Malcolm Byrne
Wicklow-Wexford · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“I appreciate the Minister of State is responding on behalf of the Minister but the response provides nothing new. It is almost a carbon copy of the response I received when I raised this issue in January last.”
“Free and fair trade right throughout history is the greatest example of providing people with employment opportunities and lifting people out of poverty. One of the best examples of this is our being able to trade with Canada.”
“I am sure the Ceann Comhairle will remember being approached by the then principal, staff and others. Pressure has been applied. When capital decisions were being made by the Department of education I asked why this school was not included and what criteria were used.”
“To say that the school, and indeed, the wider area are deeply frustrated by the lack of progress is an understatement. This is an excellent school, but when it comes to its physical infrastructure, the school is in dire straits.”
“As we are moving towards the recess, I thank the Ceann Comhairle, and indeed, the officials in her office and all of the staff across the House for all of their work during the year that has made this place run so smoothly. I wish to raise the question of Bunclody Community College. I have had to do it on a number of occasions.”
“I am conscious the Minister of State referred to additional capital investment in 2027. I fully expect and will continue to campaign to ensure this school is included in the 2027 capital list because it deserved to be addressed before now.”
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“I would like to raise, as colleagues have raised, the impact these events have had on our roads, in particular rural roads. Many of the roads, which were in pretty poor condition, have been left impassable as a result of weather conditions and flooding that has happened. These include in areas around Woodenbridge, Shillelagh and Arklow, which the Minister of State is familiar with, but equally around places like Johnstown in north Wexford and crossing between the Wexford and Wicklow border. For Bearna Chlé National School, parents now have to travel the long way around to avoid craters that traverse the entire road. There is an application coming in quite soon from local authorities. It is critical that we provide sufficient funding.”
“For this coastal community, it is cut off in many ways and people have to drive the long way round because the Ahare bursts its banks any time there is heavy rain. Coastal erosion is another huge issue. I am fortunate to represent a constituency that has arguably some of the finest beaches in the country, running from Brittas Bay in Wicklow down as far as Morriscastle in Wexford. Every time there is an adverse weather event, we see parts of our coast lost to the sea. On this occasion in the floods, the Rosslare rail line was closed again, not that it is a great service anyway. Part of it closed again as a result of the flooding. The knock-on impact was more cars travelling on the M11 but because there was flooding on the M11, counties Wicklow and Wexford were in many ways cut off by the impact.”
“It was horrific visiting some of the homes and business impacted there. The concerns when I met Councillor Barbara-Anne Murphy and local residents were that a sufficient plan was not in place. The big challenge there for a lot of residents is while many had flood insurance until now, they will not get it again. We need to look at some sort of State guarantees until a permanent flood defence system is put in place in these communities. I would be grateful to hear the Minister's views on that. In the case of Castletown in north Wexford, on more than one occasion every year the River Ahare bursts its banks, making a road impassable. It is an issue Councillor Joe Sullivan has been raising regularly in terms of how to address this challenge.”
“Learnings from previous events particularly around community hubs and making generators available are critical and need to be done. Storm Chandra had a particularly profound impact on the Wicklow-Wexford constituency I represent. I know the Minister of State was in Aughrim, County Wicklow, where the flooding was caused by water coming down from higher ground and running through the houses. Some of that may be about working with nature and adapting forestry practices but I am sure the Minister of State would join me in paying tribute to the work of Councillor Pat Kennedy and Aughrim Tidy Towns who were on the ground. It brought out in many ways the best in people to be able to respond to the crisis. Bunclody faced the first serious flooding in 60 years when the Slaney burst its banks.”
“I thank the Minister of State for being here for this debate. In fairness to him, he is not afraid to roll up his sleeves. He is passionate about trying to address this issue that has impacted so many communities. I too pay tribute to local authority staff and emergency services which have had to deal with these adverse weather events we face with increased regularity. I asked this question of representatives of the Department and Met Éireann when they were before the Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy and they indicated they work on the basis that we will have eight of these types of events every year. It will randomly impact the country. It is something we need to address. Support schemes need to be put on a statutory basis. It cannot be addressed every time we have one of these incidents.”
“I ask that the Minister intervenes in this case because it was similarly impacted by the floods but because it is in the wrong county it was excluded from the scheme.”
“I commend the fact that the Minister has significantly increased the sums available when it comes to the humanitarian relief under storms. He did reference Storm Claudia, particularly with regard to the impact that had on County Wexford and the humanitarian relief which was open to businesses and sports clubs under that scheme. Unfortunately, one of the clubs that was impacted in a big way was Woodenbridge Golf Club but the problem is that because it is over the border in County Wicklow, it was not deemed eligible under Storm Claudia. Bizarrely, it escaped some of the worst effects of the recent Storm Chandra. My office has made a request to the Department that it would consider the case of Woodenbridge Golf Club and the impact that Storm Claudia has had on it.”
“I very much welcome the Minister's approach on this. It is critical we bring the public with us and, as he said, that it be cross-government. Will he consider public information campaigns to make people aware of the possibilities and challenges? He and I will probably remember the famous ads, "I don't know what a tracker mortgage is", so that people could understand financial products. We need to look in a similar way at artificial intelligence and have people sitting on the back of a bus saying, "I don't know what an algorithm is", and to get an understanding and explanation of that. The more understanding there is in society of the potential of the new technologies, the more it will inform those in business and in the public services about the opportunities and challenges. I welcome the AI summit this October.”
“It will be critical as part of the EU Presidency, which is what some of this question relates to, to talk of the EU's and, particularly, Ireland's digital sovereignty. I hope that will be one as the issues addressed as part of our Presidency.”
“I thank the Minister. This question is based on a recommendation from the Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence. I am encouraged by the approach Government has taken, particularly the publication yesterday of the AI and digitalisation strategy. The Minister correctly stated in response to the previous question that this is related to our investment in digital infrastructure plus our investment in the energy grid, particularly in renewables. Our approach has to be precisely, as he said. It is about getting the balance right between supporting innovation in the sector and using those technological tools to improve processes while at the same time maintaining public trust and ensuring the necessary guardrails are in place.”
“It would serve us well for all Members of this House to have the opportunity to avail of some of these courses to understand the real impact of AI and other new technologies on the employment market and on society more generally.”
“I am hugely supportive of all of that. It is very welcome. It is unfortunate the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, cannot be here today but I welcome the fact that she is at the global AI summit in New Delhi. It is critically important that Ireland takes a leadership role in this space. There is already anecdotal evidence that we are seeing significant changes in the jobs market so I welcome the fact that we are looking to be ahead of this. It is critical that there is an understanding within the Minister's Department and across the broader public service. I suggest that civil and public servants be encouraged to undertake the new programmes being launched through the Department of further and higher education so that they will understand the potential of AI.”
“I welcome the moves by the Minister for further and higher education, Deputy Lawless, to provide microcredentials for skills and the whole-of-government approach through the skills observatory and AI observatory so that we will be prepared for the opportunities that will be presented and for the significant levels of job displacement we are going to see.”
“I thank the Minister for the priority he has been giving to this proposal. As he says, the advisory council has strongly recommended it, as have those of us on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence. Change is happening at pace and things are happening quickly. We saw the recommendations within the Government's strategy on AI and digitalisation, which was published yesterday, but we also had a report from the Department of Finance yesterday that identified that Ireland is potentially most at risk from rapid changes resulting from AI that will impact on the labour force, particularly in the areas of IT, professional services and financial services. It is therefore critical that we are equipped and that we see what these real-time changes are going to be.”
“Will the Minister establish an AI observatory to run in parallel with the national AI office to look at real-time figures with regard to jobs displacement and the skills needed for Ireland to avail of the opportunities AI presents?”
“In the context of the budgetary discussions with the Department of Social Protection, I encourage the Minister of State to address this as well.”
“I strongly the support the question raised by my colleague. It is critical that we enhance opportunities for those with a disability. I particularly encourage a further examination of the wage subsidy scheme. The Government made a significant increase in the context of budget 2026. Although it does not come into effect until the beginning of April, it could be considered in the budgetary process for 2027. For instance, a company like Murphy Furniture based in Tinahely, which has a number of stores operating right throughout south Leinster, employs a significant number of people with intellectual disabilities and who are neurodivergent. It is a challenge because companies have to adapt their operations in some of those cases. Something like the wage subsidy scheme is critical but there are costs involved.”
“We need to look at a similar situation where social media and AI companies, before they launch a product or service on the market, will have reporting obligations at that stage to the regulator to identify issues early before the product ever comes to market. The difficulty is we have been treating companies that operate in this space very differently from how we treat companies and organisations that operate in similar spaces.”
“I welcome the publication of the Government's AI and digitalisation strategy but the issue relates to harmful products coming onto the market, as Deputy Joanna Byrne outlined. I appreciate we are going to be placing a lot more responsibility on the regulator but some of this has to be about putting responsibility back on the platform before the product or service is released onto the market. We are going to invest in our regulators to be able to deal with this, but the Minister will appreciate that if a new financial service or product is about to be launched onto the market, there are certain reporting obligations to the Central Bank as the regulator.”
“I would like to focus on two key themes in the NESC report: energy resilience and energy sharing. In light of the particularly adverse weather, it is important that for events we have experienced and will increasingly experience, we guarantee generators to communities so communities can respond, which is clearly identified in the report. On energy sharing, within the electricity markets directive, there is a clear emphasis on trying to support communities in self-generating and sharing their own electricity and for individuals and organisations who microgenerate electricity to be able to share that. This report highlights that we have not gone far enough in Ireland in this regard and I would like to know what measures the Government will take to address that.”
“The commitments to invest in onshore solar and wind, but particularly in offshore renewables, is critical to meet our climate objectives but also for reasons of energy security. The Taoiseach might outline further the work of the offshore wind energy clearing house. There are concerns we will not meet our offshore renewable targets originally set for 2030 but if we can meet them for 2031 or 2032, that will be welcome. Equally, if there is further progress on the private wires Bill, when we can see a direct connection between the generator of energy, be it a wind farm, solar farm, homes, a factory or digital infrastructure, that will be extremely welcome as well. I would be grateful for an update on those.”
“The Minister of State is entirely correct in that the best insurance is where we have the necessary flood protection and indeed coastal protection schemes. In some of the communities near where I live, such as Arklow, Aughrim and Enniscorthy, recently we have witnessed the dramatic impacts of floods. I wish to focus on Bunclody where they had floods for the first time in 60 years where people did have insurance, particularly along Ryland Road, on some of the properties. Now those businesses and homes do not expect to be able to get it into the future. I am certainly open in terms of the suggestion that has been made to exploring until we can guarantee that those flood protection schemes are put in place that we can guarantee those homeowners and business owners some degree of security until the necessary protections are in place.”
“If I have a fragility fracture, I can get a tax relief on my healthcare expenses, I can get tax relief on my nursing home expenses, and I can get tax relief if I go to a physiotherapist, an osteopath or a chiropractor, but if I decide to join to join the gym in order to be able to build my resistance, I will not get tax relief. There is a long-term financial saving on the health side. I have made this case often before. We need to think about the Department of Health not as a Department of sickness and illness. We have to look at ways of ensuring that as we live longer - one of the big successes of this country is the fact that we are now living to an average age of 83 - we can ensure that we live healthily in old age. Part of that is through strength and resistance training, which gym membership offers.”
“I thank the Tánaiste and I look forward to engaging further on it. I know he is serious about this. However, I always wonder when "dead weight" is mentioned by the dead hand of the Department of Finance.”
“We need to look at examples in other countries like Canada and Singapore that have done this. We need to be able to build up that strength and resistance training because in the long term it is a saving on our health budget.”
“I acknowledge and am very enthusiastic about the enormous investment that we have made in sport, but this is really about measures to increase strength, resistance training and flexibility. We know that about 250,000 people have osteoporosis in Ireland - approximately 20% of women and 6.2% of men aged over 50. Annually, we see in the order of 32,000 fragility fractures, basically because of lack of strength. The estimated cost of that to our health service is €464 million annually, not to mention the pain to the individuals concerned. Given our ageing population and the challenges here, this could rise to a €1 billion within the next decade. We need to have sufficient resistance and strength training among all of our population. There is a very clear commitment in the programme for Government to develop that.”
“Given the rate of osteoporosis in Ireland and the problem with regard to fragility fractures, I would be grateful for an update on the commitments in the programme for Government to consider tax measures to encourage gym membership to allow for strength and resistance training.”
“The issue of generational renewal is critical in the context of the forthcoming CAP negotiations. I know it has been raised in the discussions with Commissioner Hansen. The Taoiseach will be aware that almost 40% of farmers are now aged 65 and over, whereas fewer than 5% are under the age of 35. He will know that Macra na Feirme has been seeking, as an essential part of the next CAP, fully funded succession schemes. I know in my own case that both Wicklow Macra and Wexford Macra are very active on these issues. It is critical, if we are to safeguard rural communities and the future of the traditional family farm, that we have fully funded succession schemes in place under a fully funded CAP. I would like the Taoiseach to give a commitment that this will be a priority in the discussions on the next CAP.”
“Critical to the delivery of housing, the Government's top priority, is the need to unlock infrastructure that will allow that housing to be provided. I would be grateful for an update on the housing activation fund. In particular, the provision of the northern inner relief road for Gorey will unlock 73 acres of land in St. Waleran's for housing development. Now that the wastewater treatment plant in Arklow has been opened by the Taoiseach, there is provision for the town to grow, but a second bridge over the river is needed in order to allow for expansion. I ask the Taoiseach to treat both of those projects as priorities.”
“I am sure the Taoiseach will join me in thanking and praising the work of the local authorities and many voluntary groups in the response to Storm Chandra last week. When he came to Aughrim on bank holiday Monday he met with Aughrim Tidy Towns, which has done incredible work in the community providing support to the victims of the floods. The big issue we are now dealing with, which is a particular problem for north Wexford and south Wicklow, apart from the impact on homes and businesses, is the state of the roads. Many roads, which were in poor condition, are now impassable as a result of the heavy rainfall. Will the Taoiseach commit to talking to the Minister for Transport about additional funding, particularly for Wicklow and Wexford County Councils to address the problems of the roads, as a result of the storm?”
“I want to see that commitment to long-term sustainability and multi-annual funding to ensure those organisations can continue to plan and best serve the service users in all our communities.”
“I thank the Tánaiste for his answer. The WRC decision and the commitment that section 39 workers will be part of future public sector pay discussions are critical. There is a challenge for a lot of the section 39 organisations in meeting standards. I will give the example of cyber resilience. We know the impact of the cyber-attack on the HSE, and the hundreds of millions it is costing to ensure the HSE is cyber resilient. However, we expect the same level of cyber resilience of section 39 organisations, which carry a lot of health data. Yet, they are expected in many ways to pay those costs themselves. One of the problems is that meeting the standards set down, the regulations and so on, as they rightly have to do, takes up a huge amount of time. The costs there are not experienced by organisations that are part of the HSE.”
“However, when it comes to the cost of operating section 39 facilities, it should not have to be all about having to fundraise for core services. Can we provide some sort of guarantee for the sustainability of those services across the country?”
“I think of Saint Aidan's Services in Gorey, with which I have a deep personal and family connection. It is providing services to over 300 people and their families. Cheshire Home in Shillelagh was the first Cheshire Home in Ireland. There is also the Irish Wheelchair Association in Ballycanew and Carnew Community Care, an organisation the Tánaiste is familiar with. I was also in with the service users in RehabCare in Arklow last Monday. I had a useful conversation with them. One of them told me that the Tánaiste was a very good TD, but that his brother, Adam, would be far better because he speaks out about autism services. Engaging with those service users shows how important those services are in our communities.”
“Certainly it should always be the case that somebody who does the job in a section 39 organisation as a nurse, for example, is treated in the same way as somebody who works as a nurse directly employed by the HSE. There is a requirement, obviously, on those section 39 organisations to meet the required standards that are set out by HIQA and the HSE, and to adhere to all the Charity Regulator's standards. That is right and organisations expect to do that. It does, however, place a huge workload on those organisations and there are costs involved in that. The challenge is that we ensure we have sustainability for those section 39 organisations, so they can deliver the best services in all of our communities to the service users. I know the Tánaiste knows many of the organisations in my constituency.”
“Today I raise the question of the sustainability of section 39 organisations. The Tánaiste will be aware that these organisations in all of our communities, and there are hundreds of them around the country, are vital for health and social care services particularly in the area of disability, hospice care, and care for our elderly. They engage in service level agreements with HSE. They are very heavily reliant on volunteers. All of those volunteers are a wonderful part of all of our communities. I have to acknowledge there is a very extensive investment by the Government in disability services, which is critical, and a lot of pay and conditions issues are being addressed. However, when the next round of public sector pay talks take place, those section 39 workers should be considered as part of that.”
“The Government has a proud record of investing in education and in our capital programmes but we are not seeing that investment being delivered fairly across the country. I fail to see why regard is not being had to the demands of rapidly growing communities and constituencies such as Wicklow-Wexford.”
“Again, it is an excellent school but it has been waiting a long time to address the problem that its 900 students are learning in completely inadequate buildings. I have asked what criteria were used to determine which schools were included in today's announcement. Only one school in County Wexford and three in County Wicklow, none of them in my constituency, are included. Fair play to the schools that are getting this investment but I note that ten schools in County Galway were given approval today. I need to know the criteria, particularly when I see the conditions under which some students and staff have to operate within my constituency. I would be grateful if the Minister of State would convey my concerns to the Department.”
“Two schools have been waiting a very long time for the necessary investment to move beyond stage 2b. I have always referred to that stage as the purgatory within the Department of education, whereby projects get to design stage but then tenders are not issued. The first school is Bunclody Community College, which has only three mainstream classes that are not in prefabricated buildings. The school operates on two campuses, which requires students to walk 500 m from one set of prefabricated buildings to another. It is an excellent school that provides a top-class education, yet it has some of the poorest facilities I have ever seen. The other school, which is just up the road, is Coláiste Bhríde in Carnew.”
“I refer again to the cases of Ferns and Camolin in County Wexford, where we are dying to build more homes but where there is no wastewater capacity. It is a similar situation in Aughrim, County Wicklow. Allowing private development of wastewater treatment plants to the necessary specifications in those areas would be a very positive development. Investment in education is a critical part of infrastructure delivery. I acknowledge that the Government has invested significantly in capital projects in education but I am extremely disappointed that in the announcement today regarding the schools building programme under the NDP, not a single school within the Wicklow-Wexford constituency is included in the list. What criteria were used to determine which schools were included?”
“This issue is critical, particularly in the context of our need to deliver housing across the State. If we are to deliver homes, we must ensure that we have in place critical energy infrastructure and water and wastewater infrastructure. The first question the person in charge of every State agency should be asking every morning is what is he or she doing to help to address the housing crisis. If those people are not asking that question, their vision is clearly wrong and perhaps they are in the wrong job. I can cite many examples in my constituency where if we can see the unlocking of lands through investment in roads, water, wastewater and energy, it will facilitate the building of a lot more housing.”
“I call on the Taoiseach, as I have asked for several times, that we prioritise investment in our commuter infrastructure and that a transport task force be set up for counties Wicklow and Wexford to address the problems with regard to the N11 and the Rosslare rail line.”
“The Taoiseach will be aware of the impact of Storm Chandra, particularly on the Wicklow-Wexford constituency. I pay tribute to the county councils, emergency crews and volunteers. In villages right across the constituency, in Woodenbridge, Laragh, Aughrim, Wicklow town, Castletown, Clohamon and Bunclody, we have seen rivers and streams burst their banks. I welcome the Government's opening of the humanitarian assistance scheme and that every support will be made available to those villages and communities. However, one of the big problems yesterday was flooding on the N11, which led to very serious delays for commuters from Wicklow and Wexford. The rail line, which is one of the most neglected rail lines in the country, is not an alternative. Indeed, it is closed again today.”
“Equally, we need that national strategy so that we look at Brittas Bay, similarly, where parts of the dunes are falling into the sea. We need to protect all our costal communities.”
“I thank the Deputy. Wicklow and Wexford county councils are taking this issue seriously. I love the beaches around my area but a lot of them are starting to disappear. It is not just a problem in counties Wicklow and Wexford. The Minister will be very familiar with the challenges around Courtown and the area to the north of that. Courtown is a legendary destination for many people but the beach has not really been there for many years. It is an issue regularly raised by Courtown community council and by the business community or park division for Courtown and Riverchapel. There is a long-standing plan to develop breakwaters and even the possibility of a marina in the long term in that area. Will Departments co-ordinate to work with Wexford County Council to deliver this?”
“The Minister will also be very much aware of the really big challenge that continues to exist in Courtown Harbour, particularly in the area north of the harbour. I hope he can highlight specific measures.”
“The Minister is very aware of the challenges of coastal erosion. I am fortunate to represent a constituency that has some of the finest beaches in the country, stretching from Brittas Bay in Wicklow down to Morriscastle in Wexford. The Minister knows the challenges many of those communities have faced. Our problem is that we have so many strategies being developed but all the time the coast is starting to disappear. For instance, €26 million has been spent by Irish Rail on protecting the Rosslare rail line in the last decade. While I welcome the fact that €500,000 has been allocated to protect the coast at Cahore, at a public meeting there recently, organised by Councillor Pip Breen, concern was expressed that it is not sufficient to address the threat to the coast in that area.”
“The challenge in this regard is to get far more of these affordable homes schemes going. I urge him to expedite the schemes that are coming into him from Wicklow and Wexford County Councils because we need them as quickly as possible.”
“With regard to affordable housing, while there is a need for more to be done, I welcome the fact that the Minister was in Gorey last Friday where a very successful affordable housing scheme of 20 homes was launched. The families were very satisfied. I was delighted that the Sinn Féin Deputy was present. Even though he opposed many of the Government's measures in this regard, he had no problem hopping into all the photographs with the Minister and I on Friday.”
“I recognise the Minister's commitment in this area. It is critical that we have a primary care centre that will include the local CDNT, have adequate facilities and include the planned additional CAMHS unit. My issue has been that when the project was conceived in 2010, everyone locally said the site identified by the HSE would not work. Finally, the HSE accepted that. When we had a meeting with the then Minister, Stephen Donnelly, his remark about the project was that even with all the time delays concerning the national children's hospital, the latter was conceived and will be delivered before we even see a shovel in the ground at the Gorey primary care centre. One of the biggest issues we have in north Wexford, because of the rapid growth in population, is access to GP and other healthcare services.”