the worst thing in the world but it has worked out successfully.”
“I join others in wishing Christmas cheer to everyone here and while we are on the topic of Christmas, I want to raise the issue of e-scooters and e-bikes. There is a lot of talk about them being bought as Christmas presents for people but there is a great need for the regulation of these vehicles on our roads. In the past few months we have seen stories of scooters come and go. We have read about the accidents and the damage being done to people. I witnessed the unfortunate aftermath of such an accident when a young child was badly injured outside Leixlip GAA club one evening when I was coaching there. I understand the impact of these vehicles. I raised this issue with the Taoiseach back in July and he said that he would refer it to the Minister for justice and ask that it be discussed by the Oireachtas committee. How has that progressed?”
“It is great to have the opportunity on Questions on Policy or Legislation to ask about the swimming pools we need all around Ireland. The swimming pool gap analysis report recently came out, which showed us that there are significant gaps around. The Minister is well aware of the swimming pool gap in north Kildare. As a councillor, I ensured a significant amount of funding was put in place for a pool but there is still a gap to be filled to reach the final cost. This is something we have discussed regularly. I am keen to provide a swimming pool for north Kildare. How can we ensure we get that off the ground in the new year with support from the Minister's Department?”
“Everybody in the shop knows exactly what the child has been doing and asks her how training went and how her dancing went. The kid looks at her parents quizzically wondering how the people know everything about her. It is because the parents are putting her images and life online without asking her. That reinforces the message. Even those subtle points can make us think. It is important that we do. There has been a lot of talk about young people and online safety. I fully agree. In the past, I have referenced the likes of Conor McGregor and Andrew Tate and how their negative influence impacts young people. I think it was Deputy Murphy, or potentially Deputy Coppinger, who alluded to how that impacted young men. That is something we really need to have monitored.”