Pa Daly
Kerry · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“I thank the Minister of State for coming in to deal with this issue when other colleagues were not available. She will be able to bring her experience of this area to this debate. I am slightly caught for time, so I will try to parse it a little bit. I wish to ask the Minister of State about the harmful content on social media platforms.”
“While we know violence against women is a crisis and femicide in Ireland is a crisis, it is overwhelmingly men who carry out these acts. These are men of all cultures, races and ethnicities. However, social media giants have a responsibility and are clearly not stepping up to the plate. They are not complying with their obligations.”
“The Digital Services Act was introduced. It was to ensure a safe, predictable and trusted online environment and to prioritise greater activity and online safety. There is the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 to protect children and the public from harmful and illegal content. There is a danger.”
“We are running over time but I will make one more point. If, as it provides in the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act, we are to protect children and adults from online conduct, how does it look as an example to younger people in particular when this content is still allowed to be there?”
“Somebody even said that they hope these comments are not going to be deleted to suit one's ideology, which they misspelt. That is the kind of narrative that is going on. They are mocking her beliefs and her. It is similar to what is being investigated by the police in Britain.”
“Bhíos ag caint le healaíontóir i gCiarraí níos luaithe um thráthnóna. Labhair sé liom mar gheall ar na mothúcháin a bhaineann le AI. Dúirt sé liom it could help to generate ideas, layouts and content more quickly, leaving more time to focus on strategy and working with clients.”
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“Their bills have been subsidised for years by small and medium enterprises and households as part of the large energy user subvention. We in Sinn Féin believe that the determination of price review 6 in December must reflect these facts and right these historical wrongs.”
“Why then is the Secretary General of the Department saying what is being said and that housing is being threatened by the larger users of electricity? The current proposal in price review 6 is to increase network charges for households. Presumably, the Minister of State does not disagree with that. At the same time, the proposal is to decrease charges relatively for data centres. This is unjustifiable. The excuse used by a lot of the energy providers, such as Energia, is that their network charges are rising. Small businesses are complaining that it is the same. Data centres are the ones driving up energy demand and gobbling up all the new capacity on the grid, but they have consistently not been paying their fair share. I agree with the Minister of State that there is a need for data centres but let them pay their fair share.”
“The memo also pointed out that data centres were a risk to energy security, to the extent that there is need to “direct Government intervention in the electricity market to purchase generation capacity on an emergency, non-market basis”. All of this is going to have to be paid by the taxpayer through electricity bills, leading to a disproportionate and unfair burden on households. Not only is this unstainable, it is also regressive. Price review 6, as the Minister of State mentioned, represents the perfect opportunity to right this wrong, but the draft decision, unfortunately, seems to extend it further. Will the Minister of State commit to doing something about it to alleviate the burden?”
“The large energy users the Minister of State is talking about are relatively getting off the hook and they are pushing up household bills. In a confidential memo recently released to us under a freedom of information, FOI, request, the Secretary General of the Department of public expenditure warned that soaring electricity demand, largely attributable to data centres, is forcing the State to spend heavily on new power generation and grid upgrades. As the grid is paid for through network charges, this is inevitably leading to surging household bills. A single data centre can use as much as electricity as the whole city of Kilkenny.”
“Officials warned that the Government’s approach to data centres is posing a threat to housing targets and driving up our energy costs. Does the Government plan to continue to bury its head in the sand or is it going to tackle this head on? I am not sure which Minister of State is going to take this question, but if it is the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, I was listening to him on Radio Kerry last week when he was talking about marine planning. He criticised the Government, saying it needed to move away from navel-gazing and that it had sat on its laurels. Is the Government sitting on its laurels on this issue also, or is it actually going to do something about it?”
“We also need a fair funding model for our grid and the renewable transition rather than the Government's regressive approach which makes households shoulder a disproportionate burden of the cost of the network charges and the PSO levy rather than placing the burden on the data centres, which are, relatively speaking, let off the hook. It is possible to change this and I ask the Government to reconsider and redress the unjust burden placed on small businesses and households.”
“The Government could not have had a more targeted measure than the energy credits that we have had for the last number of years and people are facing the same if not higher energy prices now. The Government continues to blame everyone apart from itself for it. The costs are due to political choices about whose energy needs get prioritised, who pays and who is protected. However, the Government has chosen to prioritise the energy needs of data centres and the profits of energy companies rather than ordinary people who are trying to keep the lights on and stay warm. If we want to bring down energy prices in the long term, the market needs a radical overhaul. We need major reform of the status quo with new measures to hold the energy companies to account rather than the blatant profiteering that has been taking place.”
“When I asked the Minister via parliamentary question what impact he thought the withdrawal of energy credits would have, I was told it was not a matter for the Minister but for the CRU. I find it very hard to believe the impact of policy choices is not the responsibility of the Government, as outlined in the letter from the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, and that it has no duty to consider and analyse its efforts. The CRU might be surprised to hear about this.”
“It is more than unfortunate the Minister is not here in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis to address the concerns of people who are really struggling in an emergency. Over the summer households have been hit with a spate of emergency hikes from Energia, Flogas, Pinergy and SSE Airtricity. They have been told they can expect another at least another €200 to be whacked onto their annual energy bills. In the first week back in the Dáil the Minister does not show to tell us what he is going to do about it. All we know is the supports that have been there over the last number of years are going to be ripped away despite Irish energy costs being the highest in Europe, at €500 above average and 70% above 2022 levels.”
“Household bills are 70% above what they were in 2022 and the value of arrears has jumped by almost 50%, even with the electricity credits each winter. There are 300,000 people in arrears. The Government has said it does not want electricity credits to be the new normal but the rise in prices and the number of people in arrears are an emergency and not normal either. This demands an emergency response.”
“There are six places in the whole county of Kerry, but some children stay on for a second year so in reality there are three or four early intervention classes. We all know the good work that can be done when intervention is made early. I ask the Minister of State to intervene to provide more places for people, particularly in County Kerry.”
“They should tell that to the parents in Murhur National School in Moyvane in north Kerry, where an empty classroom was available and the principal and the board of management were in favour of it, but children there are travelling outside the county, to Glin, County Limerick, for a school place, as no place was provided for them. There is a vague promise that there may be provision next year, but that is not good enough for the people there. I was contacted by one parent who works in education. She told me that there are two early intervention classes in the whole of County Kerry, but 22 in the neighbouring county of Cork. How does that feel to the parents looking at other children are getting ready for school while their own child has to stay at home? Cork has 22 classes and Kerry just has two.”
“I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the time to raise this important issue. The Equality in Education group has said that 168 children have been offered an appropriate school place but cannot take it up due to delays in essential building works. We believe there is a certain amount of waiting list manipulation going on. A place in an unbuilt school is not a place. A place in a cubby hole with no changing facilities for two children is not a place. Even when special transport is granted to a school that does not to exist, that is not a place. The problem has been going on for years. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been in power for years and it seems they are doing nothing about it. The policy of the Government and the Department states that where there is a demand, a service will be provided.”
“We can do something that will provide referral pathways at every point in the criminal justice system, have such referrals happen as often as possible and provide the resources and funding to improve the system in its totality.”
“I will briefly wrap up. I would like to be associated with all the comments made regarding the staff, the Ceann Comhairle, the Department of justice and my own party. I have a couple of brief points to make. There should be very few limits, if any, on restorative justice. I see what the Minister of State is saying about dismissing cases but cases are commonly dismissed under the probation Act anyway. The Minister of State also mentioned that this could affect Garda vetting. There was a Garda vetting Bill that proposed something like the Safe Pass, which would protect children and vulnerable adults and also make the system a bit more flexible. I thank the Government for its support. Let us have a further debate when the Bill gets to Committee Stage.”
“We want a proper system. Funding is essential. It can help the victims of crime who get the opportunity for restorative justice. This Bill will encourages gardaí, prosecutors and judges to refer cases to explore whether this is possible. It will be the first law in Ireland to encourage referrals with no pressure to participate. While existing laws do not prevent cases being referred before conviction, this Bill would explicitly permit and encourage it. Victims would benefit. As an EU report on victims' rights noted, victims can benefit enormously from the opportunity to resolve cases outside courts. If they want to participate they can. I will conclude there because I am sharing time with my colleagues, but I am glad the Government is supporting the Bill.”
“Case studies showed in his research that it results in high levels of victim satisfaction, helps victims to recover from crime and supports people to stop offending. It also allows victims to be heard, to tell the person responsible how they were affected and to express what they think should happen next. To people who have committed offences, this may also be the one process that does not feel designed to bring them down through stigma and punishment. Those people are more likely to pay reparations or engage with support services through restorative justice than if the matter were dealt with through the courts. The problem is that it is rarely offered. There are huge gaps around the country and low levels of use, even of the existing services. Only 400 referrals to restorative justice were made in 2022 and 700 in 2019.”
“If one person does not wish to participate or if, for example, a direct victim or perpetrator cannot be identified, it is still possible to offer a process to the other person, with their families, other supporters or members of the community. It has existed for many years and can take place alongside cautions administered by juvenile liaison officers and trained gardaí. It can also occur in adult courts. In some counties judges can refer people to restorative justice between conviction and sentencing. The Probation Service has a restorative justice and victim services unit where trained officers can use restorative justice when people receive community or prison sentences. These services can change people's lives. The Department of justice funded research by Professor Marder on restorative justice.”
“What if all those with a stake in an offence had the opportunity to come together to explore how to make amends for what happened and stop it happening again? We collaborated to draft the Private Members' Bill to try to achieve this and I hope it will promote a process of restorative justice, which research shows helps victims to recover from crime and reduces reoffending. Restorative justice is when dialogue takes place between a victim of crime and someone who has committed a crime against them in the presence of an independent person who is trained to prepare and manage such conversations. It can be face to face, but it does not have to be and the people involved can also invite other people to support them. The process is voluntary. No one is forced to participate and it is flexible.”
“Recidivism rates in Ireland are high, with 60% of offenders committing another offence within three years. That has to be tackled. The mission statement of An Garda Síochána says its mission is to tackle crime and the causes of crime, but also the fear of crime. We also aspire to have a criminal justice system that will be just, make us all feel safer and meet the needs of victims of crime. I saw first hand when working in the courts, although it was on an ad hoc basis, how meeting the accused person can reduce fear and anxiety in victims. What if our system, as Professor Marder has said, sought to address and repair the damage caused by crime with a view to meeting the needs of those affected?”
“Prisons are overcrowded. They are dangerous places to work and also to be incarcerated for prisoners. This is unlikely to help people to achieve their full potential after offending. Meanwhile, victims' services are inaccessible in many places and drastically underfunded. These problems are far from unique to Ireland, but as we seek to move our country forward in health and economic systems, we must also reform criminal justice so that everyone who suffers from crime or experiences the criminal justice system is able to contribute fully to this process. Restorative justice can help to reset our justice system and this Bill could provide advantages for victims of crime and the wider community and prevent recidivism by those who commit crime.”
“I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am delighted to propose that the Criminal Justice (Promotion of Restorative Justice) (Amendment) Bill 2023 move to Committee Stage. I thank Deputy Quinlivan for co-signing the Bill and Professor Ian Marder of Maynooth University, who did a lot of work in helping us to prepare the Bill. I also thank Lee Daly, who worked in my office, and the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers, OPLA, for its work in helping us along with the Bill. Many changes to criminal justice are needed, but what better place to start than with something that is a win-win for everyone. I understand the Government is not opposing the Bill and I welcome its co-operative response. This morning in the newspapers we learned about plans to increase capacity in our jails. Our courts face long delays.”
“People in the HSE cannot understand it. Why is the scheme not being opened out? I ask the Government to address this gaping injustice in the way the scheme is being operated. To go back to the point in hand, I welcome that this is finally taking place. I know the Minister’s heart is in the right place. I am sure the commission will be established, be survivor-centred and that the justice survivors deserve will be achieved.”
“We have been saying for years now that it is going to have to be opened up and that all of the north Kerry cases should be established. While the scheme is working quite well, people whose care commenced prior to 2016 are excluded from the scheme, even those people who have been given the exact same apology as the people whose treatment occurred between 2016 and 2022. People outside of the south Kerry area are also excluded from the scheme. As a result of that, there is another further injustice being done to the families and those children. What is the injustice? It is that the people who are in the scheme get €5,000 to help their case, while those outside the scheme are further punished because they have to dig into their own pockets or find €5,000 so that they can achieve justice. It is going on and on. I cannot understand it.”
“Its accommodation is inappropriate at the moment in that it is an open-plan office on the fourth or fifth floor of Eden House near the railway station in Coventry. I ask the Minister to try to find some resources in the upcoming budget so that a proper place can be put in to deal with all the services it provides, such as counselling, for the survivors all over the West Midlands. I also wish to mention the report this morning about the CAMHS cases in Kerry. Although it is slightly tangential, it is important. There are children who have been let down negligently by the State. There are two problems. I do not believe for a second that the evidence and information are not available to publish the north Kerry report. This has been going on for three years. I do not know what is going on inside the HSE, but the information is there.”
“We welcome the establishment of this commission of investigation into historical sexual abuse in schools. It is long overdue, of course. The commission must seek to acknowledge the harm done to the thousands of children in this State. We urge that the commission is carried out in a proper manner, avoids the failings of previous commissions and that it puts survivors at the very heart of everything. I previously mentioned to the Minister some of the other survivors of mother and baby homes, for example, and the good work being carried out by the Coventry Irish Society. I am hoping the Minister can look at that again. It does specialist support work with survivors in the West Midlands.”
“Whether it is facilitating tourism to our landscapes, supporting local enterprises with efficient logistics or enabling families to stay connected across borders, Kerry Airport is a pillar of regional development. While more research needs to be done, there is a strong case for development of our regional aviation infrastructure.”
“From Donegal to Knock, and in my constituency, Kerry, these airports connect rural Ireland to global opportunities and ensure that no corner of our country is left behind. For example, Kerry Airport was founded in 1968 with a modest grass runway. Over the decades, it has expanded significantly, with major upgrades in the 1980s and 1990s, including a new terminal and extended runway to accommodate larger aircraft. It is now a vital link for residents, tourists and businesses alike. It is trending higher in 2025 than in 2024. I pay tribute to John Mulhern and his team at Kerry Airport. There are four new French routes, including to the Dordogne. There is a new arrivals area. The departures area has been expanded in an impressive way. The airport has good cash reserves. There is a massive private aircraft facility and a business there also.”
“Effective regulation is central to this and a properly resourced, independent regulator has always been our priority. We also believe that the State's regional airports should be treated as a clear strategic priority, especially in the delivery of balanced regional growth. As it stands, more than 84% of all flights in the State are processed through Dublin Airport. Many of these arrivals, upwards of 40%, go on to travel to different parts of the island where other regional airports are closer. I want to speak for a moment about those regional airports, which are more than just transport hubs. They are lifelines for communities, engines of economic growth and gateways to the world.”
“As Sinn Féin transport spokesperson, I recognise the importance of a robust regulatory framework in order to shore up support for sustainable expansion and to rebuff claims of illegitimacy. As a small, open island economy, Dublin Airport is strategically important. It is central to our economy and essential to its growth. It is essential that the growth is managed properly and that the needs of local residents are not just treated as collateral damage, as we heard earlier on. We must strike the correct balance. Sinn Féin has always supported the development of Dublin Airport. What we do differently to Government is that we advocate for both strategic and responsible development. These goals are not unique. If done correctly, they can go hand in hand. We want to ensure that Dublin Airport can operate a good neighbour policy.”
“This has led us to the situation that we are in today. At the time, we raised serious questions about the capacity of Fingal County Council to act independently, which was supposedly a key condition of its designation as ANCA, especially if sufficient resourcing and staffing was not put in place. We also raised the importance of health and safety issues and of following international best practice but, unsurprisingly, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael chose to ignore our constructive engagement and rejected our amendments at the time, which was disappointing and frustrating. It is even more so today, especially since many of the concerns that we raised then remain concerns today. I am sure my fellow Deputies, Graves and O'Reilly, will tell the Minister of State about the ongoing issues that their constituents face in the area.”
“Cuirim fáilte roimh an deis labhairt ar an mBille um Thorann Aerárthaí (Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath) a Rialáil (Feidhmeanna a Aistriú), 2024. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Duncan Smith. I thank him for the effort that he has put into this Bill. It addresses an important issue, namely how we manage the impact of a growing airport on the surrounding environment and local communities. This Bill recognises that the current framework guiding the regulation of aircraft noise is not fit for purpose and a change in approach is needed. The current framework is guided by the Aircraft Noise (Dublin Airport) Regulation Act 2019. Importantly, this Act designated Fingal County Council as the aircraft noise competent authority. Sinn Féin pointed out the Act's shortcomings at the time, all of which have come to bear.”
“If the level of the reply the Minister of State has received is that there are no services in Killorglin and some sort of a civil war is taking place, then this is not what is happening and the Minister of State has picked it up the wrong way, whether deliberately or otherwise. I ask her, therefore, to re-engage with the HSE down there and ensure the services currently there remain in south Kerry.”
“This is the concern of the people in the south Kerry area from Mountain Stage, beyond Glenbeigh, and all the way down to Dromad, Castlecove and Caherdaniel. That is the area currently serviced by this team in south Kerry. Killorglin and other parts of the county have their own services. The proposal is to close the centre in Cahersiveen and move the patients to Killorglin. This is not understandable and not acceptable. It has to be the case that services in the most peripheral areas of the State are maintained in those areas. I note what the Minister of State said in the reply regarding active engagement taking place.”
“I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. If we got some proper answers, rather than smart answers, from the Minister of State, then we would not have to go down that road. From the Minister of State's answer, I understand there is a requirement to find a more suitable location for the National Ambulance Service, but this does not have to be at the expense of the good services carried out in the Cahersiveen area. If the Minister of State would only focus on the issue at hand, we are not talking about Killorglin. There are already services in Killorglin. The suggestion has been from the HSE to amalgamate the Cahersiveen services into Killorglin. The Minister of State's divide-and-conquer attitude is severely misplaced. I am asking her for a guarantee that the services currently in Cahersiveen will stay there.”
“People may have to go up to the accident and emergency department in University Hospital Kerry, which is about 42 miles away and under pressure. This will all lead to an increased risk of mental health crisis in the area. The team there was hoping to develop and expand services. Not only will that aspiration be knocked back, but these services will be put back even further. We did contact the HSE, but I am hoping the Minister of State will have a positive answer for me. I am asking that psychiatric services be retained in south Kerry. If there is a proposal to move them, then the HSE will have to justify it. I cannot see how it can do that and neither can the people down there see how it is going to do it. I am hoping, though, that the Minister of State will say this is not going to happen.”
“People, quite rightly and understandably, have deep concerns about services being moved on an interim basis because they know what that will mean, namely, that they might never come back. There is no primary health care centre in Cahersiveen. There is a massive shortage of GPs. It is unbelievable that services that were due to be expanded will instead be moved. No other site has been proposed. If the service is closed, inevitably people will miss appointments. People who depend on the services are reliant on public transport. Although that has improved, it is inevitable that a change in location will result in people missing appointments or will not turn up for them. That will increase the burden on the already overstretched GP service.”
“One of the people I spoke to last Friday told me they have worked there at least 30 years, if not since 1991. We all know how important such services are, not just in rural parts but the entire county of Kerry. The service deals with people from all over south Kerry, including Valencia, Castlecove, Dromad and Caherdaniel. We met people from the Iveragh Mental Health Association last Friday, including retired staff, who came to us to express their deep concern at the proposal to move the services to Killorglin. There is deep frustration. The ambulance service is seeking a permanent stand-alone space. From what I was told, there is a proposal on an interim basis, which means three to five years, to move services to Killorglin.”
“Gabhaim buíochas le hOifig an Chinn Comhairle as an deis a thabhairt dom an cheist seo a ardú. I thank the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me the time to raise a matter, which is of deep concern to people in south Kerry. The Minister of State is probably aware of this issue and I hope he will have a positive answer for the people who are waiting for one. As the Minister of State will be aware, a hub for outpatient psychiatric services in St. Anne's Hospital, Cahersiveen holds a fortnightly clinic for outpatient psychiatric services. It deals with psychiatric services, psychology, cognitive behaviour therapy, teen psychology, occupational health, social workers, elder care and community nurses. The service helps the most vulnerable people in south Kerry.”
“Arguing that international human rights law should be respected can put a person at risk. Israel is a rogue state. I ask the Government to use its powers to stop Israeli war planes flying through our airspace and enact the war bonds legislation and occupied territories Bill to include goods and services.”
“He has been held in Wormwood Scrubs prison since August of last year. He is one of the Filton 18 activists, along with others. His father has said that his conscience could not stop him. They are charged with offences, including violent disorder and trespass that are not terrorist offences and being held on remand for more than the necessary time because the authorities are using counter-terror legislation to hold them. Jordan's trial will not be until later this year, in November, but some of his co-accused are not going to have trial dates until 2026. These are all people with no previous convictions. Some have offered bail of up to £50,000 and they have been refused. All 18 of them are being held in custody. I ask the Government to take up the case of Jordan Devlin and his co-accused with the British Government at their next meeting.”
“The level of callousness and cruelty on display is unspeakable. Another soldier said "Where I was stationed, between one and five people were killed every day. They’re treated like a hostile force – no crowd-control measures, no tear gas – just live fire ...". To use Keir Starmer as an example, he is clearly distracting from cutting fuel allowances for older people and his "nation of strangers" speech. He continues to spend his time recommending who should and should not perform at festivals rather than dealing with the ongoing killing campaign by Israel. While all of this is going on, other countries such as the US and Germany turn a blind eye. Speaking out about dead Palestinian babies can land a person in prison or on a deportation list. I want to raise the case of Jordan Devlin who is an Irish passport holder.”
“A recent analysis found that more than 90% of cattle had died and 70% of land for crops had been destroyed. Following the cut-off of the electricity supply in March, Israel has also turned electricity into a weapon of war. To make the situation even worse, Israel is ramping up its genocidal campaign by transforming aid distribution sites into killing fields. As my colleagues have already said, Israeli soldiers have admitted this. According to one report, one IDF soldier admitted that commanders ordered troops to shoot at crowds to drive them away or disperse them, even though it was clear that they posed no threat. When asked about it, they say they have had learnings, but they continue the killing. At least 583 Palestinians have been killed at the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation since May.”
“Palestinians are not just being exterminated with US-supplied bombs. The more insidious killer is now disease and starvation. Israel's denial of aid since March has put all of Gaza's 2.1 million people at risk of famine, with more than three quarters of them at catastrophic or emergency levels of food deprivation according to the World Health Organization. The headlines have reported this as an aid blockade, but this is not an aid blockade. Language in this war has been colonised and distorted. Organisations that should know better, and whose judgment may not be as great as we thought it was, such as the BBC, have frequently reported it as a conflict. It is clearly not a two-sided conflict; it is a starvation campaign. Gaza has been reduced to rubble. It is not possible to produce enough food there.”
“We cannot equivocate on this issue. The volatility in the Middle East has been caused by Israel's ongoing decades-long genocidal campaign in Palestine and by its recent aggression against Iran. Israel is acting with impunity as the world watches on. Nearly 100,000 people are dead, with many more left permanently disabled or as lone survivors. As Mo Chara said, "The Palestinians have nowhere to go. It’s their ... home and they’re bombing them from the skies". Babies and toddlers have had multiple limbs amputated before they have even learned to walk. Orphaned children are calling out for their parents. Toddlers are on the brink of death because they have been systematically starved to death by Israel. Journalists have been burnt alive and medics have been executed in mass graves.”
“It can continue to do this if the Government gets serious and ensures that the pipeline of projects is sanctioned and resourced effectively. The Minister of State mentioned the western rail corridor. There is no doubt that should be progressed all the way to Sligo as soon as possible. If Iarnród Éireann is given the job, it will do it. We must invest now in Ireland’s future. I implore the Minister of State to ensure there are proper services on the network. There is only a trolley service on one or two train routes. One cannot get so much as a bottle of water, which is unacceptable in this day and age. I urge the Minister of State to do as much as he can to ensure directly employed staff, ideally, operate such services on all routes.”
“If we get this right, we can benefit all of the people of the island into the next century. We must correct the regional imbalances created by decades of bad planning. This review could also help to unlock housing along the lines through transport-oriented development. There is also potential for Iarnród Éireann to develop unused sites in town centres for affordable housing, perhaps for their staff or the general public. It is important to note that a year has passed since the review was first published and it is two years since the draft review was published. It is all well and good to have plans on paper but we must ensure they are put into action. It is also worth noting the record of Iarnród Éireann under Jim Meade. It is doing a fantastic job and delivering projects on time and on budget.”
“Services were run down and then abandoned or ceased. Rural Ireland, particularly in the west and north west, has suffered immensely from this. For example, the northern and western regions rank in the bottom 20 of the EU's 234 regions for transport infrastructure. This is incredible in a modern, progressive country. All this did was strip away some of the essential building blocks of well-connected, efficient and sustainable transport systems. Short-term economic thinking often took priority over long-term infrastructure and planning. We must not repeat the same mistakes. Our network is nearly 200 years old and it is an essential strategic asset that must be planned beyond short-term economic cycles. The review is an important step in correcting some of the wrongs of the past and will help us to prepare for a unified Ireland in future.”
“The all-island strategic rail review sets out a vision for the development of Ireland's rail system to 2050. It was jointly commissioned by the Department of Transport and the Department for Infrastructure in the North. The review aptly demonstrates the advantage of taking an all-island view, which the Minister of State hinted at. Appropriately enough, it has 32 recommendations. These aim to enhance connectivity across the island, with high-speed trains, an expansion of the rail network, double-track upgrades, new intercity trains and increased frequency. We have all seen that, when new trains are put on, the frequency of use doubles or triples. We hope for a tripling of passengers using the rail system. For decades, successive short-sighted Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments have systematically dismantled the rail lines and services.”
“Children are at a significant disadvantage. One would think the Government would be stepping up to the plate and ensuring the spaces are available early, because - as the mother told me and the research clearly demonstrates - early intervention vastly improves outcomes for children and can negate the need for classes at a later stage. I ask the Minister of State not to ignore them and the other classes in Castleisland, Castlemaine, Moyvane, which I asked the Minister of State about previously, and the Presentation Secondary School.”