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 am sure the Minister of State knows that bringing together three separate schools with three separate management structures is a real challenge, but the schools are so committed to this project that they have done it, and they have come together. However, there are two big problems. First, this project is not on the list of priority school projects from the 2026-27 list that the Government launched with great fanfare in January of this year. Second, and more immediately, there seems to be a real blockage in advancing this vital project past stage 2A of the school design project. I was in contact with the three schools and with parents from the schools in late 2024 and across all of last year.”
“I thank the Minister of State for taking this Topical debate. This is the second time I have raised a Topical matter about three primary schools, St. John Bosco Junior Boys School, St. John Bosco Senior Boys School and Mary Help of Christians Girls National School. I want to focus on the long delay in the rebuild project for these three schools. The schools are just off the Navan Road in Dublin 7, and serve the communities of Ashtown and the Navan Road. They are great schools, and my colleague Councillor Feljin Jose and I have visited them. They are operating out of incredibly old and rundown buildings. There are musty prefabs, single-glazed windows and kids learning in cold classrooms. They are three distinct schools, but the three schools have come together with the vision of having an educational campus on the site.”
“I am delighted to hear there is €8 million for the central office. I have no doubt the councillors and the statutory bodies, particularly the local community representatives, would have a very clear idea as to how a proportion of that money could be spent well locally. I would say it is the same whether we are talking about Cabra or west Limerick. My concern centres on what has been described as a very transformative approach to how we address community safety, and how we link the Garda and local authorities with those statutory bodies. A lot of political capital has been expended on making this change from the joint policing committee model to the community safety partnership model, yet the key deliverable, which is having some element of resources and finance to deliver on the recommendations for a very specific community, is not there.”
“The concern is that if there is no specific budget directly for the safety partnership, or no specific commitment from those statutory bodies that are sitting on it, this limits the ability of the community safety partnership to deliver for the citizens in that area.”
“I thank the Minister of State for the comprehensive reply. There are two community safety partnerships in my constituency. One of them, the Dublin central local community safety partnership, is a long-established partnership that was part of the original pilot. My Green Party colleague, Councillor Janet Horner, sits on that partnership. Given that it has been in place for a number of years, we can make two points. First, there is no specific budget for this community partnership and, second, there is no specific funding commitment from the statutory agencies which sit on it and which the Minister of State listed. These partnerships are understood as being an innovation and a change from the joint policing committees that I would have sat on back in the day.”
“Around the country, we have finished up with the old joint policing committee model and are moving to community partnerships. Could the Minister comment on the resourcing of community partnerships around the country and, in particular, how those resources are targeted to the varying needs of different areas?”
“The carbon tax is the one piece of public policy that is ring-fenced to tackle that, through immediate supports for the most vulnerable, increased social protection payments and longer term measures to support the insulation of homes through a range of targeted measures. If we cut the carbon tax, that would only prolong our addiction to dirty, unpredictably priced imported fuels. People are hurting because of the Iran war. The Government can take targeted steps to address that but changing the carbon tax is not the right thing to do at this time.”
“We think this should be in conjunction with a targeting mechanism at this point and that this would manage to insulate large numbers of Irish households, particularly those in the squeezed middle, from the impact of the energy price spikes we are seeing now. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to support this particular Private Members' motion tonight. I think the targeting of the carbon tax that is part of the motion is a step backwards. The reason we have a fuel price crisis in Ireland now is not because of the carbon tax but because our economy continues to be entirely dependent on imported fossil fuels.”
“There is a real sense of worry in Irish households now as they see the increase in fuel prices occasioned by the war in Iran. They are seeing the repeat of what was seen four years ago following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It demonstrates yet again our vulnerability to international energy price shocks because of our dependence on fossil fuels. I respectfully say that the Cabinet cannot delay clarity for Irish householders any longer. It is our party's view that the most vulnerable need to be protected immediately. We see this in the context of a €200 payment for every household taking the fuel allowance or household benefit package. We estimate that this is about 750,000 households and that it would cost about €150 million. We also think there should be an examination of another round of energy credits.”
“This Government needs to go further and focus on care as a form of work in our economic model, recognising that accessible childcare close to communities is good for families and is also aligned with our broader climate ambitions. Finally, on the urgent need to protect survivors of violence, we need to introduce stronger legal protections that would allow women and children in abusive situations to remain safely in the family home. A recent paper from the National Women’s Council of Ireland found that the housing crisis is placing women in an impossible situation where they have to choose between staying in the home with their abuser or entering homelessness. In addition to providing better emergency accommodation in all counties, we should ensure a legal framework exists whereby perpetrators of domestic violence can be removed.”
“It is vitally important that this strategy is not siloed to a single Department and that, instead, it is an all-of-government approach in regard to its implementation to make sure that is done in as ambitious a way as possible. Women and girls are half the population and the implementation of this strategy should be the work of every single Department. Second, we need to recognise that childcare should not just be a mechanism for getting women into the workforce but instead recognise that it is absolutely key to unlocking women’s participation in all forms of social, cultural, economic and political life. I was pleased, as Minister, to be able to take steps to drive down the cost of childcare while I was in government.”
“This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is rights, justice and action for all women and girls. As we reflect on this today, we should bring our focus to the women and girls who have been denied access to justice and full vindication of their human rights in Ireland today. International Women’s Day is an opportunity to advocate for meaningful change, so in the brief time I have, there are three I things I would like to mention that need to be advanced by the Government to support and protect all women and girls here in Ireland. First is the national strategy for women and girls. The Government launched the new strategy last year and the implementation plan for that is being drawn up at the moment.”
“I am raising the school building needs of Gaelscoil Coláiste Mhuire in Dublin's north inner city. As the Taoiseach knows, the school had been temporarily located on a site in Parnell Street for 23 years and it is long overdue its move to a new building on Dominick Street. Right now, it is occupying the former DIT building on Cathal Brugha Street. Construction on the new building finally started in 2023 but then building came to a halt in May 2025 due to a contractor issue. It is not fair that the school community has been left in the dark over the status of this new building. The parents, students and staff of this school have been incredibly resilient and they deserve better. When will work resume on the new building? Will the school be able to remain in the temporary premises on Cathal Brugha Street in the meantime?”
“It is the Government's policy to hard-wire that failed approach into our energy system. This will leave Irish households vulnerable to consistently higher prices and leave the State vulnerable to energy shocks caused by international events like we are seeing right now.”
“The Taoiseach has not been able to provide me with any firm sense of when that renewable energy from offshore wind will start to feed into our national grid. What we know when it comes to security of supply is that Qatar has shut off its entire production on the understandable basis of being attacked in one of the most unstable regions in the world. Is that what security of supply looks like to the Taoiseach? The price of LNG shot up by 46% yesterday. Is that what affordability looks like to the Taoiseach? I am not going to make the decarbonisation argument to the Taoiseach, as I am more and more convinced that it is not an issue of particular importance to the Taoiseach's Government any more. On the basis of affordability and on the basis of security of supply, LNG fails the test.”
“What is the Taoiseach's best estimate of when we will see the 5 GW of offshore wind delivered? In light of the curtailing of supply and the huge spike in the cost of LNG in recent days, will the Taoiseach reconsider the Government's policy to introduce LNG into our energy mix as it fails all three tests of affordability, security of supply and decarbonisation?”
“An Irish LNG terminal will leave the US as the main supplier of LNG imports and thereby place our energy security at the whim of the Trump Administration. Of course, LNG is the exact opposite of decarbonisation as the fuel is two thirds more carbon intensive than traditional natural gas according to research from the International Energy Agency. Ireland needs its own energy so we can make our own choices, yet the ORESS 1 offshore renewable energy projects all seem to be stuck in the mud. The State has a target of 5 GW of offshore renewable wind energy by 2030. At this point it looks like the Taoiseach's Government will achieve none of that. We are in a position now, with the decommissioning of the Arklow Bank, where we may actually have less offshore renewable energy at the end of this Government than at its beginning.”
“One of the big changes between this Government and the previous one is that this Government has identified the use of LNG as a key part of its energy strategy. This is seen not just in the proposal for a State-owned terminal in Clare but in the wider removal of policies like the ban on fracked gas that will serve private LNG providers. I hope the impacts of this war on energy pricing cause the Taoiseach to change his policy. Embracing LNG, as the Taoiseach proposes, fails to deliver affordability. It actually locks us in to the continued cycle of energy price shocks. We have the evidence of this in the spike in gas prices over the last few days. Nor does LNG provide us with security of supply. Qatar's decision yesterday to shut its Ras Laffan gas terminal shows how fickle gas supplies can be across the world.”
“As the Middle East is in turmoil, we are witnessing another spike in the price of fossil fuels, which still power too much of our economy. Our energy system needs to meet three key challenges in the year ahead. It needs to provide affordable energy, which will allow us to travel and warm our homes without breaking the bank. It needs to provide security of supply so we are not at risk of energy shortages in a turbulent world. We need to decarbonise our energy system to address the climate crisis and improve air quality around our homes. The Green Party has always argued that the only way for us to meet these three interconnected challenges is for us to scale up wind, solar and energy storage at pace.”
“My party colleague Senator Malcolm Noonan spoke yesterday about the urgent need for X to appear before the media committee to answer questions about the generation of inappropriate material via Grok. It is deeply worrying that the Taoiseach made so little effort to ensure that this happens. I strongly urge the Government to take the issues of online safety more seriously and not to adopt a laissez-faire attitude to these changes. Business interests must not trump the interests of our young people.”
“It is our responsibility as legislators to balance business needs with the needs of ordinary people to have affordable energy and safe online spaces. We cannot have a no-questions-asked attitude, as was suggested to me by the Minister for Finance last week, either to this or to the potential social harms caused by these recommender systems. We have to be honest with people that there are trade-offs inherent in these policy debates and not pretend that we can have unlimited growth in data while keeping electricity affordable. I am happy, therefore, to support this Bill, but we as a country will need to go further and be proactive in how we deal with the impact that tech is having on our society.”
“It is clear, therefore, that in an effort to hook users and generate profits from advertising revenue, social media companies have allowed the proliferation of algorithms that cause serious harm to individuals. It is particularly egregious that these algorithms are being used to manipulate the content that children are consuming. In discussing recommender algorithms, it would be remiss of me not to mention another important external impact of these technologies, namely, the energy consumed in running them. I acknowledge the role the IT sector plays in our economy as an important employer here in Ireland, but we have to be honest with people about the trade-offs in terms of there being less capacity for housing connections and eating up the renewable energy capacity rather than allowing it to replace existing fossil fuel sources.”
“The groundbreaking report from DCU's anti-bullying centre, Recommending Toxicity, found that the algorithms of TikTok and YouTube Shorts promote toxic content to boys and young men. Test accounts in that research were recommended an increasing amount of manosphere content, with the majority of messages promoting misogyny and bogus mental health advice. The findings of this report point to the urgent and concerning issues for parents, teachers, policymakers and society as a whole. In particular, the findings demonstrate that the social media companies are failing to protect children and young people. Women and girls will disproportionately bear the consequences of this failure, but they are also profoundly damaging to the boys and men who consume this content, particularly in relation to their mental well-being.”
“I called previously in this Chamber for Coimisiún na Meán to be given the powers to require all platforms to ensure that their recommender algorithms are turned off by default and for these systems to be prohibited for accounts held by people under the age of 18. This is just one more step we need to take to make the online space safer, but it is an important one. The point Deputy Murphy made about this not being censorship, and that all material will still be available and that all that will change is whom it is recommended to, is a particularly important one. We know from research undertaken in Ireland that recommender algorithms are vehicles for supercharging the most extreme and toxic content available on the Internet.”
“I thank the Deputies for bringing forward this important proposal today. The Green Party welcomes this Bill and the broader discussion about how we can meaningfully protect children and young people online. Rapid changes in IT and the profound impact these are having on all our lives demand that we remain agile and responsive as a State to the need to scrutinise these technologies for the public good. We cannot be passive actors in a world where policy is dictated by tech moguls. Ireland occupies a privileged position in Europe by being host to several major technology firms. With that privilege, however, comes the important responsibility to take a leadership position in making sure these firms respect the rights of individuals.”
“I do not feel, whether it is in this discussion that we are having on this legislation, or the wider discussion about migration that we have been seeing since the new Government was appointed, that issue, which is key to addressing the concerns that this amendment is about, and wider concerns, that issue is not getting the attention it deserves.”
“As well as that, the State will actually have control over where accommodation is located. That will allow the State to proactively plan where international protection applicants are housed, and, in doing so, it will actually allow the State to start to address the concerns that are probably at the basis of this particular amendment. They are concerns about capacity within communities and pressure on services. It will allow the targeting of additional supports. Driving forward State-owned provision of international accommodation has to be at the centre of this debate.”
“I urge the Ministers, where now the numbers they are seeking accommodation for are slightly more manageable, to implement the accommodation plan that was agreed by the Government in 2024. The Ministers should use this time to begin that vital switch toward significant amounts of State-owned accommodation. They should put the same energy that they put into the deportation flights, into creating that charging regime for international protection applicants and making citizenship and family reunification that bit harder, into driving forward State-owned provision. By doing that, we do two really important things. We start to address the very fair critique of the level of money going into private providers. We start to address those key financial concerns.”
“Since then, on average, give or take, the average has fallen to about 1,000 people per month. It is still an incredibly difficult job. If there is one piece of agreement across this Chamber, it is this: the State has to move away from the huge reliance on the private providers of international protection accommodation. I had wanted to do that in my term. I had set out to do that in my term in office but I was not able to achieve that in light of the huge increase that we saw in the number of people seeking accommodation. In 2020, it was 1,500 people. By 2024, it was 18,500. We were dealing with that dramatic spike in accommodation need at the same time we were accommodating over 100,000 Ukrainians.”
“Those legal obligations were reiterated by the High Court in judgments again only last week. But the Minister also has to meet the State's moral obligations - not to leave vulnerable people on the streets, not to have families and children camping in tents, in the same way that male international protection applicants were left on our streets for far too long. The Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, now face the challenge of accommodating people who are seeking international protection. That challenge has been made slightly more manageable by the decrease of about one third in the number of IP applicants who have been arriving seeking international protection since October 2024. Prior to that month, there was an average of approximately 1,500 people seeking international protection every month.”
“On the face of them, they appear neutral, but my concern with this amendment is that ultimately what a community impact assessment is about is achieving a clinical, reasoned decision that IP accommodation cannot be located in a particular area. My concern is that it is about finding a reason for a "No". I completely understand that. I completely understand the difficulties that political reps are faced with when they get a call from the community engagement team telling them of plans to locate international protection accommodation in their constituency or local electoral area. Ultimately what a Minister has to do, and what the State has to do, is find a "Yes". It has to find accommodation, particularly in emergency situations. The Minister has to meet the State's legal obligations.”
“I listened carefully to the debate on this set of amendments last week on the concept of a community impact assessment. During the debate most speakers discussed the very real challenges they experienced in their own constituencies when faced with decisions to open emergency international protection accommodation - decisions that were made, for the most part, when I was Minister for integration. I wanted to come in on this amendment in particular to speak about how the State makes decisions about where IP accommodation is located and the speed with which it needs to make those decisions during a crisis situation. That is really important. I have read the provisions set out in this particular amendment.”
“Will the Minister explain how it is fair for Irish consumers to pay almost double what data centres pay for electricity? At a time when energy costs are still a cause of real financial hardship for many households across the country, data centres are paying almost half what households pay per kilowatt hour of electricity. They also pay dramatically less in network standing charges, so householders are actually being done over twice. Will the Minister explain why it is fair that data centres get energy at such discounted prices in comparison with Irish households?”
“If it is something new, if it is of a higher category or if it is of a lower category, could the Minister at least give us a clear definition somewhere in the legislation? That is not too much to ask.”
“A new concept such as this should be clearly defined in law, particularly recognising that the decision on the granting of asylum status is probably one of the most fundamental legal decisions about people seeking status that they will experience in their lives. This is a decision and a process that they are engaging in, often in a language that is not their first language, often after a traumatic journey across long distances and often after experiencing huge trauma within the country that they are fleeing. I am really concerned about the lack of clarity on the exact entitlements to legal support they can receive here. It is a source of concern among many NGOs. I do not see why this matter could not be resolved. Can we not just decide? Is it what we understand as legal advice under existing legislation?”
“I am speaking in favour of this amendment. I am not sure why Deputy Gannon's amendment was ruled out but this one was not. The comprehensiveness of the definition that Deputy Gannon was seeking to provide was really useful. Nevertheless, this is a good definition as well. Throughout this debate there has been real concern about the new concept of "legal counselling" that the Bill appears to be introducing. It is not properly defined. At present, particularly under the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995, there are various rights in terms of legal advice and legal assistance. We are bringing in a new theme or concept here.”
“The levels of migration the UK has experienced have been even greater, in many instances, since it left the European Union but its ability to deal with the day-to-day problems such as issues with small boats has lessened because it does not have that structured engagement with the European Union. As such, it is important when we are having this discussion to understand that while this Dáil will make decisions about the processes and the legal format of international protection here, we cannot just throw sovereignty over legislation and feel it deals with the issue because fundamentally Ireland and so many other countries in the world are at the mercy of international events when it comes to migration. We have to have systems in place that deal with the consequences of those international events.”
“The party basically withdrew meaningful co-operation on these issues with our Government at that time. When a new government came in and bilateral relationships were restored we saw how proper policies could be implemented. That ability to engage with other countries in an upfront and structured way is hugely important to how we manage migration. That international co-operation is fundamental to being able to manage the flows of people seeking asylum. We have a very clear example of a country that thrust sovereignty to the very front of its argument regarding migration and we saw that in the UK during the Brexit debate. We have seen how that has absolutely failed and how the UK’s so-called embrace of sovereignty by leaving the European Union has failed to deal with migration, which was probably the central issue in Brexit.”
“3 says, but we also have to be very honest that migration in Ireland is fundamentally linked to events that are outside our control. Droughts in sub-Saharan Africa, a crackdown by the regime in Iran, a civil war in a Middle Eastern country or an economic downturn in a former Soviet state are ultimately the events around the world that impact on the flows of migration to Ireland and Europe. Our political relationship with the UK is another key element that impacts flows of migration here. In the run-up to the British general election in May 2024 we saw how the Tory Party, seeing it was about to lose power, weaponised the issue of migration here and the pressures we were experiencing with migration here to try to fend off the challenge of Reform.”
“There are three amendments to this section and I think there is an amendment to section 4 regarding the common travel area. Our unique border situation with Northern Ireland poses a particular challenge to how we manage migration and asylum here. I think everyone in the Government and the Opposition share the goal of maintaining an open border there. Understanding how the specific flows between Ireland and the UK work would be useful, as this amendment proposes. I am less convinced by the argument for amendments Nos. 2 and 3. We have seen over decades how our planet has become more and more interconnected. We can put provisions into our law that say things like the State’s international protection system remains under domestic control, which is what amendment No.”
“It would even be valuable for the Government so it could make the case we are not just changing the law, we are actually upscaling our State's ability to process international protection first instance applications and appeals at speed so people can have more confidence in this system. The report that would have flowed from the amendment Deputy Carthy brought forward would actually have had real benefit and merit. Even now, in terms of bringing this forward, there may be an opportunity later on for the Minister to consider that and how he can convey that this is not just a legal change but it is a resourcing change as well and is something that ensures this Bill can be operationalised once it is passed.”
“I welcome the fact there is no guillotine today but, as other Deputies have referenced, I have a concern that one may come about next week and it will be opposed. There is a lot of merit to amendment No. 1 that Deputy Carthy brought forward. This Bill represents the biggest change in our migration system in decades. It is a change that is necessary but it is not just a case of changing the legislation. We know for this new law to be implemented, we need to change processes and massively increase resources within the system. Having that degree of confidence that the processes and resources are being changed and increased at the same time that the legislation is being changed would be really valuable.”
“I share many of the concerns raised by colleagues in terms of the process being adopted here and the fact that we are treating some really valuable amendments via a committee of the whole Dáil rather than at the justice committee. I am not sure what went on and why it is not going to the justice committee. From my own experience, allowing committees to delve into amendments and tease out the various consequences of both the initial draft and what is being proposed by Deputies is actually useful. It will often reveal flaws in existing drafts and Report Stage gives Ministers and Departments the opportunities to make those important clarifications and changes so you are not dragged back in six months' or a year's time with an amending piece of legislation. Notwithstanding that, we are here and we have eight hours today.”
“All elements of the State should be supporting remote working because the State is seeing the benefit from it. People can now have significant roles in our Civil Service and public service but do not just have to be based in Dublin or in the commuter counties. They can be living all across the country. The legislative change Deputy Lawlor is putting forward fundamentally understands that our economic health is intrinsically linked with the well-being of workers, students and carers in our country. That economic health is linked to the ability to live, travel and pursue lives in a way that is facilitated by the State. I hope the Minister and the Minister of State hear that the mood across this House is to strengthen and broaden the rights around remote working, not just to leave the status quo as it is.”
“It introduced five days' unpaid leave for medical care purposes and, importantly, it introduced paid domestic violence leave, making Ireland one of the first European countries to do so. When these provisions, particularly the provisions around remote working and flexible working, were introduced in 2023, they were novel. Now, in 2026, it is right that we review and strengthen the rights that were given to employees in 2023. That strengthening is particularly important in light of the push-back on remote working we are seeing from many employers. We are seeing that from large international companies and some SMEs, but we are also seeing it from some semi-State organisations. I am particularly disappointed to see the latter take place.”
“I thank Deputy Lawlor for bringing forward this legislation. As a Minister in the previous Government, I was proud to lead on the introduction and passage of the original work-life balance Act of 2023. As we know, this introduced a right to request remote working for all workers. It also introduced the right of certain workers to request flexible working, which included remote working but also flexible work schedules or reduced working hours. That legislation also introduced some other important improvements in workplaces. It extended the right of women returning to work from maternity leave to request breastfeeding breaks. Originally, the right had been for only six months. It is now for two years.”
“Will he also show that the Government understands the desire of people, young and not so young, to be able to enjoy nightlife in this city and around the country?”
“The injunction taken by the Hoxton Hotel taken against one of the few late nightclub venues left in our city centre is one more example of how clubbing and any sort of late night social setting is becoming impossible in Dublin. I know the Taoiseach will not want to discuss the specifics of the legal case, and that is fine, but would he not agree that this situation demonstrates why our country's licensing laws are so outdated and why the Government needs to proceed with the changes to the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022, create more flexibility for late night opening and introduce the concept of a night-time permit? Will the Taoiseach take steps to show that his Government truly values the night-time economy?”
“In 2024, 37 new bus shelters were built across Dublin city. In 2023, the figure was 30 and even in 2022, post Covid-19, 23 new bus shelters were built. In 2025, three new bus shelters were built across Dublin. We can understand why people are a bit sceptical about the housing targets with a construction record like that. Will the Taoiseach ask the Minister for Transport why the Government's ability to deliver new bus shelters has collapsed in the last year?”
“Nature-based solutions are about ways to retain the water at the upper end of a river catchment for as long as possible, slow down the movement of that water and allow sufficient quantities of it to soak away, rather than going straight into a river, thereby raising the level and creating the flooding. This is the first piece of flood defence we should focus on. It is not the only piece but it is absolutely essential. It is about looking at upland areas, seeing if there are forested areas to absorb water or fields that can be allowed to flood. It is about paying the landowners and farmers when they allow us to use their lands for this vital flood defence.”