Ruairí Ó Murchú
Louth · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“It was hardly a shock to me and many others that he decided that the simplicity that was asked for by Sinn Féin last week, such that we would consider preparations for Irish unity, was not acceptable. Most people would see this as a possibility, even those who do not necessarily like the idea.”
“I welcome that. I have spoken previously to the Minister about the necessity of providing Mr. Delaney's report on the incident to Natasha and the wider family.”
“We will all be very interested to see what the new circular is. The Minister of State said it will be announced in September. A needs-based system is what we need. I would like to think the young boy I talked about would be able to avail of this. I will use him as an example. The correct assessments were carried out.”
“We just need to make sure that the circular is fit for purpose and that the young primary school child to whom I refer will be given the supports he requires. I will just finish reading from the communication to which I referred earlier.”
“We need to ensure that the engagement with Lebanon is ongoing. Are we happy with the interaction with the UN? There had been some issues relating to the coroner's court. Everyone needs to do everything that can be done to ensure truth and justice for the family of Private Seán Rooney.”
“I thank the Ceann Comhairle for all the flexibility she allows in this Chamber, and hopefully that will continue as we speak. I welcome an awful lot of what Deputy Devlin said.”
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“The legacy of underinvestment is due to an insufficient amount of assessment and then follow-up in the sense of putting our money where our mouth is. There is an absolute necessity for that. We know the impact it is having on residential building as well as on existing houses in towns like Dundalk, where I live. As well as impacting on future residential developments, there will be an impact on industrial units. Large industrial units in my town have had to develop their own capacity and water infrastructure. I dread to think what that means for the future. Louth County Council recently engaged with Uisce Éireann on the issue. We have also had a huge issue where I live in Dundalk south, as it is known, with our wastewater system. We do not have adequate capacity.”
“A considerable amount has already been said about how vital water is. That goes without saying. It is not difficult to make such an argument. A fair amount has been said, especially recently, when we have seen flyers from the other side about the return of water charges. A public service model is all that will be acceptable to the Irish people, so we just need to make sure we get to that point. There can be no possibility of privatisation or water charges. That is utterly unacceptable. That ship has sailed, or at least it should have. I hope the Government now realises that. The one point made across the lobby that I would agree with relates to the legacy of underinvestment. I do not think anyone will disagree with that because we are all dealing with those issues on a daily basis.”
“I am going to give the Minister correspondence from a medtech company mentioned earlier. I raised earlier the supports the company needs because of the issue it is having as a result of purchases from the US being cancelled. There is a fear of business being lost in the future and a bigger fear of losing a particular cohort of workers with great skill sets. We need to look at direct supports and we need every level of engagement. I will talk to the Minister later on this.”
“We are talking about somebody who is being led by the nose, economically, by Peter Navarro. Even Elon Musk, who is not someone I would generally agree with, seems to believe this Trump adviser is a moron. Donald Trump continues on like a 17th century king or feudal lord. We all know he has a cohort of billionaires around him. We assume at some level that sense will prevail when these billionaires are hurting. It is absolutely necessary we engage from an Irish perspective and Sinn Féin will make no apologies for supporting Irish interests. I accept we will be working alongside the European Union because that is necessary. The EU showed solidarity with us during Brexit but, as Deputy McGuinness pointed out, we also had to deal with austerity to save Germany and its banks. We must engage and we need cool heads.”
“While many of us have had many differences about multiple American administrations over many years, we recall fondly Bill Clinton's necessary involvement in the peace process in Ireland and much more beyond. We are well removed from that now. We now have Donald Trump and his very simple formula. He took his country's trade deficit with each country and divided it by two. David McWilliams put it well when he said this would probably be a fail in ordinary level economics but it is no laughing matter. It is followed up by wonderful rhetoric such as the following: I am telling you, these countries are calling us up, kissing my ass. They are dying to make a deal. "Please, please sir, make a deal. I'll do anything sir." I saved Deputies a Donald Trump impersonation but everyone has probably heard it. It is absolutely frightening.”
“There is absolute logic for school-based therapies. That is where the need is. It is about providing the service and assessment where the need is. I am aware the Minister has had engagement with the parents of Senan Maguire. That child is out of school at the moment. We need to ensure there is a solution for primary school-----”
“I raise the issue of Scoil Bhríde, Sheelagh. It relates to an application it made at the end of 2023 for additional school accommodation, which was submitted to the planning and building unit. This was put in mothballs. It was sanctioned for two ASD classes and is afraid it will not be able to deliver on the second class. There seems to be a communication issue with the Department as a whole. It is also worried about the provision of classroom space for the current enrolment of pupils. There is a need for direct communication with this particular school. While I have tabled a parliamentary question on this matter, there is no chance that we will reach it this evening. I would be really appreciative if the Minister could look at this issue.”
“I have spoken many times here about the brown water in Dundalk. I agree that a large number of people do not trust the water that is provided. I am very glad there has been a pilot programme and we are looking at something that could be a solution. The problem is that every solution we talk about with regard to Irish Water will always be in the second, third or fourth quarter a couple of years down the line. I ask that we ensure Irish Water is sufficiently funded from a point of view of delivering the solution. I have no doubt, based on my conversations with the Minister, that he is aware of the issue with water treatment and getting rid of wastewater in south Dundalk. There are issues with developments which are now looking at putting in initial water treatment plants. This will be an added cost. We have big issues.”
“It has already been straightforwardly put to the Minister by my colleagues that if he has no intention whatsoever of introducing water charges, then it would make sense for him just to agree with us. We should agree the Bill and then create a scenario where there is absolutely no doubt with regard to introducing water charges and it becomes an impossibility to do so. We all know it was of serious benefit to the Irish people that what was in the water services plan and the whole idea of excessive use were put into the public domain. We know the Irish people have been absolutely clear that under no circumstances are water charges viable, possible or a solution. We all accept there are big issues with underinvestment in Irish water infrastructure. Deputy Gould has already spoken about brown water in Cork.”
“-----those with disabilities and additional needs to stay in further education. An interdepartmental review is needed to inform this. I spoke to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science who said that he would follow up with a meeting-----”
“Fórsa has brought an issue to the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, but unfortunately we have not had the complete follow through that is necessary for a good, up-to-date, 52-week contract for those who enable-----”
“We are talking about a group of people who have seen public sector pensions and other pensions go up and they have not seen anything as regards what relates to them. That is not in any way acceptable. There are real anomalies. I have spoken to the Tánaiste, as Minister for Defence, about one that needs to be dealt with. I do not wish to put it in the public domain at this point. When talking about school secretaries, it would not make any sense if I were not to bring up the issues of personal assistants who work in further education colleges such as Ó Fiaich Institute of Further Education and Drogheda Institute of Further Education in my constituency and others in Cavan.”
“I am sure many Deputies have, like me, received correspondence from school secretaries. A huge body of work and advocacy was done on school secretaries and the contracts they had. This is something that needs to be delivered on. The main complaint at this point is reflected in correspondence I was sent, which states "I am aware that auto-enrolment for pensions is in the pipeline, but what we want and deserve is the same pension as SNAs and teachers." That is not too much to ask. I do not know how many times the CIÉ pensions anomaly has been brought up here. Unfortunately, too often it is like a hamster wheel in here. It is the same conversation time and again. We need to deal with these anomalies. When we talk about anomalies, we are talking about people's lives and the benefits and entitlements they should have.”
“The previous speaker spoke about mentorship and other advantages there can be to those with huge levels of experience. It is about ensuring that those who want it have the choice. There is a huge difference between people working specific jobs, some of which are very physical and incredibly difficult and which, over a lifetime, can be somewhat debilitating, and many others who would much prefer to work. The idea is to free up those who need to be freed and ensure that, having put in a decent or what for many people can be a huge amount of effort into a working life, people are able to avail of a pension and those who want to continue in the workforce are allowed to do so. With regard to pensions, a huge number of issues have remained anomalies. We need to look at many of them.”
“This is one of those Bills on which there will be a large degree of agreement. It is work that needs to be dealt with. I do not think anyone agrees with the fact that people have been forced into retirement. Deputy O'Reilly stated that on some level this is about restoring the State pension to the age of 65. She was not the only one, but she stated that has always been her view, as it has been the view of my colleagues, Deputies Guirke, Conway-Walsh and many others. That is where the Irish people stand. We all remember that it was an issue in the 2020 election. People also realise that it is farcical that those in the private sector and elsewhere are forced into retirement when they do not want it. People are living longer lives. Many people have a lot to offer in the workforce.”
“Cancellation of orders by the company's customers has already been decided and implemented. It is afraid of what is to come and is sure this is happening to many other companies. While we do not know exactly where this will go, we know it will have to end in an engagement with the American Administration. As was done in Covid, we need to make sure we maintain companies like this, which have a really good business model and have done a significant amount of vital work in the past. We must ensure that the company and its workers have a future.”
“It describes itself as a world-class operation competing at the highest level with companies across the globe. As it works on a global level, it is heavily reliant on international customer and supply chains. It has described losing a number of orders from US customers and is afraid of further knock-on. This is a grave risk to employment at the company. The main concern with the impact on employment is that its staff are highly trained and it has taken the company many years and significant investment to bring them to that level. If they are lost, regaining that expertise will be near impossible. The company is asking for immediate measures to be put in place by the Government to support staff who are put at risk due to the imposition of tariffs by the US Administration. The urgency of the matter cannot be overstressed.”
“Many of us have brought up the infrastructural deficits we are talking about here, namely housing, Uisce Éireann, the electricity grid and communications. The recent Storm Éowyn showed serious pressures and the need to deal with this. Housing is just a crisis that has, in no way, improved for those who are impacted. We also know we are under severe pressure in respect of Donald Trump and tariffs. While we need to have cool heads, we do not exactly know how this will go. I want to give some details of a constituent with a business in the medical devices sector and the impacts tariffs are already having, although I will not name the company. The business is a provider of specialist precision manufacturing in the medical devices industry.”
“We need to make sure the multidisciplinary team is there so we can avail of CAMHS-ID, for which Senan and his parents have been looking for a considerable period of time. The big issue is that when we get to a one-stop-shop, there is no wrong door and that we have the follow up regarding school-based therapies and assessments because we are dealing with failure at the minute. It worries me when I hear about the likes of Scoil Bhríde Shelagh, which said it was sanctioned for two ASD classes but has only been okayed for one. This needs to be followed up.”
“We all wish Deputy Boyd Barrett the best of luck. It is apt to do this during Questions to the Taoiseach because if ever there was a Deputy who made very great use of Questions to the Taoiseach, it was Deputy Boyd Barrett. When we talk about child poverty, we are all aware of the added costs of dealing with children with additional needs. The issue of special school places and the fact that we had parents in here who were at their wits' end have been raised multiple times today. I raised the case of Senan Maguire, a 13-year-old autistic boy who is now out of school, with the Taoiseach. There has been engagement with the Minister. We need to ensure that Senan is returned to school as soon as possible and that he definitely has a place next year.”
“When will we have the interdepartmental group's body of work and a more detailed plan on all those mitigations, including everything from the natural to the unnatural flood protection schemes that can be put in place? We have seen some of this work expertly done in places where farmers agree to allow certain parts of land to be flooded. They flood, the water recedes quickly and everyone gets back to normal but it also saves many homes.”
“It is necessary to make these interventions. All these schemes are very important because we have seen the huge issue with flooding in the last while. We are talking about better preparations for extreme weather conditions. It is absolutely vital we see delivery of these particular projects. I did not expect the Minister of State to come back with specifics. The Dundalk-Blackrock south relief scheme is really needed. Planning applications need to be submitted by the Q2 of 2027. In fairness, I got a written response on that but we must ensure there is delivery within those timelines and then beyond that, a wider piece of work needs to be done. That is the bit I asked about, that is, the interdepartmental group.”
“I got some detail regarding some of the CFRAM works that have been done but I ask for a timeline for the delivery on the sizable pieces that need to be done, particularly in and around the Dundalk area. Again, when will that body of work by the interdepartmental group be available, following the review looking at natural flood protections and at what you would call unnatural protections that we have seen in the likes of Holland. I had an engagement with the Dutch ambassador in the last while.”
“I would appreciate that. The interdepartmental group has responsibility for delivering on policy and we saying we cannot have enough protections and mitigations. We know we are dealing with rising sea levels. When we talk about the likes of Dundalk, we are talking about a significant amount of redeemed land. Therefore, we were under pressure from the beginning. There are many houses under sea level and I have already heard much conversation regarding those who cannot get flood insurance or house insurance. Many of my neighbours would fall into that particular bracket. Some of that should be solved by delivering on CFRAM. I ask the Minister of State for a written update on that, although I do not expect it now.”
“I wish to ask the Minister about the Department's engagements on the delivery of necessary flood protection schemes in the State. This is a follow-up to the two parliamentary questions I asked him previously to which I received written answers. It is that whole idea of everything from the minor flood mitigations, the works that are being done regarding coastal protections and the interdepartmental group. The national coastal change management strategy report referred to the need to build up a body of work. Combined with delivering on CFRAM which in my constituency had to be reviewed on the basis of the flooding during the huge rains in Cooley in 2023, there is a huge body of work to be done, particularly in the part of the world I live in and I am very interested in the Minister of State's answer.”
“While we see that there have to be some temporary solutions in the sense of a ban on any increases with regard to rents, we need to be able to increase supply. If we have all the stakeholders in the room, it is vital that we know what the actual constraints are, some of which we have heard ourselves, and then those solutions and whether there are timelines and projections.”
“It would be very useful to have a greater level of detail regarding the issues they put out there with the planning system and infrastructural obstacles and the workforce piece, and then if there is a timeline and even projections. While I accept that some of this will involve public works and we will also have works that happen in the private sector, it is what we are looking at even percentage-wise as regards using some of these new methods of construction. Many of us come into this Chamber and end up talking about the absolute crazy rents, people who find themselves in brutal situations as regards evictions and the issues we have with the new constraints around the tenant in situ scheme.”
“Beyond that even, it is going to be about the obstacles in the way of drawing down funding. If we could get some more detail, we might be able to see that we are going to get beyond our constraints. This is before we talk about the ESB or Irish Water.”
“Can more detail be provided on those discussions? We have all heard about the issues that exist in this area. The Minister mentioned the need to ensure we have an adequate workforce pipeline. We know there are constraints now. Additionally, how much conversation was there concerning new methods of construction? We have recently seen 3-D concrete printing and several such houses have been built in Muirhevnamore, Dundalk. While that is not a solution to the housing problem on its own, it is part of a solution along with modular construction and all those other methods. We have seen major development companies being able to use timber frames and so on to do things on a massive scale. Talking to developers, though, the issues are still going to centre on planning. In dealing with the State, the issue will be the multiple planning constraints.”
“I seek an update on the recent meeting of the construction sector group, whether there is a work plan for this group for 2025 and if the Minister will make a statement on the matter. This takes in all the construction stakeholders. We could have an over-and-back discussion concerning the 40,000 houses last year, but the fact is there was a failure to deliver that number. We are where we are, so how do we get beyond this point? We have all talked about new methods of construction, but much of this has been just talk. In some instances, we are still talking about pilots.”
“It is about protecting and engaging, and this will suit nobody, including those in America and particularly those at the lower end that Donald Trump constantly says he is out there to support.”
“First and foremost, on the tariffs, we all understand there is no win here. Deputy Moynihan spoke about the discrepancy between North and South now and obviously there will be ongoing issues in relation to partition. However, be it 10% or 20%, neither is beneficial. There has been a lot of conversation on future engagement. First and foremost, it has to be about negotiation. I expect a significant amount of our conversation with the European Commission and other stakeholders throughout Europe will be about supporting our own business and ensuring we do not cut off our nose to spite our face. I also accept Europe will have a plan for circumstances where we do not have successful negotiations.”
“However, there has to be a two-way engagement, a real conversation and a real plan. That means we need to go out there and assess the problem that we are dealing with because I do not think anyone has been serious about this to date.”
“As I said to the Minister, there needs to be a real conversation around the issues out there, in particular issues that are happening in working-class areas where it is a hell of a lot worse as regards drug debt intimidation and other issues which are impacted more by having fewer gardaí. People from soccer teams have come to me suggesting that we need to increase pressure in the next while because we just have too many bad examples of what are reasonably sized drug dealers, who, as I said last week, at times have had houses seized by CAB, which has carried out some serious operations against them. However, they are still in operation and they provide the bad example, particularly in these working-class areas that are suffering high levels of deprivation. We need to get real and we will engage with the Minister of State.”
“I have seen the huge work done by the High Voltage Project, which now has an early intervention piece, that operates out of a house in Cox's Demesne, Dundalk and also the teen youth diversion project operating out of the Muirhevnamor Community Youth Project. It is like all of these projects. We talk about brilliant people who are doing brilliant work but it is about the resources and at some stage we are coming too late to the problem. The Minister of State spoke earlier about criminality and then he started speaking about drugs. Unfortunately for a significant part of the country, it is all about drugs.”
“Some of us were very lucky to play football, very badly, in Mountjoy Prison recently. I would probably hate to see rap sheets of the guys we played against. I also hate to point out that we lost very badly - twice. The fact is we were probably dealing with people who are very different from when they were charged and when they were involved in criminality probably many years beforehand. What we need to see with regard to youth diversion are projects that are a means and way we can absolutely divert people away from what will be very costly to them to their victims, and to society as a whole.”
“In October, I think, there was a workforce review and according to that, 530 positions are vacant in the CDNTs. With how the CDNTs are set up, to deliver assessments and therapies will require many more than 530 additional staff. I have raised school-based therapies with the Minister of State previously. We have heard about the autism protocol as a means by which there would be no ping pong between the CDNT or primary care and CAMHS. We need to ensure that happens. It also need to be ensured that all the teams are in place because a family cannot be failed because it fits in a certain box but the team is not in place. That is not forgivable in any way, shape or form. I will revisit this issue. Will the Minister of State outline a delivery time for the multidisciplinary team so we can at least get that under way?”
“We need an absolute focus on this issue. We have all seen the silo operations. On the particular issue around Senan, we need the multidisciplinary team to be set up as soon as possible. Will the Minister of State respond with a timeline for that? I hope the pay and numbers strategy will not negatively affect the delivery of it as this would be unacceptable. We are talking about a family who has been failed over many years. The other idea we need to work that people always talk about is that of there being no wrong door and having a one-stop shop. In the Scottish equivalent of CAMHS, all the families go through one place and the services are provided as they are best suited. We need an assessment of the entire need. Something has been done on the CDNTs.”
“I understand they are getting respite, which is necessary in order that they can focus on other family members. There is a general belief and the family's doctor insists that the child is showing signs of ADHD. In some respects, I would need to have four Ministers to respond in full to the issue I raise, but I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, to deal with the issues that relate to her area of responsibility.”
“Once the CAMHS-ID MDT is in place the GPs and teams in Louth and Meath will be notified and a referral can be made for Senan. I was informed on 5 March that: "Senan is not currently on the waiting list for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in Louth." I was again told that "he can be referred again by his GP" and that "A CAMHS-ID Consultant has been recruited ... and services are currently being set up." There is again no timeline. We need this to happen as soon as possible. We are talking about a situation that has been going on for years. It was raised by Gerry Adams when he was a TD, long before my time. I have buckets of correspondence and I am aware the family has an even greater amount of it. In 2021, when they were dealing with the CDNT, they were promised speech and language therapy, which did not happen.”
“I tabled two parliamentary questions on the matter - one on 14 February, the reply to which I will read into the record: Senan Maguire is not currently on the waiting list for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in Louth as he does not meet the assessment criteria for this team. If his needs have changed since previous referral to CAMHS Louth he can be referred again by his GP. A CAMHS-ID Consultant has been recruited on a temporary contract. The consultant is not yet in a position to take on a caseload as a multidisciplinary team are not yet in place. Louth Meath Mental Health services are actively working to recruit the additional team members required to complete the multidisciplinary team (MDT) through the Pay & Number Strategy (PNS). That is a frightening term because we all associate it with the suppression of posts.”
“He witnessed the attempts by paramedics to resuscitate her. His situation became a lot worse after that, in the sense of issues arising due to him experiencing increased anger, including within the school setting. He is currently out of school. That is something that must be addressed. We all know there is a wider issue relating to school places. Experts have stated that Senan is suffering from post-traumatic syndrome disorder, PTSD. Unfortunately, the family have gone through a ping-pong scenario, which many other people have experienced, whereby issues are bounced between the CDNT, CAMHS and CAMHS-ID, which deals with intellectual disability. It is always a case of no room at the inn.”
“I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for being present to respond to this issue. This is World Autism Awareness Day. I want to specifically discuss autistic children who require supports provided by mental health services, including CAMHS. The Minister of State was in the Chamber when I raised with the Taoiseach the case of Senan Maguire, a 13-year-old autistic boy from Grange on the Cooley Peninsula. David, Tina and the wider family have all gone through huge stress due to the lack of support. We must try to bridge the gap in some way and, in the long term, put a proper system in place. This case was also raised in the Sunday Independent the week before last. Senan is 13 years old now. When he was six, he lost his four-year old sister, Sophia, who had Down's syndrome. She was his best friend.”
“I welcome what the Tánaiste said about the case of Seán Rooney. The Tánaiste knows that the parents are looking at visiting the court. I ask about the engagement with the UN. I know there has been some sort of preliminary notice. The Tánaiste made contact regarding the information that was looked for by the Dublin coroner and the information that should be provided to the family. It is a matter of making sure all that happens.”
“The other issue we have seen brought up is the timeline when there is a mistake. We have all seen people who have made mistakes with the online applications and others who have uploaded photographs and believe that everything is fine, and then it is not. It is as if the clock restarts when a problem occurs. That needs to be addressed. If the Ceann Comhairle will allow me some flexibility-----”
“Many Members have brought up the issue of engagement with the Garda. We need a memorandum of understanding on and a technological solution to that. It could be any sort of reminder. A couple of people asked me why it cannot be like the reminder you get for your motor tax. I am not sure that everybody necessarily follows through on that as they should, but we need to make sure that we make it as easy as possible and remind people about it. There is always an informative piece that needs to happen. We need to inform people to check their passports before they book holidays, particularly ones that are just about to run out. We know that people who are travelling to the US and farther afield at times can have an issue where their passports can run out within a six-month period or so.”
“This question relates to including on online passport applications a renewal reminder rather than the optional sign-up service on the Department's website. We all know the issue this causes with passports. All politicians are inundated with queries about this particular issue. We all know there is a need for streamlining. We know there is an issue with calling Garda stations and gardaí having to go to a book. We need to be able to move beyond all of that. We need a reminder system that works.”
“We all get the idea of the instability that exists. We hope that this, on some level, informs those around the leadership and the American President. Engagement is absolutely necessary. We can now go straight to the next question.”
“There are many things we need to do regarding our medium enterprise sector but we also need to make sure we maintain the necessary connection we have to business and beyond in America.”
“We all realise we are in very choppy waters regarding America. We will see exactly what Donald Trump intends with "liberation day". I am not sure that it is aptly named. We all know the damage tariffs can do with regard to international trade. I get the idea that we need to have discussions and make sure they lead to solutions. We cannot prepare for every circumstance, but there has to be a significant amount of preparation. The Tánaiste noted that he spoke to Kathy Hochul and Brendan Boyle. He also had engagements with Howard Lutnick and Marco Rubio in the last while. There is a sense of where the wider administration and corporate leaders are regarding where we can go and whether we have an element of traction.”