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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“Only one SNA, one secretary and one principal remain. Staff turnover has been more than 95% since 2019. With the current teacher crisis, this is twofold for the school due to it being a Dublin school and a special school. The recruitment and retention of teachers who teach in special schools and special settings is in significant crisis. The school needs seven teachers for September 2025 out of an allocation of nine. That is what they are looking for for September, and that is along with all the other schools that are looking for teachers. There are a number of recommendations. They have sent or are planning to send this letter to the Minister of State, so I urge him to please get back to them in that regard.”
“On Sunday, I was with students, staff and parents of Danu Community Special School in the Millennium Park because we have an annual walk, and I got chatting to them about some of the issues that are happening. Today, I was in St. Michael's special school in Chapelizod and there was more of a grilling from the students than any journalist would be proud of. It was a really important opportunity to hear from the students and parents. I want to bring the Minister of State's attention to the anomalies and inequities for students and staff in special schools. We have 113 special schools and this is going to be relevant to pretty much every single one of those. They are faced with the challenge of staff recruitment. I will give the example of Danu Community Special School, which opened in September 2019.”
“We could double the number of hedgerows. It can be imagined the biodiversity we would create if we did that. It is something we should really think about in moving forward. It is great to get an opportunity to speak on this because it is very important. It is not just a rural issue; it is an urban issue as well. We care about it as well.”
“We recognise that real environmental change must begin locally. Local councils are on the front line not only in protecting biodiversity but also in creating the conditions for it to thrive. I commend many of the local environmental groups such as Tidy Towns Blanchardstown, Clonsilla Tidy Towns, Castleknock Tidy Towns and Riverwood Biodiversity Group. We had a really interesting seminar last week in Dublin 15. There is really important work being done by local communities and it is important that we continue and support that work. I will mention one simple thing we can do for biodiversity and that is hedgerows. There are hedgerows throughout the State, which can be seen whenever you drive down any road. A very simple thing we could do is to help and support farmers by paying them to plant right beside existing hedgerows.”
“Thankfully the new county development plan has a very strong emphasis on protecting the existing hedgerows. Some 85% of Ireland’s habitats are inadequate or in a poor state. Many of our native species are under threat from urbanisation and the destruction of their natural habitat. We have the lowest tree cover in Europe, at just 11%, compared with an EU average of 35%. A couple of hundred years ago there was a massive wooded area called the Scaldwood in what is now Dublin 15. It is now reduced to small pockets in Clonsilla, just across the road from me, in the Millennium Park and around Tolka Valley. I commend Fingal County Council for the work it is doing in trying to encourage the planting of more trees. Only this week, as I walked through the park I saw the operations department planting new indigenous trees.”
“I am glad of the opportunity to speak on this issue today. The protection and restoration of biodiversity across Ireland is of critical importance. It is an all-island issue. The border does not exist in the context of biodiversity. We are facing a biodiversity crisis. Over 60% of Ireland’s native species are in decline. Our bogs are drying and our rivers are polluted. The River Tolka comes through the middle of my constituency. It is heartbreaking to see the hard work by fisher groups and the young lads fishing all the way down to Finglas, and then to often see fish kills as a result of pollution. It is dreadful. Hedgerows are being lost. My constituency is a very large urban area but 20 or 30 years ago when I moved out to Dublin 15 it was all farmland and fields. Much of that biodiversity has been lost.”
“They need the end of the military support by EU countries, militaries that many on the Government benches want us to join in some sort of military alliance in the future, which would make us complicit in all of this. We need to expel the ambassadors across the EU, end all trade with this murderous regime, and when the war is over, because all wars end, all of the political and military figures and all of the people who supported this genocide need to end up in court and in jail.”
“Was it the destruction of all the hospitals, the schools, or water, electricity and sewage infrastructure? Was it the forced displacement of thousands of Palestinian refugees in the West Bank? They were nowhere near Hamas, nowhere near Gaza. Was it this happening with the full support of the police, military, political and judicial systems in Israel? Information has come out that 14,000 children are potentially going to die of malnutrition within 48 hours. Just think of that number - 14,000 children. I do not know what moved them to make the statement. This Government - in fairness, I will give it to it - has moved a bit further with words than EU leaders. Unfortunately, words are not enough. The people of Palestine need action now.”
“I listened to the statements from the EU leaders and what I heard is that this genocide has become so horrific for those who supported the slaughter, agreed that withholding food and water could be used as a weapon of war, supplied the weapons and bombs to target the Palestinians and provided political cover for this genocidal regime talked about trade agreements yesterday for the first time. I am sure the Israeli apartheid regime is quaking in its boots at such mealy-mouthed words. What tipped them over the edge? Was it that they just want to cover their own arses because of their support for this genocide? Was it the 60,000 dead men, women and children? Was it the horrific murder of 15 humanitarian workers? Just yesterday, a 15-year-old boy who witnessed that murder was shot dead by an Israeli sniper.”
“Call an emergency and take extraordinary measures to ensure each child has a service, a school place and therapeutic intervention when they need it. They are not big asks.”
“It should be enough to call an emergency. When I spoke to Mark and Cara earlier today, I said that during the economic crash, Fianna Fáil spent, over a weekend, €72 billion of our money, and our children and grandchildren’s money, on the bondholders and bankers. In the Covid crisis, mountains were moved in an instant. Things were changed within weeks and days. What is the difference here? We have potentially 24,000 children whose lives will be, possibly, irreparably damaged because of a lack of access to the services they are entitled to. The law says they are entitled to them. This Government is breaking that law. I want the Government to call an emergency because that is what we are looking at in this regard.”
“His mother is getting really worried that he will not be able to start school. Similarly, two-year old Evie is on a waiting list. Her mother is dead right when she wrote that the Government’s lack of support is shaping her daughter’s future and that of thousands of other children. Nathan has no school place again this year. His parents have applied to 11 schools and are desperately trying to get him a school place. The irony is that if they refuse to send him to school, the education welfare officer has the legislation and the law behind him or her to bring them to court to either fine or jail them. What are the consequences for the Government? These are just a sample of the dozens of cases in my office. Each parent is desperately trying to get a service for their child. This really should be enough to bring a Government down.”
“I listened to the Taoiseach today. I am always gobsmacked at how the Taoiseach can sound like he has only walked into the building and suddenly found himself in the position he is in. It is the same when I hear Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs who have actually been in power. Some Fine Gael TDs have been in power for 14 years. That is 14 years of increasing waiting lists. I heard the shocking news today that the waiting list is potentially going to go up to more than 24,000 children. Among those children is Cameron, who is four and a half and on a 72-month waiting list. He will finish primary school before he has access to any therapeutic interventions. Jaden, who is due to start school in September, needs a cognitive assessment before starting. While forms were submitted in December 2023, he is still waiting.”
“This is something we should grab with both hands and move forward as quickly as we can to ensure that, when people buy a product, they have an understanding that product is made to last. We need to go back, in some ways, to the old days. In one sense, you can never go back, but it is something we need to do in this case. We need to look at what was done in the past where we had all this equipment that lasted years and years. Our mothers and fathers would have had washing machines or cookers that lasted years and years, whereas now you barely get two to three years out of them. That is by design and it is to ensure we throw things out and buy new equipment. I again commend Deputies Daly and Quinlivan for tabling this Bill and I hope we move as quickly as we can with it.”
“One of our local centres put up a post today about seven tins of paint. That is paint that would have been thrown away. People bring their bits of paint. There is now a paint recycling centre in there. It is top quality and you can get whatever colour you want, so go down to the Rediscovery Centre in Ballymun because it is really good. Look at the amount of washing machines, cookers, microwaves, lawnmowers and laptops. There are a lot of laptops now that cannot be reused because of the software that is in them. I saw some figures that were shocking, namely, that 62 million tonnes of e-waste were generated every year, which is equivalent to 400 cruise ships, and just 15% to 22% of all e-waste ends up being recycled. We are talking about ensuring we recycle and reduce as much as we possibly can, so for me this Bill is a no-brainer.”
“It just happens, and possibly at the worst time, like Christmas, a communion or back-to-school time. All of a sudden, people are faced with paying €300 to €500 for a new machine. That is the financial cost for individuals and families. We can look at the manufacturers and ask whether it is by design or default that these machines do not last as long, but we must really focus our minds on the waste. We talk about a circular economy. The Rediscovery Centre is in Ballymun and I am not sure whether the Minister of State has ever visited but what it does to reuse things is incredible. It reuses in an imaginative way some of what we would normally throw away. I advise anyone listening to go the Rediscovery Centre because it is a brilliant place. What it is doing to recycle and upcycle a lot of material is just phenomenal.”
“One of the rationales given to me by a repair person, which goes to the legislation we are discussing, is that, in the old days, the machines used to be made with much more durable parts. Where there was a metal part in a given machine, there is now plastic. The plastic heats up and cools down hundreds or thousands of times, so it goes brittle and breaks. That is the design. They are designed by the companies to make them cheaper, first of all, but also to make them less durable. Then the replacement parts are not available or they are so expensive it makes repair completely uneconomical. We see that happening time after time. Expenses like this come out of the blue for families having real difficulties with their personal finances. These are not something that can be planned and there is no strategy.”
“I thank Deputies Daly and Quinlivan for tabling this Bill. It is important legislation and something that will help many people across this State who are faced with huge bills they do not necessarily need to face. It is a lot of anecdotal evidence but we all have personal experience of when the washing machine or something else breaks in the house and the repair person says that, because of the way it is constructed, it is uneconomical to repair it and sometimes, bizarrely, cheaper to replace it. That is the advice I have been given several times when the washing machine has broken down. You are told there is no point and it would be cheaper to buy a new one. I find that incredible.”
“There is no reason whatsoever that this State, with billions of euro in the coffers, cannot provide a child an appropriate school place. I appreciate the motion that came forward again. We have brought this to the House time and again, as have other people. We, all the parents here and all the children, are asking for students to have an appropriate school place; for the schools to be supported when they are providing the special classes and special schools; for the students to have an appropriate wrap-around service; for the assessments of need to happen when they are needed; and for the supports to be given when they are required. Those are the simple requests. There is no need to go around in circles time after time. We have the answers. We need the Government to do it.”
“We need to cast our minds back five years to Covid and look at what we were able to achieve when people came together, in a very short period. All of the norms were overturned in a weekend to do what we needed to do to keep people safe, yet we come in here on this issue year after year. I am here six years now and we have raised this issue for six years and before that. I have been with parents on the protests, sometimes week after week, and I see some of them here. We brought up the issue in Dublin 15 in 2017 and 2018. There were big protests, big meetings, the same issues, questions and excuses. Year after year we see newer parents coming in and asking why their child does not have an appropriate school place.”
“Tens of thousands more parents will be bringing their children to a hospital in the weeks, months and years to come and we need to ensure they have confidence in the doctors and consultants when they talk about serious operations such as those these children have undergone.”
“I read the first line of the last paragraph of the letter that was sent to the parents. It stated that CHI's priority was always the safety of its patients, ensuring timely access to quality care, and that it had engaged in a clinical audit. CHI's priority is always the safety of its patients, ensuring timely access to quality care. It speaks volumes that CHI sent that letter to those parents, and inserted that line, when we consider the situation that is going on at the moment. Everyone will take what was inserted in that document with a pinch of salt. We need action. If people need to be held accountable, we must ensure they are.”
“As a parent, I cannot recall the number of times that my wife and I brought our children to the children's hospital for various accidents or illnesses. Never for one second did I think I would not implicitly trust the doctors and consultants. One cannot but be shocked at these cases involving children, where parents have sought second opinions. In some cases, the second opinion has suggested that not only does the child not require the surgery but the diagnosis was incorrect. As we have heard, there might be thousands of cases similar to this. We can only imagine how parents are feeling and how angry and shocked they must be. Constituents of mine received two letters, one for each of their children. They contacted the hospital immediately on that day, 19 March, and are still awaiting contact from the hospital.”
“We no doubt face serious challenges but in those challenges are opportunities, and we need to grab those opportunities for our country's future social and economic growth.”
“We need to make it easier to trade within regulations by cutting unnecessary tape and bureaucracy to allow firms to grow and expand quickly. While the trade war declared on the world by Trump and his billionaire cabinet no doubt presents great challenges for our economy, especially our small businesses which rely on the tech and pharma industries, it is also an opportunity for the country as a whole, North and South, to look again at our economic strategy. There is no doubt we would be stronger in a united Ireland. With proper investment we can create a viable alternative to the heavy reliance on low corporation tax to attract FDI. Investments should be made in other areas such as housing, transport and communications. The opportunity green energy offers to local authorities is enormous and could be a game changer for society.”
“Ireland should prioritise increasing its diplomatic footprint in Washington, not only to deal with tariffs but other potential issues that may affect our island and build on the support in the United States for a stronger economy in a united Ireland. As a small island, we need to continue to attract foreign direct investment and develop a strong indigenous enterprise sector. Unfortunately, Ireland has become a very expensive place to do business. In my role as Sinn Féin spokesperson on small business I have spoken to various sectors, which all flag the cost of trading as difficult. In particular, the cost of insurance and the rise in compensation amounts awarded by the Judiciary are crippling small business. We need to reduce electricity and energy costs, property and banking taxes and other utility costs.”
“The Government needs to allow time in the Chamber this week to reinstate the Oireachtas committees on enterprise, finance and the Good Friday Agreement, as the all-Ireland economy and the Windsor Framework will face significant challenges with various tariff regulations in the Twenty-six Counties and Six Counties. Products with cross-Border supply chains will face significant challenges. While it is imperative for all EU members to stick together to give the EU a strong negotiating position, Ireland has a large and influential voice in the United States through our diaspora, and an influential position through our links with trade unions, various political parties, employer organisations and a large vote in the Irish-American community.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion. We must all be clear that the blame for the current trade tariff situation is laid firmly at the door of Trump and his cabinet of billionaires. While the scale of the tariffs and the response from the EU are still fully unknown, we need in the first instance to look after Ireland's interests. Any knee-jerk reaction from the EU could have the potential to cost Ireland more in the long term. As we prepare for a referendum on Irish unity, likely within a decade, we must also look at the impact of tariffs on an all-Ireland basis. It is critical that a meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council is convened immediately.”
“Diverting young people is about investing in communities, sports, youth clubs and organisations that work directly with young people. It is about making sure that they have dedicated facilities. I will give an example. Dublin 15 has a population of more than 130,000 people. The most diverse and youngest population in the State does not have one dedicated youth facility. They are operating out of buildings, commercial premises, community centres and so on, but there is not one dedicated youth facility. I have worked in dedicated youth facilities that work. Sphere 17 in Darndale is a brilliant dedicated youth facility. Diverting young people is about investment and, as I said, it is about making sure that we not only divert young people from getting involved in criminal activity, we just do not allow it to happen.”
“Then we look at the situation and ask why and how we ended up here. The reason is that there was no investment in the areas to which other speakers have referred. Things were working and were extremely successful. I worked in school completion. It is an amazing programme that works really well. Our project in Coolock suffered a 37% cut. Who can sustain that? Yet, we were asked to do the same thing every year and to try to provide support, which we did to the best of our ability. With regard to what we are talking about today in the context of tariffs, economic shocks and certain things that are happening, I urge the Government not to do what was done the last time and not to cut services. I urge it to invest.”
“This is a topic that really interests me so I have been listening to the debate. I sometimes I think I live in a parallel universe. I have listened to successive speakers on the Government side talking about things I absolutely agree with. I agree with everything people have mentioned, such as investment in youth services, prevention and making sure we do not get to the stage where we need to talk about diverting young people from criminal activity. It reminds me of when I worked in this field - for more than 20 years - and every one of the services they talked about from 2011 onwards were decimated. Some 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% of funding was cut. One project had 100% of its funding was cut. That is the low-hanging fruit when it comes to recession. The communities that most need it are the ones that are most devastated by cuts.”
“The Minister can give a commitment today to Fingal County Council to show that he will be a different housing Minister from previous housing Ministers. If he does not, however, then he will just be another Minister in a long line of housing Ministers who have left people in homelessness, left people unable to pay for an affordable house, and left the thousands and thousands of people who have left this country unable to ever return.”
“I spoke last week on the fears of people in private rented accommodation with regard to rent pressure zones. People are absolutely terrified that controls are going to be removed without some form of protection. What is needed is an assurance that those people, who are one pay cheque away from homelessness, will not be joining the 15,000 people and 4,500 children in homeless accommodation and that the Government will put the people’s interests before market interests. I will say, however, and it was raised earlier, that the Minister has a chance to change the narrative in the context of his tenure as Minister. Fingal County Council has provided a pathway to thousands of homes along the N3 where there is a train station, the M50 and a massive piece of land. It is looking for help, support and investment.”
“By every single metric and by every single part of the housing strategy, this Government has failed. It has failed because of its over-reliance on private developers and investments funds that undermine its ability to deliver genuinely affordable housing at scale. It is clear as can be stated that we need much more State-led investment. When will the Government admit that the private market has zero interest in solving the housing crisis and providing genuine affordable housing? It is only about profit for it. We simply cannot continue into the future with the huge transfer of money into the hands of private landlords. Approximately €1 billion per year is spent on HAP. The current rates are so wide off the private market rents that it is now virtually impossible to rent whatever little properties are available on HAP.”
“I ask the Minister for Justice to sit down with the Garda to discuss this and put plans in place to deal with it effectively, because at the moment there is absolutely nothing to stop individuals on scramblers running amok in our communities.”
“Last night in two parks of Dublin 15, namely Hartstown Park and Mick Walsh Park, local people were forced to leave the parks due to fears over safety. Scramblers have been running amok in both of those parks and throughout Dublin 15 for the past several weeks and months. I am deeply frustrated about this because I have raised it literally since I came into the Dáil and every single time it has been brought up. There is a continued lack of action. We do not need studies, plans or reviews, or all the usual mechanisms to delay or block. This week I again watched a video of a police force in Britain effectively dealing with scramblers through an anti-scrambler unit. They have them all over Britain. I have been saying this time and again.”
“This fits into what I have just been talking about as regards those people who may not have had the wherewithal, the strength, the energy or maybe the finances to go to court to vindicate their rights in the context of this payment. I know the reason is that it was upheld in the Supreme Court in January 2024 but, in the sense of fairness, surely those people who were entitled to it prior to 2024 should be looked upon in the same sense of fairness that we look at today for those subsequent to January 2024. The question from my constituent would be, when will they be able to avail of this payment and when will they be able to claim? A great many people are looking at us today and hoping that within a very short time they will be able to access this payment.”
“I wonder if, of all those cases that happened before the family went to the Supreme Court, somebody sat down and said, "That looks unfair", but nothing was done about it until somebody then had to go through the stress, anxiety and cost of bringing it to the Supreme Court and the High Court and all the other judicial measures that need to be brought before we stand here today and say, "Yes, this is the right thing to do." We need to reflect on that, and those in government need to reflect on it because I am sure there are circumstances in which people are probably looking to go to the High Court or the Supreme Court in respect of other measures that seem equally unfair. I ask that we reflect on that. The other issue - it has been raised on several occasions by many people - is the payment prior to January 2024.”
“He was a legal tenant in our house and I was able to collect his death certificate. We were common law husband and wife. I would have thought this would have been enough for this application to be approved. The stress and the distress this caused is absolutely immeasurable. I am glad to know that she will be able to access this payment and that she will be entitled to it. Sometimes, however, it can be very puzzling as to why it is necessary for somebody to go to the High Court or the Supreme Court to vindidate what seems to be - we are all talking about it today - a fair thing to do.”
“I very much welcome the legislation before us. It proposes to extend the eligibility payment to qualified cohabitants who were in an intimate and committed relationship for more than five years, or two years where there is a child or children in the relationship. Sometimes, however, I wonder where we get the timelines from - two years with a child and five years without children. Some people cannot have children, and in some ways that feels a little discriminatory against them. Just recently I got a message from a constituent I know really well and who sadly lost her partner. She said: I applied for the widows pension as my partner of 28 years passed away on 28th of November 2024. The application has been refused, however I was his full time carer, his next of kin.”
“The Government should go back to the people and give them a say in one of the most important decisions that could be made, that is, the potential decision to send our young people to war on behalf of the United States or the EU.”
“The people have continuously rejected such an alliance in poll after poll. In fact, the most recent poll in the Irish Examiner showed that an overwhelming 75% of people support the triple lock and Ireland's neutrality. The proposal to end the triple lock breaches the commitments given during debates on the Nice and Lisbon treaties. The people of this State rejected those referendums because of the fear of being dragged into wars that are not ours, such as the war in Iraq, which, as we all know, was based on a lie that led to the deaths of over 1 million people and has led to absolute horrors in the Middle East that are still being felt today. If Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael feel so strongly that this is the right thing to do, it should go back to the people. This was one of the major issues around the Nice and Lisbon treaties.”
“I thank the Social Democrats and welcome the motion calling on the Government to hold a referendum on the triple lock. Ireland has a proud tradition of neutrality and peacekeeping missions. Because of our history of occupation and colonialism, the continued partition of our country and our long-standing policy of military neutrality, Ireland has built a strong reputation for standing up for oppressed people and our passport is seen as one of the most respected across the world. We have built that respect not by engaging in military wars alongside colonial powers in the EU and the United States but by standing by international law and international human rights. There is no doubt that eliminating the triple lock is part of the position of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and others to incrementally drag us into some form of military alliance.”
“This would allow more family support work in the home, which would take the pressure off young carers and young adult carers. Respite support should be provided for carers. This would give young people who are caring day in and day out, sometimes 365 days per year, a bit of time for themselves. I raised the issue of the Blanchardstown Centre for Independent Living, BCIL, which received pitiful increases in supports, despite the centre massively increasing the supports that it provides. Puzzlingly, I got a reply from the HSE this week - because I raised it two weeks ago - asking for a business plan for BCIL but the HSE already has this because it was provided months ago. Those young people deserve to get the help and support they need.”
“I have seen at first hand the effects on their education, from doing really well in school to struggling to get to school, or being constantly late and unable to study because the work in the home had to be done. They lost time with their friends and lost opportunities to build a social life, take on a hobby or be part of a social club or a team. A frightening statistic of the report shows that many felt stressed. I was gobsmacked by the statistic that says that 80% of young carers are at risk of clinical depression because of the pressure they are under. I support the asks of the Labour Party but there are three things the Government could do really quickly. The first would be to provide extra funding to family support initiatives.”
“I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this motion and the carers who are doing the work, day in and day out. For nearly 20 years I worked as a family support worker. In the course of that time, I came across many young people who were carers for one or both of their parents. We tried to give them as much support as we could but it was never enough because while we could finish our day, they could never clock off. From early in the morning, to late at night and sometimes throughout the night, they were the only carers. Their education and childhood suffered because this State was using them to fill the gaps in the public services.”
“We need to ensure that local authorities have the maximum level of funding and the necessary targets to be able to operate the tenant in situ scheme, provide them with flexibility to operate the scheme and reject the new restrictions that are being proposed by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.”
“I was shocked late last year when I started to get emails and messages from people regarding the length of time it was taking or the fact that local authorities were not approving any new tenant in situ applications. This left people puzzled. I contacted the housing department in Fingal County Council, which confirmed that it could not proceed with any more because the Government had not given it the figures. It left hundreds of people - families and individuals - without a decision due to a lack of funding. This is the result of the Government's failure to give the targets and funding and is putting larger numbers of people at risk of homelessness. Landlords are getting frustrated. These are people who want to sell their homes to the local authority. They want to sell them and are disengaging from the scheme. Let us make it simple.”
“I do not expect this Government to tell the truth about anything relating to housing in light of the Taoiseach's repeated refusal to confirm or deny that the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform deliberately misled the Irish people during the general election, but here are some truths. Since April 2023, 2,500 households have been prevented from becoming homeless because of the scheme. A total of 16,546 notices of termination were issued to private residential tenants last year. More than half of them were on the grounds of landlords intending to sell the property. The number of people independent of housing funded emergency homeless accommodation increased by 13% in the past year to 15,286, including over 4,500 children.”
“As we stand here now, that will cost €60 million extra compared with a cut and cover tunnel. There are different methods that can be used but the choice that has been made is to knock down the apartments and relocate them. We are in the middle of a housing crisis and the cost of housing has gone up year on year. The figure of €60 million is the estimated cost today. Imagine what the cost will be in five or ten years’ time if the MetroLink project is ever started. I urge the Minister of State to look at this project and its funding, and the Tara Street section in particular. We do not to be standing here in three, five or six years' time saying, “My God, what an absolutely shocking waste of money.” Being forewarned and forearmed, I do not think we want to see that waste of money here.”