Results 681-700 of 1,078,147 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Éamon Ó Cuív OR speaker:Éamon Ó Cuív61 OR speaker:Éamon Ó Cuív98)

Middle East: Statements (2 Jul 2025)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire: Like most political representatives, one of the first things I do when I get up in the morning is to check the news headlines. It is a grim reality that on any given day for the past year and a half it is almost a certainty that we will wake up to fresh horrors from Gaza and Palestine. One could nearly set one's watch by it, it is that deplorably consistent in terms of the horrors we are...

All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Statements (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

John McGuinness: Like most Members of the House, I met with Iarnród Éireann recently when it gave a presentation and made its officials available to Members to put their case and highlight the issues in their constituencies. I will get directly to the point. The south east, particularly Carlow and Kilkenny, has very poor connections. Regardless of whether one is en route from those locations to...

Middle East: Statements (2 Jul 2025)

Middle East: Statements (2 Jul 2025)

Simon Harris: I welcome this opportunity to set out the Government position on the situation in the Middle East. The region is experiencing a period of significant jeopardy and instability with multiple crises playing out, many of which are interrelated and all of which threaten further escalation, further destruction and further devastating loss of civilian lives. I will turn first to the appalling...

All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Statements (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Roderic O'Gorman: A map of Ireland's railway network in 1906 that is often shared online provokes passionate debates about the state of our current rail network. We used to have 5,000 km of railway and more than 1,000 stations connecting all corners of the island. Today, the network is just a fraction of what it was at its peak. These debates show one thing very clearly: people want to see increased...

All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Statements (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Paul Murphy: The year 2024 was the hottest on record. Temperatures were 1.6° above the historical average. Europe is now in the grip of another heatwave. In France, 300 people have been hospitalised, and two people have already died from the heat. They will not, unfortunately, be the last to die this summer across Europe. We urgently need to stop pumping more greenhouse gases into the...

All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Statements (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Ruth Coppinger: There are many rail issues in Dublin West. I will briefly mention them and then make some general points. In Ashtown, there is just development after development and high-rise apartments flying up regularly. It is happening at such a rate that the rail service the area does have is jam-packed and dangerous, according to many residents. Either a stop will have to be put on planning...

All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Statements (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

James O'Connor: I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, Deputy John McGuinness, for allowing me some of his time. I wish to speak on this issue because Cork East is receiving the largest single investment in an active rail project anywhere in the country now, with a €1.6 billion investment into the Cork area metropolitan transport strategy. I note Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan from Cork North-Central is...

All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Statements (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Pádraig O'Sullivan: I am sitting here kind of amused though I probably should not be. There is obviously a regional disparity in the investment in rail services. I listened to the contributions of the Social Democrats and there is obviously a Cork bias because the Cork representatives, even within my own party, seem reasonably happy with the level of investment we are receiving. Things in the west are starkly...

All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Statements (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Colm Burke: I thank the Deputy and very much welcome this debate. As my colleague, Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan, has set out, a major plan, the Cork metropolitan area plan, has been set out and was published on 18 June. Public consultation is currently taking place and it is important that people engage. We are not just planning for the next five or ten years but for the next 50 or 60 years. One of...

All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Statements (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin: We must do far better for the people of Wicklow and Wexford. For years, I have raised the issue of the inadequate rail network in these counties, including most recently last week at a meeting in Buswells Hotel with representatives of Iarnród Éireann. My hopes were briefly lifted with the all-Ireland strategic rail review when the Wicklow and Wexford rail line was mentioned....

All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Statements (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Jen Cummins: I represent Dublin South-Central which is a densely populated area. A huge amount of building is going on, particularly in areas like Bluebell, Inchicore, Ballyfermot, Park West and around that area. Our access to rail is actually quite limited. The Luas goes through it but it is constantly jammed. Bus services are being re-evaluated at the moment in terms of BusConnect and people are...

All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Statements (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Liam Quaide: There have been some exciting developments in east Cork rail over the past 16 years. The return of the Midleton to Cork line in 2009 has been hugely progressive for the region and the number of passengers is increasing year on year. Ten-minute frequencies from 2026 onwards will be a game changer as will the proposed new stations for Water Rock and Carrigtwohill west. Cobh, Carrigtwohill,...

All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Statements (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

John Connolly: I welcome the outcome of the rail review study. I particularly welcome the outcome as it pertains to the recommendations it makes for my own constituency and for the west in general, especially the doubling of the rail track to Athenry and the proposed reopening of the western rail corridor. I know the Minister is familiar with this. However, I go back to the publication of the national...

All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Statements (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Erin McGreehan: I am very pleased to contribute to these important statements on the all-island rail review recommendations. This is a chance to make a generational change, transform people's lives, connect people and communities across the island, strengthen our economy and, importantly, reduce our carbon emissions. Fianna Fáil welcomes this work, which was undertaken by the Department of...

All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Statements (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Martin Kenny: I congratulate the Minister of State on his appointment. It is good to have someone from the west in this role. I know he has always had a strong commitment to the development of the western rail corridor. It always strikes me that the western rail corridor only extends halfway up the west. We need to bring it the rest of the way. It is clear from the map produced with the proposals in...

All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Statements (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Jennifer Whitmore: I welcome the all-island strategic rail review. It is a vital step towards connecting the unconnected throughout the country. Ultimately, however, it is a missed opportunity because it is not ambitious enough. Even if it were fully implemented, the review would still leave us behind the Ireland of 1906. It is not often that we look back at the country 100 years ago and say, "Jesus, if we...

All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Statements (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Gerald Nash: I will cut to the chase. North Drogheda objectively needs a train station. It should already be in place. I was on Louth County Council more than 20 years ago when we masterplanned the provision of 5,000 new homes. Half of those homes have been or are in the process of being built. These plans included a site for a train station, but then came the crash. Up to half of those homes, as I...

All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Statements (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Conor Sheehan: As a public representative from the west of Ireland, I want to talk to the Minister of State as another public representative from the west of Ireland about the need to connect Shannon Airport to the rail network. This can be done within five years. It needs to be included in the NDP review. What a testament it would be to the Minister of State and what a legacy he would leave if he was...

All-Island Strategic Rail Review: Statements (Resumed) (2 Jul 2025)

Malcolm Byrne: I have listened in envy to some of my colleagues talk about the wonderful rail services they have and how much more they need, because in this rail review the Rosslare line was an afterthought. Hardly any consideration was given to improving the services south of Wicklow town. While I welcome that we are talking about extending the DART services to Greystones in Wicklow, it is intended in...