I thank Deputy Doherty. I am aware of this issue and the significant concern of taxi drivers in relation to this. The factual position given by the Department is that dispatch operators are required to provide bookings to small public service vehicle, SPSV, licensed drivers using SPSV licensed vehicles only. Where taxi drivers choose to affiliate with a dispatch operator, they are free to contract with a dispatch operator of their choice. However, I do understand there is genuine concern and worry in relation to this. The Minister for Transport did issue a letter to the NTA on 19 November asking it to engage and clarify the regulatory position for SPSV operators. I will certainly take the Deputy's request back to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien.
Sentiment score: 0.19
I thank the Deputy for his good wishes. I congratulate him on his first year in the Dáil. I think I heard him say the other day that he is the first TD born in the 21st century-----
Sentiment score: 0.40
-----which is a significant milestone.
Sentiment score: 0.20
Did we? There you go. Well, comhghairdeas, and-----
Sentiment score: 0.09
Maybe you will. I would highly recommend it most days.
Sentiment score: 0.21
We will have a discussion offline about that. We used to be in government with the Labour Party. You have to be careful not to get too close to that crowd - I jest. I thank the Deputy for raising what is a really serious matter because school secretaries and caretakers are the beating heart of our community. We know them; we know them by name. We all want to see this issue resolved. Conscious of my new position, I do not want to over-comment on discussions between parties that remain confidential other than to say that this matter has been referred to the Labour Court. A resolution needs to be found. I understand the Department and the Government remain committed and ready to engage with Fórsa to reach a resolution to this important matter, which, as I said, has been referred to the Labour Court.
Sentiment score: 0.19
There have been eye-watering amounts of public funding allocated to capital, including to the Department of Transport. I would make the point, as I made earlier but I want to make it again, there are lots of projects that will be advanced over the lifetime of this Government and beyond that are not included in yesterday's sectoral investment plan. They are generally projects of below €200 million and TII will publish an annual capital plan, likely in and around January, and the Minister will be in a position to publish this also. I know I am being argumentative but I would make the point that I am a big believer in building roads. Public transport needs roads, there are road safety issues, and the electric vehicles we are trying to get people to switch to need to drive on roads. Far too many road projects, including the N11 in our constituency-----
Sentiment score: 0.11
A minute ago you did not want to spend the money on roads and you criticised us for spending too much money.
Sentiment score: -0.46
Exactly. Roads funding is important and I agree with Deputy Whitmore on this. This is why we have made sure the N11 will advance and I assure Deputy Whitmore that the N81 will too. The N81 is not a project that is expected to reach the threshold there would have been in the sectoral investment plan. I have discussed this with the chief executive of Wicklow County Council also. My broader point is that I will ask the Minister to come back specifically on the public transport projects, including the Luas projects, to which Deputy Whitmore referred.
Sentiment score: 0.18
I thank Deputy Healy for raising a very important matter. Sometimes when you are in my position talk is not cheap and it can be detrimental to very important processes that need to be followed in our labour relations and industrial relations mechanisms in the country. I agree with Deputy Healy's analysis on the hugely positive contribution our school secretaries and caretakers, and the SNAs he referenced in an earlier discussion, make. On Friday, 5 September we had constructive engagement under the auspices of the WRC and agreement was reached that the Department and Fórsa would engage in a process to resolve the issues in dispute. Officials from the Department engaged several times with Fórsa under the auspices of the WRC. The matter has now been referred to the Labour Court. From my experience, in this House and in public life, I hope both sides can get into the Labour Court and engage in a meaningful way to try to find a resolution to this dispute, which we all want to see resolved.
Sentiment score: 0.51
I am sympathetic to some of the points the Deputy makes. I have had discussions with colleagues on this also. CPO is a very important tool but it should be used in very specific instances. I am not certain I am comfortable with its use in relation to greenways. The State should not overcomplicate the situation in relation to greenways. They are good things, and they are things that communities generally want, but there does need to be a bit of common sense in terms of the routes. There has been a degree of complexity, perhaps, injected into it. Greenways are great and they have transformed many parts of our country but we do not want to see them become in any way divisive. I will seek an update from the Minister on where the TII's review of the use of CPO is at.
Sentiment score: 0.08
That is genuinely what I want to happen and I know it is really what the Taoiseach wants to happen. I acknowledge and pay tribute to him for the work he is investing in this personally. He and I had a meeting circa three weeks ago, maybe four, and we are due to meet with the representative group again very shortly. It will be either next week or the week after but it is in the month of December. A huge amount of work is under way to try to get this where it needs to get to. I thank many of the people we know for coming around here, all too frequently, and feeling they have to come around here, such as Finola and others, because this has dragged on a long time. I also want us to get to a point where an apology can be offered in the House. We have seen ways it has been done in the past for a lot of issues and it would be entirely appropriate. I know the Taoiseach is working very intensively on this. I am very eager to work with him on it. We are both directly engaging on it and I really do want us to make progress on this for once and for all.
Sentiment score: 0.18
I thank Deputy Aird for all the work he has been doing over the course of the past year, keeping us under pressure in terms of many projects that are important to the people of Laois, who gave him such a resounding mandate a year ago and I acknowledge this. I thank him for raising this important matter with me. I know it is an issue he has been campaigning on, not only as a TD but during his time on Laois County Council. As Deputy Aird knows, Laois fire service indicated that a new fire station at Stradbally was the council's number one priority, and a replacement fire station for Rathdowney was the second priority. This is the factual position. We saw a situation where the Stradbally fire station project was progressed and has now been approved to tender for the construction phase, and it will have a closing date for submissions on 20 January 2026. The reason I say that is it now means Rathdowney has become the number one priority in this regard for Laois County Council and the Laois fire service. I am pleased to say that Laois County Fire and Rescue Service has now identified a proposed site that it believes is ideally situated with regard to the road network, traffic flow and central location. Here is the rub, though. The fire service capital programme 2026 to 2030 is being finalised and once it is, we will have a better idea of the timeline. Let me be clear, though. We are absolutely committed, as are the Department of housing and Laois County Fire and Rescue Service, to progressing the proposed new Rathdowney station. The next time we are in Laois, perhaps we will visit it and talk about timelines and moving that forward.
Sentiment score: 0.13
I will have to check with the relevant Minister on the status of that and will revert to the Deputy directly.
Sentiment score: 0.00
That is a very good idea because we need to do two things. As the Deputy has rightly said, for his constituents in Palmerstown, Chapelizod and in general, we need to build the confidence he has talked about but we also need to be able to track performance in terms of return of investment. We have just announced as a Government a major increase in public transport funding and a major increase in capital funding in general. It is right and proper that agencies of the State are able to account not just to their elected representatives, but also to the people on how they are performing in return for that capital. That level of data makes sense. I will specifically talk to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, in respect of the issues the Deputy has raised regarding the review of the route and the need to arrive at a sustainable solution.
Sentiment score: 0.33
I thank Deputy Carrigy for raising this issue. The roll-out of DEIS and DEIS plus, as we have committed to in the programme for Government, is linked to an educational measure but also a child poverty measure. We all know one of the best ways of lifting people out of poverty, including intergenerational poverty, is through our education system. Tackling educational disadvantage moves children out of poverty in the short, medium and long terms. I am determined, as is this Government, that the roll-out of DEIS plus is based on need, evidence and analysis, not just picking certain parts of the country. Absolutely, Longford will be considered in that context. As the Deputy will know, there are already 23 schools in Longford in the DEIS programme, with six urban band 1 primary schools, one urban band 2 primary schemes, ten rural DEIS primary schools and six post-primary schools. My understanding is that schools in Longford are now participating in the consultation process to inform the development of a new strategy, and this report will be published shortly. Regarding the special school places issue, I will specifically ask the Minister, Deputy Naughton, and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, to look at the issues in Longford and link with the Deputy to try to make progress on this.
Sentiment score: -0.05
Let me correct the record: we have an excellent Minister who is working very hard but housing is also a whole-of-government issue. The Minister, Deputy Browne, recently published, with me, the Taoiseach and the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, a new national housing plan that involves every part of the State, realising everybody has a role to play in the housing emergency, including our local authorities and State agencies. On this specific project, I am not familiar with it but I will speak to the Minister-----
Sentiment score: 0.07
I will speak to the Minister because we all want to see more supply and I will ask him to revert to the Deputy directly.
Sentiment score: 0.08
I thank the Deputy for highlighting that. Ultimately, State agencies must always remember that they are agencies of the State. The people in this building and those in local authority chambers are the democratically elected representatives of that State. I am sorry to hear the Deputy is highlighting a real issue in terms of a lack of engagement on this. I will certainly take this back and discuss it with the Minister for Transport more broadly and I will ask him to revert to the Deputy.
Sentiment score: 0.18
I will not give any undertaking until I get on top of the facts of it. I will certainly get on top of the facts now and will revert to the Deputy on the issue. I can only imagine the frustration of those An Post pensioners. Allow me to seek the latest update and I will revert to the Deputy on it in writing.
Sentiment score: 0.11
I thank Deputy Lawlor for highlighting this issue. Anecdotally, I have come across this as well. We are asking people who have accrued significant experience and expertise to come back and help out with a specific project, maybe when there are particular times of pressure, such as during Covid and many other occasions. Often, it can be quite a challenge to get people to come back, not necessarily because they do not want to, but because of that interplay in relation to their pensions and pension abatement. It is a complex area, as the Deputy knows, but I will talk to the Minister, Deputy Chambers, in relation to it and ask him that he revert to the Deputy on it.
Sentiment score: 0.20
I thank the Deputy for his constructive contribution and the idea of an accelerator project for the IFSC. If the Deputy sends me on the details of it, I will be very happy to engage with him on it. I suggest that my colleague in the Department of Finance, the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, who has responsibility for international services, and I could have a discussion in relation to that. I would be happy to facilitate that. IFAC has a really important role today. Groupthink brought us to a moment of economic ruination before. It is important to have critical voices but the big learning from IFAC is the need to get the medium-term fiscal framework nailed down before Christmas so that we anchor our spending and taxation plans for the next number of years.
Sentiment score: 0.21
As is often the case, Deputy Burke is correct on this. There is a real blockage here, which is that it cannot all be left to the market. I meet people in my constituency and around the country, often young professional people, who they want to open a childcare facility. They are well up for it, ready and qualified but they gave to face upfront costs, startup costs, rents and capital costs. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Foley, to specifically consider the Deputy's comments in the context of the new action plan on childcare that will be published early next year. Today, the Minister has, or is about to, announce our capital funding plan for childcare, which will see very significant funding, for the first time really at scale, for State-led childcare facilities. Perhaps we can fold the Deputy's comments into that conversation as well.
Sentiment score: 0.13
I try to stop myself doing it as well, because I can stand here and point to there being X number of more places. That might be true, but it is also only a cause of frustration for a parent who does not have a place. I take that point, which is a fair one. In relation to the three specific cases the Deputy raised, I will notify the Minister for education and the NCSE of her intention to follow up on those. On the broader point in relation to the capacity in Kildare South, I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, to revert to the Deputy.
Sentiment score: -0.03
I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this matter. These are always sensitive and important issues to try to get right. I know local councillors try to grapple with what the right approach is on this. I note that different parties, including some Opposition parties, have voted in different ways on this on different councils. I think the lead Opposition party voted one way on South Dublin County Council and voted a different way on Dublin City Council. I am not sure what the policy difference was in terms of why it voted in two different ways. We are trying to get the balance right. We are taking a number of measures to try to assist people with housing and poverty. We will continue to trust our councillors to monitor this on a case-by-case basis per local authority.
Sentiment score: 0.17