Paul Lawless TD

28/05/2026

Irish households are cross-subsidising the electricity costs of data centres.

Ireland has the highest electricity costs in Europe.

Data centres pay 50–80% less per kWh than you do.

They consumed 22% of all electricity in 2024 — more than every urban home combined.

They will add €1.4 billion to your bill over the next decade.

316,000 households are now in arrears.

If government wants to make Ireland the data centre capital of Europe, they ought to have a plan that does not involve ordinary families picking up the tab.

28/05/2026

This week I hosted a briefing in the Oireachtas with Dyslexia Ireland on the need to reform Reasonable Accommodations in Certificate Examinations (RACE) system.

A review is currently underway, and we need to make sure it delivers meaningful change.

Students with Dyslexia often process information differently. The current system has serious barriers including rigid eligibility cut-offs, inadequate extra time, and technology that isn't fit for purpose.

Reform must deliver:

Fairer eligibility criteria

Time accommodations in line with European norms

Access to assistive technology

Earlier decisions so students can plan

Thank you to CEO Rosie Bissett and the Dyslexia Ireland team for their advocacy and for the brilliant work they do to help students and families across the country.

A special mention to Mayo workshop coordinator Marita Murtagh and her team, who have been running weekly workshops in Castlebar for many years – providing invaluable support to children and families right across Mayo

25/05/2026

Brilliant news for Ballyhaunis today.

€100,000 has be awarded a Teen Zone at the Friary Grounds.

Well done to all involved including the volunteers, community groups, Peter Gill of Mayo County Council and his team.

It will be a great addition to the town and the entire young people.

Anne Cunnane
Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns
Ballyhaunis Family Resource Centre
Ballyhaunis Abbey
Ballyhaunis Community Council

20/05/2026

Too rich for social housing.
Too poor to survive in the private market.

Ireland has a new face of homelessness:

- Hard-working people
- Tax-paying families
- Self-employed people

The Government's new rental legislation was supposed to help renters.
Instead it triggered the highest eviction rate since the Famine.
I warned this would happen before the vote.

19/05/2026

The Maritime Regulator have issued Uisce Éireann with an official license to survey Clew Bay and the coastline.

This will allow Uisce Éireann's engineering and design team to collect vital coastal and ocean data.

The data is essential to build a planning application.

Up to this point the project was essentially at a standstill. These delays were totally unacceptable.

The ball is now in of the court of Uisce Éireann.

A sincere thank you to the Newport committee and everyone who has engaged with me on this project.

I have written to Uisce Éireann calling for the surveying works to begin without delay.

19/05/2026

Midwest Radio interview regarding the major milestone reached on the Newport Wastewater Treatment Plant.

A sincere thank you to the Newport committee and all who have engaged with me on this project.

A few important points:
- This is a significant milestone but we are still some distance from the build
- The pressure must be kept up
- The ball is now firmly in the court of Uisce Éireann

I have written to Uisce Éireann calling for Clew Bay surveying works to begin without delay.

The Maritime Area Regulatory Authority (MARA) has granted the licence.

18/05/2026

Major Milestone for the Newport Wastewater Treatment Plant

In March I urged Uisce Éireann to proceed with public consultation without further delay.

I am absolutely delighted to confirm that public consultation is now complete and MARA have issued Uisce Éireann with an official Maritime Usage Licence (MUL).

This is a major milestone. Without this licence the project was essentially at a standstill.

It is now a matter for Uisce Éireann to progress, and I will be fighting tooth and nail to ensure that surveying and investigations in Clew Bay commence ASAP.

A very special thank you and well done to the Newport Waste Water Treatment committee for your diligent hard work.

16/05/2026

I met with National Ambulance Service staff at their base in Castlebar.

These are not ambulance drivers. They are highly skilled professionals — many holding Level 9 qualifications, a master's degree in pre-hospital emergency care.

NAS staff make life and death decisions every single day, responding to cardiac arrests, serious road accidents, and psychiatric emergencies around the clock, 365 days a year.

Figures released to me through parliamentary questions show the pressure on this service has nearly doubled in ten years:

- 22,000 emergency call-outs in the Western region in 2015.
- 40,000 by 2024.

An independent report was commissioned on upgrading their conditions.

This matter has been before the Labour Court. And still the HSE has failed to act on the recommendations.

They have embraced every new responsibility. They have upskilled.

I am calling on the HSE and the Health Minister to engage constructively with National Ambulance Service staff and deliver pay and conditions that reflect the level of upskilling and responsibility they have taken on.

13/05/2026

Thousands of children's lives will be saved because this Bill was defeated today.

12/05/2026

I challenged Taoiseach Micheál Martin in the Dáil today on the fuel crisis.

One month on, not a single cent paid out under the fuel support scheme.

The scheme is deeply flawed:
— Farmers must submit all fuel receipts from last year
— Payment is based on a monthly average (5/12ths of last year's spend)
— But farmers use far more fuel in spring & summer — slurry, silage, harvest
— A monthly average massively unfair.

The €750 million "rescue package"? Imaginary money - calculated by counting tax increases they simply chose not to impose.

And the bigger scandal? €500 million in carbon taxes collected between 2020 and 2023 was never spent on climate measures.

05/05/2026

Putting the finishing touches to our new office in Claremorris.

Claremorris constituency office is now open.

Here to serve every person and community across Mayo.

Drop in, call us, or get in touch online.