I have already said that I believe this issue is very serious. I believe we need to get to the bottom of it. I believe people in well-paid positions in public bodies should be expected to deliver and to be cognisant of the public sector spending code. I believe the arts community has been let down. I also believe that as we have an external review, there are legitimate questions about the level of oversight and engagement between the Department, its officials and the Arts Council. That is clear. It is also clear from a summary of the findings of the initial review. The external review-----
Sentiment score: 0.13
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I do not wish her to think that my inability to reply today is in any way disrespectful. I just want to get her an accurate answer. There have been a number of meetings of the interdepartmental group, which is based in the Department of the Taoiseach. I think, from memory, it met as recently as last week. We eagerly await the implementation plan coming to Cabinet. I will get the Deputy a definitive timeline. I am extraordinarily committed to all the major recommendations of that report. As a Dublin TD, the Deputy will be aware that we have seen a significant increase in Dublin City Council's investment in cleanliness across our capital city. We need to build on that. I will write directly to the Deputy on the issue.
Sentiment score: 0.12
I thank the Deputy. This is my first time interacting with him so I offer my congratulations on his election. If the Minister had done anything other than what he did yesterday, it would have been irresponsible. Establishing an external review is exactly how to achieve what the Deputy wishes to achieve in terms of clarity in the roles of the Department and the Arts Council, and the timelines and interactions between the two. I am conscious that former Minister, Catherine Martin is no longer a Member of this House. I knew her to be an honourable and diligent colleague.
Sentiment score: 0.21
I thank the Deputy and welcome his colleagues from Cork North Central to the Dáil. The Government is proud to be in a position to invest significantly more money in sports infrastructure for all the reasons outlined by him, including the importance of health and well-being of our people, and the great progress we are seeing in competing in international events such as the Olympics. I am not across the detail of the Mallow swimming pool but will inquire with the Minister for sport and ask him to write directly to the Deputy.
Sentiment score: 0.53
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I have heard of the concern the issue is causing in his community and in County Offaly.
Sentiment score: 0.27
It is causing concern in Laois and Offaly. I will ask the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, as the Minister with responsibility for this area, to engage directly with the Deputy.
Sentiment score: 0.17
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and for his persistent work on the matter on behalf of the people of counties Longford and Westmeath. Last year in Longford and Westmeath, more than 660,000 hours of home help were delivered. That was more than 51,000 hours ahead of target. Funding has been provided for this year to at least maintain that level of service. I am pleased to tell the Deputy that a recruitment campaign is under way in Longford and Westmeath for healthcare support assistants. So often, as the Deputy knows, this is not just a funding issue but a staffing issue. The Deputy is right. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, who has responsibility for older people, is present. We want to introduce a statutory home care scheme. It is not right that the only statutory scheme in respect of how we care for older people is the nursing home scheme. We need to provide a statutory scheme for people to get care in their homes. That is in the programme for Government and will be progressed by the Minister of State.
Sentiment score: 0.27
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. This Government is determined to work on an all-island basis on many issues. It makes sense to do that. I have already been to Belfast and met the First Minister, Deputy First Minister and other political leaders. The programme for Government specifically commits very substantial additional funding to grow shared island projects in the years ahead. I am pleased the Deputy referred to Magee College. It will be an incredible investment in education and third level education in Derry. The Deputy is right. As we come across these issues and anomalies, which I thank him for raising, we will reflect on them. I am happy to engage on a North-South basis through the ministerial council. I will ask the relevant Ministers to look at the specific questions the Deputy raised.
Sentiment score: 0.25
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of audiology services in Cork. I am informed there are two factors particularly impacting the waiting lists in Cork. One is demand in our ageing population. That is something we should be able to plan for. The second is a specific issue regarding recruitment pressures. The Department of Health and the HSE are working together to remedy this with a new national hearing care plan. The Minister for Health established a working group to develop that last August. It is jointly chaired by the Department of Health and the HSE. Membership of the working group is drawn from relevant stakeholders, including the Irish Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists, the Irish Academy of Audiology and the Department of Social Protection. I will ask the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill to directly link with the Deputy on that work and how we can make progress in Cork.
Sentiment score: 0.08
The Deputy made a very good point. We need to reflect on some of this again. Stoves would have been very helpful in many houses during the recent storm. We have to show more flexibility rather than ideology when it comes to delivering these initiatives. We have a climate emergency. We are deadly serious about making progress on it but when people are willing to do their part to help with their homes, we have to meet them halfway. It is a very big upheaval in someone’s home, particularly at an older stage of life, and for them to try to find that sum of money. We have all appreciated the stoves in recent weeks.
Sentiment score: 0.27
I congratulate and thank Blanchardstown Centre for Independent Living for the excellent work it is doing, which is demonstrated by what the Deputy outlined in the huge increase of the numbers of people using the service as well as the huge increase in the services provided including transport. I take the point about the need for the State to follow that up with an appropriate level of investment. I will ask the Minister of State with responsibility for disability and the Minister for Health to come back to the Deputy directly.
Sentiment score: 0.32
I thank the Deputy and I thank Tina for raising the case of her son, Michael Joseph. While I am pleased to hear he is doing well in playschool and so on based on what the Deputy said, he rightly used the word “hurdle”. As a mother she has got over one hurdle in the assessment of need and now there is the worry of the next thing. We need to do much better at breaking down silos for people with disabilities, particularly children. It will be an absolute priority in the coming time. With regard to Michael Joseph’s specific situation about his school place, I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan who has responsibility for special needs education to link directly with the Deputy’s office and with Tina as well.
Sentiment score: 0.30
I was very grateful to have an opportunity to meet those people in Clonmel. The sincerity of their feelings was very clear to me and I fully accept their bona fides. A pause needs to be placed by the Department on the situation regarding Ukrainian accommodation. I made this very clear. What I mean is the idea of uprooting children in the middle of the school year is not acceptable. Second, the idea of their having a conversation about the conversion of the Ukrainian facilities into IPAS facilities without having a discussion with the Government is not acceptable. We need to be humane to children and parents during the school year who have fled a war and who have been welcomed into our communities. That is the approach we need to take and I will articulate that at the highest levels in Government.
Sentiment score: 0.13
I addressed this matter yesterday. I also note what the Ceann Comhairle has said in recent days and very much respect that. What I want to say, to be helpful to the House, is a disciplinary process will commence. I do not want to say anything that in any way cuts across that or, indeed, impedes on people's privacy and the need to respect the person's privacy in terms of the woman here as well, but I expect the highest standards to be upheld and I expect all of these issues to be considered as part of that process. We are talking about an incident that occurred and was addressed by my party some years prior to my leadership but there is a disciplinary process and I do not want to say anything that cuts across that due process.
Sentiment score: 0.19
I will try to get the Deputy some specific information on the cost of that attack to Ireland from an economic point of view. The issue of cybersecurity is taken extraordinarily seriously. The Deputy will note in the programme for Government our plans to relocate cybersecurity to the heart of the Department of Justice, which, I think, is appropriate, and also for the Government to produce a national security strategy for Ireland within the first six months in office and establish a new national security committee. Cyber threats and cyberattacks are very real and pose very real risks to the country and, indeed, to business in the country. We will take this very seriously.
Sentiment score: -0.15
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am aware of his passion in the area of active travel on behalf of his constituents and, indeed, the benefits that it brings in terms of the climate and the capital city. I have looked into this matter. What I have basically been told is that one of the reasons for the larger budget in 2024 than in 2025 related to a specific scheme called the Fairview to Amiens Street cycle route, which is part of the Clontarf to city centre active travel scheme. That project alone accounted for €20 million of Dublin City Council's 2024 allocation. However, I take the point that we need to continue to spend more in this area. Dublin City Council has received the highest proportion of sustainable transport funding over the past five years. This continues to be the case in 2025 and I will work with the Deputy to drive it up even further.
Sentiment score: 0.17
I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh. I myself visited the Digital Hub in recent years and I am aware of the excellent work it does in the community in the city and the positive impact it has had on job creation over a long number of years. I will get the Deputy an accurate answer to the question as to where its future lies in terms of the various organisations involved and I will ask the relevant Minister to come back to him directly.
Sentiment score: 0.27
I am pleased that Gaelscoil Phádraig is making progress in its building needs but I take the point that a school needs teachers, which is a vital component of any school. I can imagine the stress that it is causing for the principal and others there trying to fill those vacancies. I will ask the Minister, Deputy McEntee, to look directly at the issue the Deputy has raised on behalf of the school in terms of whether there is a temporary solution to allow the hiring of substitutes and retired teachers and she will revert to the Deputy directly.
Sentiment score: 0.25
I thank the Deputy for the constructive suggestion. It is what many people right across the country are asking, namely: can we pull everybody together and get all the levers that are necessary to address what is still a housing emergency in Ireland? The new Cabinet committee on housing will meet for the first time under this Government next week, I think, on Monday. We are also committed to publishing a revised Housing for All plan as part of that and we can take that suggestion on board. The Deputy is correct. Whoever the Minister for housing is and whatever the Department, there are other levers that need to be pulled. The lack of wastewater treatment plants is a real constraint on delivery in rural Ireland and smaller towns. That is an area we want to make progress on. There are enablers, as the Deputy pointed out, in the delivery of housing. I will certainly discuss the Deputy's suggestion with the Taoiseach.
Sentiment score: 0.08