Paul Nicholas Gogarty
Dublin Mid-West · Independent · Ireland
“As I have mentioned in the House before, if a border poll passes by 52% to 48%, the legal threshold of the Good Friday Agreement is met but the social consensus is not and moving 800,000 citizens into a new state against their explicit, democratic will does risk causing civil unrest.”
“We also have other gaps that are much smaller, like a ten-year phased transition, reducing the net annual cost to between €2.5 billion and €3 billion. We then had the middle figure of about €11 billion. We actually do not know how much it is going to cost but we do know it is going to cost something.”
“For example, adopting a single currency, getting rid of the exchange rate volatility and the transaction costs for cross-Border businesses are all advantages.”
“I would be loath to call a border poll right now because of the risks associated with that, but if a border poll did occur, the State would have to be prepared for the huge structural disruptions that would follow, so we have to start working now - that is why this debate is welcome - without arrogantly presuming it is going to become a r…”
“I have been listening to this debate in my office since Deputy Currie started her contribution. I always follow these debates on Irish unity with interest as someone who wants to see a united Ireland by consent.”
“Some have been mentioned in this House, such as a devolved regional assembly in Stormont to preserve local governance for the unionist community, a shared bill of rights protecting the dual Irish-British citizenship, and re-evaluating our relationship with the Commonwealth.”
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“I take on board what my colleagues before me said with regard to whether we could expect the Brazilian product to be any better. It is going to be worse because of the lack of regulation. It will lead to the cutting down of more rainforests, which are vital to our ongoing survival as a viable species. The European Union has not done enough work in that regard. This is why I support the motion and I support Ireland doing more to oppose Mercosur. In that context, I will just point out that we have the European Union vote and we also have areas where Ireland has mixed or its own competence in certain parts. While the European Union can proceed, even with the qualified majority vote side of things as the deal is passed, there are certain areas where we can veto, delay and block. We should be doing it for the right reasons.”
“In every deal a country that is a member of the European Union it is giving up some sort of sovereignty in return for something it believes will be of more benefit. Certainly Mercosur does have a marginal benefit to Ireland as a country in terms of our industrial side but it has a massive downside in terms of agriculture. We give out about the EU but we would not have had a nitrates directive and other environmental legislation without the EU. Ireland got a derogation because we were going cap in hand, so there is a little bit of a double standard here. We are asking for permission to put animal excrement into our waterways and to pollute our country so that we can export beef and dairy. If anything, we should be reducing our consumption of beef and dairy because all red meat, even when it is organic, has carcinogenic properties.”
“I support the Bill in principle because it protects young people, reduces the environmental harm and moves Ireland closer to a coherent nicotine control strategy. However, we need to speed up on the other measures. Otherwise, we risk being left behind because the flavours are a hugely important element as well.”
“It appears that no matter what, a key factor to help stop attracting young people and older people to vaping is now still a long way down the road because of that. If I can get that clarification, it would be great but the work could have been done alongside. The UK's upcoming legislation, as I mentioned, includes flavour restrictions along with the plain packaging and display bans, etc. France is looking at exploring the flavour limits and is pursuing a full ban of disposable vapes as well. The Netherlands has already banned all non-tobacco flavours in e-liquids. Germany is considering similar restrictions and has already tightened advertising rules. We risk falling behind. To quote the famous album by The Cranberries, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?”
“The most logical reason relates to the requirement under the EU's tobacco products directive where member states must notify the European Commission before introducing new product standard rules, including flavour bans. My understanding is this process takes six-to-12 months and requires things such as justification, a standstill period and clear scientific evidence. The Minister of State may correct me if I am wrong but it appears the Government has not yet notified the EU under the tobacco products directive of any intention to ban or restrict flavours. It could have done that concurrently up to the point of introducing this Bill so that it was ready to go alongside until it had a near-final drafted regulations.”
“What I am particularly concerned about is that the Bill does not ban or regulate flavours. That is the most glaring omission in the legislation. The HSE-supported study in The Lancet Regional Health - Europe found that the sweet and fruit flavours were the most common reason that young people start vaping. The ESRI's research shows that flavour descriptors significantly increase the appeal of vaping products to teenagers. I get why the Government might be leaving this element out and instead say it could bring it in through separate regulations under the Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Act 2023 or amending that or other legislation.”
“The UK announced a ban on disposable vapes and restrictions on flavours, packaging and point-of-sale displays, and several EU countries, including France and Germany, are pursuing broader bans and stricter controls on nicotine concentrations. We, as a country, risk falling behind if we do not bring in similar measures. The Bill narrowly focuses on single-use disposable vapes. That includes the enforcement powers, the offences, the definitions of single-use and related administrative provisions but it does not include flavour restrictions, nicotine strength limits, packaging or advertising rules, or design restrictions, especially ones anticipating the measures brought in by sellers and producers in other jurisdictions such as the charging ports and pre-fill pods some of my colleagues have reference.”
“The online sales, the social media marketing and other informal retail channels, including the likes of influencers, continue to target and supply minors in whatever way they can. By saying "minors", I am not only talking about those under age; I am talking about young people who otherwise may not have even considered trying vaping products. Without significant investment in the enforcement capacity such as dedicated environmental health officers and customs staff, the ban risks becoming more of a symbolic victory - talking the talk but not really walking the walk. The Bill does not go far enough in addressing issues such as marketing and product design. Other jurisdictions have moved much more decisively.”
“If our goal is to reduce any type of nicotine addiction, we need this more comprehensive regulatory framework for all nicotine products, including the refillable vapes, nicotine pouches, which I mentioned in this Chamber previously and which have their own negative health indicators that need to be looked at, and other emerging synthetic nicotine products. It is also the case, even with the welcome initial reduction, that enforcement still remains a major challenge in this country in terms of catching out companies and individual businesses selling to young people. The drop in youth vaping after the under-18 sales ban showed that the regulation works but it will continue working only if that enforcement is resourced and ongoing.”
“I want at the outset to reference something I raised previously. It is not related to this legislation but we are doing nothing about the nitrous oxide canisters. That is a major environmental and health concern also. In relation to the vaping, this Bill is a necessary limited step to protect public health and the environment but it is focusing too narrowly on the single-use devices when the research shows the problem is broader and the industry is already adapting to the changes, as noted elsewhere. The Lancet study I referred to makes clear another problem, namely, dual-use - smoking and vaping together. This gives the lie to the argument that vaping is about helping people to quit smoking. It is no longer strongly associated with quitting intentions and, as I stated previously, it is a new profit vehicle for producers.”
“They represent a major shift in nicotine consumption patterns in Ireland - something that the companies are pushing big time to keep the revenue streams going. In previous debates as well as in this debate, we have had discussions and revelations about the chemicals contained in the products, the individual chemicals and their cumulative effect. There may be a lack of long-term research but there certainly is some research showing that vaping products have a health impact. The environmental footprint has also been mentioned, adding the likes of the plastics, the lithium batteries and the electronic waste onto our streets and waterways, as other Deputies have referred to. No more than in my constituency, Tidy Towns groups, environmental groups and individual concerned citizens have reported a massive increase in these disposable products.”
“A major study published in The Lancet Regional Health - Europe led by researchers from the HSE, Trinity College, the Royal College of Surgeons and UCC found a 20-fold increase in vaping among young people and concluded that vaping is hooking a new generation of Irish people on nicotine, rather than helping them quit smoking. It, in itself, is creating a new drug, rather than being an aid for smoking, as an allegedly more dangerous activity. Meanwhile we have the Irish Health Survey 2024, using CSO data, reporting that nearly one-in-four young adults aged 18 to 34 now use or have at least once used vaping products, with almost 14% vaping every day. These are not numbers we can ignore.”
“I also broadly welcome this Bill, incremental as it may be. This legislation is a long-overdue partial measure responding to a significant public health concern, especially for our younger people. The Irish and international research has been sounding the alarm for several years. We have had multiple debates about this. The initial measure to clampdown on the underage sales had some impact. It was welcome. The Healthy Ireland survey showed that daily vaping among 15- to 19-year-olds had reached 12.9% in 2023 before falling to 9.3% in 2024 following the ban on under-18 sales. It is good to see that but the underlying trend remains deeply worrying in terms of moving forward.”
“We could have a modest enough Dublin allowance, with discounted rent schemes and an expanded, specific affordable housing scheme for essential workers. Why has this not been done yet? When will the Government act to keep some of our best and brightest at home, not just for Christmas but throughout the year?”
“I would like to thank all of the staff in the Oireachtas for their outstanding work throughout the year. I also wish the Tánaiste, the Leas Ceann Comhairle and all of our colleagues a very happy Christmas and peaceful, prosperous new year. This Christmas some people will be lucky enough to get visits from relatives flying in but many will not and will just have to make do with video calls from Australia, Dubai, Canada and so on. Given staff shortages in Dublin hospitals, Garda stations and schools, why do we not have a Dublin allowance for key workers? Nurses, teachers and gardaí are struggling under the weight of rent and living costs that are far higher here than elsewhere in the country. That is why they go abroad and stay abroad. London has recognised this reality with a weighting allowance and it has been shown to work.”
“I am not against culling the fox population if it is causing danger to people but this is not about culling the fox population, it is about having pleasure at the expense of an animal. I am particularly disappointed there is no open vote on this with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and especially Sinn Féin. One of my constituency colleagues talked last week about his partner's beautiful whippet called Padmé that brings so much joy to their lives, yet he told me also that he would not be opposing greyhound racing because that is a working man's sport and he said he would take the hit. Fox hunting could not be described as a working man's sport but Sinn Féin is still going to take the hit. Instead of tiocfaidh ár lá, it is tally-ho chaps, let us keep it going and keep the vestiges of the British Empire.”
“There is no rational argument for killing a defenceless wild animal for pleasure. It is the worst form of abuse. It is not for anything else. It is to get off on watching those hounds tear the fox apart, nothing else. It is uncivilised. It is on par with genital mutilation and the way people used to get away with whacking their partners in domestic abuse cases. It is a tradition but one that is long past its time. As others have said, there are alternatives. We have the drag hunting, the clean boot hunting. You can get on your horse, have your rural pursuits, ride on the land, chase, have all your social interactions, dress up and have hunt balls. You can have everything except tearing the fox apart.”
“I ask the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach to give Deputy Fitzmaurice the extra time because of this. To be clear, foxes are wild animals. They can be dangerous. They carry leptospirosis. They have tapeworm and toxoplasmosis. They will bite humans if they are hungry. They will attack domestic animals like cats and dogs if they can get away with it. I even heard a story about one robbing a spice bag off someone recently in an urban area. They will kill lambs, especially weak lambs after birth. Foxes are hunters. They are predators. Members have heard the phrase "sly as a fox." That is because they are clever animals. They are not domestic pets, although some people feed them in urban areas, as Deputy O'Donoghue said. Having said all that, they are dumb animals but not as dumb as the animals that hunt them.”
“The Taoiseach and others have rightly condemned the horrific attacks in Sydney where 15 people were killed and more were injured. Given the atrocity, there is always a risk that abuse to our own Jewish community may increase and there may be copycat incidents. In that context, has the Taoiseach had discussions with the Garda Commissioner or anyone on the security side to see what can be done to reassure our own Jewish community in light of these attacks? Whatever our views are on the Israeli state's treatment of Palestinians, our Jewish citizens have a right to live in peace and not be tormented by anyone. They will be feeling fear now and need reassurance.”
“The Government is putting things on the long finger and causing future heartache. Problems will continue down the road. The Bill was an opportunity to sort this out once and for all. Ultimately, many of those responsible for causing the issue in the first place have got away scot-free. It is up to the Government to try to support people. Families have not been adequately supported. In this context, I support my colleague's amendments and want to put myself on the record as supporting 100% redress.”
“I do not claim to have a great knowledge of this area, especially in terms of how it impacts families along the western seaboard, in particular. I have spoken in support of my colleague Deputy Ward and I want to show solidarity once again. In Leinster, including in Dublin, where there were defective apartments the levels of redress were much higher. There is huge inequality in terms of what families on the western seaboard in counties like Donegal, Sligo and Mayo are receiving. It is an issue that affects the country as a whole, but in particular the western seaboard. I note my colleague has tabled a lot of amendments which I will support, but the Government is still defective, for want of a better word, in what it is putting forward. We had a chance for 100% redress and I cannot see why we cannot have it.”
“It is not sharing people’s eating habits, it is not sharing their standard online practices or what their individual likes and dislikes are. It is following up on people who may be involved in crime. It is following up on organisations that are trying to dismember our democratic process in elections and outside them and spewing misinformation. Whether this works, ultimately, depends on all other states opting, and the levels of co-operation may be different between EU member states. It will only work if everyone works towards it. The Government should be very vigilant in protecting individual rights, but at the same time, on the general principle, we need to be pushing more towards co-operation and sharing this information for the common good.”
“We do not want Chinese-style monitoring on every corner but CCTV is being requested more and more. If can get more of that information while protecting individual rights, it is a good thing in the modern age. I mentioned a while back that our children are being abused online through acceding to social media companies operating unimpeded. I had criticisms of the Government’s contribution on the ID verification aspect of it, so I am not unaware of the risks and not doing enough, but in this case, through the existing rules in Europe, the parliamentary means, the Council of Ministers, etc., any kind of enhanced surveillance and cross-border co-operation can only be a good thing because it is specifically in terms of catching and dealing with criminals. It is sharing the information on that basis.”
“I was originally against that agreement, but with the advent of the Trump Administration and the hostile view towards Europe and towards Ireland, greater trade co-operation with Canada is viewed as being necessary and there were checks and balances put in. As this goes, we will see checks and balances and we are still a sovereign state with the ability to opt out of protocols as and when required. All things being balanced, the Council of Europe has rules and the EU is a rules-based institution that has protection for individuals and their privacy. It has protections for consumers and environmental protections. The European Union is not looking to turn into a Big Brother superpower. In fact, our constituents are looking for more surveillance, in many cases.”
“We need to upgrade our systems throughout the European Union and this protocol is adapting an original framework done in 1959 when we barely had colour television, let alone the Internet or AI-assisted technology. We are talking about reducing delays in judicial co-operation through videoconferencing and having the interception of telecommunications and digital evidence being processed faster. Ireland’s opting in would allow a collective EU response which we have not always been able to have up to now. I would say to the Minister of State to be careful, but from his contribution I do not believe the Government is literally trying to turn Ireland into part of an EU Big Brother state to share people’s information. I do not see it that way at all. There was a similar argument made yesterday about CETA.”
“More and more, our political system is subject to misinformation coming through troll farms, usually not within EU member states, admittedly, but sometimes in countries that have an interest in EU accession or where the EU states bordering them have better access to tracking down and tracing that type of information. As such, there is a national discretion issue and a privacy and data protection issue as well because any sort of expanded powers for electronic surveillance and cross-border interception will raise civil liberties concerns, but we have to balance those with the common good. As it stands, criminals are literally able to get away with murder because of lack of credible information.”
“I take on board the civil liberties and civil rights argument. It is hugely important. However, when we look at how crime has changed over the decades, it has become more and more transnational. I am not just talking about criminal drugs gangs. I know of the work being done by Europol in trying to catch and deal with sexual predators. This is not just about the transmission of images but the people involved in creating the images on location. The sharing of that information has helped to catch the criminals where they are abusing children, so if we can go a little further on that it would be hugely welcome. Another area is cyberterrorism.”
“The child was sent an image of Roblox characters in different sexual positions. There is no nut to crack on Roblox. Facebook can have all sorts of scams. Instagram can send different reels, including some with dangerous content. There is no effective way to make the companies pay. The European Parliament called for an outright ban. The European Union has legislation coming forward, but we are not enforcing it. We should enforce it to the nth degree and then roll back gradually because we are in danger of losing our kids and social discourse. All around the world, various groups, as mentioned by other Members, have echo chambers. We have to have proper discourse. We need to ensure that this is permitted moving forward.”
“Our children are being systematically abused and we are letting it happen. It is a simple as that. We go on about the old days of this State where we allowed abuse in various institutions and tipped the hat to the church and allowed abuse to go on under the covers. We are doing the same thing now with social media. We are talking the talk but we are not walking the walk. I have raised this issue multiple times and I am, to be quite honest, underwhelmed by the proposal to use the MyGovID scheme to try to restrict people going online. We should be going at this with a hammer and be even tougher than Australia. If we have to draw back, we can do so. We have to show the companies that we mean business. As I said, our kids are being abused. I know of a 12-year-old on Roblox who was ostensibly talking to a 15-year-old.”
“A couple of months ago, we had a discussion on the fact that the Government was working on the so-called spiking Bill, the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person (Amendment) (Spiking) Bill 2023. I asked whether it would progress beyond Second Stage to Committee and Report Stages. At present, the sinister offence of the spiking of drinks is covered only under legislation on poisoning or drugging, such as the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act, the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act, the Misuse of Drugs Act and the Intoxicating Liquor Act. Is this Bill going to come before these Houses shortly? Spiking is an important issue. It is an ongoing, systemic problem in society and proper penalties are needed.”
“It is a two-pronged thing. It is about putting the staff in place with secure long-term jobs and about making sure we have a plan B for when we are missing the isotope provision. We need a second supplier.”
“What the Taoiseach did not go into was what contingency plans are in place or whether he can commit to putting contingency plans in place to ensure that patients are not left without scans because of single point of failure. The diagnostic imaging is hugely important in modern medicine but without some sort of action to have a separate contingency plan in place when the radiation fails, will we have these lists lengthening and lengthening? It is not a good or an efficient way to run a health service. Obviously, I take on board that more machines are being put in place but we still have a situation where qualified radiographers who we have paid for through the system and who want to live and work in Ireland are being forced to go abroad. Like teachers and other professionals, once they go abroad, it is hard to get them back.”
“It is the way of knowing whether or not the cancer has spread beyond the prostate. It determines the course of treatment and cancelling it not once but twice leaves the patient in limbo facing surgery without the full picture. The person who wrote to me said, "I am one of God knows how many people experiencing this stress, yet it is never heard about. The teams I have been dealing with are phenomenal but they are also been put under huge pressure"’. It is not only related to systemic failure in terms of prostate cancer. It also relates to other areas, such as breast cancer, for example, because PET scans used for staging in treatment and planning in breast cancer require radiopharmaceuticals, such as fluorodeoxyglucose, FDG, as well, which are isotope dependent. This needs to be addressed.”
“He had just had surgery for prostate cancer this month but twice now his PET scans have been cancelled because the batch of radiation required for the scans failed. This happened because the HSE and the Department of Health rely on a single provider and when that supply chain breaks down, no patient in the country can get their scan. This is not an isolated incident. The European Medicines Agency has warned that radiopharmaceutical supply chains across the EU are fragile, with occasional shortages already reported in other member states. The OECD confirms that Europe's reliance on a small number of reactors and suppliers for specific isotopes creates a systemic risk. In Ireland, we are directly exposed to these vulnerabilities and we have no contingency plan. Imagine the stress. The scans people have these conditions are not optional.”
“The HSE radiology workforce report outlines workforce projections and training requirements and recommends increasing the radiology trainee intake from 39 in 2025 to 75 in 2028, highlighting that Ireland's radiologist numbers per capita are substantially below European norms. This report was prepared to feed into the broader national radiology strategy and while the Minister for Health has confirmed a strategy is being developed and under consideration, we have not yet seen the finer details. Then, of course, we have our diagnostic imaging capacity problem - a shortage of machines. Where machines go in, that is only half the story. I want to put a human face on one element of this to explain. A constituent wrote to me.”
“Today I raise the chronic shortage of radiographers and the related fragile state of our diagnostic imaging capacity. As the Taoiseach is probably aware, the HSE has acknowledged that radiology and radiation therapy departments remain under-resourced, with waiting lists for diagnostic scans continuing to grow. We saw earlier this year a report on RTÉ showing that, despite over 200 radiography graduates qualifying annually, many are being forced to emigrate because of appointments not being made. This is not just poor workforce planning; it could be called a misuse of public finds, wasting money training professionals who we then lose abroad while we scramble to import more.”
“I welcome, in theory, the single point of access and the autism assessment protocol that might help in the long term, but families need assurance that qualified professionals will be available to deliver the service. Announcing reforms is easy when the Government is being held to account, but the issue is whether they can be delivered. That requires tackling recruitment and retention of staff issues and of course the short, medium and long-term resources. Until we see a clear plan to address the vacancy rates, we still have credibility issues with these targets. I welcome that the HSE will introduce a single point of access system. My time is up but challenges remain for the Government to meet its own targets.”
“With so many posts lying vacant for months and sometimes years, where will the staff in this plan come from? Where is the plan to fix the staff recruitment so the plan can actually work? We are told that 6,000 assessments will be completed this year, which is a 44% increase on last year. It is impressive but it is against a backdrop, as others have said, that will reach 22,000 by the end of the year. Families are still waiting. People are outside the Dáil, protesting, and the scale of the challenge is dwarfing the headline numbers. Without a credible recruitment plan, the targets risk being little more than further political spin. The reforms promise to free therapists from paperwork, which would of course be welcome, but if the HSE cannot fill the existing vacancies and retain staff in front-line roles, the bottlenecks will remain.”
“I have spoken before about the broken system of needs assessment and delivery of services. Today, alongside this welcome motion, we see the Government making ambitious promises of faster assessments of need backed by new expert teams to streamline processes. It sounds like an early Christmas gift but time will tell whether it is just an empty promise or if it can actually be delivered. The Government tells us that 11 new teams with 44 expert staff have transformed the system, yet we know that across the health service, the vacancy rates remain stubbornly high. Speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and psychologists are all in short supply. We hear recruitment and retention are ongoing, but the challenges of meeting that are equally stark.”
“The European Union's principle of subsidiarity holds that the EU should only act in areas where it does not have exclusive competence if the objectives or actions can be better achieved at a lower level. I have said before that our local government system is flawed. There is not enough power at local level to uphold this EU principle. Trade agreements are done at European level. The Germans have had issues with this proposal, as have the Belgians. It is good to put it through scrutiny. On balance, given the fact that the Trump administration is playing a dangerous game with our future in Ireland and given that Canada is a more reliable partner, we have to look at the pros and cons. On balance, I support the legislation as proposed for that reason and because it meets those thresholds.”
“Some would argue the ICS better balances investor protection with our public policy safeguards because of the permanent tribunal of judges appointed by the EU and Canada, and we are a member state of the EU. Decisions made are subject to an appeal mechanism, which is better than the appeal mechanism in place previously, hearings are to be made public and documents are to be published. There is also more transparency and third parties, for example, environmental NGOs, can make submissions. Investors can only challenge discriminatory or unfair treatment, not the general policy decisions. There is explicit recognition that governments retain the right to regulate in areas like health, environment and labour. I am a firm believer in the European project, as supported by the people.”
“There is a worry about subtle threats or that decisions will be made that prioritise investors over the common good. Valid criticisms were made that the ratification of CETA was rushed. Under the 2022 Supreme Court ruling, CETA could only be ratified following changes made via the Arbitration Act, highlighting the constitutional sensitives around it. The question is where we are now with the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. A lot has changed and, as I will discuss briefly shortly, a lot changed following the US presidential election. Safeguards have been brought in. Unlike the old ISDS models, the investment court system recognises states' rights to regulate in the public interest.”
“Tonight, and in the past, this has been contentious legislation. On the one hand, there is always the situation where, if you join an organisation like the European Union, which still has massive support among the people, you give something up in return for getting something. The CETA agreement is like that. The question was whether we were giving up too much. There is the overarching issue of sovereignty. There is the fear the system would allow foreign corporations to bypass Irish courts and challenge laws in international tribunals. As previous speakers mentioned, there is also the idea of having less power, in that certain Irish governments may not pass legislation going forward because it might offend these corporations.”
“In looking at developments going forward, there needs to be some sort of tie-in with facilities and infrastructure that makes it mandatory on Government agencies and Departments to guarantee that train stations will be open, capacity will be provided, schools will be built and bus routes will actually be planned on the map, ready to go with the NTA, before any housing construction commences. We had a situation where €4 million was spent redeveloping Kishoge train station because it never opened in 2009 as was planned. A car park that was supposed to be put in place ended up being developed instead. This was a complete waste of taxpayers' money, whereas if they had made sure that no house could be built until the train station was open, I guarantee that train station would have been opened straight away.”
“Earlier on, I was talking about the fact that all newly development rezoned areas should be SDZs to try to tie in facilities and infrastructure. As regards taking away some community input by fast-tracking the process, I see the need to fast-track the process but we still have to have the input and we still have to allow it in some way. A lot of the times that An Bord Pleanála, now An Coimisiún Pleanála, dragged on were not because of any particular objection, but because the objection process and the planning process would be nine weeks together. People should be able to have their say.”
“Edmundsbury, where there is a proposal to put houses along a so-called transport hub that is regularly congested because of traffic rat-running to avoid the tolls on the M50. Throughout the constituency of Dublin Mid-West where there are identified tracts of land, one thing is missing. Every one of these suitable tracts of land should be proper, ring-fenced SDZs. Adamstown will have 3,000 more houses and Clonburris will have 8,000 houses but they do not have proper tie-ins of facilities and infrastructure, of having the bus services running beforehand and having trains and schools. We have DART+ South West now pushed back by five years. We cannot just build houses without building communities.”
“I note the Government's plan and in the limited time I want to focus on one aspect of it, namely, the incoherence in terms of infrastructure and facilities tied in alongside. To give an example, four years ago I proposed rezoning land beside Liffey Valley Shopping Centre in an industrial area right beside the M50. It would have made perfect logical sense to build housing right opposite a major shopping centre. People could just walk across the road to it and there was space for a school as well. However the commissioner overruled it saying that it was premature and that we had enough zoned land in the county. Now, four years later, South Dublin County Council gets a diktat saying it has to identify bits of land left, right and centre, one of which is in the actual Liffey valley. This is St.”
“While applying to one channel is welcome, I would like the Minister of State to pass on her colleagues the need to create a pathway because there are similar groups around the country who have similar problems. Can the Government identify a pathway where they can apply for the funding through various Departments and channels because of the multifaceted aspect of the work? They are coming up against a brick wall. They need help from Government sources. I would appreciate if they could get that.”
“Page 147 of the National Development Plan 2021-2030 states that a funding route needs to be found for building like this, which epitomises the first five early childhood and family centres. The build cost was estimated at €4 million last year. They have been able to indicate that they would get some funding. They were informed that the building block strand 2 extension fund has a maximum grant of €650,000 for an individual organisation. That leaves a huge deficit. The services at Deansrath are resourced through service level agreements largely with Tusla, but also through the HSE and Pobal early years funding. The services are spread across quite a number of buildings. They need to find out where they can get that several million euro.”
“It is partially answered but the Departments still does not have the big picture because those behind the centre need funding to build a model of excellence in what will be a first of its kind family and early childhood centre. It will be the first whole-of-government strategy for babies, young children and their families, which is in the State's long-term programme. So far, their vision has been enabled through the land disposal agreement with South Dublin County Council, a bequest of €200,000 from a deceased chairperson of the board of management and some fundraising, including support by the architect who continued to work pro bono to secure the planning permission, which has been secured. It is a fantastic plan but it only remains a plan until funding is provided.”