Linda Nelson Murray
Industrial and Commercial Panel · Fine Gael · Ireland
“Navan hospital always needs to be strengthened, not sidelined. We need investment in that to grow with the population that is growing in Meath, and that Meath people have a hospital that grows with their needs and does not fall behind. I am discussing this with the Minister for Health, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.”
“The Irish Cancer Society is in the news today. We met its representatives last week and had a very good engagement over in Buswells Hotel where they were giving us some numbers. I wanted to home in on bowel cancer. There are 2,500 people diagnosed with bowel cancer each year in Ireland.”
“We have had amazing debates in here from all sides of the Chamber. Everybody, without a shadow of a doubt, is a pleasure to work with. We can achieve things together whether we are in opposition or in government. I thank everybody. It is really nice to come in to the Chamber and I look forward to it every Tuesday.”
“I thank everybody in that group, particularly the Senators in this Chamber who worked on the group, because it is a day to be acknowledged. Hopefully, we will see it come through quickly. I want to follow on from that by asking the Leader to speak to the Minister, Deputy Calleary, who is working very hard on a baby loss register.”
“Senator Nicole Ryan and I, with other Senators, including Senators Patricia Stephenson, Tom Clonan and Evanne Ní Chuilinn, and many TDs - it was a complete cross-party Oireachtas group - came together and have been working on how to actually do this over the last year. Today is a very positive day for all of us in our group.”
“It was about a year ago that we had a very emotive debate in the House when Senator Nicole Ryan brought suggestions for a Bill on miscarriage leave. I was on this side of the House. It was very hard to actually be debating it when I think everybody in this House wanted to see something like that happen.”
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“I want to bring up two issues. One is about the agricultural shows we are seeing now across our counties. I would like to say a big thank you to the Department of rural and community affairs for the money that is provided to these shows. I think approximately €1 million is dished out to about 126 different agricultural shows around the country, and they get between €4,200 and €11,400 each. I was at Ballivor Horse Show at the weekend. It was my second year going to it. I went to it last year as well. It really is value for money. These agricultural shows are really important in these rural communities. It was absolutely packed. I entered my two dogs into the dog show. They did not win or even get the waggy tail prize. It was very disappointing. Seriously, though, the shows are brilliant.”
“People genuinely put the vape packaging in the bin but it is this one little sticker they stick to pipes, walls and bins. We need to do something about it because it is dreadful and impossible to get off. We need to hold the producers responsible. Maybe they need to contribute to the cost. We need to run a public campaign to let people know not to do this. When people see the stickers on other things, they tend to put them on themselves. Could we ask the Minister for the environment to have a look at this and how we can hold the producers to account? Can we run a campaign about this? With all of the hard work that Tidy Towns committees are doing around the country, the last thing we need to see is a bin like this covered in white vape stickers.”
“I refer to the little white stickers from disposable vapes that are on every single bin across Ireland. It is absolutely soul-destroying to see them. They are tiny little ones from disposable vapes, they are hugely unsightly and they make the areas that people are trying to keep clean look very dirty. They are very hard to get off the bins. I raised this issue when I was a county councillor. Instead of a "Bin your gum" campaign, we could launch a "Bin your sticker from the vapes" campaign. Maybe we need to look at holding the manufacturers to account and make them come up with a way to ensure these little stickers are not part of the packaging. It is kind of like the stickers that are on Pink Lady apples. It is the only apple I know that has a sticker on it and you kind of wonder what to do with it.”
“I commend my hometown of Navan, which for a good few years never really did very well when it came to the Anti-Litter League. A very progressive new Tidy Towns committee has been set up in Navan. I cannot take any credit for it. I have not even been out with them. I hope to get out with them in the future. We have moved from being No. 30 in the anti-litter league table last year up to No. 18 this year. It is the first round and then they go back and look at it again. I want to commend Navan because we have another lovely sister town in my constituency called Trim that is spotless and wins many awards. I am delighted that the capital town of Navan has come up to No. 18. That being said, I am going to tell Members about something that once they see it, they will not be able to unsee it.”
“Today is 9 June and we are very close to the summer holidays. I very much welcome that we know this is happening as we go forward and that it is not left waiting until the last few weeks. It is very important that the scheme be provided at Christmastime and Easter time. The children hungry during the school year are the same children who are hungry at Christmas, at Easter and during the summer. It is great that 42,000 children will get this but there are plenty more who need it. We are serving 300,000 children through the hot school meals programme as it is. I welcome it but we need to look at it further. I would welcome a debate with the Minister on it and on many other things to do with child food poverty and hot school meals. I would like us not to be sitting here next year waiting to know if it is going to be announced.”
“In recent weeks, I have raised the subject of bringing back the holiday hunger pilot programme, which was run in 2025, this year. This follows on from the large amount of debate and discussion we have all had on the hot school meals programme. We learned at the joint committee on education, as I mentioned here the week before last, that the Society of St. Vincent de Paul had 112,000 requests for food assistance last year. Food poverty is still a massive issue among our children. Therefore, I was absolutely delighted to hear that the Minister, Deputy Calleary, who is working very hard on everything to do with the hot school meals programme, alongside the Minister, Deputy Naughton, is extending the holiday hunger pilot programme into this year. This will mean that 42,000 children receive a hot school meal.”
“Vincent de Paul last year had 112,000 requests for food assistance. There is a massive problem with child food poverty in Ireland. What Mr. Mullooly has just done is scare parents, principals and teachers by talking about Brazilian beef in hot school meals. Like my two colleagues, I want him to withdraw that comment. I hope he does not get any coverage out of it because it is simply not true. Until he can come to the Upper House and prove it is, dún do bhéal.”
“The Irish toy market is worth between €300 million and €600 million per year. It looks as if approximately 10% of the goods that are coming in are counterfeit goods, which is bad for Irish business. I would also like to mention hot school meals. I wrote a 48-page report on them. I visited suppliers the length and breadth of the country and schools. The Joint Committee on Education and Youth had numerous witnesses and stakeholders in to discuss the issue and never once did I hear that there was Brazilian beef in hot school meals. Some €300 million is spent on hot school meals in Ireland. That goes to companies. A total of 3,200 primary schools and 500,000 students avail of the programme. How dare Mr. Mullooly sit there and say that the hot school meals programme is using Brazilian beef? How dare he scaremonger? The Society of St.”
“I thank the MEPs for coming. My focus is on small businesses and always has been. I would like when we take over the European Presidency that we have a focus on Irish business. When it comes to insurance, for example, we have not had a new entrant into the Irish market for 11 years to provide public liability insurance. I would like to know what the MEPs can do on that issue to help small businesses. The issue of counterfeit and fake branded goods entering the Irish market is becoming a major consumer safety problem, particularly for children's toys. I appreciate that there was a new toy safety regulation in 2025. That was enacted in January but there is a four-year waiting period before it is fully enacted. We have thousands of parts coming into Ireland that are not safe for children. That is something that needs to be looked at.”
“She is in fourth class and has only two years left at school. Emotionally, it is hard for the family. They would really appreciate knowing that their daughter, going into fifth class, will have access to a laptop. Right now they do not. We are going through the appeals process on it at the moment. I hope we will be successful on it but for her and for other children, time is of the essence here. I think the Minister of State recognises that, judging by his response, and I appreciate that.”
“I thank the Minister of State for his response and for outlining the fact that 3,600 assistive technology supports have come out this year. I am a little disappointed that we do not have the date for it. I appreciate that the Department is at the final stages of the report. I really was hoping to get a date this morning but I hope and I think the Minister of State probably can guarantee me that we will have it for the start of the school year in September. Maybe we can get it out in July or August in order that schools can get the funding and can know the children who are coming in in September. The schools know every child inside out and will know which children need it. We should bear in mind that man whose child had an IQ of 89 and not 90. That one point will make a difference to her. The child is ten years of age.”
“It is great that the Department has recognised this, done the work on it and can see that it is what needs to be done in schools. I am calling for this to happen now. Let us ease the pressure on parents and on this mam who cannot access a laptop for her daughter. I know the school is advocating for her. The circular was due in quarter 1. Can we please find out when this new circular is going to come out, in order that the schools can help all the children get their laptops to help them learn at school and be the same as all their classmates?”
“This says to the mother that her child has to be more clever than she is to get this equipment. Maybe her daughter might have scored 90 and not 89 if she did the test the next day. The mother is so frustrated about this. However, it turns out, after a bit of research, that a new assistive technology circular was due in the first quarter of this year. It has not come out yet. It will give the power to the school. The Department aims to shift the scheme from a diagnosis-based approach to a needs-based approach, which is music to many parents' ears, granting schools greater autonomy in determining whether a child requires assistive technology to access the curriculum. That seems like something we need to get done now.”
“To qualify for equipment under the assistive technology scheme, a student must have been diagnosed with a physical or communicative disability and must also have a recommendation in a professional assessment that the equipment is essential to allow the students to access the curriculum. We are ticking the boxes here so far. SENOs will review the application and professional reports provided in support of same, to establish whether the criteria of the scheme have been met. I assume this is were the IQ of 90 criterion comes in. The SENOs will then make a recommendation to the Department as to whether assistive technology is required. Based on this recommendation, the Department will decide on the level of grant, if any, to be provided. I took that from the Department.”
“The mam, as the Minister of State can imagine, wanted to even buy the laptop for the school but was told it was not going to do her any good when the child gets to secondary school and that it had to come through the scheme. The school could see that the child needed the laptop as well. I had a look into the issue, and according to Circular 10/2013, funding is provided to schools towards the cost of computers and specialist equipment which are required for educational purposes. All equipment provided under the scheme supports children with more complex disabilities who, in order to access the school curriculum, require essential specialist equipment.”
“I thank the Minister of State for coming in this morning. I have put in a couple of Commencement matters that involved his Department and he has been very gracious. I appreciate him coming in to answer this today. I met a lady two weeks ago who was looking for some help with her daughter, who is ten years of age and has been diagnosed with dyslexia. The psychologist recommended that she get a laptop for school but she was refused by the special educational needs organiser, SENO. When I asked why, I was told that apparently you need an IQ of 90 for a laptop for school, and she had an IQ of 89. I could not believe what I was hearing and that this was actually the case. I thought surely, we cannot be getting things like this so wrong.”
“I wanted to use my time today to raise the Joshua Community and to open the conversation even more. My colleague, Senator Aubrey McCarthy brings it up a lot in this House, as do many other Senators, but we should have a good, strong debate about what the Government can do to support people who are going out of their way to help vulnerable people in Ireland. In my community, I can see first-hand the impact it is having.”
“I met one person yesterday who suffered a very severe drug addiction up until ten years ago when she found the centre. The community is in Cavan as well as Meath and Senator O'Reilly was mentioned yesterday. The community was able to help this person do courses and seek employment. On seeing someone's life completely at one of the scale being turned around to the other end of the scale, I was just blown away. It opened a thought for me as to what can be done to support places like this. People were going in there yesterday to have a shower. They may have been going in to grab a toothbrush and toothpaste or simple little things like a change of socks. These are things that so many of us take for granted. It was a very humbling experience for me.”
“Ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a dhéanamh leis an TD nua, Seán Kyne. I just thought I would say that in Seán's language as he had such good Irish. I hope I pronounced it well. There is no such thing as a hopeless cause. I definitely learned that yesterday when I went to the Joshua Community's centre in Navan. It was my first time visiting. I ended up spending about two and a half hours in the centre. I am probably a little bit ignorant of everything that is going on with people who are vulnerable and homeless and it was definitely an experience for me to visit that centre yesterday. At the centre there are projects aimed at those who feel they need a fresh start or new direction. These people may have been unemployed for a long time. This includes those who may have suffered with substance abuse.”
“In regard to what it will be based on, I will just read this part out: "The Department aims to shift the scheme from a diagnosis-based approach to a needs-based approach" - music to many parents' ears - "granting schools greater autonomy in determining whether a child requires assistive technology to access the curriculum." I am calling for this to happen now. Let us ease the pressure on parents and on this mam who cannot this laptop for her daughter. I know the school is advocating for her. The circular was due in quarter 1. Can we please find out from the Minister when this new circular is going to come out in order that the schools can help all these children get their laptops to help them learn at school?”
“I met a lady last week who was looking for some help for her daughter, who is ten years of age and has been diagnosed with dyslexia. The psychologist recommended that she get a laptop for school but she was refused by the special educational needs organiser, SENO. When I asked why, I was told that apparently you need an IQ of 90 to get a laptop for school and she had an IQ of 89. I could not believe what I was hearing and this actually is the case. I thought surely we cannot be getting things this wrong. I had a look into it and it turns out that a new assistive technology circular was due in the first quarter of this year. It has not come out yet but what it will do is give power to the school.”
“The motion also recognises that gardaí need clearer operational rules, especially around pursuit driving and emergency response. Split-second decisions should not leave members fearing unfair personal consequences when they are trying to protect the public. Most importantly, supporting gardaí is about supporting safer communities. People in Meath want safe town centres, safer roads, protection from violent crime and quick emergency responses when something goes wrong. Garda members cannot provide that level of service if they feel unsupported or overstretched. This motion sends a message that we absolutely value the work gardaí do every day and that we are prepared to stand behind them.”
“Many of us would feel that ringing this number should only be for emergencies. In the past we would have called the Garda station, so this is something that people are finding hard to get used to. These days, gardaí are for our St. Patrick’s Day parades, our Darkness into Light walks and the turning on of our Christmas tree lights. They support our communities and we need to support them. The proposals around stronger penalties for intimidation and abuse are important because no garda or their family should have to live with threats or harassment simply for doing their job. We have also seen how quickly public order situations can escalate, which is why having properly trained public order units matters for community safety.”
“Incidents in Navan in particular, and across the county, over the last year have shown that policing today is far more dangerous and unpredictable than it used to be. Our Garda numbers in Meath are: 103 gardaí in Navan; 48 gardaí in Trim; 36 gardaí in Kells; and 155 gardaí in Ashbourne. Gardaí are responding to violent assaults, armed incidents, public disorder situations, dangerous driving, organised crime, and mental health crises. Sometimes that can all be in one shift. When people dial 999 they expect gardaí to run towards danger on behalf of the rest of us. It is only fair that the State gives them the protection, clarity and support they need to do their job safely. With the 999 calls, people are now told to ring 999 even for the smallest instances like someone stealing a can of Red Bull out of a shop.”
“I concur with my colleague Senator Ahearn on the relocation issue. I have been trying to help a couple of gardaí in that way as well. Again, they are looking at leaving because they just cannot get closer to home, and especially for women who might have had a baby or are planning a family and do not want to be too far away. I am proud to support this Fine Gael motion. I thank Senators Kelleher and Noel O'Donovan. The motion includes proposals around the online harassment of gardaí, Garda pursuit driving rules, a dedicated Garda driving licence category, stronger public policing capacity, and further Garda recruitment support measures. As someone living in Meath we have all seen how much pressure gardaí are under locally.”
“He should not let that be music to insurers' ears. I thank him for saying he is working with the thatched houses organisation, the motorcycle groups and aerial adventure companies. I am delighted that he is meeting the Alliance for Insurance Reform because until businesses, clubs and community groups feel the difference in their renewal notices, many people will continue to believe the system is working for everyone except the customer.”
“We must continue to aggressively tackle fraud. Action 12 rightly focuses on stronger penalties and intelligence sharing between insurers and An Garda Síochána. In 2023 there were six convictions, and there were nine convictions in the first six months of 2024. I am sure there are plenty more to be investigated. The central issue remains unchanged. If reforms are reducing claims costs, reducing awards and improving efficiencies then those savings must finally start appearing in the premiums. The Minister of State said at the outset that he is committed to making a difference to insurance premiums, so let us do that. I am a little bit concerned that his opening statement already made an excuse for increases in motor insurance claims because of Iran and the things that are happening in the world.”
“Germany applies regulated legal fee structures linked to claim value. France uses standardised scales across personal injury cases. Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia utilise fixed-fee systems rather than openly based hourly billing. Ireland cannot continue with a system where legal costs regularly exceed compensation. We need progress on expanding the offers for more competition in the insurance market, supporting a truly functioning Europe-wide insurance market and proactively attracting international insurers into the market. There has not been a single new entrant into Ireland on public liability insurance in 11 years. This alone tells us there is something fundamentally wrong with competition in the market. What reasons are the insurers giving the Minister of State?”
“Reducing the litigation premium must now be one of the central objectives of the next phase of insurance reform. The purpose of reform was never simply to reduce claims costs within the system, it was to improve affordability, availability and fairness to the people and the organisations who rely on insurance every single day. That means measuring success on whether business, sports clubs, charities, cultural organisations and community groups see lower premiums, better access to cover, more competition and stronger quality of cover. We now need to move decisively on the key actions in the Government's action plan. Action 3 is to strengthen the powers and remit of the Injuries Resolution Board. Action 6 is to consider and make recommendations on the scale of legal fees. Spain operates structured legal compensation scales.”
“Last year, when helping to organise activities for a local GAA family day, insurers said that no inflatables or bouncing activities for children could be included. The very things children enjoy most are now viewed as uninsurable. That is how disconnected the market has become from ordinary community life. When we look specifically at litigation, the figures become even more alarming. Claims through the Injuries Resolution Board take approximately two years, while claims through litigation take six years. Legal costs through the Injuries Resolution Board cost €1,000. Legal costs through litigation cost €25,000. The average legal cost for claims under €150,000 now exceeds the compensation itself. This is extraordinarily difficult to justify to the public.”
“Why are community organisations still struggling to get cover? Why is competition still so weak? Why are insurers not passing on the savings generated by these reforms? This is my biggest thing. While reforms are visible in the claims data, they are not visible enough in renewal notices landing on kitchen tables and office desks around the country. This has real-world consequences. Sports clubs, community centres and local festivals are being squeezed out of activities that were once considered normal. Two weeks ago, someone contacted me to ask how they would get insurance for a bouncy castle for the village fun day. I had to say they did not have a chance. The answer effectively was that they would just not be able to do it.”
“Personal injury guidelines are being applied in a growing proportion of cases and claims through the Injuries Resolution Board are being resolved faster and with dramatically lower legal costs than cases that go through litigation. It is also important to remember why the guidelines matter in the first place. Government-commissioned research found that even after reform, average Irish awards for minor neck and back soft tissue injuries remain nearly four times higher than in England and Wales through the Injuries Resolution Board, while insurance settlements were almost five times higher. The question is no longer whether reform was necessary; it clearly was. The question now is why policyholders are still not feeling the benefit. Why are businesses still struggling with affordability?”
“Since July 2025, we have a new insurance reform action plan, which I check once a month to see where we are at. It is a clear statement of Government intent, with more than 60 organisations from across Ireland contributing to that consultation process, alongside four political parties that are genuinely interested in reform. The political parties who contributed are Fine Gael, the Green Party, the Labour Party and the Social Democrats. That tells us something important: political parties, businesses, sports clubs, charities and community groups are all hearing the same message from people on the ground, that is, the insurance system in Ireland is not working as it should. The data show that many of the reforms are working. Claims and award levels are falling.”
“Over recent years, Ireland has introduced some of the most significant insurance reforms in decades. The personal injury guidelines have replaced the book of quantum, the Injuries Resolution Board has been strengthened, the national claims information database has delivered unprecedented transparency regarding claims, payments, settlements, legal costs and insurance profitability, the Garda insurance fraud co-ordination unit has been established and the law on occupiers' duty of care has been changed - a reform of which I personally am proud. Insurance reform has remained firmly on the political agenda through successive Government action plans and by way of continued engagement by Ministers, including the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, with Members of the Oireachtas.”
“The reality is that premiums are rising, competition is weak, cover is shrinking and the benefits of reform are simply not reaching the people paying bills. I offer the Minister of State one very stark example, which I am sure will really surprise him. An organisation has shared figures with me showing that over a five-year period, it spent €7 million on insurance premiums, while its claims cost amounted to just €900,000. That may represent an excellent return on investment for the insurer but not for the business paying those premiums. The difference over five years was €6 million. What about the jobs, services, community activities and investment that money could have supported instead? Before we discuss what more needs to be done, it is important to acknowledge what has already been done.”
“I am sharing time with Senator Ní Chuilinn. I sometime feel I am like a broken record when it comes to talking about insurance. I have spoken a lot about it to the Minister of State. The message coming from businesses, community groups and voluntary organisations across Ireland is now impossible to ignore. Despite years of reform, too many people are still not seeing fairness in the insurance market. A recent report found that 62% of respondents have seen increases in their public and employer liability premiums. A total of 17% have only one insurer willing to quote them or no insurer at all. Of the respondents, 82% said they have not seen significant benefits from insurance reform. That is sad. A total of 59% have seen higher excesses, new exclusions added to their policies, or both.”
“We need to allow people to allow their homes to become more energy efficient and to increase the amount we are giving for solar panels because we definitely need to be able to produce our own energy. I would welcome a debate on that.”
“There are a lot of things we need to do, such as accelerating offshore wind and renewables, building major battery storage, expanding interconnectors to other countries, reforming our pricing and speeding up planning and grid delivery. We are giving out super energy grants at the moment for people to be able to make their homes more energy efficient. There is a good one for a new front door; people can get €800 towards that. They can get €3,000 or €4,000 for double glazed windows and €1,500 for attic insulation. I was delivering a leaflet recently and a woman said to me that she will not be able to get the grants as it is means-tested. Therefore, I encourage people. They can get it. It is not means-tested. However, maybe we need to look at the criteria for applying for the grants and not make them so strict.”
“It got me thinking about what more we need to do to support people with energy costs and support our country to be able to provide more energy. Our electricity is expensive because we have a perfect storm of structural problems, rather than there being a single cause. ESRI researchers say that Ireland's exposure to international gas markets was the biggest reason for household electricity prices becoming so high in recent years. The main reasons are heavy dependence on gas, with around 50% of Irish electricity generation still coming from gas, being an energy island with expensive grid infrastructure and small market size, taxes and levies, supplier strategies and having a lot of rural one-off housing meaning there are more poles, wires and maintenance per household.”
“Like my colleague Senator Ní Chuilinn, I congratulate Senator Nicole Ryan. We are on a cross-party group about pregnancy and infant loss together and she has been amazing to work with. I can only imagine the joy this morning in her little family. It is absolutely amazing news. I was standing on a sideline, as people with children do, a few weeks ago and ended up talking to someone about solar panels. The person was not talking to me from a political perspective. The person mentioned that they are a teacher, as is their wife and they have had to ring Electric Ireland to set up a payment plan to pay their energy costs. I was thrown when I heard that two people in full-time employment had that type of issue. They live in a semi-detached house in rural Ireland.”
“I thank the Minister of State for coming in and giving this answer to my Commencement matter. I ask him to pass on my gratitude to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, because the Minister of State has just given me the answer. I had a feeling in my waters that it was going to come in the next week or two, so I am delighted to be able to tell people in Navan that we will have the opening of the public consultation on Wednesday 20 May. I am sure the Minister will be delighted to tell the people of Navan that as well. I am also really happy to see that we are still on track - pardon the pun - and that a railway order will be lodged with An Coimisiún Pleanála in 2028, which is only two years away. I believe this is the furthest we have gone on the Navan rail project. This is all on record today from the Minister and the Minister of State.”
“After 25 years of waiting, the people of Meath deserve more than promises. They deserve progress. I hope that the Minister of State can confirm today that we remain on track for the next key milestone of planning permission, namely, a railway order in 2028.”
“Long commutes are linked to higher stress, anxiety, burnout, mental fatigue, work-family conflict, increased blood pressure and poor health conditions. Families are losing hours every day sitting in traffic instead of spending time with their children. This rail line is not a luxury project or a vanity project; it is essential national infrastructure. It is the single biggest transport investment we can deliver for County Meath, one that would remove thousands of cars from our roads every day, reduce congestion, support climate targets, improve quality of life and unlock economic growth for Meath and the wider region. Now is the moment. Let the people of Meath finally see the preferred route. Let them have their say through public consultation and let us move decisively towards planning permission and delivery.”
“For the first time in a long time, we are not talking about vague ambition; we are talking about funding to move to planning permission, a public consultation on the preferred route within weeks and a real pathway towards delivery. What the Minister of State says today matters enormously because the people of Meath need clarity and certainty. They need to hear clearly and unequivocally that this railway is happening and Navan will finally be connected to Dublin by rail. County Meath now has a population of over 230,000 people. We are one of the fastest growing counties in Ireland yet, every single morning, thousands of people are trapped in endless traffic on the M3. We are also the county with the highest number of commuters. This is not just about inconvenience any more; it is affecting people's quality of life.”
“I sincerely thank the Minister of State for coming in to discuss the Navan rail project, a project that has become almost mythical for the people of County Meath. When I mention the Navan rail line to people in my home town of Navan, they sigh. They do not believe it is happening. For 25 years, the people of Navan and Meath have heard promises, announcements, timelines and commitments. Generation after generation has listened to politicians say the railway is coming. Now I hear things like, "I'll be retired before it happens", "I'll be dead before it happens" or "Sure we've heard all that before". That is the level of frustration and disbelief that exists, yet today feels different.”
“Sinéad spoke about the gala and talked about how important it was that there was an accessible step-free entrance into it. The Met has that historic staircase and she made sure that people with different abilities could go in beside it in another entrance, which was fantastic. It made it aesthetically pleasing as well. She became internationally known after a hugely influential TED talk on why design should include everybody. Sinéad has broken barriers in the fashion world. She became the first little person to attend the Met Gala. She has worked with leading fashion institutions to make the industry more inclusive. She is an award-winning author also, having written children's books. I would just like to say to Sinéad, as a Navan woman myself, we are unbelievably proud of you and keep it going.”
“Sinéad was born with achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism, and has spoken openly about how growing up in Ireland has shaped her determination to make the world more accessible and inclusive. Forget about the Kardashians, because for me, the person who stole the show at the Met Gala was our own Sinéad Burke from Navan. She has built a global reputation by challenging industries, governments and organisations to think differently about who society is designed for. What makes her work stand out is that she does not just talk about disability awareness; she pushes for practical, systematic change. Through her company, she advises some of the biggest organisations in the world on accessibility and inclusive design. This is what brought her to being a guest at the Met Gala. Just imagine.”
“As Senators, we come in here and discuss disabilities and advocate for people with disabilities. We speak of how much more needs to be done and how much more we want to do to advocate for these people. Today however, I want to talk about something really positive about an amazing person from my home town of Navan, County Meath. Sometimes I need a bit of escape time and yesterday I was checking social media and who popped up only the amazing Sinéad Burke, looking absolutely stunning in a black sequin gown by Christian Siriano. For those who do not know Sinéad, she is one of Ireland's most internationally respected voices on disability rights, accessibility and inclusive design.”
“We know the work has begun on the route selection for the Navan rail line. What I would like to know from the Minister and Irish Rail is when we will see this route and begin to progress this work. We were supposed to see it at the end of 2025. It was then going to be the beginning of 2026, but we still have not seen anything. I am asking that the route selected be put out for public consultation before the end of this month and that we make no excuses for this not happening. Let the people of Meath see the chosen route for the Navan railway line, let them have their say in May 2026 and do not delay any longer.”
“Time and again, public representatives, between county councillors such as Councillor Adenuga and Councillor Duffy, as well as many other cross-party councillors, TDs like the Minister, Deputy McEntee and all other TDs and myself, a Senator, have raised the issue of the absolute congestion of the car park that is the commute between Navan and Dublin or County Meath and Dublin. It is soul-destroying to waste precious work, family and leisure time stuck in traffic. In 1850, we had a train line in Navan, but 176 years later we do not. This is the single biggest piece of transport infrastructure we can push into County Meath that will take thousands of vehicles off the road every day and help everybody, including all the counties around us. We are desperate in County Meath for this rail line.”