First, I join the Leas-Cheann Comhairle in remarking on the fact tomorrow marks the 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This was one of the most horrific atrocities ever to take place on the European Continent and an atrocity that resulted in the massacre of more than 8,000 men and boys. It is our duty as a country, a Parliament and an international community to remember the brutality and devastation that occurred. I know we all join the community today. Deputy Doherty mentioned Katie Taylor from Bray. I join him in wishing her all the best. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. He was right when he raised it in March. I did take action, as did the Government. I think the Deputy raised it on a Thursday during Leaders' Questions and on the Monday, from my memory, we had a meeting of the Cabinet committee on disability and agreed to sanction a fund of €8 million - again from memory - into what was called the children's disability services grant fund. That decision was taken by the Government on foot of the engagement the Deputy and I had here. I have been asking about this pretty regularly because these are important projects and, indeed, I had an opportunity to speak to the head of the HSE, Bernard Gloster, about it only this week as part our ongoing regular engagement. In relation specifically to the Donegal group, I understood they are in very regular contact. I think there has even been contact this week between them and the HSE. I am also told they have been assured their costs will be funded. From a Government point of view, we have allocated the €8 million. I take the point about the delay and I apologised for it, but we have now sanctioned the funding. I can fully understand that there might be final compliance checks or governance checks. I do not say this rudely to the groups, but it is the first time some of them have ever received public funding or the likes. I take the point that the HSE has to do that, but we want to see the money flow. Because of the importance of the issue, while I accept there are more projects than those in Donegal, I will ask that we have a meeting of Donegal Oireachtas Members. I will ask for that to be arranged with the relevant Minister or the HSE next week to try to bring a finality to this situation. Our commitment on this was solemn. It was an €8 million fund. More broadly, because I am conscious that people are watching this, therapy services for children is an area in which there needs to be huge progress and we are endeavouring to reform that system. That is why we have taken decisions only in recent weeks to establish a new national education therapy service led by my colleague the Minister, Deputy McEntee. We should be in a position to start recruiting for those posts in the coming weeks, I hope, starting with special schools and then rolling the project out more broadly after that to special classes and then mainstream schools. That is an important step and we have seen when it comes to assessments of need this year that there has, thankfully, been a very large increase in the number of children now getting them, although there is much more work to do on that. On foot of Deputy Doherty raising this, and I can only imagine the genuine frustration of Denise and Jack and other Denises and Jacks, we will arrange for that meeting next week and I will keep in close contact with the Deputy. From the Government's point of view, I am clear, because I was in the room, that we have sanctioned the €8 million. We did that in March. I will ask for a specific meeting to take place with the Deputy and other Donegal Oireachtas Members next week.
Sentiment score: 0.18
I am very clear, not just from my perspective but from that of the entire Government, that on 25 March of this year, the Department of Children, Disability and Equality secured sanction for the €8 million grant fund. There is a budget of €3.2 billion for disability services, as the Deputy knows, and €8 million of a grant fund was sanctioned for the Department of Children, Disability and Equality on 25 March. From the Government's point of view, once it was sanctioned, we expected it to be drawn down and spent. In light of what Deputy Doherty has brought to my attention, I will of course follow this up again. I had conversations on it this week, coincidentally, where I was told there were some final compliance and governance issue with some projects. Again, I do not say that as a slur but just before the final governance issues in terms of the drawdown of public money. That is what I was told was the situation this week. It would be useful, if we take the Donegal projects as an example, to convene a meeting next week of Oireachtas Members with the relevant HSE and departmental officials. I undertake to get that in place. I will also talk to the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, and the Minister, Deputy Foley, about this matter today. From the Government's perspective, the funding has been allocated and now needs to be spent quickly for the benefit of these children.
Sentiment score: 0.19
It is welcome to have a question on climate as I am not sure we, as a Dáil, are having the level of focus and discussion needed on this issue. The climate emergency has not gone away; far from it. We need to look at how we can accelerate the pace of change that needs to take place. We need a conversation about how we bring people with us, on which the Deputy had some good ideas. I, too, know people who would like to retrofit their home or switch to an electric vehicle but cost is still a barrier. We, as a Government, must reflect on that. The short answer to the Deputy's question is "Yes". He will begin to see real and meaningful intent when we publish our national development plan, which I hope will be at the end of this month. It will show a commitment in areas like investing in water infrastructure, supporting Irish Water, accelerating the delivery of renewable energy and investing more in transport, including public transport. The Cabinet committee on climate action, environment and energy met this week and had a good and detailed discussion on climate policy. The latest data from the Environmental Protection Agency, which made a presentation to the committee, shows that Ireland's emissions continue to fall for the third year in a row and are at their lowest level in three decades. I say that not because we are where we need to be but because we do not want to inject a sense of fatalism into the debate, which the Deputy is not doing. We are able to make more progress as a country. Emissions decreased by 2% in 20024 and by 10.6% between 2021 and 2024. Ireland now has the lowest level of greenhouse gas emissions in 35 years. This is more significant when we consider that this period saw 1.5 million more people living in the country and over a million more homes. We are achieving reductions at a time when our economy is, thankfully, continuing to grow strongly. However, the Deputy is entirely correct that we have a long way to go to get to our 2030 climate targets. Certainly, there is no white flag being raised by the Government. The next phase has to be about acceleration. It has to be about how we can do more and do it more quickly. That is why the Government has announced our intention to establish a new climate investment clearing house to try to accelerate progress on our energy transition. That is the big dial change. If we can get to that energy transition, we can stop using dirty fuels and start being able to produce clean renewable energy. There are a number of commitments in the programme for Government on climate. They include strengthening governance structures around the climate action plan, achieving energy independence by harnessing renewable energy resources, ramping up home retrofits, improving grants, on which we have given a commitment, enabling communities to secure grid access for local renewable projects and supporting the just transition commission to ensure no community is left behind. One of the big decisions the previous Government made was the establishment of the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund. We are putting billions of euro aside to be able to invest in that transition. I have read the Commission's report on our implementation of EU environmental law. My honest evaluation is that it is a mixed bag. It points to some areas of progress over the past year, including in biodiversity, our clean air strategy, the publication of successive climate action plans and the binding legislation.
Sentiment score: 0.19
We are committed to providing the investment that is required. I am being very honest in saying I am not convinced currently of the need for more legislation in this area. There is a lot of legislation in place. It is an implementation issue now in terms of how quickly we can accelerate delivery. Most sectors of our economy are seeing a decrease in emissions, including agriculture and transport. Our electricity is now cleaner than ever before. Last year marked the first year in which no peat was used for power generation, which was a symbolic end to a high-carbon era. It reflects the structural transformation under way in our energy network. Wind energy provided 48% of Ireland's power last February. In January, Ireland reached the important milestone of hitting 5 GW of installed onshore wind capacity. EV sales increased by 23% in April this year compared with the same month last year. Home retrofitting is scaling up. I agree with the Deputy that we need to go further but we are beginning to see the direction of travel. We must back that up with investment but also by making sure projects are delivered more quickly, particularly in the area of offshore renewable energy.
Sentiment score: 0.18
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. As a previous Minister with responsibility in this area, I know Tipperary ETB to be an excellent and well-run organisation. I am aware of some of the exciting projects in which it is involved, including at the old barracks in Clonmel and the plans for a FET college of the future. I know the ETB to be a well-run organisation and would take very seriously any feedback it has for the Government on any supports it requires. I am happy to have further engagement on this issue and to speak with the Minister, Deputy Lawless, to reflect the views raised by the Deputy and other Tipperary Deputies. My understanding is that not only has SOLAS, the national agency, not reduced its funding to Tipperary ETB, but we, through SOLAS, have increased its funding. To be clear, the Deputy has not asserted to the contrary. We have provided a budget for Tipperary ETB this year of €35.5 million through SOLAS, which is an extra €1.1 million on what it received last year. We are very much investing in further education and training opportunities in Tipperary ETB. My understanding, going somewhat from memory, is that local training initiatives are one mechanism through which people access training. They generally operate on an annual funding cycle and are always reviewed by all ETBs at the end of the cycle. They look at a range of factors, including demand, funding, local strategic priorities and the like. They then decide whether to offer those courses again. I understand that Tipperary ETB has not formally approved or scheduled any LTIs to operate beyond the conclusion of this year's initiatives and, therefore, no learners are formally enrolled for September. I am also aware that Tipperary ETB has advised that it is considering alternative options to support those learners who typically would have been served by LTIs. It has requested the contact details of any current or prospective LTI learners and intends to engage with each of them on personalised guidance and to consider the various educational options that might be available to them. I know it remains committed to that. I believe there are over 9,600 unique learners in Tipperary who were supported last year through post leaving certificate courses, PLCs, apprenticeships, traineeships, Youthreach and adult and community education programmes. I am happy to have further engagement with the Minister, Deputy Lawless, and SOLAS on the matter. There is a number of different pathways to achieve those training objectives. When Tipperary ETB has gone through its process, it will be interesting to see if it identifies any gaps and if it does, how the Government responds. It might be that the ETB is able to meet the education and training needs through a variety of other means. I am happy to keep in touch with the Deputy on the issue. I am satisfied at the moment that Tipperary ETB is going through a process and I look forward to the outcome of it.
Sentiment score: 0.29
I thank the Deputy. I know the seriousness with which he views this issue. He has said it is a "central issue" and that is obviously how he feels about it. It will be interesting to see whether, through the range of courses provided by Tipperary ETB and the pathways available, it believes it can meet the needs of learners through other mechanisms or whether it will require LTIs to continue in the new year. On foot of the Deputy raising the issue, and it being raised a few times in the Dáil this week, I will ask the Minister, Deputy Lawless, to engage with SOLAS and Tipperary ETB, as I know he will be eager to do anyway. We will see how the situation progresses. We are very committed to the work of the ETB in Tipperary. I thank the staff of the ETB for the work they do. It is an organisation I have come to know reasonably well. I am pleased that we have increased in funding in 2025 compared with 2024. I expect we will continue to increase its funding and will look to provide more educational opportunities to Tipperary. I will keep in touch with the Deputy on the matter.
Sentiment score: 0.30
I thank the Deputy for raising the matter, as I acknowledge he has on previous occasions, as he said. He raised it with my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Chambers, who has committed to engaging with him. I will welcome his views on the legislative basis we have in Ireland. I am not familiar with the details and if the Deputy has details, he should furnish them to the relevant authorities. That would be useful. Ireland has comprehensive legislation to protect workers who raise concerns about wrongdoing in the workplace. We have been on quite a significant legislative journey to try to get it right. The Protected Disclosures Act was enacted in 2014. It was enhanced and amended during the previous Dáil through the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022. A statutory review of the Protected Disclosures Act is built in. That is due to commence, I am told, in the near future. Under the law, it must be done by 2027. It must be done within five years. A public consultation will be held as part of that review. Those of us who were here in 2022 will recall that the Act has built into it a statutory review of the legislation. That will involve public consultation. We will be obligated as an Oireachtas to consider the legislation during the lifetime of this Dáil. We will be obligated to, quite rightly, have a public consultation as part of that. At EU level, there is a review of the EU whistleblower directive, which is Directive 2019/1937, expected next year. The amended Act we have is a transposition of the EU whistleblower directive. That will be charged with reporting to both the European Parliament and the Council on the national law transposing the directive, so it asks how every country is getting on with fulfilling their EU obligations and whether any additional measures are considered appropriate for any member state in the European Union's analysis of people's compliance with that directive. The Commission has indicated the report will be finalised no later than 2026. I say that by way of context for some of the broader issues the Deputy raised, because protecting whistleblowers is important. People who come forward in the public interest need to know that they can do so in an environment that is safe. That is the purpose of our legislation and indeed it was the purpose of the broadening of the scope of the legislation in 2022, where we made it clear that there was a broader range of people who could report wrongdoing, beyond employees, to include volunteers, shareholders, trainees, board members and job applicants, and ensure they benefited from the protection of the law. It also imposes new requirements on employers as regards the operation of a formal whistleblowing channel. There are also now special channels for the reporting of wrongdoing relating to law enforcement, security, defence, international relations or intelligence. Our law of the land, the Act, prohibits any penalisation or threat of penalisation for a worker who has made a protected disclosure. Penalisation can include unfair dismissal, unfair treatment, coercion, intimidation or harassment. Statutory protection from penalisation is provided primarily by the Workplace Relations Commission, which can make orders for restitution and payment of up to five years' salary in compensation. Cases can be appealed to the Labour Court.
Sentiment score: 0.15
I thank the Deputy. When he criticised me about my response only being words, I am not sure what more I can provide in oral response to a question. I provided clearly in those words quite a bit of detail on the laws that are in place in our land. They are laws that those of us who are honoured to serve in government worked hard to put in place in 2014, with an enhancement in 2022. In the lifetime of this Government, we will carry out the statutory review. We are going to look at that at an EU level too . Regarding the specific case, I am conscious of not knowing the detail. I am not doubting the Deputy's bona fides. I suggest that the appropriate thing to do would be to provide the relevant information to the relevant Department or Minister, who will process that in accordance with the laws of the land and the Protected Disclosures Act. Without knowing the details of the case or pre-judging any information that I do not yet know, the WRC and Labour Court are avenues that are available to any employee who experiences any discrimination.
Sentiment score: 0.13
I cannot pre-judge. We have a WRC and Labour Court that are independent of government. We have An Garda Síochána. We have a number of avenues and robust whistleblower legislation. I suggest in the first instance, if the Deputy believes there are more issues that need to be considered, to provide them to the relevant Department.
Sentiment score: 0.08