Rose Conway-Walsh
Mayo · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“The very open nature of the Irish economy and over-reliance on FDI and a small number of large US firms exposes an economic vulnerability that covers an underlying deficit of €13 billion. With an all-island approach, we can tackle that properly.”
“An all-island development agency is critical to this prosperity. Competing for investment from multinational companies, based on five interlinked pillars of growth, transformational regions, sustainability and impact as promoted by the IDA is necessary to compete on a global stage.”
“I would need much longer than three minutes to discuss the fiscal implications of a united Ireland, such is the depth and breadth of the work already done. I commend all of those who have done it. Leaving all politics aside, the economic benefits of reunification present unprecedented opportunities for sustainable growth.”
“This morning, workers at Aer Lingus woke up to the devastating news that up to 500 jobs will be cut at the airline, impacting both staff at head office and flight crews. By all measures, Aer Lingus is a profitable company, reporting operating profits of €282 million in 2025. Its parent company, IAG, has operating profits of €5 billion.”
“We need to encourage student mobility across the island. I ask the shared island unit to intervene to provide funding for students from here going to Queen's University and Ulster University. Regarding the data, the NI Executive should work with the ONS, HMRC and the NISRA to improve the data on tax receipts in the North.”
“Will the Government meet representatives of the unions, the Irish Air Line Pilots Association, IALPA, Fórsa and other unions, to ensure that impacted workers receive full and fair redundancy packages and that we have full transparency, while also committing to wider statutory redundancy reforms?”
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“If they do not, they face moving back in with family, if they can do that, or alternatively emigrating or homelessness. Michael Davitt was one of County Mayo's greatest people. He fought for land, for dignity and for justice for ordinary people. He believed no person should live at the mercy of insecurity and exploitation, but that is exactly what is happening right now. Today, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have ensured that ordinary families have literally been left out in the cold. I am dealing with a case in County Mayo of a man in his 70s. He is a RAS tenant who is facing eviction after 21 years in his home. He lives with serious health conditions, uses a walker and is on 22 different daily medications.”
“The prolonged Government-sponsored housing crisis is affecting every community in this State, none more so than County Mayo, where there are 2,664 people on the council waiting list, 924 people on the HAP waiting list and 744 people on the RAS list. As a result of the Government’s housing policies, working people, pensioners and vulnerable tenants are being forced out of their homes with nowhere for them to go while private rents continue to spiral out of control. Recent figures from the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, revealed a 51% increase in evictions, the highest level since the Famine. Thousands of people are now desperately searching for a place to live. If they find one, they will be paying thousands more in rent each year.”
“One woman answered the door to me yesterday. She had layers of clothing on her and said that she cannot turn the heat on. It was pouring rain and it was freezing outside. We have to do something to help people here and now.”
“Go raibh maith agat. I welcome the women from Mayo to the Public Gallery. As we have been going door to door and speaking directly with families ahead of the by elections this Friday, the one issue that is raised more than any other is the unaffordability of energy and electricity. People are afraid to turn on their heating. Others are rationing, cutting back on essentials and living in constant anxiety about the next bill arriving through the door. Does the Taoiseach accept that this situation is unsustainable for working families, pensioners, carers and vulnerable people? Will he introduce energy credits to reduce energy costs and provide meaningful relief? We tabled legislation last week to show how we could permanently reduce energy prices. Something has to be done. People just cannot afford it.”
“The Taoiseach knows there are over 600,000 Irish citizens or people who hold Irish passports in the North. Obviously, there has been a significant surge in Irish passport applications from citizens living in the North since Brexit. Over 120,000 applications were received in 2024 and almost 85,000 last year. Given this sustained demand, does the Taoiseach agree that Irish citizens in the North deserve a dedicated passport office? When is this going to happen? If the State can run a passport office in London, as it should, surely it is reasonable and necessary to establish a permanent passport office in Belfast and Derry to provide this basic public service closer to home for hundreds of thousands of Irish citizens in the North.”
“Government could choose to impose a windfall tax on the eye-watering profits of energy companies. It could choose to introduce household energy credits but it has not. Sinn Féin has always chosen to stand with workers and families and wants to end the rip-off once and for all. The same cannot be said for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Something has to be done. We cannot continue pretending that Ireland having the highest energy costs in the EU is normal. It is not normal, and it is not fair. In fact, it is grossly unfair.”
“Unless our energy market is fundamentally reformed and our reliance on international fossil fuel markets significantly reduced, households will continue to suffer from one global conflict to the next. I thank my colleagues for bringing forward this legislation to give the energy regulator real powers to hold companies to account, to tackle price-gouging, to improve transparency and to prioritise affordability. If energy companies are not profiteering, they should have no problem proving it. Workers and their families are carrying an unfair burden while massive corporate energy users receive sweetheart deals. Households are paying double the generation costs and ten times the network costs of that of data centres. How can that be justified? I have said before in this House that deciding not to end energy rip-off is a political choice.”
“This means that Irish families are paying, on average, €480 more per household compared with households in Europe, for a basic necessity. The Government's response has been to shrug its shoulders and pretend that nothing can be done. This is head-in-the-sand syndrome. Ireland's energy rip-off is the result of political choices made by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to protect corporate profits instead of working people and families. Tonight, Sinn Féin is saying that enough is enough. Immediate supports like electricity credits are urgently needed to support struggling households but we recognise that temporary measures alone will not solve this crisis.”
“Workers and families across this State are really struggling with the weight of the highest electricity prices in Europe. We have normalised these and it is not good enough. We all spoke earlier about nurses on International Nurses Day, and they are struggling too. This energy crisis is impacting everyone across the country. Parents and carers are cutting back on essentials, workers are rationing heating and households are falling deeper into poverty, simply trying to keep the lights on and keep heat in the house. Yet, at the same time, energy companies are making eye-watering profits off the back of this crisis. The latest Eurostat figures confirm that Irish households are paying electricity prices 40% above the EU average, and people are asking why.”
“On International Nurses Day, Sinn Féin stands in solidarity with our nurses, our front-line healthcare workers and our ambulance workers. We value their incredible work and dedicated service, and we demand the recognition from the Government that all healthcare workers deserve.”
“That means delivering safe staffing levels, improving pay and working conditions, and ensuring that nurses have the support and respect they deserve. We also need urgent action to recruit and retain our graduate nurses. Every year, highly trained graduate nurses leave Ireland because they cannot secure permanent posts, affordable housing or decent conditions. We continue to train nurses for export while our hospitals suffer from understaffing. As we sit here today, SIPTU members in the National Ambulance Service across the country are taking strike action. We must acknowledge the pressure facing these workers. Their concerns on staffing and working conditions deserve meaningful engagement and a fair resolution.”
“International Nurses Day is about recognising the extraordinary dedication, professionalism and compassion shown every day by nurses across our health service. They are the backbone of patient care. I have seen at first hand in Mayo the incredible work nurses do every day. However, too many are working under relentless pressure in overcrowded hospitals, understaffed wards and unsafe conditions that are driving exhaustion and burnout. Successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments have failed to deliver safe staffing levels. That is the bottom line. Nurses are being asked to do more for less while patients wait longer for care and healthcare workers carry the burden of a system stretched beyond capacity. If we are serious about protecting our health service, we must invest in the workforce that sustains it.”
“The Israeli Knesset has approved, by a substantial majority, legislation that will permit the execution of Palestinian prisoners. This comes amid continuing international concern regarding the humanitarian catastrophe and genocide in Gaza, the treatment of Palestinian detainees and repeated warnings from human rights organisations regarding violations of international law. Most people in Ireland are deeply alarmed by measures of this nature, which risk further undermining the prospects for peace and accountability. What is the EU's response to this? How can the Taoiseach make sure that this is central to our EU Presidency?”
“The prospect of 720 job losses at Covalen has caused enormous anxiety for workers and their families and our existing legislation on statutory redundancy is no longer adequate. After losing their jobs, Covalen workers are worried about whether they will have meaningful access to retraining and reskilling pathways and alternative employment. They are concerned about cooling-off periods and non-compete arrangements preventing redundant workers from potentially taking up employment with rivals. Will the Taoiseach ask the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment to meet the Communications Workers Union and ensure that the consultation process delivers meaningful change and fair outcomes for Covalen workers?”
“The scheme is not fit for purpose. We need 100% redress. Getting the work done is unaffordable for too many people. Particularly in my county of Mayo, the gap between the grant and the rebuilding costs is too big. Defective concrete blocks constitute one of the greatest scandals ever. We need a public inquiry to run in parallel with getting the homes rebuilt. People have to wait months on end just to get a result of the testing. I would say to people not to rebuild their homes without replacing the foundations.”
“It is now 2026 and such standards are overdue to be introduced across all professionals, including legal professionals and civil and public servants operating in this area. I acknowledge the Minister's intent but the lack of transparency is striking. By excluding the public and limiting reporting with the in camera rule, we have created a system that operates largely out of sight. Justice must not only be done but it must be seen to be done, as we know.”
“The experts making these decisions work without oversight and without accountability. There is no transparency and no scrutiny. The horror stories coming out of the family law courts can only be described as State-sponsored cruelty. What are we going to tell these children when, as adults, they ask why we, as legislators, did not intervene to stop the harm that was being done to them? Are we going to tell them it was too complex? The use of experts in family law cases needs to be dealt with by regulations rather than by guidelines, given the serious concerns that have arisen to date and the need to ensure the highest standards in terms of how the justice system works. Minimum standards of training are required for those who work in the area of family law, as recognised in the Government's Family Justice Strategy 2022-2025.”
“I thank Deputy Gogarty and the Independent Technical Group for bringing forward this important motion. Family law is not working to protect the children of this State. Children are not only failed by family law, they are all too often put in harm's way. That means the State is facilitating harm to children. The system is massively skewed against women and children but I acknowledge that it impacts men as well. It ignores domestic violence and threats to kill, and forces children to continuously meet those who have already abused them. I have case after case where this is happening, and it has happened for years. I am glad the Minister is facing up to this but we need to do it much quicker than it has been done. It really says an awful lot for the Ministers who have come before him.”
“We cannot stand here and ignore what has happened with the Meta workers and the outsourcing company where jobs are really at risk as well. What is the Minister specifically doing to retain those jobs and support those workers, and has he met with those workers?”
“That is why we proposed in our alternative budget that we would have a PRSI rebate for businesses as well to enable them to meet the cost. I know that the Minister would not be suggesting a race to the bottom in relation to workers and workers' rights. Our motion earlier was about collective bargaining and the right that workers have in other jurisdictions to access to a union. I know the Minister wants good, sustainable jobs and I am sure he has looked at the good jobs legislation that my colleague, Caoimhe Archibald MLA, is bringing forward in the North. We are facing significant skills and labour shortages in key sectors, including construction, healthcare and technology, which are all reporting struggles to recruit and retain workers.”
“Our unreliable energy sources and grid capacity are stifling growth in many areas. On housing, we must confront the reality of Ireland's housing crisis. Our competitiveness is being eroded by a system that cannot provide affordable accommodation for its workforce.”
“Across many metrics, the Government is failing to address the challenges to our competitiveness and what we are hearing back from businesses. The housing crisis has worsened, with record rents and with homelessness at a record high. Employers are asking us where their workers will live. They have nowhere to live. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, which has been dealing extensively with the cost of doing business. We have heard at first hand from various chambers, ISME, the Small Firms Association and many more that these costs have increased significantly. Infrastructure delivery is slow and insufficient and not in keeping with demand. We have labour shortages in sectors that are crucial to our growth, such as construction.”
“We are constantly dealing with the growing challenge of improving Ireland's competitiveness. While our economy, on paper, seems strong, there are clear and persistent structural weaknesses that are undermining our ability to sustain growth to attract investment and support our people. Last September, we received the Government's Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity, which contains 85 actions. Since the publication of this action plan, can the Minister report any measurable improvements to our national competitiveness?”
“Higher fares mean fewer visitors, and fewer visitors mean fewer jobs. If the routes are cut, rural Ireland pays the price. The Government should be doing all it can to ensure this will not materialise.”
“The Minister of State may thank the protestors for anything that has been put in place. The proposals I presented to the Minister of State earlier would encourage greater uptake of the grants and secure the futures of many SMEs, but he has refused to take those on board. I want to talk about it in the context of tourism. Tourism is the heartbeat of many Irish communities, especially in rural communities that depend on visitors to sustain local economies and jobs. As a rural TD, I can tell the Minister of State that public transport, as he will know, is scarce. Tourists rely on private bus operators to bring them to towns along the Wild Atlantic Way. For example, hospitality providers are worried that spiralling fuel costs will make these trips unviable for operators or that they will become so expensive that tourists simply will not come.”
“I put forward some suggestions recently to the Minister regarding more flexible payment options for grants administered by his Department, including upfront payments or staged instalments, rather than reimbursement as a lump sum after works have been carried out, but he rejected that proposal. I also suggested increasing the energy-efficiency grant from 75% to 100% for eligible costs to help businesses to decrease energy costs in the long term.”
“Business owners are begging for supports. Many of them joined the recent fuel protests as a last resort, just to have their voices heard. This comes in the context of the Government's spring economic statement, which predicts a surplus of €9.2 billion for this year, up from the €5.1 billion predicted on budget day. Many of the businesses we are talking about have contributed substantially to that figure. Small- and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of our economy. They sustain local communities, especially in rural areas like Mayo. Half-measures and piecemeal offerings so far have barely scratched the surface and not provided meaningful relief for SMEs.”
“I should not need to tell the Minister that businesses up and down this country are really suffering from an energy crisis that the Tánaiste and the Minister's party leader have acknowledged is the worst the world has ever seen. Yet, in the eyes of business owners, the scale of the supports from the Government do not match the scale of the crisis. What additional new measures will the Government put in place to support all businesses facing increased operating costs arising from the ongoing fuel crisis caused by the US-Israeli war in Iran?”
“What the Government is doing is not working because vacancy rates in many towns are persistently high or rising, particularly outside the major urban areas. According to the GeoDirectory commercial buildings report prepared by EY in February, the national commercial vacancy rate in Ireland increased to 14.6% by the end of 2025. This is the highest rate recorded by GeoDirectory since it began tracking commercial vacancy data in 2013. In total, there were 30,687 vacant commercial units across the country in the fourth quarter of 2025. If what the Minister has outlined was working, this would not be the case. Fourteen counties experienced an increase in vacancy rates, with Sligo recording the highest commercial vacancy rate. Dereliction is not just an aesthetic issue.”
“We need action to be able to ensure that those units are full. We need to work to make sure they do not close down in the first place but, if they do, that they are quickly repaired and reoccupied. I am also concerned about towns like Belmullet where shop units are being taken over for residential development in the middle of the town. I am worried about where towns are going when we do not have businesses in them.”
“The Minister's policies are not hitting the ground because towns and villages are hollowing out, with visible increases in vacancy and dereliction and declining footfall. Small and independent retailers, particularly in rural and regional areas, are facing unsustainable cost pressures. We know that rising costs in energy, insurance, rents and commercial rates are disproportionately impacting small businesses compared to the larger multinationals. The Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, who is beside the Minister will know what I am talking about when I say that I walked down the street in Castlebar last week and saw a number of businesses closed. He knows that businesses that have been there for years, if not generations, are gone and those units are now empty. That is exactly what I am talking about.”
“Towns and villages up and down the country are suffering from dereliction. Vacant and boarded up shops are all too common now in once vibrant communities and towns. Once thriving businesses, which employed local people have been replaced by empty units, a visible reminder that the Government is failing our SME sector. What new initiatives does the Minister plan to introduce to tackle this escalating problem given current solutions are not working?”
“There is a surplus in the National Training Fund. We just need a bit of imagination. However, we must collectively agree that everyone has to have access to a union and legal access to a union. That will not go away so my message to the Government tonight is that everyone should have a legal right to access a union.”
“This nonsense that there is no constitutional or legal impediment which prevents parties who wish to exercise their right to collective bargaining from freely doing so shows how out of touch the Government is with the reality of the way workers are treated when they try to access a union. Without having that legal provision there, it will not work and has not worked. There are companies that have branches in other jurisdictions which have that legal right to access trade unions. It is not right. It shows companies are well able to do that. I want to also address the position of small and medium businesses because we all care about competitiveness. That is why, in our alternative budget, Sinn Féin provided for a PRSI rebate to address those issue and to address the inequity where small employers may need an extra bit of help.”
“I thank all my colleagues for their contributions. I have to say I am dismayed to see the lack of Government speakers on this important issue tonight. It does not bode well. It sends a message out to workers that there is nothing more to see here. I am really disappointed. I thank all of the Opposition for their contributions. I acknowledge the work of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the engagement we had earlier today. Its contribution reflected the lived reality of workers across the State and their voices deserved to be heard. Our motion was grounded in two simple but urgent priorities: supporting workers through the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and expanding collective bargaining so workers have a real voice in the workplace. I will address a couple of points.”
“Instead, the Government has produced an amendment that ignores all our calls, points the finger of blame elsewhere and will fail to deliver meaningful improvements to collective bargaining coverage across this country. I commend my colleague in the North, Caoimhe Archibald, for the good jobs Bill. We need to have uniformity across the island for what we are trying to achieve here.”
“I am sick and tired of workers telling me that they have to meet in cafés and places where they will not be known to discuss their workers' rights with unions. The motion also calls for the expansion of access to flexible and remote working arrangements, supporting a better work-life balance and reducing costs for workers. These are practical and achievable measures that would make a real difference in people's lives. This motion reflects the growing frustration among workers but also reflects a clear and constructive path forward. Today was an opportunity for us in this House to listen to unions and act on behalf of workers.”
“Only around one third of workers are currently covered, leaving far too many without a meaningful voice in their workplace. Recent announcements of potential job cuts at Facebook and Covalen serve as a stark reminder of how vulnerable workers can be without strong union protections. Strengthening collective bargaining is not just about fairness, but also delivering better pay, better conditions and a stronger, more productive economy. That is why Sinn Féin is bringing forward this motion. The motion calls on the Government to reverse the delay of the national living wage, to legislate for a legal right to collective bargaining through trade unions and, above all, to ensure that unions have legal access to workplaces.”
“One in four jobs in Ireland is considered low-quality, characterised by low pay, insecurity and poor conditions. This is not good enough. Unions will tell you how poor job quality leads to burnout, ill-health and lower productivity. Fair pay, progression options, predictable hours, training opportunities, a voice in the workplace and a strong work-life balance all lead to greater productivity and improve competitiveness. Workers must be paid fairly, young and old, and across every sector. The evidence is clear. The 2026 Ireland Thinks poll commissioned by ICTU found that 52% of workers did not believe they were paid fairly for the work they did. That figure cannot be ignored. Ireland continues to lag behind much of the European Union when it comes to workers' rights, particularly in relation to collective bargaining coverage.”
“Wages are being steadily eroded by soaring fuel costs, rising energy bills and everyday expenses that continue to climb. The cost-of-living crisis has not gone away. It is persistent and placing enormous pressure on working people and their families. Workers are putting in more effort than ever before yet many feel undervalued and underpaid, and they are right. The Government's decision to delay the introduction of the living wage until 2029 sends an entirely wrong signal to workers. It tells them that their struggles can wait, but workers cannot wait and their families cannot wait. Relief is needed now, not years down the line. The delay is simply not acceptable. We must look beyond headline employment figures. While employment levels may appear strong, they mask a deeper and more troubling reality.”
“I acknowledge all the great work that has been done in that area, including to create a new, sustainable, economic model that meets many of the challenges we are facing today and that will bring us to a better future. The purpose of this motion is twofold: to support workers through this cost-of-living crisis and to increase collective bargaining coverage across Ireland. The reality facing workers is becoming increasingly difficult. Workers have never worked so hard and struggled so much. Across the country, people are doing everything right: working long hours, contributing to their communities and keeping our economy moving yet still finding it harder and harder to make ends meet. Despite strong economic growth and the prospect of even larger budget surpluses this year, far too many workers are being left behind.”
“I welcome the opportunity this evening during Trade Union Week to bring forward Sinn Féin's motion on strengthening workers' rights. I was delighted to work alongside colleagues from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions on this motion and to host their representatives in the audiovisual room earlier today for a briefing on their quality employment and good jobs policy document. That was Owen Reidy, Neil McGowan from SIPTU, and John Regan, the chair of the Meath Council of Trade Unions, along with my former Seanad colleague, Paul Gavan. I want to welcome members from the trade union movement to the Public Gallery to follow tonight's debate.”
“I move: That Dáil Éireann: recognises that the ongoing cost-of-living crisis is putting significant pressure on workers and their families as inflation continues to increase, eroding living standards and affordability for workers; notes that: — overall employment figures mask that one quarter of jobs in Ireland are considered "poor quality", characterised by low pay, insecurity, and poor working conditions; — the findings of the 2026 Ireland Thinks poll, commissioned by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), found that 52 per cent of workers do not believe they are paid fairly for the work that they do, and the figure is higher for women and people on lower incomes; and — according to the Working In Ireland Survey 2026, 44 per cent of workers in Ireland that are not currently in a union would like to join one; further notes that Ireland is an outlier in the European Union (EU), in not providing workers a statutory right to collective bargaining, and lags behind other EU member states in respect of paid statutory annual leave; acknowledges: — the ICTU "Quality Employment and Good Jobs: The first steps to a new economic model" policy document; and — that the Northern Ireland Minister for the Economy, Caoimhe Archibald MLA, is currently proposing a good jobs Bill in the Northern Ireland Assembly, which represents the most significant piece of workers' rights legislation since devolution, and the European Commission is proposing a quality jobs roadmap; affirms that trade union membership and collective bargaining have been shown to increase pay, productivity and employee retention, as well as having positive macroeconomic benefits; condemns that, despite strong economic growth, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Government Independents have rowed back on previous pledges to increase the statutory sick pay, and has delayed the move to a living wage until 2029; and calls on the Government to: — provide a legal right to collective bargaining through a union; — provide unions with legal access to the workplace; — bring the minimum wage into line with the living wage, and reverse the decision to delay its introduction until 2029; and — increase access to flexible and remote working arrangements for employees.”
“As someone who comes from Erris in County Mayo, I have witnessed the Corrib Gas project and how little we have benefited from it in the local area or in County Mayo and beyond. We advocated many years ago for that project to be in public ownership and to do it that way instead. We have an opportunity here with wind energy, but we should have progressed it much further by now. We have an opportunity to look at a public ownership model as well. There is an onus and a responsibility on us to do that.”
“Recent announcements regarding job cuts at Meta and possibly at one of the outsourcing firms, Covalen, serves as another wake-up call for Government that we need to diversify the economy and build a new economic model to attract new strands of foreign direct investment, FDI. Many of these job cuts have been attributed to AI and automation but the Government cannot allow this to be catalyst for further job losses across the sector. We must ensure that Ireland remains competitive and an attractive destination for FDI. What is the Government doing to build a new economic model and economic resilience that is underpinned by good jobs?”
“Will we still be begging this time next year? I want you to answer that question. I absolutely love teaching. I love the fun interactions with students in my class. I love watching children in my care progress even if that is slowly. I love the light bulb moments. I love the enthusiasm, the creativity. I love teaching but teaching has become more and more frustrating lately. We are implementing a brand-new curriculum starting next September. The curriculum has become more vast and diverse. Trying to share so much knowledge is not going to work especially when you add a varied class of students in the mix. It is nigh impossible to cater for everyone single-handedly, especially in multilevel classrooms. We try our best. I ask the Ministers to please listen to that teacher and parent.”
“She states: "As a teacher, a principal and a parent of a child with additional learning needs, Ireland has gone backwards when it comes to inclusive educaiton in schools. The Government brandishes the words around but inclusion without resources is only neglect. Who usually receives the brunt of the disillusionment from parents of these students? Us teachers. Twenty years ago, a child with additional needs was allocated resource teacher hours. They were allocated SNA hours, given ICT, etc. Now everything is given under a general allocation model. The scramble to create a cluster takes away the energy we have to condemn the miserable few hours we are presented with. SNA allocations have not changed for the next year. However, if like us you are screaming and begging for an increase in hours, you're told no can do.”
“The existence of any school place is not the same as the existence of an appropriate placement. For autistic pupils, placements must be based on assessment of need, sensory profile, communication supports and the capacity of the receiving setting to provide a structured, autism-informed environment. Placing a child in an unsuitable setting can, as the Minister will know, lead to severe anxiety, regression in learning and school refusal. I have had many pieces of correspondence over the past week or so when people knew this motion was being put forward. I thank Deputies O'Rourke and Ní Raghallaigh for bringing this motion forward. I want to read out what I received from one teacher.”
“The Tánaiste will probably be Taoiseach in a number of months' time. I ask him to please implement these recommendations.”
“I certainly welcome that question and would welcome answers even more. Deputy Currie will know what I am talking about when I talk about what was agreed at the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. That was cross-party. It involved perspectives on constitutional change concentrating on finance and economics. We have a number of agreed recommendations that really need to be implemented. We heard it was reckless not to prepare. It is reckless not to do this work, regardless of one's constitutional preference or how people will decide to vote at the end of the day. One of the recommendations was that an Oireachtas committee be mandated, adequately resourced and dedicated to preparation for a united Ireland - for doing the preparation. It is reckless not to prepare.”