Paul McAuliffe
Dublin North-West · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“In the context of the previous Government, some of our Green Party colleagues were also supportive of this for a range of other reasons relating to delivering the circular economy. From what I hear, one outcome of the review could be the creation of a franchised service.”
“It would allow it to say that in the context of my area of Finglas, it is not appropriate that because an area is more affluent, people living in that road have access to five bin companies and because somewhere else is less affluent, it is stuck with one bin company.”
“I made a commitment to Deputies Gannon and Sherlock in 2019 in an agreement we signed together to pursue the issue of remunicipalisation. It was the right thing to do then and it is the right thing to do now. It is not an accident that there are many Dublin-based Deputies in the House for this debate.”
“If Dublin City Council had been allowed address the housing crisis back in 2012, 2013 or 2014, when it was impacting the city far more than anywhere else, we would have been ahead of the curve.”
“-----to put in place waste solutions that suit their areas. If this means that there is a different solution in Dublin City Council's area than in the other local authority areas across the county, then that is how it should be. Unfortunately, that power rests with the chief executive.”
“To break that down a little, the issues Deputies Gannon and Sherlock are having in the city centre are vastly different from the ones that are relevant in my constituency. We do not have an issue with bags. Nor do we have the same street structures or networks.”
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“We have harnessed the power of wind, making our country an emerging leader in clean energy production. What is the use of all of that progress, however, if significant portions of that renewable energy - energy that could otherwise heat homes and provide power - is simply thrown away each evening when there is low demand in the grid? Since 2017, an estimated €1.95 billion worth of renewable energy has been dumped. This could have heated more than 2 billion hot water tanks. Last year alone, more than €420 million worth of wind energy was effectively earthed. This is enough to provide real relief for thousands of families struggling to keep their homes warm. At the same time, more than 550,000 households live in energy poverty.”
“I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to require the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications to develop and publish a strategy to ensure that surplus renewable energy is utilised effectively, specifically for the benefit of people experiencing energy poverty, and to set targets for the utilisation of surplus renewable energy. I am introducing this Bill as a proposal that reflects the strategic approach to energy management and a moral commitment to those living in energy poverty. I note the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan, who drafted this Bill with me. I am sure he will be a continuing ally of its principles now that he serves in government. In recent years, Ireland has made incredible strides in renewable energy.”
“Ireland has and will have the potential to be one of the leading exporters of wind energy in western Europe. That energy can power data centres as well as other areas. The prediction is we will be a net exporter of renewable energy. Let data centres be part of it, not for their sake but for that of all the benefits we have talked about.”
“The surgeon logs in from the United States and carries out the surgery here in Beaumont. As with any of the things we have talked about, there will be huge challenges. The issues of data, energy and regulation are all important and there is no way we should go into this without checks and believing the technology should have no limits. In fact, it should be the very opposite. When we consider the social media revolution, many of us wish we had intervened far earlier. By not intervening, we have limited our own ability to respond in society. I wish the Minister of State the best of luck. I look forward to working with her in this area. I am not a tech expert either but I want to learn about AI and the societal challenges we face. AI will drive the consumption of water and energy, including wind energy in Ireland.”
“Like Deputy Gogarty's speech, mine is entirely written by AI, but it is my speech because I am the one who is going to read it. AI is not reading it into the record of this House; I am. It is my speech because I am the one who prompted it. I fed in not only one prompt but prompts concerning several external sources I trust and wanted to reference. It is my speech because I put in a prompt that was nearly as long as the output. That is the difference between one-line use of ChatGPT and how AI will be used. Large language models like ChatGPT are only the thin veneer of how AI will be used. In some ways, it is the thing that is most accessible to all of us. It will demonstrate how we can use the technology. In Beaumont Hospital, where I was only four weeks ago, they were using AI to carry out operations on patients.”
“In some ways, this debate is incredibly refreshing. While we are dealing with an incredibly new technology, there is nothing new about the debate we are having. We could replace the word "AI" with the word "steam", "electricity", "computers" or "Internet". All of them are just technological developments and it is up to us as a society to decide how we react to them. Having listened to the debate, I believe we have three options: one, pull the plug, hunker down and pretend AI is not happening; two, take no risks and let somebody else do it; and three, try to be at the forefront and shape AI ourselves. In my view, we should be taking the third option. It is what we have done with other technological developments in this country. It has brought us challenges, but also significant benefits.”
“Will the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health join me in my constituency to visit Beaumont Hospital? It is a fantastic hospital that does amazing work but it is in need of further capital support. I and many other local TDs saw the unveiling of a new theatre in the hospital. It has amazing potential and uses AI and many other new technologies. Some key areas, such as critical care, the emergency department and the new 95-bed unit, are still within the capital programme. We would welcome that investment and its progress through the capital programme system.”
“The programme for Government has a very welcome commitment to extend the ten-year rule for taxis registered in 2015. When this happened on a number of previous occasions it took several months for the NTA to operationalise it, which negates the benefit in the first place, as many taxis are bought in the first quarter of the year. The benefit of the 2015 registration is to be had now. We have extended it in previous years and we should do it again. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to do everything they can to get the NTA to operationalise it.”
“We must make sure that where Dublin City Council is the client and, ultimately, where the State and the Department are providing homes, that delays cannot be tolerated or allowed and that where they arise, issues are resolved in a way that ensures timely delivery. This is very important to the community and the people who want to live there. Value for money, State spending and how we deliver projects are also important, as is the competency of Dublin City Council to deliver. The Department needs to do everything it can to support Dublin City Council, which needs to get around the table with the provider. Glenveagh Homes needs to step up and provide the solutions that need to be provided.”
“However, whatever is happening on the site would appear to be the beginning of a prolonged period of inactivity. That is what I fear. We have to make sure that whatever is happening is resolved quickly, that we get people around the table and that we ensure that the issues are resolved. I say that because it is not just about this site. In my constituency, we are starting to see more and more Housing for All sites opening up. More than 2,000 units across the constituency are at different levels of design and planning stages. Many of those are now proceeding to the construction phase.”
“I thank the Minister of State. The point he makes in regard to the current status of the project is important because it would appear that yesterday Dublin City Council was also unaware that there was no activity on site. While there appear to be some attempts to bring forward some of the public realm elements, a site such as this should be heaving. It should be a hive of activity. More than 200 people were on site at one point, which is very far from the situation I encountered when I visited it on Friday. The important point is that of course issues will arise on a site. Dublin City Council has every right to make interventions. The provider of the housing should be reaching the client's expectations and also the statutory expectations. All of that should be taken as read.”
“They are in a part of the city where there is not a great deal of private development because it is mostly apartment development in the city. This is why homes are required and why we need to make sure the site is delivered. Regardless of what happens on the site I ask that it be a continuing priority of the Minister of State and the Minister. This is a flagship project for Housing For All and for the State in the context of being involved in the provision of housing. We have to make sure it is a good example and not a bad one.”
“The other angle is that many people did not support this project and voted against it when it came before the council. They have deliberately misconstrued the very heavily subsidised prices on the site. One of the biggest misnomers I found during the election was that houses were for sale on this site for €500,000. Those were the prices before reductions of more than €100,000 in some cases. There were also further reductions when we take into account other subsidies under Housing For All. In many cases, we had three-bedroom homes coming in at €360,000 or €370,000. There will be more details on this as the site develops. This is why people want to buy homes on the site. These will be affordable homes.”
“Yesterday, Dublin City Council's assistant city manager for housing made a report to councillors and referred to issues with radon barriers, dormer windows, plaster rendering and moisture. These are all issues that would, I imagine, be readily resolvable if we could get everybody around the table. At this stage, that is what we need. The tricky position for Dublin City Council is that it is the regulatory authority. It is responsible for building control and, separately, it is the client on the site. It is not only Dublin City Council that is the client because the State and the Department are funding the overall development on the site. There is an onus on everyone to get around the table to try to resolve whatever issues are there and ensure we can continue construction on the site.”
“There is no activity on the entire site, although the road network has been laid out, the parks and landscaping are already in place and many of the houses are either under construction or, in some cases, finished. There would appear to be an impasse between Dublin City Council's building control unit, Glenveagh, which is the provider of the houses, and Dublin City Council, which is the client. I welcome the fact there are frequent, regular and unannounced checks on housing development. This is an important step that will prevent the mistakes of the past being repeated. Whatever the issue is on site, Dublin City Council and Glenveagh need to come together to ensure that construction gets back up and running and that we have timely and rapid delivery of homes at the site.”
“I take this opportunity to congratulate the Ministers of State, Deputies Dillon and Cummins. Deputy Cummins served on the housing committee, which sets him up well for the question I am about to put before him. The site on Oscar Traynor Road is incredibly important in the overall Housing For All programme and the overall programme of State construction of public housing on public land. There are more than 800 houses, comprising cost-rental, affordable purchase and social housing. It was hoped we could get rapid delivery. As we move into the second term of Housing For All, delivery has to be the key objective on every site where we have made investment. Unfortunately, when I visited the Oscar Traynor Road site on Friday, no activity was taking place.”
“We need to look at what the unintended consequences for those might be, most immediately in terms of aluminium and steel. We do not know where this will go but more engagement with businesses and for them to inform our position is a positive step and something we should not discourage. Some people in this House are better at creating jobs than others.”
“We saw with Brexit that a huge amount of work went into preparing Irish business for the impacts of the divergence between the two parts of the island on trade, customs and tariffs. As we head into more uncertain times in terms of the transatlantic relationship regarding trade and tariffs, I ask the Tánaiste's Department and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to engage more with business. That is unlike members of the Opposition, who seem to pour water on engaging with businesses on trade. Of course, the Government should have an ethical framework and avoid any suggestion of oligarchy and so on, but if it is to deal with trade and tariffs, the people it should talk to are Irish businesses and people carrying out business in Ireland.”
“My interest in this question dates back to the 1997 opportunity for peace, when Northern Ireland was going to join a world of prosperity and peace and a multinational rules-based order. Much of that has been eroded over the years and I am concerned about trade policy and how both trading blocks - the UK and the EU - may differ in the face of US tariffs.”
“I intend to note at each Oral Questions session from now on the disproportionate, unbalanced and unfair priority which some parties in the House have to hold the Government to account, given the allocated amounts of time. I hope the Government and the Opposition will follow through on their words to allocate more time to people representing one of the largest groups in the House, namely, backbenchers. We have as much right to ask Priority Questions to our Ministers as anybody else in the House. I acknowledge the Tánaiste's appointment and that of the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, who was a healthy contributor on foreign affairs as a backbencher. It is great to see him in the post and I think he will have great grá for it.”