The testimony of Paul Guy has been very impactful. As I said earlier to Deputy Bacik, who raised this question on Leaders' Questions, it is very traumatic for families generally with loved ones in nursing homes but particularly for the Guy family. Legislation is already in place to deal with what happened in these nursing homes. We do not need new adult safeguarding legislation to deal with what happened to Audeon Guy. It should not have happened. It was abuse.
Sentiment score: -0.06
It was abuse. We have a regulatory authority and legislation there. A lot of work has been done in the past year on adult safeguarding, the policy is near completion and there will be legislation. What happened should not have happened and there are already laws there to deal with it. Implication and oversight are required.
Sentiment score: -0.06
Quite a significant number of economists, along with the Housing Agency, are saying that measures taken by this House in 2021 restricted supply, so a lot of people are saying there is a clear need for reform of the rent pressure zones. The vast majority of commentators have said that. The key objective is to protect existing tenants and create certainty so that if someone invests in the future, at a minimum, there is a cap at the rate of inflation as determined by the consumer price index. If we did not have that, we would expect people to invest in the market with the expectation of making a loss. Without question, the whole objective is to create additional supply.
Sentiment score: 0.17
There is a lot of evidence already. The Deputy can read the Housing Finance Agency's report and other reports. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, has said this as well.
Sentiment score: 0.09
Deputy Bacik wants to keep the existing system going forever. The legislation ends at the end of the year so, therefore, we have to give a period for the introduction of new legislation.
Sentiment score: 0.00
It is a very serious issue. The National Shared Services Office, NSSO, is responsible for payroll for civil servants and officeholders. The Minister has commissioned an external audit to go into the NSSO to examine in a much more comprehensive, forensic and detailed way the issues that have arisen. There needs to be further validation of what has emerged, particularly in terms of the 13,000 civil servants, and to see if there are other issues that need to be dealt with. That external audit needs to happen and we need to see the results of that.
Sentiment score: 0.15
It is not the central issue about this legislation.
Sentiment score: 0.00
Deputy O'Gorman asked a question so he should have the good manners to listen to the answer. It is not central.
Sentiment score: 0.22
If it is included or extra, the Deputy should not make it central because, fundamentally, the impact of the Bill will be symbolic. About €600,000 worth of goods alone in the past six years-----
Sentiment score: -0.01
The Deputy is not going to listen. I am saying that the figure for goods over the past six years was €600,000. The Minister is examining that aspect of it in terms of services. The Deputy knows as well that the legal ground here is extremely narrow anyway. I read the entirety of the Attorney General's opinion about this and it did not change fundamentally from the opinions of previous Attorneys General about trade competency being the exclusive competency of the EU. It was the arrival of the ICJ's advisory opinion that was key to revisiting this. Senator Black has been very co-operative. She and her advisers realised that the Bill as drafted by her would not have passed muster. Deputy O'Gorman must know that himself if he is honest.
Sentiment score: 0.11
I do not know. I do not deal with the operational practices of An Garda Síochána. I do not intervene in those. I was very surprised to see this. This is not Government policy but I will revert to the Deputy and ask for communication to be sent to him. I will talk to the Minister for justice about this.
Sentiment score: 0.14
The sufficiency of the number of gardaí across the country, in Cork city and county in particular, is an ongoing issue. As of 31 April, there are 1,281 gardaí working in Cork city and Cork county. Of these, 664 are assigned to Cork city and 616 to Cork county. Since 2015, more than 300 probationer gardaí have been assigned to stations in County Cork, including seven from attestation in March and five from last week's attestation. That is what I am told, although some people have said three. We need increased numbers in Cork and indeed across the country. It is very clear that the Garda's prioritisation and the Commissioner's prioritisation has been the Dublin area. In fact, many Dublin Deputies have commented on the increased presence of gardaí on the streets of Dublin. We need to see that all over the country.
Sentiment score: 0.12
I appreciate the Deputy raising this very serious issue for the community. As he says, the services were delivered in clinics located in the corridor that was part of the designated centre, I believe, and the residents' environment. This necessitated restrictive, controlled access to the community nursing unit and resulted in restricted movement for the residents. As part of the compliance plan for St. Joseph's, a commitment was given to HIQA supporting free access for residents to their home, which is the designated centre. To achieve this, alternative access to therapy services was required, apparently. Older persons' services worked with primary care services to provide short-term alternative accommodation to allow for time to source a longer term solution. Therapy services were relocated to another part of St. Joseph's campus in Longford within the same building where they are accessed by a new entrance. The HSE confirmed on 10 June that physiotherapy services are fully operational from St. Joseph's care centre, and the HSE confirmed that a feasibility study has been carried out. I think a decision will be made on 20 June. I will relay the Deputy's concerns to the Minister.
Sentiment score: 0.20
I thank the Deputy for raising this. I appreciate that the school is open to and wants to develop a special class. That is good because some schools are less proactive in respect of this, so I appreciate the efforts by the board. The school will be kept under consideration, I understand, for a special class for 2026-27. I will talk to the Minister of State, Michael Moynihan, who is with me here. According to the NCSE, the vast majority of children known to the NCSE seeking a special class in Kerry already have a placement. If there are local issues the Deputy is highlighting here, maybe the NCSE is not aware of certain cases. I ask him to speak to the Minister of State, Michael Moynihan, after this session and maybe we can progress that.
Sentiment score: 0.37
I think we will need a regulatory framework governing drones. We have to have a common-sense approach to the use of drones. Did the Deputy refer to 300 food deliveries?
Sentiment score: 0.00
We have to examine all of that because that potentially clearly leads to significant congestion, security issues, safety issues, noise issues, amenity issues and the need for physical activity. There might be certain cases where people need such a service or it could be effective if you are infirm or elderly. I can understand that. The Deputy has raised a lot of issues. We need a policy framework governing this and ultimately there will have to be a regulatory framework. It cannot be the Wild West.
Sentiment score: 0.24
Again, I will work with the Minister to raise the issue the Deputy has raised. Obviously, there is a very extensive school building programme. There was a need for additional capital to be allocated to education. The Minister for public expenditure has agreed with the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and that capital has been allocated now. Hopefully that might result in further completions this year, but the school building programme is at a record level in terms of the number of buildings, extensions and so forth. I will do everything I can to support the needs of Ard Scoil Chiaráin Naofa in terms of its building project.
Sentiment score: 0.17
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. EnergyCloud is a significant community-based organisation providing a significant service to the community, to the public at large and to the national effort. If he can send that to me, I will forward it to the Minister for climate.
Sentiment score: 0.31
We will look through the detail and get the Deputy a comprehensive response.
Sentiment score: 0.25
I was in Galway recently. I met the county and city managers. I have agreed to meet both of them for a more detailed discussion around development issues-----
Sentiment score: 0.09
I just want to get on with it.
Sentiment score: 0.08
I am talking to TDs. I will meet you as well. I do not want to have 25 people arriving in again and we all chatting and everyone saying the same thing.
Sentiment score: 0.07
I have met TDs and I will meet TDs. I have just said that I met the county and city managers because there are a lot of objections in Galway to housing developments. On the water question, Irish Water will be resourced and has been resourced. Increased resources will be allocated to Irish Water under the national development plan. I am fully aware of the issues around wastewater treatment in Galway. We will work to address that.
Sentiment score: 0.05
The events in Carlow were very traumatic for everyone involved-----
Sentiment score: -0.61
-----including the wider community and the family of Evan Fitzgerald, a young man whose life is now no more. It was a very sad and traumatic event. I will check with the Minister for justice for clarity around dates. The Minister or the Department of justice may have been told this was going to Fiosrú. If that is the case, one does not comment on it. That is normal.
Sentiment score: 0.02
I would not comment on anything if it was heading for an investigation. That is why one leaves things go to investigation. I am not aware of the background to this at all.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I will ask the Minister to respond to some of these issues.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. When I met him in the corridor last evening, he highlighted the unique and important presence of prehistoric monuments known as the Baltinglass hillforts, up to 13 hillforts in south-west Wicklow and neighbouring parts of Kildare, the largest collection of such impressive prehistoric monuments in Ireland or Britain. I am delighted that the Deputy informed me that it involved archaeologists from UCC, where I studied archaeology for one year, as I told him. I have had a fondness for it ever since. The National Monuments Service is supporting work in this regard. It has supported research on the hillfort landscape through the Royal Irish Academy grant schemes. It funded the recent publication of the seminal A Hillfort Through Time: Excavations at Rathgall, Co. Wicklow, which was launched by my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan, in the RIA earlier this year. The Baltinglass hillforts are in private ownership so there is no public access. The National Monuments Service welcomes discussion and any substantive proposals it may receive on improving access to these monuments that may emerge in liaison with those land owners who are long-standing custodians of these important monuments. If local consensus can be developed, we will see what can emerge from that.
Sentiment score: 0.36
As I looked out a window yesterday, I spotted an errant Minister, who had assured me he had given up cigarettes, smoking. He was caught red-handed as I looked out the window.
Sentiment score: 0.18
It was a funny moment. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has informed me that a lot of progress has been made on that legislation. There is a European dimension but we are anxious to progress it as quickly as possible. There are laws of the land. If I am honest, people in every institution are entitled to be governed by the laws of the land. It is a matter for the commission to look at the campus itself. We banned indoor smoking to keep the workplace safe. If Deputies and Senators smoke, I urge them to give it up, but at the same time an overly restrictive approach is not-----
Sentiment score: 0.23
I do not have an exact timeline for the Bill.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I am not aware of who is submitting the planning permission.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I am aware of the issue. I cannot give an exact timeline as to when a planning application will be submitted.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I will raise this. There is no point in roaring at me about it.
Sentiment score: -0.15
A Department of Government is doing everything it possibly can to give access to people. The big issue initially was that there was no access. I will relay that the Deputy has raised this with the Minister of State. He is very well aware of it, as is the Minister, Deputy Lawless. All the Deputies have been engaged in this matter, but it is a bit much to expect us to have the operational timelines of every planning application that is being made.
Sentiment score: 0.05
I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. My understanding is that the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has met the parents' alliance. I certainly have no issue meeting them either, subject obviously to scheduling in terms of the diary. I will speak to the Minister for equality and disability, Deputy Foley, on the question of an equality audit. It is an important issue. A lot of work has been done, but I understand fully the need to bring it to a conclusion.
Sentiment score: 0.14
I dealt with this question yesterday. Our view is fundamentally that the insurance industry has to step up to the plate in many instances. In particular, where the State has completed flood relief schemes and where the infrastructure is in place, I have heard there are still difficulties in getting flood insurance, notwithstanding the investment that has gone in. In that case there is a case for the insurance company to just insure people, because many of those flood schemes have proven to be very effective. I am thinking of Fermoy, Clonmel and areas like that. That is one aspect of it. The other aspect is the State providing some support when floods happen, but it is nowhere near what a comprehensive insurance scheme could provide.
Sentiment score: 0.15