Roderic O'Gorman
Dublin West · Green Party · Ireland
“These are men and women who served their working lives within the British civil service system but who, following unification, would be drawing their pensions in a united Ireland. The question of the funding of that will be extremely significant in any talks following a "Yes" vote on both parts of the island.”
“Some 100 extra staff have been hired to the public domain team to tackle waste and dumping and our councillors will continue to fight for a cleaner and greener Dublin.”
“These challenges are magnified by the continued failure of the current political institutions in Northern Ireland to operate for the best interests of the people rather than achieving best political advantage for the parties.”
“In the Dublin Central area, an average of 50 tonnes per month of illegally dumped waste is being removed by the council. It is a huge amount of waste, and this is more than is collected in an entire year from whole counties elsewhere in the country. Our current model of waste management is a direct contributor to this.”
“This means that in many areas, bags are the notional solution but these cause issues with seagulls or foxes or are intermingled with illegally dumped bags. The net result is our footpaths are strewn with waste. Dublin City Council recently rolled out a system of waste compactors in the core areas of the city centre.”
“The solution is to rationalise the current system, put local authorities back at the centre of waste management processes and use this to get a better handle on pricing and illegal dumping through contracts that are right for each specific area, instead of the one-size-fits-all model we have at the moment that is not actually working anyw…”
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“I wish the Minister of State a good afternoon. I am not sure how familiar he is with drones, but in Dublin 15 in my constituency they are something we are very familiar with at the moment. For over a year now, a commercial company called Manna Drone Delivery has been using airborne drones to deliver takeaway food to homes around Blanchardstown and Castleknock. The drone flies over and the food comes down in a brown paper bag on a string. It is literally manna from heaven. Any time people are in Dublin 15, they hear the buzz and see the drone going over and know that a punter in Clonsilla is getting his or her burrito. This is a brand new area and as with any new technology, there are benefits.”
“We are seeing biodiversity destroyed to have these large plantations, which goes against biodiversity targets and is undermining domestic production. What will Ireland do to protect our domestic biomethane industry and not allow it to be undermined by imported and sometimes fraudulently marketed HVO?”
“Undoubtedly every Department will be looking to get their hands on that money. That is why I want to hear that the Minister will fight for at least €300 million. That is why we thought it would have been better to state that this money will be there for an industry that is in its infancy and that needs clarity and certainty. As that certainty is not there, the sooner the Minister gets in there to say that this is the amount of money available, the sooner that clarity will be available for the industry. The Minister said that there would be engagement with the Commission on this soon. One of the real threats to our domestic biomethane industry is hydrotreated vegetable oil, HVO, being imported and used as a substitute. This is problematic because it is palm oil.”
“The Minister's party and Fine Gael blocked that at the end of the last Government; what is done is done. In his new role, will the Minister commit to fighting for at least €300 million to provide the capital to develop those essential anaerobic digestion facilities, so that we can cut our emissions and provide more income streams in rural areas?”
“Ireland has a real opportunity to grow an industry that will help us to cut our carbon emissions and also provide new income streams for farmers and across rural areas. Biomethane can replace diesel and other fossil fuels in transport and industry, allowing us to cut those emissions. As we know, we have a significant supply of agricultural waste and silage which can be converted into biomethane, benefiting rural economies. We need to support this sector. There is a need for capital funding to support the development of anaerobic digestion facilities. The Minister mentioned a small amount there. His predecessor had proposed that €300 million from the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund would be reserved specifically for this area to give real certainty to those considering investing in biomethane facilities.”
“Could the Minister give an update on his Department's progress on the implementation of the national biomethane strategy that was published in May of last year? In particular, could he give an outline of when producers will get some certainty regarding the renewable heat obligation, RHO?”
“While acknowledging the role that data centres play in the wider IT sector, which is an important employer in Ireland, we have to be honest about the trade-offs in terms of less capacity for housing connections and in eating up new renewable energy capacity rather than allowing that new renewable energy capacity replace existing fossil fuel sources. We have to be honest that there are trade-offs to the new Government's stated policy of liberalising the granting of planning for additional data centres that the new policy will entail.”
“That image is so crude that it can be easily spotted, but we have to be ready for the time when that content is absolutely indistinguishable from reality. We must also be upfront about the huge energy use that AI technology necessitates. As a country that already expends a disproportionate percentage of our energy generation on data centres, we need to acknowledge that the growth in AI use has huge potential to pressure the ability to achieve carbon reduction targets in Ireland and internationally.”
“We also have to be clear about the identification of fake content. I will use a crude example. There is an image of me going around X at the moment saying that in an interview I leaked a secret of wealth generation. I did not, because I do not know that particular secret.”
“AI has really innovative potential to bring hugely positive enhancement in our lives, but it has to work for the benefit of people and society. I very much welcome the EU's AI Act in that line. That regulation sets down critically important limitations on the use of AI, and I am proud of the strong influence the green group in the European Parliament had in ensuring there were guardrails placed in that regulation. Practices like biometric mass surveillance, AI systems that recognise gender or sexual orientation and AI-based predictive policing are among the most undemocratic and unethical practices that AI systems can be put to. Where an individual's rights and freedoms can be so effectively undermined at scale without that person being aware, that raises really worrying and fundamental questions.”
“I congratulate the Minister of State on her appointment and wish her well in the new role. I welcome this opportunity for us to have an informed debate on the positive implications of AI across our society, as well as the new risks it brings. As with any evolution in technological capability that has a widespread application, the public debate on this has been intense. In this environment the public requires clear and trustworthy information about how AI is being used in their daily lives, and in particular to ensure that the public interest is served, that individual rights and freedoms are protected from exploitation, and that the adoption of this technology is used within the boundary of our climate commitments. It is also important to establish some fundamental principles about what AI should be used for.”
“Much of the focus in today's debate is on the high-level critical interventions, the need to recruit and resource into CAMHS and the need to rapidly pass the mental health (amendment) Bill. I wish to put a focus, however, on the State's ability to direct early interventions. For young people, early intervention is absolutely crucial to avoid issues escalating and the need for more significant treatment later on. I think specifically of Jigsaw in Dublin 15, in my own constituency. The work it does saves lives. I was disappointed there was not a lot on that early intervention piece in the programme for Government. I would welcome the Minister of State addressing this in her concluding remarks because I know she gets it. She might speak to what she and the Government intend to do in the area of early intervention.”
“I welcome the opportunity to discuss mental health and how our State responds. We all know the historic position that mental health services had in this country during the last century. There was little investment and a damaging institutional approach, all reflective of attitudes at the time. Thankfully, today attitudes are different and the State's response is different. We now have a problem of prioritisation, however. The State is seemingly in perpetual catch-up mode to try to provide the services to reach everybody who needs support. For too many, it simply does not happen and that is unacceptable. I think of course, of CAMHS and the urgent need for services to be regulated and for coverage to be expanded.”
“It was necessary in a coalition and it worked. Then, we do not really have a coalition anymore. We have two electoral machines focused on maximising their respective votes, where policy at the centre is simply an arrangement of political preferences and, in between them, a group of Independents whose support has been obtained through ministerial appointment and a web of unseen agreements, and whose commitment to the Government is so half-hearted they want to keep a foot in opposition so they can keep lobbing grenades from the outside while, at the same time, enjoying the benefits of access. The programme for Government speaks to a Government devoid of innovation and afraid to commit to detail, and one which is centred on political expediency rather than on a clear vision.”
“Now, we see no mention of how this spending will be maintained. What of the view that a programme for Government reflects a blending of what the governing parties promised in their manifestos? It is not really clear with this document. I will take one example. There is no mention of a legal right for children to an ECCE place. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael promised this but the programme for Government fails to mention it. Was it just something they said at election time? Did Michael Lowry not like it? We are all left to guess. It is true that not everything a Government says or does is written in a programme for Government but the programme for Government is critical, especially at the start of a coalition's term. In 2020 that was where the direction was spelled out. It was the contract on which the Government was based.”
“In 2020 we mobilised the entire political system to publish a climate action law in the first 100 days, delivering change at pace. This legislation proved the importance of ensuring that our emission reduction efforts would be achieved in a just way. In the new programme for Government we get a bare mention of this with no detail. The key decision to ensure Ireland would never be a destination or transit point for LNG gets no reference. We have already seen media briefings predicting a policy change here. In 2020 clear funding commitments were set out to ensure that spending on public transport infrastructure would be 2:1 over roads. This was achieved. Now, the commitment is gone. This commitment ensured that great progress was made in making our cities and towns safer for walking and cycling.”
“Some Members of the Opposition have remarked that the programme for Government represents more of the same. Having had some experience of how a programme for Government is put together and implemented I disagree with this point. I see a real difference and a real step backwards in terms of the absence of ambition, the vagueness of timelines and targets and the lack of clear funding commitments in the new programme for Government. The policy ambition in the new programme for Government, as we have seen with the Government so far, will always come second to prevailing political interests. In 2020 "ambition" was taking unprecedented steps to protect biodiversity and halt nature loss championed by Malcolm Noonan. This ambition was continued throughout the lifetime of the Government, demonstrated by the creation of the climate and nature fund.”
“A constituent of ours had to go as far as suing the Department of Education in the High Court in order to get access to a reading school. There is no reference to reading schools, reading classes or dyslexia in the programme for Government. What is the policy?”
“What is the Government's policy on the use of reading schools and reading classes in our education system? Reading schools are special schools with low pupil-teacher ratios that are designed to meet the needs of children with severe dyslexia. Due to their success, a number of reading classes have been set up. These are attached to mainstream primary schools and perform the same function. Countless parents I have spoken to have referred to the benefits their children have gained from reading classes. However, the NCSE has put in place a moratorium on the setting up of new reading schools. As the Minister, Deputy Chambers, is aware, the NCSE blocked the creation of a new reading class at St. Francis Xavier school in Blanchardstown.”
“Ireland has shown strong and compassionate leadership over the last year by pledging €20 million extra to UNRWA at a time when other key donors were withdrawing their support. I recognise the role that the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach played in swiftly pledging support for UNRWA last year. This funding has allowed the organisation to meet the urgent need of Palestinian refugees in Gaza for healthcare, food aid and emergency shelter. Given Israel's recent ban on and blacklisting of UNRWA and the growing challenges to humanitarian support worldwide, when the Taoiseach meets President Trump in March, will he ask the president to reverse his recent decision to end funding for UNRWA? Doing so would save lives and the Government's intervention here can make a difference.”
“However, the Ministers of this Government have made a choice and that is not to pass any occupied territories Bill. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independents have made a clear choice, and it is the exact opposite choice to what they told people in the general election. They do not want to admit this publicly, so they are bringing forward the smokescreen that they must start again with the Bill. People see through that in the same way they saw through the stroke on Opposition speaking time. They see the clear U-turn it represents. Ministers should drop the smokescreen and pass the Bill.”
“We must use this debate to burst the myth being peddled by the Government that we have to start the occupied territories Bill from scratch. This is a tactic being used by Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Independents to avoid doing something that, before the recent general election, they all indicated they would do. Senator Frances Black's occupied territories Bill needs some amendment. Nobody disputes that. Senator Black does not dispute it. That can be done via amendment on Committee and Report Stages. Bills are amended every single day in this House. We added multiple entirely new sections to the planning Bill in the previous Dáil. Three years ago, we dealt with more than 1,000 amendments to the Birth Information and Tracing Act.”
“The community hub structure after Storm Éowyn was varied and inconsistent, though necessary. Other countries have provided temporary housing and compensation for those left without power, measures that we can and should consider if we want to protect those most vulnerable during events like this in the future. We will see more events like Éowyn. We need to be better prepared for their aftermath. The Government must set out what it has learned from this storm and how it will better serve communities the next time.”
“As extreme weather events become more frequent and destructive due to climate change, we need to strengthen our emergency services and resource those who repair critical infrastructure to respond rapidly and effectively. The delays in restoring power, water and broadband, especially in the west, highlight the need for greater preparedness, planning and investment. Climate action is not just about reducing emissions. It is also about adaptation, building resilient infrastructure that can withstand future storms. Better planning by local councils, the OPW and semi-States like Coillte can make a real difference. Continuing to retrofit and insulate buildings will make our homes more resilient during outages. We also need stronger community support systems.”
“I would like to begin by recognising the dramatic impact on people's lives, the destruction of homes and property, the impact on businesses and indeed the loss of life that Storm Éowyn has caused. Storm Éowyn was an exceptional weather event, breaking all-time wind-speed records and causing unprecedented damage to our critical infrastructure and disruption for the second time in two months. I commend Met Éireann and the national emergency co-ordination group on their clear advance warnings, which undoubtedly saved lives. This shows that the State's crisis response system works and we must acknowledge that. Warnings, however, are only one part of the solution.”