Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to start by congratulating the Irish rugby team on its grand slam victory in the Six Nations Championship. In the wake of Brexit and the talk of a hard border, our rugby team gives us hope and promise of what we can do when we work together on an all-Ireland basis.We were able to celebrate this amazing achievement thanks to the sacrifices made by the members of the team, their support teams and their family members, who do not see them for weeks on end. I thank them and say "well done".

The second item I would like to raise also relates to sport. Unfortunately, this House was not sitting last week when a further allocation of sports funding was announced by the Minister, Deputy Ross. My heart was broken when I went through the list of recipients as I sat at home. I was sure some of the large projects in Dublin 8 and Dublin 12 would finally be acknowledged and much-needed funds would be allocated to assist them in their work with young people in my area. I was astonished to see that Wesley College in Dublin was awarded €150,000. Drimnagh Castle CBS, which educates and nurtures some of the finest young men in Dublin, was hoping to get a similar grant for a similar sporting facility, but it was badly let down. Schools in Dublin 8 and Dublin 12 rear and educate our young people without the benefit of private funding and are wholly reliant on the State. I cannot understand why those most in need of sports funding were overlooked again. The Government pays lip service on a daily basis to how it intends to look after inner-city communities, but on this occasion it has not put its money where its mouth is. Communities in Dublin 8 and Dublin 12 are sick of being dumping grounds for services that other areas do not want, including wet hostels and injection centres. To add insult to injury, the Liberty Saints sports club was handed a cheque for €7,000 while Malahide Rugby Football Club was given over €100,000. There is absolutely no fairness in this. Inner-city communities need proper facilities and adequate housing. This Government is failing at every level. In my opinion, the self-indulgence of the Minister, Deputy Ross, in giving sports allocation grants to private colleges is sickening.

The third item I would like to raise is the use and sharing of personal data on the Internet. The mining of that data by companies has come to light as a result of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The debate on this issue, which has been raised by Senator Higgins and others in this House, had been simmering away, but now it has exploded. When I watched "Prime Time" yesterday, I learned that psychological operations, or planned political operations, are deployed to convey selected information to audiences to influence their motives and political voting patterns. It seems from my understanding that computer scientists and data analysts have figured out how to brainwash us, almost, and to manipulate us our voting patterns. This is very worrying. We need to ensure we have proper legislation in place to govern the sale and use of our data on online platforms. Ultimately, we need to be more self-aware. We need to question our willingness to use and share our personal and private data, thoughts and emotions online. Did those who filled out a Facebook quiz know that the results would be used to target them for their political motivations? Probably not. Many of these platforms are based in and have their headquarters in Ireland. We need to know whether they acquiesced to or had knowledge of what our data would be used for. I am calling for the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to come to this House to make a statement on the matter. How does he plan to ensure our data will not be misused and manipulated for political gain?