Absolutely not. If you take Iarnród Éireann, for example, it has been extremely efficient, on budget and on time with all its rail projects. This is unacceptable. The agencies involved here should not have allowed that to happen. Across the board with public transport, some very significant investments have happened within budget and on time.
Sentiment score: 0.06
I know Deputy McDonald wants to keep attacking the Government, its agencies, Bus Éireann, Iarnród Éireann and so on like that-----
Sentiment score: -0.06
-----but a hell of a lot has been done in this country in the last number of years in terms of infrastructure. You know what? An awful lot more will happen as well.
Sentiment score: -0.29
I agree 100% with the Deputy in the sense that this is an existential crisis. I have noticed that, in the House, there seems to have been a drop in the contributions on climate in terms of political discourse. That may be due to other events. Ireland now has the lowest greenhouse gas emissions in 35 years. It is important to point that out when you look at the extraordinary increase in population. There has been a concurrent increase of about 1.5 million people over that 35 years. There has been more than 1 million new homes and over 1 million extra vehicles on our roads, and we still have the lowest level of greenhouse gas emissions in 35 years. This suggests that we can have economic growth and reduce emissions. This is the direction of travel and we have to rededicate ourselves to the issue.
Sentiment score: -0.03
I was out knocking on doors and I did meet pensioners. We had very good conversations. In the last budget we increased the pension by €10. That was significantly above the going rate of inflation at that particular time.
Sentiment score: 0.19
We have increased the fuel allowance. We have substantial provision for pensioners in our social protection frameworks. We allocated an additional €2 billion. There is a sense in the House that we can literally allocate billions more to everybody. We do need some conversation around targeting. I think targeting is important for pensioners as well, which we have done and which we will do more of. In terms of child poverty as well, we targeted it in the budget and it gets ignored because people want universality left, right and centre. As Deputy Hayes knows, there was a €16 increase in the child support payment for children aged over 12, bringing it to €78. There is a danger in the House that we are going to lose the importance of targeting in the political debate about the cost of living.
Sentiment score: 0.05
To be fair to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, he has already brought forward substantial improvements to retrofitting measures. The heat pump system grant, for example, now totals €12,500. He expanded this grant and increased it substantially by up to €6,500 for a heat pump. He did that last February. He also introduced measures on central heating upgrades and a new €2,000 grant. There are increased grants for attic and cavity wall insulation and attic insulation top-up grants for first-time buyers. There is the windows and doors measure in particular. By the way, the take-up has been quite significant with regard to the numbers in the first quarter availing of the attic and cavity wall insulation of up to 80% of median cost and up to 100% for first-time buyers. There are already substantial measures and a lot of people are availing of them. There were huge increases in the numbers in the first three months.
Sentiment score: 0.34
I salute the achievements of Katie Taylor. She has been an outstanding boxer and an outstanding representative of people, dignified in her approach. Certainly I hope her dream of boxing in Croke Park can come to reality. No proposal has come to the Government or has been proffered by anybody to the Government in respect of this. Any proposal generally that seeks public funding for a major sports event is considered by the Department of communication, which is the Department of sport essentially. There is a division in the Department that examines major international sports events and it has a policy and framework to deal with it. Some of it deals with tourism potential and some deals with sports legacy. Without question, Katie is an exceptional talent and has been an outstanding ambassador for Irish sport and for Irish women in sport.
Sentiment score: 0.33
I thank Deputy Crowe for raising this issue. I fully understand his desire for the location of an air ambulance service for the mid-west. I do not know what the response was from the National Ambulance Service but a lot of work has to go into such a proposal, in terms of researching it and making sure we have the human personnel, the expertise and the evaluation of how it is working across the country, with a lessons-learned approach. I will ask the Minister for Health and make some inquiries in terms of where we are in respect of this proposal.
Sentiment score: 0.43
I remember well when all of that happened. In fairness, the county council entered into all of that in very good faith with the FAI. My understanding is that a local soccer club, Riverstown, is on the cusp of entering a lease agreement, and the council will go out to public consultation on all of it to engage with all of the interested parties in terms of the utilisation of the land.
Sentiment score: 0.63
I do not think I have received correspondence. I will check. I do not want to be-----
Sentiment score: -0.02
I will receive it. Obviously, when people seek meetings, I do my very best to meet with them. My understanding is that, generally speaking as opposed to in just this case, An Garda Síochána does everything it possibly can to get to the bottom of murders of this kind, which are reprehensible, and to try to bring the culprits to justice. I certainly will examine the situation.
Sentiment score: 0.36
Careful now.
Sentiment score: 0.15
We extended the free fuel allowance for a month. Obviously, the Government, as a collective, will address this. Every party in government will have to work collectively to prioritise things for the budget in terms of having a targeted approach and how, in general, we alleviate the impact of the undoubted pressure that those in society who are most vulnerable are feeling as a result of the war. We increased the State pension last year by about €10, which was a high increase relative to the rate of inflation. We have been doing that successfully over the years. We have also put in place other supports for pensioners. This is an issue we will certainly be focusing on in the context of the budget. In passing, I wish to extend a particular welcome to the students from Fermoy. You come from a very good county. Take care.
Sentiment score: 0.34
I thank the Deputy very much. It is a great school. I was there many years ago in my capacity as Minister for Education and so forth. My understanding is that the Department of education is awaiting the submission of stage 2b material from Cork ETB in respect of this project. When that is received, it will be looked at from a technical and cost perspective. Obviously, as the Deputy said, there is an issue about the overall prioritisation of the project in terms of the school capital programme. The issue relating to Irish Water is also a factor. The note I have states that it is expected that the stage 2b material will be submitted in quarter 3. That needs to happen as quickly as possible.
Sentiment score: 0.16
The Minister is very committed to the surgical hub concept. The previous Minister, Stephen Donnelly, did a lot of work on that. The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has engaged with the hospital, and the funding support will not be there for the surgical hub.
Sentiment score: 0.33
There has also been significant investment in the hospital, as the Deputy knows, and-----
Sentiment score: 0.20
The Minister has had regular engagement with the hospital because it needs two fundamental approaches. One is reform of the management of the hospital and how it is run, both of which have happened,. The second is investment, which is also happening. Funding of €47 million is involved. In any event, the new location in Raheen is a huge boost to the future of tertiary healthcare in Limerick.
Sentiment score: 0.21
The Deputy wants to axe €1.5 billion in revenue, and he has dismissed the social welfare dimension.
Sentiment score: -0.10
We have all always said that one third of it goes to fuel poverty measures. That is how we have been able to expand the fuel allowance-----
Sentiment score: -0.10
-----and to bring in working families for the first time. An extra 50,000 working families are now entitled to the fuel allowance.
Sentiment score: 0.14
In the context of the agriculture sector, a significant amount of money goes to farmers under the agri-climate rural environment scheme. That scheme costs about €1.5 billion. Sixty per cent of that money comes from the Exchequer. The Deputy wants an each-way bet on everything. Is he against the carbon tax revenue going to farmers?
Sentiment score: 0.04
Is the Deputy against it going to the poorest households in the country? If he is, he should say so.
Sentiment score: -0.27
I do not have the background to the specifics of the case, but I will inquire with the HSE and the National Ambulance Service in respect of what the Deputy has said about omissions in clinical care and a failure of the ambulance service to get there within the allocated timeline. Investment in the National Ambulance Service continues to be made and has increased year on year. Personnel are coming through on an ongoing basis. If the Deputy can send a note, I can forward it to the Minister and ask her to maybe to engage with the Deputy on the matter.
Sentiment score: 0.31
The Department of Health has agreed the scope of the RSV infant immunisation pathfinder programme for 2026-27, which will involve the same eligibility criteria in place for the 2025-26 season. A health technology assessment on RSV immunisation for infants and adults was undertaken by HIQA and was published on 28 April. HIQA stated that the assessment provides robust evidence that RSV immunisation, particularly for infants, can deliver significant health benefits and reduce winter pressures on the health service. I am in favour of vaccination programmes. The position in terms of the adjuvanted flu vaccine was not as clear-cut. Nonetheless, the Minister is examining that as well in terms of the next winter period. We will continue to work with HIQA and the HSE to look at the findings, the options and, obviously, the budgetary impacts. Shingrix is extraordinarily expensive, but it is effective.
Sentiment score: 0.22
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. His colleague Deputy Malcolm Byrne raised it a number of weeks ago as well. Obviously, it is a pressing issue for Deputy Brennan and his colleagues in Wexford and in Gorey in particular. The Department has stated that site at Gorey provides a good location for expanding capacity in the form of a permanent modular extension for the school. That modular accommodation will be delivered under the Department's devolved special education needs reconfiguration and modular accommodation programme, which involves the use of project management supports. I will ask the Minister to engage with the Deputies in the first instance. There has been engagement with the patrons of both schools, An Foras Pátrúnachta and Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board. I will ask that there would be consultation with the Deputies.
Sentiment score: 0.32
I thank the Deputy for raising this. Arklow certainly needs that sort of focus in terms of eliminating dereliction. The Deputy's observations are exactly correct and conform with those of the Government. The Minister has produced data in respect of this matter. Some local authorities do far more than others., which motivated the decision in the recent budget to move enforcement in respect of dereliction to Revenue . The view is that this will, in its own way, bring consistency. A lot of mapping, etc., has to happen. I hope the process in that regard accelerates as quickly as possible. The view would be that Revenue being involved might concentrate minds a bit more and bring about a greater level of performance across the board. Local authorities should still be actively pursuing this issue. Limerick did very well on dereliction. Other local authorities did very little on it.
Sentiment score: 0.28
I thank Deputy Gould for raising the issue. He is correct in that this is not an issue that anybody wants to have a dispute over. Deputy Paudie O'Sullivan raised it this morning. I spoke to the Minister about the case last week. My understanding is that there are ongoing interactions with the company involved. There has been a health technology assessment and so on. This has proven problematic. My heart goes out to the Coady family. They have lost their son Rory. The situation is very challenging for Paudie unless he can get access to this drug. I will work with the Minister to see what we can do to try and help the family. I appreciate the Deputy raising the matter in the manner in which he has raised it.
Sentiment score: 0.02
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I have spoken to the Minister for housing about this matter, which is under active consideration in the context of raising the income thresholds. It was raised a number of years ago, but the Minister is examining it. I hope to be back to the Deputy before long.
Sentiment score: 0.32