As I said earlier to Deputy Bacik, who raised this issue on Leaders' Questions, we are extremely concerned about this issue of forged letters, which is completely unacceptable and very serious for the care of young people who are taken into care. The numbers referred to Tusla have expanded to an extraordinary degree, which reflects wider issues within society of different kinds. We have substantially increased the current and capital funding, doubling capital funding and so forth. The recruitment of qualified staff is key. A lot of work has happened in that area in terms of investment in additional grades, improvements and so on, and we are going to have to do more on that front. I would pay tribute to a lot of Tusla staff out there who do an awful lot of good work looking after a lot of people who need that care and assistance.
Sentiment score: 0.24
I know the Deputy has raised this on a number of occasions and I commend the survivors on the work they are doing. It is very courageous. We do not have access to the State Department files at all but we would encourage the full release of all documentation and files in relation to Jeffrey Epstein and, if there are files referencing Ireland, that those would be released.
Sentiment score: 0.58
I will discuss it with the Minister for justice again. I also received a very late request to meet, when I was in Washington. It was very late in the day that I received that request. People said I did not bother meeting. I will say no more. I can talk to the Deputy about this but the Government has no files. To our knowledge, there is nothing in the Department of justice and so on. I will discuss with the Deputy what mechanisms there are to do this.
Sentiment score: 0.07
I take a different perspective in terms of how the Deputy put it. I do not think the State today or the Government today is complicit in anything that happened over 50 years ago and right throughout that period. I actually do not. It is easy language to throw out there or to say that we are ignoring-----
Sentiment score: 0.11
Personally, I think what happened is reprehensible. I have never understood it. What happened in earlier eras is that the poor homes evolved into the county homes, which evolved into the mother and baby homes. Some people-----
Sentiment score: -0.12
The Deputy knows the Minister is bringing in six substantial-----
Sentiment score: 0.00
I was not able to speak more than four words and the Deputy interrupted me. This is ridiculous. The Deputy is either serious about raising an issue or not.
Sentiment score: -0.24
The Deputy knows the answer to it. She has made assertions that are false about the Minister for justice. He is going far as the Constitution allows in terms of access to counselling notes. The Deputy knows that.
Sentiment score: 0.13
Do not be so disparaging and negative about the bona fides of the Minister for justice on this issue.
Sentiment score: -0.69
The retirement age was 55 and it is now 62. We actually have made very significant progress on extending the age at which somebody retires in the Garda, the Army, the fire services and across the board in emergency services. The original reason was the nature of the work. Obviously, because of the investment in health services over the past two decades and better lifestyles and so on, people are living much longer, people's quality of life is much better and people are fitter at older ages than they would have historically been. That is why the age limits have increased and we will continue to keep all of that under review. However, there will always be an age of retirement in emergency response services. That is clear. Obviously, the authorities concerned specifically with this area will do their research, analysis and assessment.
Sentiment score: 0.17
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Material hauliers are covered but I accept some contractors in specific sectors may not be. I will engage and ask Ministers to engage with the relevant groups there because we want the packages either for transport or for the agricultural contractor area to be inclusive. We do not want people excluded. The proposals have been worked up in the Department of Transport and they are being worked up in the Department of agriculture. We are very conscious of the need to get this formulated as quickly as possible so that people can benefit from the rebate, which will be quite significant going back to March for the agricultural areas and for contractors more generally. I will take on board what the Deputy has said, particularly about any gaps for any particular group that might be unwittingly or unintentionally excluded.
Sentiment score: 0.29
The Deputy said he was concerned about a growing divide. His solution would actually widen that divide for those on the lowest incomes. We have taken measures. The excise duty reductions help everybody by definition.
Sentiment score: 0.13
We will deal with electricity costs. Three tankers were attacked this morning in the Strait of Hormuz. This is a very serious war. The Deputy keeps talking as if the war did not exist. We do not know where this might lead to. We were all hoping, two or three days ago, that we were heading for a peaceful resolution of this war. Three ships were attacked this morning in the Strait of Hormuz so nothing can get through. Imagine the impact that will have on prices. The Deputy's view is to spend everything now. We want to support families. We have to make sure we can support families and support them substantially in the latter part of the year as well.
Sentiment score: -0.08
I appreciate that the Deputy raised this issue of the impact of the war and increased fuel prices on farmers and agri-contractors more generally. I welcome the people of Fermoy, who are right in agricultural country as well. The need for a detailed package to be announced quickly is accepted. My understanding is that within the next week or so a package will be outlined by the Department of agriculture in respect of farming and contractors. Then we may have to look at the construction sector. Some will be covered by the haulier and transport provisions but others may be outside. We will see if we can close that gap.
Sentiment score: 0.19
For the first time the State is moving beyond funding alone and directly supporting the creation of childcare places. Under the early learning and childcare capital programme, up to eight facilities will be delivered this year, providing about 800 additional places, focusing on under threes as well as rural and disadvantaged areas. There are very significant planning frameworks governing the development of childcare more generally. Budget 2026 marked the highest ever level of State investment. It is now at €1.5 billion, which is a 12% year-on-year increase but there are still significant issues. There is significant demand on places and we will continue to work on those. I encourage the Deputy to talk to the Minister for children in respect of this. Hopefully, in the forthcoming budget, we will in a position to do more in respect of childcare.
Sentiment score: 0.32
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The Minister of State responsible for the OPW is solid citizen. When he says things, he generally means them. I will discuss the issue with him and try to get clarity. In all of these developments, site acquisition is always the key enabler and sometimes the absence of a site can be the cause of a project not developing. I will ask him and come back to the Deputy.
Sentiment score: 0.23
That is not the panacea for this issue, but there is an issue here. Of that there is no doubt. I have been in touch with the Garda on the specifics of the areas the Deputy has identified because there is a lot of concern and anxiety among residents. It is not because of Government failure on drug policy, by the way. There is individual responsibility here too. There are bad actors as well in terms of the drug pushing and so on. I am fully in favour of a health-led approach to addiction. That is what we have in essence. There have been different manifestations of that over the past number of decades but we essentially have a health-led approach and will continue to have that. We also need an enforcement and policing response to protect people in communities from unacceptable behaviour or any violence that may result from certain people behaving badly.
Sentiment score: -0.18
Is it all sporting organisations?
Sentiment score: 0.00
I recall that about two years ago we looked seriously at tax relief for gym membership. As part of the budget preparations, I will discuss what suite of taxation measures we will adopt to try to alleviate pressures on people. There had also been tax relief in respect of philanthropic donations to clubs and so on, but that all sporting organisations would be covered by a tax relief is a new one. Some charge low enough fees; some charge high fees. I do accept that in the current climate, with fuel costs and everything else, there are a lot of pressures on people, and inflation is at elevated levels because of what happened following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. It had been coming down before that war. We will examine this in the context of the budget.
Sentiment score: 0.03
I thank the Deputy for raising this. That sounds like an excessive journey across. I do not know whether he has engaged with An Post on this, but perhaps he should. I certainly will alert An Post to the fact that he has raised it here and get its plans and background. Normally it does not do stuff that would result in a deterioration of a service. We had similar issues in another location and it worked out okay. I do not have the full background to this but we will raise it with An Post.
Sentiment score: 0.25
More generally, my understanding is that the Minister for justice has powers, and the Deputy should raise the case with the Minister because the Minister for justice has the capacity to deport people who have been convicted by the criminal justice system of crimes. I understand quite a number of deportations have happened in respect of others, but, again, that is all subject to clarity. That is my understanding, and I encourage the Deputy to raise the specific issue with the Minister for justice.
Sentiment score: 0.75
I thank the Deputy for raising a very fair question. I would be equally intolerant of overly lengthy periods for paying contractors, particularly small to medium-sized enterprises, which need to be paid in a timely manner. I know that in the recent discussions with the Irish Road Haulage Association in which the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, were engaged, issues around payments and rebates, and the timeliness of those, were raised. Undertakings have been given to try to speed up some of those repayments, rebates and so on. It is a very fair question, and the State should act honourably and reasonably in these circumstances.
Sentiment score: 0.28
I did not quite get the specifics of Deputy Ward's contribution, but the mica scheme is progressing fairly significantly now. Hundreds of millions of euro have now been successfully allocated and invested. The Deputy says in respect of children but-----
Sentiment score: 0.32
I will have a chat with the Minister about that.
Sentiment score: 0.00