Seán Crowe
Dublin South-West · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“Tallaght and the wider south-west Dublin region have been among the fastest growing parts of the State for decades, yet transport investment has consistently failed to keep pace with the growth. Thousands of new homes planned and a rising population place even greater pressure on our roads and public transport networks.”
“There is a commitment in the programme for Government to enhance driver training but this has not been of much comfort to learner drivers who cannot get an appointment for a test. Numbers on the waiting lists for driving tests continue to climb and waiting times grow longer.”
“I have raised this on a number of occasions, including with different Governments. Could the Tánaiste give the people who rely on the Tallaght and Dún Laoghaire test centres assurances that a new test centre will be opened in south Dublin in 2026? This is something that needs to be tackled.”
“Economic growth means little if it fails to improve people’s lives. Climate action remains one of the defining challenges of our generation, but the transition to a greener economy must be a just one. Workers, families and rural communities cannot be expected to shoulder the cost while large polluters continue to profit.”
“Mar a dúirt an tAire, Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union comes at a defining moment for Ireland and Europe. Communities across the Continent are facing soaring living costs, deepening inequality, housing crises, climate change and growing international instability.”
“Ireland must be at the heart of drafting Europe’s new strategy for security and defence. We need to ensure that the core principles of European foreign policy include accountability for breaches of international law and meaningful international efforts to secure just and lasting peace in many conflicts just beyond our borders.”
The complete record
Every one of 271 lines we hold for Seán Crowe, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 4 of 6.
“If those elderly people are living in council housing, there is a difficulty. We know that, in my local authority area, the funding the local authority gets will take possibly another 30 years to get around the council housing stock and then we are back to square one. There is a big challenge for those people. For people who own their own homes, the challenge in relation to retrofitting is getting the funding for it. There are huge challenges there as well. There is also the cost of wholesale electricity. It has actually fallen since 2022 yet bills for householders continue to rise, as we have heard. The question people are asking has to do with why Irish people are paying the highest prices for electricity in Europe. I do not hear any answers from the Minister of State.”
“There are 300,000 people in energy debt. The Minister for Finance will stand in this Chamber on this day two weeks and talk about how well we are doing in managing the economy when people in my constituency will be going to bed early because they cannot afford to turn the heating on. If the Minister of State goes to any of the shopping centres out my way, he will meet a lot of people who are sitting around. Many of them are elderly. When they are asked why they are there, they say they are there to meet friends but they are also there because they cannot afford to turn on the heating at home. That is the reason they are there and their friends will tell you that is why Mary or Johnny is there every day. That is the reality for many people in my constituency. The Minister of State said there was a retrofit scheme.”
“It is pointless to talk about how we are spending more and more on health every year when there are fundamental services degrading over time. A dental service plan has been long promised. It must be published and discussed in this House and the health committee so we can get back on track and give people care at the level they deserve. When I was chair of the health committee, we visited Daisy Hill Hospital. It has a free theatre for a number of days per week. It is ideal for dental surgery in the Border area. The Minister might consider that proposal.”
“Residential care services and eye and hearing services are other examples of services that the State is steadily scaling back, relying on the private sector to pick up the slack. In disability services, we expect charities to do likewise. We must initiate a widespread recruitment plan for public dentists and sort out the DTSS so medical card holders can gain access to treatment. It is simply unacceptable to leave hundreds of thousands of people without access to dental care. This is an area of health in which it is guaranteed that a person will get worse without care. Having a dental issue can have a debilitating effect on quality of life. We cannot even give schoolchildren one check-up to ensure their teeth are developing properly.”
“I agree with other speakers in that successive Governments have left dental services for public patients to collapse in the State. The dental services scheme for medical card holders has been in a state of chaos for years. In the term of the previous Dáil, the then Minister, Stephen Donnelly, assured us at a meeting of the health committee that a breakthrough on dentists was imminent and that services would be restored for all medical card holders. That was clearly not the case. Hundreds of thousands are left without access to dental treatment they simply cannot afford to obtain privately. Dental care is another aspect of the healthcare sector that we have seen privatised by stealth.”
“There must be a revocation of the EU-Israel association agreement, not endless talk of reviews. The evidence is plain to see. It is the bodies of over 50,000 dead children and 134,000 injured in Palestine.”
“In Ireland and across Europe, renewable energy should be considered as the first line of defence. Clean energy is secure energy. It is far too late for the European Council to think that its condemnation of settler violence in the West Bank will make the slightest difference. The Israeli Government has decided there will be no peace and no let-up from the destruction that rains down on children's heads. The same Israeli Government has heard all this before and has seen that nothing ever comes of it. The only thing that will make the Israelis sit up and pay attention is economic sanctions. As long as the violence in Gaza and the West Bank continues, the empty words of the European Council, while welcome, carry little weight with the Israeli war cabinet.”
“We should, of course, do what we can to help Ukraine repel the Russian invaders and then work towards rebuilding the country so life can resume and it can apply for EU membership. What we should also do is not use Russia as a bogeyman while we become a paranoid, inward-looking bloc. There are more economic levers we can use against Russia and sanctions that will hurt it more than any loss on the battlefield. While we have reduced the volume of Russian gas in the European energy mix, it still represents a substantial proportion of gas imports at 20%. We still buy its gas and uranium, and its shadow fleet of oil tankers still evades sanctions. Greater investment in renewable energy is needed if we want to cut this dependency on Russia and really hurt it as an energy exporter.”
“They turn their backs on conflicts because their supposed friends are involved. Trade partners are an exception to outrage when it comes to crimes against humanity. As long as there are acceptable exceptions to the rule of international law, as long as those selfish interests come first, the spirit of multilateral co-operation will continue to diminish. Once that co-operation is gone, we are left isolated and scared. I do not believe security action for Europe is the answer. It is little more than a bankrolling of the European arms manufacturing industry. Hard-learned lessons from the financial crisis are being thrown aside so that massive deficits will be allowed as long as the money goes into arms.”
“Europe is becoming obsessed with spending on greater security and militarisation. We are so wrapped up in creating a fortress Europe that we are neglecting the fundamental concerns of conflict prevention and resolution. Surely it would be better to prevent a conflict in the first place than build walls and manufacture weapons of war. I spoke at the OSCE annual parliamentary assembly last week where I made the point that fewer and fewer countries are participating in conflict resolution and peacekeeping in an increasingly fractious and dangerous world. The international community seems increasingly unwilling or unable to uphold the core Helsinki principles of respect for human rights and peaceful resolution of disputes. States that once championed the Helsinki principles now often ignore them in pursuit of their own selfish interests.”
“There is a little boy called Rowan in my constituency. He is eight years of age and has still not been able to have his first day at school. He has been diagnosed with ASD and global development delay and, like many others, he has been let down. His mother is struggling to home-school him, with no support from anyone. Parents of autistic children in some cases apply to 20 or 30 schools for a place for them and get nowhere. How many additional places will be made available for special children like Rowan come September? I am referring not to premises but to actual chairs in classrooms. Will Rowan have to wait until he is nine to go to school? That is what the family faces at the moment.”
“We all believe that everyone has a basic right to live free from violence, oppression and fear, but simply holding that belief is not enough. A moral imperative extends beyond statements of condemnation. It has to include delivering humanitarian aid and ensuring that the international institutions uphold their responsibilities. We must risk losing friends if that is what it takes to do the right thing. My question is this: are we doing all we can on this issue? Are we doing enough? That is the question we are all trying to answer. We are here at 11.50 p.m. talking about Gaza but are we doing enough as a country and a people? Are we using the strong voice that we have on the international stage to say “No” and that enough is enough?”
“My message is that we must use every lever at our disposal. I know Ireland is an outlier in relation to the occupied territories Bill, for example, but I respectfully believe that we must include services. Otherwise, it is tokenistic and only goes to soothe our own conscience. We need to turn off the tap of trade from the occupied territories and finally sanction Israel and its ministers for their actions. Then let us utilise our history and expertise in developmental aid and crisis aid that we in Ireland have built up over the decades, and get food and water to those children who are dying as we speak. I know all of us in this House share the same fundamental commitment to human dignity, justice and the protection of innocent life.”
“Ambulance workers are being murdered and buried at the side of the road. The collective punishment of the Palestinian people and the genocide they are being forced to endure while the world watches on must end. What can we do to make the killing stop and get the vital aid trucks through? We have to show leadership on this issue. There are great powers arrayed against us and we need to find a way to end this slaughter.”
“Israeli forces continue to launch raids into the West Bank and seize hundreds of acres of land for their settlers to take over. My concern is that it will be too late to seek support for a two-state solution when there are no Palestinians left, bar those filling the graveyards or dying in their thousands on the sides of the roads. Children are being wiped out by a murderous Israeli military which is hell-bent on clearing Gaza of every Palestinian and which views hospitals, schools and people queuing up for food and bread as legitimate targets. Netanyahu is using this opportunity to wipe out the Palestinians' future and erase any possibility of statehood. Israel is corralling people like cattle, using tank shells as crowd control weapons and machine-gunning people queuing for food and water. It is happening every day.”
“There has been no surge of aid or relief from the brutal starvation that has been imposed on the Gazans. The world watches as vital aid trucks pile up at the border and children starve just a few miles away from food. It is appalling. Ireland must push for a united European stance which ensures sustained humanitarian corridors into Gaza, specifically designed to allow aid convoys safe and unhindered passage. Some of the commitments are admirable but risk becoming irrelevant. The Irish Government will seek to grow the international coalition of countries supporting a two-state solution through recognition of the State of Palestine. The Israeli defence minister is talking about building a concentration camp in southern Gaza on the ruins of the Gazans' own homes.”
“Most estimates agree on at least 50,000 people, though many are buried beneath the rubble of bombed-out buildings and Palestinian homes. The programme for Government makes many commitments when it comes to Gaza. I suppose the acid test - whatever it is - will be whether it translates into something successful. Where stands the commitment to continue to work with partners in the region to advocate for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the return of all hostages and the surge of humanitarian aid? Israel killed 60 people in Gaza yesterday. It is shelling what are charitably being described as refugee camps. These small collections of sheet metal, plastic or tarpaulin offer little comfort when artillery shells and missiles rain down from the sky. Aid workers are being shot dead and left at the side of the road.”
“It is 11.45 p.m. now and it is right and proper that we are discussing the situation in Gaza. With our long-standing commitment to human rights and neutrality in global conflicts, Ireland is well positioned to play a constructive role in addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We must now use whatever leverage we have in a diplomatic capacity on the international stage. We have a moral obligation to act on the genocide that is unfolding. We know all too well in Ireland the devastating impact an artificial famine on the scale seen in Gaza can have. Ireland still has not come close to its population of the 1840s, however, these Palestinians have nowhere to go; no coffin ships for them. They are trapped on a narrow strip of land to starve or die of thirst. It is impossible to know how many are dead.”
“The Government going back on its word is hardly new but unfortunately it is families once again who will pay the price. Let us see action, not misdirection, on this commitment.”
“Dangling a reduction in student fees as a temporary relief measure is the entirely wrong approach in any case. I believe in abolishing fees. There must be a phased, permanent reduction in student contribution fees over a short number of years until we finally eliminate this relic of the austerity era. Young people and their families should be able to know there is a reliable timeframe for the reduction of fees and exactly how much they will be each September. This has been Sinn Féin policy since those who currently sit on the Government benches started ramping up student fees in the first place. I am sure some in the Government would not agree with this policy. After all, there is a Government commitment to "ease the financial burden" on students and families at the start of each academic year.”
“Whether it is student fees or protection for student renters, the Government continues to sow uncertainty and punish young people. We should be breaking down barriers to higher education and apprenticeships, not erecting them. Worse still, while this Government is obsessed with leaks to the media and innuendo, as we heard earlier, young people and their families have no idea where they stand in relation to fees. This chaotic approach does nothing except sow fear and doubt as families struggle to cope with the spiralling cost of living. CAO change-of-mind applications closed just one week ago. Students have locked in their choices and are now waiting for their leaving certificate results. They do not deserve the added worry of how much their fees will be. The Government is playing political games with young people's futures.”
“All of our citizens must be given the ability to choose who represents us. Surely it is long past time to treat all of our citizens as equals.”
“Ireland does not end 5 miles from Dundalk or at the shores of Lough Foyle. We respect and value our citizens in the North and those who have made the hard choice to leave the island, often due to economic necessity because of the economic policies of successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments. In May, the Assembly in the North backed those voting rights in a historic vote. The Dáil backed them on Second Stage more than ten years ago. In 1997, Fianna Fáil made a manifesto commitment to the diaspora that they would be granted voting rights. Until 2011, Fine Gael was even talking about reserving Seanad seats for candidates voted for specifically by the diaspora. Now is the time to follow through and give the diaspora a vote. The office of President is our face to the world.”
“It is okay to have an Irish passport but heaven forbid people want to be politically active in the affairs of the nation. I recall campaigning alongside Martin McGuinness in 2011 when he could run for office but could not vote for himself. Former President Mary McAleese had a similar challenge. The Government is reluctant to even acknowledge there are Irish citizens excluded by partition just 50 miles north of this Chamber. It continues to ignore the overwhelming support the 2013 constitutional convention in Dublin gave to extending the franchise to Irish citizens living in the North and abroad. Sinn Féin does not hold that narrow, partitionist and insular view of the world. Extending presidential voting rights to Irish citizens living in the Six Counties is a positive, natural outworking of the Good Friday Agreement.”
“The ability of Irish citizens, regardless of where they reside, to vote in presidential elections is an issue I have been working towards for quite some time. Gerry Adams and I cosponsored a Bill to that effect more than ten years ago. Tá bród orm go bhfuil mé fós ag leanúint leis an bhfeachtas. That Bill, the Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Presidential Voting) Bill 2014, passed Second Stage and has been waiting for more than a decade to be given committee time for a debate and progression through the Dáil. It has been so long that it would have to be the forty-first amendment to the Constitution if it were voted on by the Irish people tomorrow. The establishment parties fail to see Northerners in particular as Irish citizens.”
“I am disappointed we are kicking the can down the road and leaving it for another 12 months. If the Bill was passed, it would probably take a number of years to try to get it up and running and so on. There are a lot of practical solutions within the Bill, particularly with regard to those who would hold the register and so on. There has been a lot of thought put into the Bill. I commend those who were at the centre of drawing this up and those who brought it to our attention. I say well done to all who drafted the Bill and brought it before the House. I look forward to others taking part in this debate. I ask the Minister of State to try to clarify the reason for the delay and why this legislation is not in place.”
“I suggested to the Tánaiste that he raise it possibly on a shared island basis and that we would try to look at this. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this particular issue. I am raising it as part of this Bill because it is important for patients, but it is also important for their families. There is no linkage between this company trying to pressurise people to roll out this drug or anything else. There is no linkage on that basis. I will go back to the question again as to why we are delaying it. The surprise for most people is that they would have thought there was already robust legislation in this whole area for monitoring the payments to individuals and groups. That is at the heart of what we are trying to do in this Bill, but there are other elements of it as well.”
“What happens to the child, and it is mostly young boys it affects, is that they basically waste away and end up in a wheelchair and eventually die very young. There is a child in my constituency called Archie and his family have been doing massive fundraising. They are not only seeking access to this drug that is currently not available in the South of Ireland, but they are also trying to fundraise for a genetic procedure in the US and trying to raise millions of euro. The Minister of State might have come across it. In the North, it is similar. There is a child there called Alfie and, again, his family are trying to do it. The problem in the North is that they have access to the drug, but they do not have the funding to roll out the drug. In the South, we have the funding to roll out the drug, but we do not have the drug.”
“They were talking about the hugely positive work and co-operation that they were doing in the whole area of health, North and South. We travelled north when I was Chair of the health committee. We looked at all-Ireland cancer facilities. People in County Donegal were availing of cancer treatments there. There are others. It makes sense that we try to work with one another across the board. The idea that the industry can have carte blanche or that someone can pay some individual to possibly prescribe a drug is nonsensical and bizarre. It is totally wrong. I raised earlier with the Tánaiste the case of children with muscular dystrophy and, again, it is children on the island of Ireland. The challenge for these children is that they cannot access this drug, and the families are saying it is time sensitive.”
“The Bill is proposing that failure to register would result in a large fine of €100,000. We are open to amendments if people feel that should be higher. The Minister of State is talking about referring it to the health committee and having more discussion on it. Why is this not already in situ ? What is the delay? What was the reluctance to try to legislate in this area? It seems like a logical practice that, if people are getting funding off a particular pharmaceutical organisation or group, there should be some sort of tracking device. That is what the Bill tries to set out. It is good for patients. It is good for the industry that it be monitored. It is good practice for, and in the interests of, everyone involved. I was in the audiovisual room earlier. There were people there from Queen's University.”
“Evidence from this jurisdiction and others is that payments from the pharmaceutical industry is associated with higher prescribing rates, higher prescribing costs and an increased use of specific drugs. There is a saying: "Big pharma, big pockets". Unfortunately, that issue has impacted families and individuals across the world. There are many horror stories about how this happened that we are all familiar with. The idea that we would ask people to voluntarily register for these payments does not make sense in the world that we live in today. One of the facts that has emerged is that the RCSI found that the identities of many of the recipients are anonymous. This is supposed to be the register of interests of those who have got payments, yet we have come across entries with no name. It does not add up; it does not make sense.”
“I am delighted to be one of the Bill's cosponsors with my colleagues, Deputies O'Rourke and Cullinane. I am disappointed that the Government is putting this on hold for 12 months. I thank Dr. James Larkin, who is a senior postdoctoral fellow at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RSCI, for his research and assistance in the preparation of the Bill. When this issue first arose, most people listening in on this debate would have thought there was already sufficient legislation in place. Unfortunately, when we dug deep down, that was not the case. It is very much an issue of self-regulation. As my colleague stated, payments to healthcare professionals and organisations can create a conflict of interest.”
“I wish to ask about Duchenne muscular dystrophy. We recently had young people in the AV room who talked about the challenges they face. It is a wasting disease. There is a drug but it is not available here yet. It is available in the North. Would the Government look at early access as a shared island? The problem in the North is that it does not have the money to administer the scheme. The problem here is we do not have access to the drug. It seems logical to move ahead on that. I am aware of the Tánaiste's work as regards nurses in the past. Would he be open to looking at this as a possibility for the children on the island of Ireland?”
“We have been hearing it from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil for more than a decade that it cannot be built overnight but when can they and when will they be built?”
“They have normalised homelessness. The Government has absolutely no handle on the situation at all. It is a runaway carriage and will continue to be so until the Government finally accepts it is a housing policy, the entire ideology of which has failed. It cannot even provide the water or electricity infrastructure needed to allow housing to be built. Urgent and real action must be taken to address the ever-deepening housing and homelessness crisis. The Government must introduce the ban on no-fault evictions. This policy saw the first reduction in homelessness numbers in over a decade when it was introduced during Covid. The Minister stands up here and tells us his plans are working and that he cannot build homes overnight. The previous Minister managed to wheel it out during the last election with a straight face.”
“House prices, rents, council waiting lists and homelessness are all rising. Any options for ordinary workers and their families are vanishing. Figures from the start of this month show there were almost 16,000 people in emergency accommodation. This Government cannot even be said to be making a dent in the figures. At the start of this year, there were fewer than 14,000 relying on emergency accommodation. At the start of last year, it was fewer than 12,000 and the year before that it was 9,000. None of these figures include rough sleepers, women and children in domestic violence refuges, those who are couch surfing or crammed into their own box room with young children or those who are sleeping in cars. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil excel in one thing and that is smashing the homeless record month after month.”
“My question is to do with placements but also displacements. Challenges in the school system include cases of schools having lost a teacher because the Ukrainian children were moved out of the school. This happened in two schools in my constituency. It is outside the control of the school. We are told there will be extra resources and supports for these children, but here is a school in my constituency that has lost a teacher because of outside factors. That is not covered under the circular in regard to school placement and so on. I have written to the Minister directly. I should have put down a question for today. I have learned that for the future. Is there any flexibility from the Department in regard to these matters? It is placement but it is also displacement.”
“One of the other TDs raised earlier the Garda helicopter. Again, for those of us who need the Garda helicopter - certainly, it is regularly used right across my constituency - I would be concerned about that. I do not know if the Minister has any influence in that regard, but if it is not going to operate at weekends, is there another site we could use for that? It is critical for supports in all sorts of ways. Whether it is a serious accident or a serious incident, the Garda helicopter is brought in. The idea that we would not be able to use it on the ground is simply appalling. I would be interested in the Minister's views on that.”
“It is of little good spending €2.5 billion on jet flight capability if we are operating on a nine-to-five, weekday basis. Can we have some assurance that full-time flight operations at Casement will be brought back online at the earliest possible opportunity? Can we also have assurance that the air ambulance service is not affected?”
“Irish peacekeeping troops were fired on. It is not the first time; it has happened through the years with Israeli forces and their proxies in that area. The fact is this is not the first time. Is it true to say that the co-ordinates of the Irish troops are given to the so-called Israel Defense Forces, that the bunkers are not moved, and that they know where the peacekeepers have been for a long time? They know exactly where the troops are. They know exactly what they are doing regarding the attacks on these troops. One of my colleagues made the point yesterday that the Israeli war bonds are facilitated by the Central Bank. The rounds that were fired at the Irish peacekeepers were possibly paid for by those war bonds. It highlights the challenges we are facing with regard to the conflict in that zone and what we need to do.”
“The Tánaiste will, perhaps, give examples later of Afghanistan and some of the challenges there but other challenges in the world face us today and people need to have a clear debate on this.”
“Most people would link the triple lock with our foreign policy and neutrality. A lot of people would be surprised at the proposal, given that during the Nice referendum campaign the Government parties were very silent on this issue and there was no real view that there would be a move to change it. The current position comes as a bit of a surprise. To follow on from what an Teachta Connolly said, perhaps the Tánaiste could explain in the remaining time the rationale and motivation to upend a system that has been in place since the 1960s. It is a huge step. There has been no real debate, but rather an announcement that it will be changed. The worry people have is that a fundamental part of our policy on foreign affairs will change all of a sudden.”
“I welcome the fact the Tánaiste will look at it. We have seen the strains in different elements of the different services, such as ships not being able to be deployed. It is not just happening in Ireland. Services are facing these challenges across the world. I welcome the Tánaiste's indication that he will look at this over the summer and come back to us in the autumn. If there is common agreement across the Government, this review needs to be established sooner rather than later. I look forward to the Tánaiste’s report in the autumn.”
“Whether it is pay, conditions, pensions or, dare I say, accommodation, there must be something we can do to compete with the private sector. When the review body is established and given terms of reference, it should do a deep dive into the levers that can be used to make the Defence Forces an attractive career, rather than just the fact they are trained up by some of the best instructors. I welcome the initiative on air traffic controllers but it should not be a one-off. We need to look right across the services. It is could and should be done.”
“While the Minister has addressed this issue earlier, the greatest challenge for our Defence Forces is the constant drain of skilled technicians. It is seriously hindering our operational capability, especially in the Naval Service where ships are tied up at dock. Will he commit to establishing a specific review body tasked with examining how we can stem the flow of knowledge and training out of our military?”
“The Government is authorised to advise it that this should not be permitted, but it took the decision not to give that advice. Stopping the sale of these bonds is a concrete, tangible action that Ireland can take in the stand against genocide. In his speech, the Minister said Ireland's persistent advocacy on behalf of the people in Gaza at EU level is yielding tangible results. Is he for real? Does he not see what is happening? Gaza has been flattened to the ground. People are starving and the Minister is saying in his speech that his approach is yielding tangible results. Israel is conducting a campaign that began as collective punishment and has now moved to ethnic cleansing. Ireland cannot be a conduit for blood money. We know what the bonds are going towards. We have the legal authority to do something. It is time for us to act.”
“The Irish Government must move to stop the flow of blood money from Ireland to Israel. The Minister tells us why it cannot be done but he directly contradicts the legal advice the Opposition received from the Oireachtas's own legal advisers. When Sinn Féin brought forward a Bill to end Ireland's complicity with genocide, it was backed by sound legal advice which clearly stated that the Bill was compliant with Irish, European and international law. Under EU law, Ireland is fully entitled to unilaterally restrict access to its financial services. When it comes to the sale of war bonds that go towards bombs and bullets that are taking Palestinian lives in a genocide, we have no choice in the matter. The Central Bank has given permission for these bonds to be sold through Ireland.”
“The main point we are trying to make in this debate is that resources should be put in to ensure they are not left idle. We need to speed up the process. South Dublin County Council has less than half the maintenance budget per unit of Dublin City Council. Will the Minister of State explain that? I do not understand it. The same types of properties get different funding depending on whether they are in south Dublin or Dublin city. We need a different approach. People need to look at the current situation and see how it can be resolved. It has been going on for years. We have been told for years it will be tackled but people are not seeing it happening. When they go around their own estates, they see vacant properties with dumped rubbish that attracts vermin. It is time for a new approach and that is what we are proposing in this motion.”
“There is general agreement that it is taking far too long for vacant houses to come back into service. Properties may lie idle for months or years. There are some in South Dublin County Council that are idle more than a year and others that have been vacant for years. I know of one building suitable for housing in Rossfield that has been lying idle for more than 20 years. In Mac Uilliam, two apartment blocks are idle, with a row ongoing between the council and the Housing Agency. Such properties are an eyesore. Deputy O'Reilly referred to the challenges families face. People come to my office and ask whether they can take on a vacant house and do it up themselves. I have to tell them it does not work like that. People just do not get why these properties are lying idle.”
“International peacekeepers must be deployed to save who they can. The delivery of humanitarian aid must be assured, not used as some horrible ruse to prevent accusations of crimes against humanity.”