The Deputy is wrong in her presentation. The budget for specialist disability services has increased 50% since 2023. We increased a range of payments in the most recent budget that will positively impact on people with disabilities. We did not proceed with once-off measures across the board. The Deputy has mischaracterised that, of course, in her usual fashion.
Sentiment score: 0.09
The bottom line is people want permanent and sustainable action. Consultation is not a distraction. I am appalled at the Deputy’s presentation. Organisations representing people with disabilities want to be consulted and insist on consultation. It is regrettable that the Deputy would describe consultation as a distraction.
Sentiment score: -0.14
I do not run the Department of education. The Minister and the Department have to make assessments as to what is needed in any given locality, and they have clearly made an assessment in this case. That said, the money realised from the sale of this property should be ring-fenced and put into a fund for redress.
Sentiment score: 0.13
That is what should happen here. The Department, as the Deputy knows, is examining all of that in great detail.
Sentiment score: 0.31
If you go back over the past two to three years, you will see that there has been exponential growth in various payments right across the board, including the disability allowance. That growth was higher than anything in the preceding years. That is the reality. In terms of the cost-of-disability payment, it has to be defined and worked through. There is a lot of detail is involved in this; it is not just a matter of saying that we should do it this way or that way. There are issues around definitions, who benefits and so on. Meanwhile, we did increase the domiciliary care allowance by €20 again this year. We did the same last year. Disability allowance core payments went up substantially as well. The whole process is about arriving at a situation where we can develop a proposal. The Minister will have a proposal in July on foot of the consultation process that is taking place. That will then be fed into the Estimates negotiations for the budget. The Minister has to respect the negotiations that will ensue for the Estimates for next year for his Department but also all other Government Departments-----
Sentiment score: 0.18
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue, which is clearly of huge concern to the people of Tipperary town. I do not quite understand what he means when he says there is an information blackout. I am sure that could not be the case.
Sentiment score: 0.36
I will communicate to Uisce Éireann that it needs to provide comprehensive information to the public so that they understand fully the challenges, difficulties, and the pathway to the resolution of those challenges and difficulties, no matter how challenging the required works are, which wells have to be drilled, or whatever else has to happen. Full information should be available to the public and we will communicate that to Uisce Éireann.
Sentiment score: -0.03
I appreciate that the Deputy is praising Local Link. I remember that it is the Deputy's bête noire, former Minister, Eamon Ryan, who introduced Local Link. Deputy Collins rather shamelessly at the time hopped on the bus and presented it as his own initiative in west Cork. He is always adept at local politics. Local Link has turned out to be very effective and very impactful. I pay tribute to our former colleague, Eamon Ryan, and give credit where it is due, for supporting that. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has continued his support for it. There are always limits to public expenditure in terms of what we can do in any one year but this is a programme that is working for people on the ground in rural Ireland. It has a significant impact on increased socialisation and facilitating movement. We have included a recent €750 million package to support its operation with regard to the increased fuel costs. I will alert the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to Deputy Collins's continued interest in Local Link.
Sentiment score: 0.33
I thank the Deputy for raising this and for his strong advocacy for the fastest-growing town in Kildare and the country. Kildare is growing apace. I will talk to the Minister about the 115 bus service and the role for Dublin Bus more broadly with regard to extending its remit, and of course the NTA, which oversees the whole route development programme.
Sentiment score: 0.29
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The Planning and Development Act 2024 replaces the ministerial guidelines with national planning statements. The existing section 28 guidelines, including the 2006 wind energy guidelines, remain in force until replaced. The Department of Climate, Communications and the Environment, as the lead policy Department for renewable energy, supports the development of the national planning statement. That will include environmental reporting, public consultation, EU obligations, and matters such as setback distances, noise and shadow flicker. A focused review of the wind energy development guidelines is informing the new national planning statement. That national planning statement will address noise, setback distances, shadow flicker, community obligations and dividends, and grid connections. A strategic environmental assessment and public consultation will be carried out in line with EU requirements. That is currently under way.
Sentiment score: 0.20
I do not accept the Deputy's proposition at all but the key point is that people who are looking for housing is the top priority of this Government and indeed the previous one. It is interesting that our supports for first-time buyers are having an impact. The percentage of first-time buyers has been steadily increasing from 26% of all household buyers in 2015 to 40% in 2026.
Sentiment score: 0.26
That is a huge increase. That is because of the help to buy scheme, the first home scheme, and the derelict and vacant housing grant schemes, which are helping first-time buyers. The costs are too high but the only answer is supply. We need more and more supply. We need fewer people and political parties objecting to housing to make sure that we have sufficient housing to provide for the younger people in the country. That is the target and objective of Government across social, affordable, and private housing.
Sentiment score: 0.32
I thank the Deputy, but just before I respond, I want to welcome the group from Laois, Mountmellick and Portarlington who are in the Public Gallery, accompanied by Deputy Fleming. They are very welcome to Leinster House. In terms of the train service from Athenry and the budgetary situation, Deputy Dolan has spoken to me about that as well. We are engaging with the Minister for Transport. That service is working and has worked very effectively. In terms of additional services, there has been substantial expansion of public transport and rail services, but we do need more. We are continuing, through the national development plan, to provide for the expansion of public transport more generally and particularly with a focus on Galway. There have been some good planning decisions in Galway that have come through An Coimisiún Pleanála with the ring road and, indeed, the port and other developments as well.
Sentiment score: 0.38
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue, and I appreciate his genuine commitment to this. I saw him there yesterday and I know the Ministers of State, Deputies Butler and Cummins, and all the public representatives in Waterford are obviously shocked at the impact of this fire, which has been terrible. The dislocation of so many groups and people has equally been very profound. It is very serious. The CEO was in touch with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, in terms of the fund idea. The Minister, Deputy Peter Burke, was down yesterday. The Minister, Deputy Browne, has also been there. We are working through a humanitarian approach. We are looking to pull that proposal together with a view to seeing if we can progress it as an option. There are also the questions of alternative premises for quite a number of the organisations involved and of working with State agencies. There are a lot of people working there but there are also disability services. It is quite shocking and devastating what has happened to the people. Every effort will be made to try to help those in distress at the moment.
Sentiment score: -0.05
First, I have not read that article in The Currency. I will read it before commenting. Second, it does not justify a full trade boycott with Israel because we need to work out what the implications of that would be for Irish jobs and workers in particular. The Government favours a suspension of the European Union-Israel trade association agreement, which at the moment gives preferential tariffs to Israel. A full-on boycott and divestment could have serious implications for Irish jobs and companies as well. We need to just figure that out so that people can make informed decisions and not make them on the fly.
Sentiment score: 0.05
I join with the Deputy in condemning those racists attacks on the Dublin Rose who has been selected. It is absolutely appalling and there should be no tolerance of such racist abuse of any person in Ireland, or anywhere for that matter. Again, all of us in the House need to reflect on this. I recall in the last Dáil that there was legislation on hate speech, which eventually ran into a roadblock politically because others suggested that it undermined free speech and so on. To be honest, the Dáil collectively shied away from some aspects of that. We did bring in the additional penalties for criminal convictions and so on. At least it was done in terms of assaults and that. However, there is a huge issue, and the Deputy is correct in terms of the monetisation of this. I am reading some stuff on the by-election in Dublin Central that is quite appalling. Stuff just appears online irrespective of the candidate, and it is just appalling that this kind of stuff can happen. We need to collectively address it.
Sentiment score: -0.27
I thank the Deputy again for raising this. On the last occasion, I said to him that sometimes we have to be patient but I accept that 24 years is a long time. Often, it depends. The IDA will bring people to various sites. Ultimately, it is up to companies to decide the location of any particular site. I will engage with the IDA to see whether it has any different plans for the site. It would be a big boost to Fermoy if we could attract a foreign direct investment, FDI, company to that particular site. It would make a significant difference to the economy of Fermoy. That is the balance. It could be used for something else, such as indigenous enterprise and so on, but that would cut off the prospect of FDI.
Sentiment score: 0.21
I agree with what the Deputy has said. The use of that language is deliberately demeaning to undermine what is an important initiative. It is not a silver bullet in and of itself but we have many different people looking for different types of accommodation in the country. This provides a further option. As the Deputy said, we are looking at buildings and modular units that are quite modern in terms of their configuration and so on. People have used the term "sheds" and all that for naked political reasons as opposed to any informed assessment of what is happening and what potentially will happen. I will ask the Minister and Minister of State to talk to the Deputy again but my understanding is that there has to be a degree of screening in terms of the various environmental aspects to this, planning and so forth. We will be moving on this quickly. The decision has been taken.
Sentiment score: 0.03
We should acknowledge that we have made a lot of progress on this. In the previous Government, we went from 55 to 62 across all the uniform grades. That was significant. We will keep all of this under review. I cannot make any specific commitment to go to 65 today or anything like that.
Sentiment score: 0.25
There are issues we have to take on board in terms of the nature of these professions and the work that is involved. We have come a long way from 55 to 62. That simply has to be acknowledged. It is and will have an impact on the Defence Forces and the Garda. While I did not catch his name, I appreciate the public service the gentleman-----
Sentiment score: 0.10
I appreciate the public service John has given to the country. That is accepted. These are issues that we will continue to keep under review.
Sentiment score: 0.23
I thank Deputy O’Meara for raising this issue. Clearly, he has assembled a formidable Tipperary team for that public information meeting that will involve both Tipperary and north Kilkenny. I anticipate it will be this year. Hopefully, we will be in a position to open for applications in the next month or two. It is a vital scheme that reaches into communities. Across the length and breadth of the country, we can see the impact of this scheme, with first-class sporting facilities in communities and clubs from all different codes. It is important that we can facilitate the applications again this year.
Sentiment score: 0.24
When I was Lord Mayor of Cork, one of the great privileges I had was to give a half day and give the homework off. Unfortunately, the Department of education came down on that practice after I left my job as Lord Mayor of Cork. As the Minister for education, I repeated the act. To be more serious, education and learning have evolved a lot. We know that children learn more through play in many instances than just through formal academic rigor. We do not want to dictate to schools across the length and breadth of the country but we think schools, particularly at primary level, should factor that into curriculum development. The teacher in me says that doing the odd bit of homework reinforces the message and makes sure that students have picked up and absorbed what was taught in the class.
Sentiment score: 0.09
The students asked that question to me as Taoiseach rather than as a teacher, however.
Sentiment score: 0.00
We have evolved a lot.
Sentiment score: 0.00
The homework is off.
Sentiment score: 0.00
Is that for me too?
Sentiment score: 0.00