Paul Donnelly
Dublin West · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“It is bizarre that the State does not fund digital devices. What is the point of free school books when people have to find hundreds of euro to pay for devices? In a country that is home to most of the largest IT and social media companies in the world, surely, we must be leading the way in terms of technology in our schools.”
“I welcome the motion. The matter to which it relates is something in respect of which Sinn Féin has been campaigning consistently for many years. There is no doubt that costs are rising and putting families under severe pressure over the summer months.”
“This matter needs to be addressed. A letter from the Minister, however nicely worded, has simply not worked. We are often told that Ireland is a world leader in terms of quality educational systems. What we need is fair and equitable access to the education system for all of our children and young people.”
“What this House does in terms of regulation and ensuring the companies driving all of this do so in the proper way and are monitored, with proper due diligence done on how AI impacts society, is very important. We know AI has positive impacts but it also has extremely negative impacts.”
“I met with the parents of Grace Lynch. I commend them on their advocacy on road safety and tackling scramblers and illegal e-bikes and scooters. On Monday, hundreds of residents in Hartstown marched around Hartstown Park to highlight the issue of antisocial behaviour, scramblers and illegal e-bikes in the parks.”
“I welcome the Bill and the opportunity to speak on it. It is critically important. AI is something we use every single day, whether we know it or not. Many of the applications we use have a major component of AI. In many areas it has a really useful purpose. Students and workers use it, and people in here use it on a daily basis.”
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“To explain why this is so, when the crash happened in 2007, 2008 and 2009 what were the first things that were absolutely decimated? Every single community, voluntary, charity organisation that deals with young people or addiction, that deals with early school leaving, were crushed. Yet, the bankers, developers and bondholders did not suffer. We know where the priorities are. We know where they lie. It is now time to deal with it. There are solutions out there. People out there are highly trained, highly professional people. Give them money, funding and the facilities to do that job and let us deal with those issues and help and support young people at the same time.”
“Let us free them up to do the job they are trained to do and that is to deal with serious criminal behaviour. We need much more funding for early intervention with families who are experiencing difficulties or where children have experienced trauma. Young people are amazing. Every one of them should be and must be given the opportunity to reach their potential. If they do not, and unfortunately engage in criminal or antisocial behaviour, they must face the consequences. However, nothing I have seen in the 30 years of my community work, of professional work with young people and families, with those in addiction and with young people engaged in criminality convinces me that this Government or any Government I have seen in those 30 years, is or has been really serious about tackling criminal or antisocial behaviour.”
“This is another excuse from Garda management rather than helping and supporting the officers on the ground to do their job using technology. Any strategy to tackle antisocial behaviour is doomed to fail if it is not co-ordinated, if it is not multi-agency and if it has not got the backing of the community. If we are serious about tackling antisocial behaviour we should be talking about a massive investment in youth facilities, purpose-built dedicated spaces with highly qualified and trained youth workers. We need dedicated outreach youth teams to go to where the people are, to talk to them, to work with them and to engage with them in relation to any antisocial or criminal behaviour. Gardaí are not youth workers. They are not trained and they should not be doing that job.”
“However, this is a reply I got from An Garda Síochána: I am informed by Garda management that members of Garda air support unit were previously trained in the use of drones as part of the drone evaluation project. The evaluation concluded in 2023 and the drones are not currently in operational use pending legislative clarity. So I can get my coffee and my lunch but gardaí cannot use drones because there is no legislative clarity. What a ridiculous answer. The Civil Defence uses them, as do the Army and the Navy. In fact, I can ring a specialist company to check out my roof to see whether it is leaking and where it is leaking. Yet, gardaí are blocked from using them or claim that there is no legislative clarity.”
“I live in a very large constituency in Dublin West and we still have gardaí peddling around on bikes when young people are on electric bikes taunting them. They absolutely taunt them every day. When are we going to catch up with the technology that is around? Another example is drones. In Dublin 15, as I am sure Deputies are aware, we can order lunch or order a coffee and have it delivered to our house. The technology is absolutely incredible. Leaving aside the issue of noise and other concerns that we might have, the technology is there. For two years, I have questioned gardaí in relation to the Garda's capacity around drones. Eventually I was told 12 drones were bought and that some gardaí were trained on them.”
“These units exist in Britain and in the European Union and they should exist here in Ireland. I cannot understand why, in 2025, we do not have any attempt to deal with this scourge. Every day we see in our streets young people putting our own lives and other people's lives in danger. Senior gardaí and gardaí on the streets tell us consistently that they are not allowed to deal with this. They are not allowed to chase them or engage with them in any form. Young people who are doing this therefore feel completely empowered to do whatever they want. Yet, the Government and senior gardaí sit on their hands. Another issue relates to electric bikes. We see them all over the place, they can be rented but yet, gardaí are still cycling on pedal cycles.”
“I welcome the opportunity to discuss the issue of antisocial and criminal behaviour in our communities. The reality is that every community experiences antisocial behaviour and criminal activity, some far more than others. Some of it is quite low level with noise and boisterous behaviour but in other cases, it is really serious criminal behaviour. Not a single TD on either side of this Chamber would disagree that we need more gardaí. We hear it constantly in this Chamber. We need them on the streets, working in communities to deal with this type of behaviour. I have raised this point on many occasions and I will raise it again. It is about a specialised anti-scrambler unit to tackle the scourge of dangerous driving that has led to dozens of deaths and hundreds of life-changing injuries over the years.”
“I ask this because that child is now at home. Lastly, the report of the task force in Dublin referred to by the Minister of State to support the forward planning provision was submitted to the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and to the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, on 1 July 2025. When will those who put the huge amount of time, effort and work into it see it published?”
“This is a year and a half since those children and the school were told they would have new additional places. Why did it take a year and a half for this to happen after they were told they were getting places? We still do not know the answers to why this was the case. Is a year and a half really forward planning? One parent who got a school place then lost their school transport. Why was this? It was because the existing transport was too expensive, so the Department cancelled it. That is grand. It was too expensive. Bizarrely and disgracefully, though, it cancelled the contract and now cannot secure another alternative, leaving that child at home. How ridiculous is that? Can the Minister of State find out who made this decision and ask them why they cancelled the bus contract without an alternative?”
“Fine Gael has been 14 years in power and Fianna Fáil has been ten years in power and yet they are still talking about forward planning. It is absolutely ridiculous. Every single child has a right to an education. It is not provided to all children because some are denied that right. Parents are forced to campaign, to protest and to demand and to share their stories. They were again promised this year that no child would be left behind. Well, it is untrue because we know children are being left. We just do not know the exact number, and this tells a story in itself. What is more frustrating and causing deep anger is that many parents were informed their child had secured a place, only to find out there were no rooms in the schools. Danu special school only recently had its classrooms delivered, in the past few weeks.”
“This Government is complicit in the hardships inflicted on hardworking families, including education costs, food prices, rent prices and lack of housing. It goes on and on. It is time to stand up for ordinary families and ordinary workers and ensure that they can make ends meet at the end of the week.”
“Renters have to balance between buying essential food supplies and making sure that they can meet their rent at the end of the month. Everyone understands that businesses have costs, that they have to be viable and they have to make profits, but the profits are eye-watering. Tesco made a €120 million profit in Ireland. United value foods, owners of SuperValu, reported a turnover exceeding €5 billion for the first time, with profits of €104 million. We only have the figures for the North for Dunnes Stores; we do not have them for the Twenty-six Counties. Its £3.8 million in profits soared last year to £12.7 million. All these super profits are being made while people are unable to afford their weekly bills.”
“The fact of the matter is that normal working families are being affected by a cost-of-living crisis. This Government has lost control of it. Week on week, families see their shopping bills rise and rise, and the Government is burying its head in the sand, ignoring people's hardships and refusing to bring forward a cost-of-living package. Even the conscious shopper using the so-called low-cost supermarkets and purchasing own brand is finding that these brands are rising faster than the traditional brands. I know families where parents are going without food to make sure that children can eat and have essentials such as nappies and baby formula, which are often the most expensive in the trolley. Elderly people have to make a choice between eating or heating.”
“Just like with Bosnia, Israeli war criminals, like all war criminals, must be brought to justice to ensure there is a long and lasting peaceful transition. The western former colonial governments must end their ongoing military involvements in the Middle East and elsewhere. This is the only way we will have a peaceful and democratic end to these conflicts. I heard the Minister's statement on Syria. I saw a video clip the other day. Six months ago, the new President of Syria had a $10 million price on his head by the American Government. He is now fêted in the White House. I find this incredible.”
“Can we imagine if Iran had targeted Israeli nuclear scientists and killed their wives, children and families? That is what Israel did. Imagine the outcry in the West at this horrific use of collective punishment for the families of those Iranian scientists and military leaders. We do not support that regime, and I certainly do not support the proliferation of nuclear weapons, but the hypocrisy across the world and, particularly, those who claim to hold western values, is astonishing. The worrying part is that very few people around the world now will listen to the hollow claims about western values, democracy, international law and human rights because they are broken on a daily basis by those same people who proclaim them. The world is a much more dangerous place due to the genocidal acts of this apartheid regime.”
“They have been systematically destroyed by the Zionist genocidal apartheid regime. Food and water are now weapons of war. One simple fact is that it could not have done this without Biden and it could not have continued without Trump, alongside the support of Britain, France, Germany and other EU countries. All of them have supplied military equipment, intelligence or flyovers from aeroplanes over Gaza. Iran is the latest country to be attacked by Israel and the United States. It appears that the rationale was nuclear weapons. Ironically, Israel has somewhere between 40 and 400 nuclear weapons. Nobody knows but nobody cares. Can we imagine the fake horror, hand-wringing and pearl clutching if it were the other way around and Iran had pre-emptively attacked the Zionist regime with missiles because Israel held nuclear missiles?”
“In particular, Potočari was a daily target because it was a sensitive point. Why do I mention this? It is because the world said "Never again". So-called upholders of western democracy, the stalwarts of human rights and international law, said "Never again". The hypocrisy of the West is breathtaking and we will have international repercussions for decades to come. Not alone has it allowed this to happen in Gaza, but it has actively participated in these war crimes. This country also passively participates because we allow the American military carte blanche to deliver whatever it wants through Shannon. There has been in Gaza the destruction of homes, hospitals, schools, universities, community facilities, water infrastructure, electricity, sewage facilities and everything that society needs to function.”
“Last Sunday in Dublin West, I attended the anniversary of the genocide of 8,372 men and boys, some as young as 12 years of age, who were murdered by Serb forces. This year is the 30th anniversary. I will give a brief synopsis. Between April 1992 and 1993, Srebrenica and villages in the area held by Bosnian Muslims were constantly subjected to Serb military assaults, including artillery attacks, sniper fire and occasional bombing from the air. Each onslaught followed a similar pattern. Serb soldiers and paramilitaries surrounded a Bosnian Muslim village, called on the population to surrender, and then began indiscriminate shelling, shooting and killing. They expelled or killed the population, which offered no significant resistance, and destroyed their homes. Srebrenica was subject to indiscriminate shelling from all directions daily.”
“The last paragraph is slightly worrying because in the presentation that was given to us on Monday evening by the principal and the patron of the school, it was stated that the SENO gave a verbal commitment to the school that the deadline of 19 February would be waived for pupils in St. Mochta’s as classes were not sanctioned on this date. The principal met with all parents on 5 March 2025 to advise the parents of the next steps and share commitments from the SENO to waive the deadline of 19 February. All parents contacted the SENO and received eligibility letters from the SENO on dates ranging from 14 March to 7 April 2025, and all parents had a legitimate expectation that they would be offered a place. We are unsure about where the truth lies. There are two different versions of what is going on and that needs to be resolved.”
“Unfortunately, they got an email last Friday afternoon, the last day of school, from the NCSE saying that 11 of those 12 places have been allocated, but not one of those allocations had been given to those six students who are in St. Mochta’s school, including that one child who had a letter from October 2024. We have 17 to 18 parents who are deeply worried about how this is going. We need clarification from the NCSE as to how it will resolve this for all of those parents. Every child, as we have always said, deserves a place.”
“I know the Minister of State is aware of the issue in St. Mochta’s National School and the two special classes. First and foremost, we should express our concern for the parents and children involved in this situation. St. Mochta’s agreed to open up two classes after long discussions and much dialogue with the NCSE - one in temporary accommodation in the library and the other in December when two modular classes were to be delivered. The principal then informed the parents they needed to make the NCSE aware of their children, which all parents did. They were issued letters of eligibility by the NCSE. In fact, one parent had already done so around October 2024. The principal and patron were told they would be exempt from the 19 February deadline that was imposed with regard to special classes for 2025.”
“These tours take place despite the fact this and previous Governments have presided over the neglect and dereliction of our main street and country. This shameful proposal to downgrade our revolutionary past is typical of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and it will not be tolerated by the proud republican people of Dublin.”
“I am a proud Dub and have spent my entire life in the north inner city. I have taken several tours. I advise the Minister of State to go on a tour with Liz Gillis. She outlines the forgotten history of the women of 1916 who refused to back down from orders to leave the GPO when it was burning after it was bombed by the British army and how, when they left the wounded volunteers to go to Jervis Street hospital, they left under intense British fire along Henry Street and refused to stop until they got their comrades medical treatment. Elizabeth O'Farrell, despite intense British army fire, delivered the surrender on Moore Street after Pádraig Pearse and the volunteers tried and failed to break through the homes and businesses along the street. Hundreds of people take tours of O'Connell Street every day, some specific revolutionary tours.”
“The people of this State should not be surprised that the Government proposes to develop the historic GPO into a commercial centre for office and retail units. It should not be surprising because the Government, especially Fianna Fáil, talks out of both sides of its mouth. It talks about protecting our heritage and revolutionary past, yet despite promise after promise the Taoiseach has backed the big developers who intend to destroy Dublin's historic Moore Street. Sinn Féin, along with others, including relatives of the heroes of 1916, has campaigned to develop a 1916 cultural and revolutionary quarter which would include Henry Street, Moore Street and the GPO. The centrepiece of this revolutionary quarter would be the buildings along Moore Street. The wealth of history in this area is astonishing.”
“I do not have time to go through all of the recommendations but as a parent of two primary school teachers, I think training is essential for teachers, special needs assistants and ancillary staff, including caretakers, school secretaries and the other people who work in the school, so they can understand, help and support those students when they need it. That is how those students can attain the best education we can give them. I appeal to the Government to ensure that this is not just another case of report after report and that the situation will be reviewed again in a few years' time when nothing of substance has changed. To be honest, this is about children and their education. They get one chance at this and it is important that they are given the best chance.”
“I ask the Department to look at the schools which go above and beyond to give children the support they need. I will give the example of a school in Tyrrelstown that has seven special classes. It is getting an extension but is losing valuable space in the school. It has asked for a sliver of land from the council but the Department has refused to engage with the school and Fingal County Council. I find that astonishing. The school has gone above and beyond to become a leader in working with children with additional needs. It is just looking for a small sliver of land. I will pass the details to the Minister of State. Perhaps he could try to help with the Department in that regard.”
“In fact, the Government, as the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, knows, has a legal requirement to carry out these assessments but this Government and previous Governments have consistently broken the law. I welcome the work of the autism common application trial group. We had feedback today. I know the Minister of State was at a subsequent meeting. We were at the all-party parliamentary committee on autism. There was positive feedback from parents. I expect the recommendations from the parents to be implemented. More importantly, I ask that every school will get involved in year 2 of the pilot project. That is essential. There were 13 schools involved in this year's pilot project but there are 33 schools out there that have children with additional needs in special classes.”
“I have read the document and, to be honest, most of it reads as a list of the failures of the systems of this Government and previous Governments and their failure to ensure that children with additional needs get the help and support, and, therefore, the education, they deserve. I have experienced a number of key ongoing issues. I started working as a family support worker in 2001. I worked with families, many of whom had children with additional needs. To be honest, the situation got worse and worse between 2001 and my election in 2020. Access to therapeutic supports and services has deteriorated to such an extent that children in Dublin 15 are waiting over 72 months for an assessment of need. That is an appalling failure and does not need a review to report to ensure it is sorted out.”
“Does the Government honestly believe that the vulture funds and the capitalists that are building these apartments and who are going to get, because of the Government, €2,500, €3,000, €4,000 and if you live in Howth, €5,000 per month, they are going to continue to build and build and see those rents fall, because there will be a surplus in the market? No, they will stop because they will want to keep rents high. It is a disgraceful action being taken by the Government.”
“It has been inspected, evaluated, specific circumstances assessed, however, the process has stalled this year, through a lack of funding. The landlord informed us yesterday [by email] that we need to move out of the property. That is two of the thousands of people who are facing eviction. The cornerstone of the Government programme and its plan is that rents are going to increase. Then, developers and vulture funds will move in and build apartments. The flaw in this thinking is, does the Government honestly expect them to build enough and continue to build to see rents fall?”
“I will read out two examples of emails that come into my constituency office: It is with a heavy heart I am asking you to find yourself another house to rent. Unfortunately, you cannot wait any longer as this application has been going on since last autumn with a tenant in situ and the eviction notice on the property was up in April and the house prices are increasing every day. We are going to have to act on the eviction notice as we are still none the wiser as to when this is going to happen. This is from another constituent: I write to you in a desperate situation seeking your assistance in the following matter. We have three children. The landlord informs us he intends to sell the property to us or on the private market with us as tenants in situ. We are waiting on Fingal County Council as an application has been made.”
“EnergyCloud is a not-for-profit social enterprise. It works with partners including EirGrid, ESB, Wind Energy Ireland, local authorities and housing associations. Its aim is to reduce energy poverty. In the last seven years, €2.1 billion in surplus renewable energy was unused and wasted. Some €3 million worth of wind energy was wasted on 28 May this year. EnergyCloud has a simple ask: If the Government were to announce a policy recommending that going forward all devices, heat pumps, batteries, [and] immersion controllers ... should be connected and support Demand Flexibility this would open the possibility of using the waste in a targeted fashion and future proof all new and upgraded homes. It does not need legislation; it just needs a direction and a policy from the Department. Will the Taoiseach ask the Department to issue that?”
“The students are kicked out of the property on a Friday by the landlord, who then rents it out on Saturday and Sunday before moving the students back in on Monday. That does not happen in a functional housing market. In my constituency, the starting price in a new development down the road from me, Luttrellstown Gate, is €520,000 for a three-bedroom house, with the cost going up to €800,000 for a four-bedroom home. In the Government's eyes, affordable housing starts at approximately €400,000. One could not write this stuff. The Government has let this generation down and by the looks of its new rent strategy, it will also let down the next generation. I ask everyone who cares about the young people who cannot rent or buy to go out to Kildare Street on 17 June and make their voices heard outside these buildings.”
“People who are renting are terrified, waiting for a termination letter from their landlord. Some landlords are using Part 4 of the Residential Tenancies Act to evict people and then double the rent. The new rules for renters will cause huge distress and concern. It seems there will be a free for all within a six-year period and the RPZs will not be worth the paper on which they are written. Students should be excitedly looking forward to a new chapter in their life as they go to college, with many thousands moving to a new city. However, foremost in their mind is the question of where they will live and how much it will cost. I heard a student yesterday telling RTÉ about the €800 cost per month for accommodation from Monday to Friday.”
“Housing provision is so dysfunctional across every part of the sector that it is no exaggeration to say it is an emergency. Day after day, I have to inform people who are on the housing list for six, seven, eight or nine years that they have many more years left on the list. That was not the case four or five years ago. The situation has grown worse and worse and I see nothing the Government is doing that will improve it. There are families so long on the housing list that children who were toddlers when they went on the list are now adults. Unable to move out, they are penalised because they are working and their wages push them over the income limit. One family I know of had been 16 years on the housing list before being removed by the council because they went over the income threshold.”
“It is a very serious issue for people day in and day out who are trying to make ends meet. Ordinary workers and families are facing ever-rising prices, as evidenced by the recent publication of the consumer price index in April. Any measure that seeks to ethically address rising prices should be welcomed. I hope this Bill will contribute to a greater sense of fairness and transparency for consumers. It is very important consumers are able to see the profits companies are generating and compare them to the cost of making that item or producing that service. Only with openness, fairness and transparency can consumers make a better informed decision about the purchases they make.”
“Knowledge and information are key to making the right decisions for consumers. Sinn Féin supports the passage of the Bill through Second Stage and will potentially put forward amendments on Committee Stage. I know the Minister of State has already alluded to some of the questions, such as what would be the definition of a dominant market position or a dominant company and who makes a determination that a company is occupying a dominant position. Also, the provision of services is less easy to quantify than goods. How will businesses demonstrate the cost of services? This Bill is brought forward in an environment of ever-increasing costs for people, with ever-increasing food and energy bills and other costs. At every door you go to and with every person you talk to, there is reference to the cost of living. It has not gone away.”
“As we know, many people are absolutely puzzled as to how there have been such large price increases. Sometimes, when the price of oil increases, that is used as a rationale for this, but if the price of oil goes down, the prices never go down. When a war happens, such as in Ukraine, prices go up but they never go down. There are circumstances that need to be investigated. It is important to also allow the CCPC to undertake a study and analysis of the costs large retailers incur, the profits they take and the prices they set - in other words, the cost to a retailer of supplying the goods or services concerned to consumers and the size of the business's profit margin. It is essential the CCPC would be allowed to collect any data it needed to complete this analysis and publish the results, and this Bill would allow that to happen.”
“I thank Deputy Nash for bringing this Bill forward again. Sinn Féin supports the Bill going through Second Stage. The Bill seeks to amend the Competition and Consumer Protection Act. There is no requirement in Irish law that a business should charge only reasonable prices for goods and services or should achieve no more than a reasonable profit. There is an exception, however, in EU law and in the Irish consumer Act 2002 and this legislation seeks to prohibit the abuse of a dominant position by some businesses. While it is not unlawful to have a dominant position, it is unlawful to abuse that dominant position. I welcome that the Bill seeks to bring greater transparency to the structure of large supermarket businesses in Ireland and to the sector more generally to end the secrecy around pricing structures in retail businesses.”
“We heard time after time over the past hour about areas where there is a constant risk of flooding. This issue must be looked at proactively, dealing with areas where flooding has already happened and where there are flood risks. Expansion of the emergency business flooding scheme should be examined to ensure quicker, fairer compensation for affected business. Long-term investment must also be proposed in sustainable flood prevention. Insurance is also an issue. Insurance companies are making record profits. A lot of work is done by insurance companies but they are making massive profits. Shareholders are paid large amounts of money by these insurance companies yet at the same time small business and voluntary groups struggle to find affordable insurance as they continue to be hit with rip-off prices.”
“I am originally from just across the Liffey, the East Wall area. There has always been a threat of flooding there because it is all reclaimed land and it is low-lying. I recall in the past number of years a severe flood event in the houses just behind my mother's in the north inner city and the floodwaters came close to her house. The fear was that the whole place would be submerged. It needs to be addressed. I will focus on the impact on small businesses. They suffer massive property damage, loss of stock and prolonged closures without adequate support. Everyone accepts that local shops, cafés and services are the backbone of our communities. We call for a properly resourced and proactive approach to flood defence, not reactive, cleaning up after disaster strikes.”
“We face extreme weather and flooding has become more severe and recurring across the State. From the Shannon Basin to coastal towns and rural communities, the devastation caused by rising waters continues to impact families, livelihoods and local economies. Climate change, inadequate infrastructure and years of Government inaction have left too many communities vulnerable. Last year, 2024, was the fourth-warmest year on record, with storms affecting communities, bringing heavy rain and winds, flooding and coastal erosion. According to the annual climate statement for 2024, due to rising sea levels, the risk of storm surges and coastal flooding around Ireland is expected to increase along with compound events of heavy rainfall and high tides. It seems like every year storms get worse.”
“We have to try to get it digitised in some way so that the checks can be done much more quickly and more easily and we do not have the situation where, unfortunately, people like this are left struggling, ringing our offices trying to get it sorted.”
“Once a person gets their first passport, it then naturally follows on, so they have to get that piece right. I entirely agree that all of the checks and balances need to happen so that we ensure, as the Minister of State has said, that the Irish passport remains the number one. The Minister of State talking about the Irish passport being number one reminds me of something. About ten or 12 years ago, agents of Mossad, the Israeli security service were caught with Irish passports. This relates to the previous debate we had in relation to that country. There is something we have to look at and we have to ensure that the system works. It is a stressful time for people and we have to try to make it as easy as we possibly can for them, the Passport Office and the Garda. We have to make sure there is not a waste of time or energy.”
“I appreciate the answer. What surprises me is the figure given of 17% of passports when, just in the past couple of weeks, I have had at least four or five people come to me. I have listened to a couple of other Deputies raising this issue as well, one from the Minister of State's own party during, I think, Questions on Policy or Legislation. It most definitely is an issue, but not with the Passport Office, because it does its due diligence and I understand that. Whenever people call the office about a passport, I hope it is not a first passport. I always know that if it is, it will be very difficult to try to resolve. Unfortunately, people sometimes do not understand until it is explained to them the importance of ensuring the veracity of the applicant and making sure this is real.”
“This goes on every single year but people have expectations because they look at the timelines from the Passport Office and think it is brilliant, they will have plenty of time within the timeline but unfortunately, once you get one simple issue like this, it throws the whole process into disarray and delays it for a very long time. I am very interested to hear how we can resolve this - something around digitisation or modernising the process - because it seems a little archaic in this day and age to have the Passport Office ringing up a Garda station where a garda then goes to the big book and searches to see if the signature has been put in correctly. Sometimes there is a mistake where it can be put in incorrectly, which can cause problems. I will leave it at that for the moment.”
“The last example relates to a ten-week-old baby whose passport was supposed to be issued last Friday but because the required witness was not contactable - and a landline number was provided - unfortunately, a whole new application was required. We all know the difficulties when something happens with a passport and we all get these contacts every single week. It starts in February and March when people contact us and they say, "I am heading off in the next week or so and I am desperately trying to get hold of a passport". I commend the Passport Office because in fairness to it, it really does its best to try to get issues resolved as quickly as possible. If anybody listens to this, I urge them to please do not book anything before they have their passport in their hands.”
“It was a family member of a friend who was a member of the Garda who got the forms signed. He said the station phone is manned 24-7 and was surprised to hear this. This was very unfair to the individual and through no fault of their own, they were put at the bottom of the pile and expected to wait a further 20 days. Another constituent applied for a passport on 28 March 2025 and was advised by the Passport Office on 13 May there was an issue contacting the witness and the form would need to be signed again. On the same day, they went back to the Garda station in order for the consent form to be signed again and the Garda members were surprised to hear the office had difficulties making contact with them. We had an issue on both sides in this case.”
“I appreciate the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, coming in so late this evening. This issue relates to the increasing number of people contacting my office - and I have heard the same from other TDs in the past couple of weeks - regarding passport offices and not being able to get confirmation of signatures from Garda stations. It is causing huge distress for everyone involved in the process and creates an awful lot of work for everybody. I will give the Minister of State examples from a couple of constituents. One said they got onto the Passport Office on 19 April 2024 to see what was happening and the following Tuesday they received an email to say it could not get through to the Garda station to confirm the consent forms because the phone was not answered.”
“The school is seeking a number of things, a couple of which Deputy Coppinger mentioned, such as an allowance and Montessori being allowed onto the teaching councils. They have a couple of solutions. The other issue they are talking about is a wraparound service with the Blanchardstown children's disability network team, CDNT, which they have at the moment. As was mentioned earlier, however, they are getting 12 new students. Thirty-eight of the students have a wraparound service with the CDNT. The school has not been given an assurance that the 12 new students who are hoping to start when these new Portakabins are provided in September will be included in that. They have been told they will not be included. It is inconceivable that 38 students would have a wraparound service and 12 new students would not.”