I thank Deputy Coppinger for raising this important issue, which I will bring to the attention of the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan. I am taking this on his behalf. The enormous contribution made by migrant workers, particularly those working in the health sector, is recognised and valued by this Government. It is a central priority for the Minister that our immigration laws are fair and efficient. An important part of this is having legal pathways for workers and their families. I am advised by the Minister that there has been a significant increase in join family visa applications received by his Department. Approximately 22,000 such visa applications were made last year, an increase of 14% on 2023. The vast majority receive a decision within 12 months. In 2024, the average processing time for these applications was 72 calendar days. There are differences in the criteria applied to these applications. The Deputy outlined some, which are linked to the sponsors immigration permission. Health workers who are critical skills employment permit holders can apply for join family visas immediately. However, it is acknowledged that there are many healthcare professionals on general employment permits who are subject to additional waiting periods and financial thresholds. While some may find the difference in criteria difficult to understand, I assure the Deputy that the primary focus is to ensure that a sponsor is in a secure position and able to demonstrate a clear capacity to provide for family members before approving applications for families to join them here. As the Deputy is aware, the Department of Justice policy document for non-EEA family reunification, which was last amended in 2016, is under review. While this review is ongoing, it is not possible to pre-empt what changes may be introduced. The Minister has advised that the review is examining a wide range of matters relating to applications for family reunification. He expects that the next stage of the review will be concluded soon. Officials from his Department have consulted with a wide variety of stakeholders, including relevant Departments and external organisations, and will continue to engage with stakeholders regarding any changes. In addition to concluding the review, the Minister has advised me that in recent months more resources and staff have been assigned to his Department's visa division which are expected to reduce the waiting times for join family applications overall.

Sentiment score: 0.24

I thank the Deputy. I, and the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, also recognise and acknowledge the contributions that migrants and their families bring to our economy and our society as a whole. The Minister's Department is committed to ensuring we provide legal pathways for economic migration that are fair, efficient and responsive to the needs of the economy. While the Minister cannot pre-empt the changes to be introduced to his Department's family reunification policy until that review has been concluded, he can assure the Deputy that he is acutely aware that join family applications are hugely important for those families impacted and that he is committed to improving the service his Department provides. I will relay what the Deputy has said to the Minister.

Sentiment score: 0.42

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. He can be assured when I came into this role our CDNTs and that step change in disabilities service are an absolute priority. As he will know, we are working on a national disability strategy at the higher end where every single Department will have to feed in what they are going to do. Whether it is the Departments of Justice, Health, Social Protection, transport, or enterprise, that step change will be required right across Government. Regarding the issue of assessments of need, which the Deputy raised, we can all acknowledge it is currently not working. The waiting lists are far too long. There is an issue around therapists. We are doing our recruitment drives at a domestic and international level. Last year, my colleague, Deputy O'Donovan, when he was Minister for higher education, put in place an extra 150 therapy places through our higher education institutions and we will be doing at least that again this coming September. We are also looking at therapy assistant posts and how they can support our CDNTs to ensure our children and adults are getting the therapies they deserve and need. As the Deputy will know, I am also working my colleague, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, regarding therapies going directly into our special schools and eventually into special classes in mainstream schools. That will also help to ensure that those children most in need - or some of them - are getting access to therapies. I found instances in my last brief in special education going into special schools where a child would not have seen a therapist. That is just not acceptable. Those measures are part of it. We have an extra 272 whole-time equivalents within our CDNTs across the country. That is more than a 20% increase but we need to do much more. I am certainly open to suggestions as to how we can ensure we have a greater supply of those therapies, be it occupational therapists or speech and language therapists. I am engaging with the HSE, including Mr. Bernard Gloster, and the Department on what else we can do about the assessment of need process. I am sure the Deputy has found in his own area that it is not just about getting the assessment of need. Sometimes when someone gets one, he or she is still waiting to get access to those therapies. These issues are a top priority for me to make sure that adults and, in particular, children get early access to the therapies they need. We are spending €3.2 billion on disability under the previous budget. We want to see the expansion and reform of our disability services in order to maximise people's independence and to help to support them to live the lives they so wish. There will continue to be significant investment in this area.

Sentiment score: 0.27

The Deputy's first question veered into another area, so the response to that is in the written reply. I am having pre-Estimate discussions with the Ministers for public expenditure and Finance for the upcoming budget. What we all need to see is an increase in the budget and support for our day, respite and residential services right across the country to ensure that there is a good geographical spread and that, no matter where one is living, access to the disability services one requires is not based on a postcode lottery. That will require capital and current spending. Regarding the CDNTs, we are examining recruitment and retention and means to incentivise therapists, for example, to work within our CDNTs. The Deputy mentioned a number of projects within the Cavan-Monaghan area that were referenced in my reply. This is about ensuring we are dealing directly with the HSE but also with service users and those with lived experience on the ground to ensure they get access to respite and day services. Some of these projects will take time, and perhaps a phased basis, but the Deputy can be assured of my commitment to rolling this out. I look forward to working with him on these projects.

Sentiment score: 0.25

I thank the Deputies for raising this matter. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister for Transport, who has responsibility for overall policy and Exchequer funding relating to the national roads programme. Once funding arrangements have been put in place with TII, under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015, and in line with the national development plan, NDP, the operation and management of individual national roads is a matter for TII, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. TII ultimately delivers the national roads programme in line with Project Ireland 2040 and the NDP. The Government has earmarked €5.1 billion for capital spending on new national roads projects from 2021 to 2030 as part of the NDP. This funding will enable improved regional accessibility across the country as well as compact growth, which are key national strategic outcomes. The funding will provide for the development of numerous national road projects, including the completion of projects that are already at construction stage and those close to it, as well as the development of a number of others. The funding for new roads was phased across the period of the NDP, with €1.1 billion allocated for the national roads from 2021 to 2025 and €4 billion allocated between 2026 and 2030. As the greater portion of this funding becomes available in the second half of the decade, this meant that TII was unable to provide funding over the past three years for the N25 Waterford to Glenmore scheme. However, approximately €502 million of Exchequer capital funds have been provided for national roads through TII to local authorities in 2025. The N25 Waterford to Glenmore project would link the N25 New Ross bypass and the N25 Waterford city bypass and is expected to consist of approximately 9.4 km of high-quality road, completing the upgrade of the N25 between New Ross and Waterford. As regards the status of the N25 Waterford to Glenmore project, the preferred transport route was selected in 2021. As the scheme did not receive an allocation for 2025, it cannot progress to the design and environmental evaluation phase at this time and remains at the end of the route options selection phase. As with all projects in the current NDP, however, the delivery programme for this project will be kept under review in future years and considered in terms of the overall funding envelope to TII. The Minister understands from TII that three high-collision sites have been identified in recent years on this section of the N25. One site at Curraghmore was improved as part of a pavement scheme in 2020 and saw the introduction of central hatching and ghost island junctions; another at Gaulstown involved roadside boulders being removed; and at Ballynamona a fixed-speed camera is expected to go live in the next few weeks. In recent years, substantial lengths of timber post and rail fence along this section of the N25 have been replaced with tension mesh fence, making the roadside boundary more forgiving. The signage at the end of the southbound climbing lane near Glenmore is under review by Kilkenny County Council. A scheme to improve this has been designed and is expected to be implemented in the coming months.

Sentiment score: 0.14

I will raise the matter with the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. Approximately €502 million of Exchequer capital funds has been provided to TII for national roads in 2025. In line with the NDP and Government policy, TII has sought to allocate national road funding to local authorities in a manner that seeks to achieve the following key outcomes: protection and renewal of the existing national road network; progressing major projects in or near construction; and progressing major projects that are at an earlier stage of the development pipeline. An allocation of approximately €6.6 million has been provided to Kilkenny County Council for national roads in 2025. A number of new roads projects which are included in the current NDP have already been delivered. This includes the N22 Ballyvourney to Macroom project, the Dunkettle interchange upgrade, the N5 from Westport to Turlough and the Moycullen and Listowel bypasses. A review of the NDP is being undertaken and the outcome of that review will inform TII on the schemes to be progressed over the coming years, pending the availability of sufficient funding. The programme for Government commits to investing in all road projects in the current NDP. The programme for Government commits to increased funding for new roads as part of the NDP review and to the maintenance of existing roads. I will raise the matter with the Minister.

Sentiment score: 0.05