I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I heard Peter Hughes, who the Deputy referenced, on the radio this morning. The Government is very happy to engage with him and the union he represents. The note available to me is that the use of the beds in Fairview was intended to be a short-term measure while other CAMHS beds were temporarily closed. There were always limitations around the beds. I do not say this in any way to disrespect the staff who do a good job. Admissions are restricted primarily to 16- and 17-year-olds. There were no out-of-hours or weekend admissions. There was not a dedicated eating disorder pathway. There were significant staffing constraints and unsuitable physical infrastructure with the current building no longer fit for purpose. This was to fill a gap while they were waiting to open additional beds, including 11 additional beds in the state of the art 22 bed facility in Linn Dara in Dublin. I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Buter, to come back to the Deputy with more information and that we engage directly on this important matter.
Sentiment score: 0.12
There is some logic in that. My notes suggest it is not a question of like for like in terms of the beds but let me check further.
Sentiment score: -0.14
Absolutely. I thank Deputy Kenny for raising this issue and for raising the word "reform". If we are to have - as we are having - an honest discussion about special needs education, reform will have to be part of that. We cannot have a system that is designed around the system rather than around the child. We are constantly, quite rightly, opening more classes and more schools - we should, we must and we will. We are constantly increasing resources. We had the debate around SNAs and worked to fix that. We also have to make sure the model is right. My understanding of these five inclusive special classes at post-primary that have been sanctioned is there was engagement between the schools and the Department. I thank the schools for that. This is an effort to try to address an acute and worrying situation. I heard Deirdre Matthews from the joint managerial board on the radio this morning. She was very positive about this model. There will be engagement more broadly with stakeholders, including disability stakeholders. This is an honest effort to make a positive addition to the range of supports available. I do not wish to say these five schools have put up their hand. I am not sure that is correct but they have engaged constructively. I thank them for that. We should learn through this process and keep an open mind on it. It is a positive development. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Naughton, to come back to the Deputy with the specifics.
Sentiment score: 0.27
I condemn outright the actions of Israel and the actions of Hezbollah. Israel is breaching, in my view and the view of the Government, international law. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, has been extremely vocal on this and is working with European counterparts. She has joined a number of statements and the likes speaking very clearly in relation to our foreign policy position around this. We must also condemn Hezbollah. I was in Lebanon not that long ago and welcome the Lebanese Government's very constructive efforts. In relation to the occupied territories Bill, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, has received updated information and advices from the Attorney General and I expect her to be in a position to update this House shortly. I think we all want an urgent ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel. I hope these peace talks get back under way. I hear some of talk of that, potentially, today. I am conscious there are many Irish troops stationed in Lebanon who serve with absolute distinction as part of UNIFIL. I am pleased the Minister has informed me they are all safe and accounted for. We thank them for their service.
Sentiment score: 0.19
I thank Deputy Ward for raising this matter. He raised it with me in the House relatively recently, as he rightly should. I gave him the latest update then. I believed that process was drawing to a conclusion. I do not have any further information today but I will make sure the Minister, Deputy Browne, comes back to him on the timeline for the conclusion of that and any contact we have had with the European Commission.
Sentiment score: 0.17
I thank Deputy Collins for raising this matter. I will ask the relevant Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to consider his request for a meeting. From a factual point of view, the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 sets out changes in relation to not accepting new applications for petroleum authorisations or for future petroleum exploration licensing rounds. There are a number of existing licences - 13 across the country. If the Deputy is talking about a renewable element of this, I will ask the Minister to consider engaging and to come back to him directly.
Sentiment score: 0.09
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta. I thank him for raising this issue, which is a growing issue in a number of constituencies. Perhaps his constituency is very prominent in that considering the volume of homes and apartments built and the number of multi-unit developments in place. Of course, that is very welcome but it means we need to put ourselves under pressure to keep the laws of the land and the regulatory structures up to date. It is utterly unacceptable that owners have no access to their OMC and that where concerns are raised around AGMs and the likes, people often cannot straight answers. That is not good. The programme for Government commits to transferring these functions to the Department of housing. The Government remains committed to that. I need to check the exact timeline and come back to the Deputy. My personal view is there is a compelling case to review more broadly the existing law. I will discuss that with the Minister for housing and ask that he liaise with the Deputy.
Sentiment score: 0.04
I thank Deputy Brennan for raising this issue with the usual passion, empathy and decency he brings to all matters on the floor of the Dáil. Our colleague the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, who is present, is working with the Deputy on this. I will certainly work with him on it, too. We are all thinking of Eimear. We send our very best wishes to her and her family. None of us can even begin to imagine how difficult the last number of years have been. A factual point to make is that the HSE operates the EU treatment abroad scheme for people entitled under what is called EU Regulation 883/2004. I am putting that on the record to be helpful. The scheme is consultant led and allows for a public consultant based in Ireland to refer a public patient who is normally resident in Ireland for treatment in the healthcare service of another EU member state, the UK or Switzerland. There is no statutory framework for the referral of patients outside of that. I do not say that to be difficult; I just say it to be honest. However, the HSE has informed officials in the Department that it has received an application in relation to Eimear's situation this April. The HSE is now trying to evaluate that. It has sought some further information, and when it has received that documentation, it will work its way through it and engage further with the family. The Minister for Health will continue to seek urgent updates on the status of that application, and of course she will engage directly with the Deputy.
Sentiment score: 0.19
I thank Deputy Kenny very much for raising the issue concerning St. Cecilia's School. It is absolutely the position of the Government that it is a matter of providing appropriate school places. The Government has shown that through investing in special schools. There was a view in the past, perhaps, that everybody could be mainstreamed. That is not practical for some children. Every parent would like to see it, I am sure, but some children will always have additional needs that mean they require special provision, and that is fine. On foot of the Deputy having raised the specific situation with St. Cecilia's special school, I will speak directly to the relevant Minister, Deputy Naughton, and the relevant Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and ask that they revert to her on the specifics and see what can be done.
Sentiment score: 0.28
I thank Deputy McCarthy for raising this issue concerning Ballyhooly in Cork East. As he has reminded us, it is not the first time he has raised issues around the water network and the need for an upgrade. I am informed that Uisce Éireann has introduced a number of measures to try to address the issues with the Ballyhooly network. I believe it has put in place a programme of mains monitoring. A leak find and fix was carried out to reduce the leakage levels. Uisce Éireann tells me this has increased pressure at properties where customers had experienced low pressure. It has also implemented pressure management to help maintain pressure levels across the village. However, its work is not yet done. It needs to do more. Its network management team is continuing to examine the issue of leak detection, whether more can be done in that area, and whether further flow arrangements can be put in place to improve the reliability of the service. On foot of the Deputy raising this here today and the very significant additional investment of the Government in Uisce Éireann, I will follow up directly with the body and ask it to communicate with the Deputy.
Sentiment score: -0.02
For a rare occasion, I agree with the Deputy. I agree with everything he said about the very important work done by the Irish Coast Guard service. We think of all of those who have lost their lives in the service of others, and also of their families and communities. I am really pleased to hear today about the enhanced service for the Deputy's community and constituency. I agree that there is a wider issue in relation to the development of Waterford Airport. I am pleased - I am going from my memory of a discussion - that reference to Waterford Airport is in the regional airports policy as well, which is important. This is an island nation. We need to do more in terms of capacity at Dublin Airport, including lifting the cap. All of that is true, but we will still need our regional airports and there is a real chance to help to develop the south east if we can get this right. The Government will continue to work on this.
Sentiment score: 0.29
That is the wrong organisation.
Sentiment score: -0.48
The Deputy's comments are disgraceful and inaccurate and that has become the norm.
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No, sorry, excuse me-----
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The Deputy will shortly be required-----
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The Deputy will shortly be required to correct the record of the Dáil because I think the organisation-----
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Allow me to speak. This is not a blockade. The organisation that the Deputy is referring to is the World Bank, not the IMF, first of all. I ask him to please correct the record because he did not even bother to do his research. It was the World Bank. The second point is that as the current Minister for Finance, I provided to the Oireachtas committee all relevant documentation, which proves that the then Minister, Paschal Donohoe, followed the recommendation of his officials. He did not have to, by the way, because he was the Minister and he made the decision, but he followed the recommendation. They are all published and available to the Deputy as a member of the Opposition, but he did not read them. He just came in to slur him. That is the way the Deputy operates.
Sentiment score: 0.07
The answer to the other question is that the Deputy should read how State companies actually operate in terms of the role of boards and responsibilities.
Sentiment score: 0.00
You referenced the IMF incorrectly. You should correct the record of the House.
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Correct the record and get your facts right.
Sentiment score: 0.00
First, I thank the Deputy for sharing that story with the Dáil. If the Deputy sends on the details to my office, I will be very happy to engage directly with Dublin City Council. People should not feel that fear if they are in a damp and inadequate property that - I say this not to be disrespectful - the taxpayer is helping to fund. They should not be expected to endure substandard accommodation. Dublin City Council, which is one of our largest local authorities, must intervene there. I would argue that, when it comes to the issue of the social contract, fair rents being set for social housing is an important part of that, too. It is an important part of getting that balance right. There are significant supports, as there should be, available to help people in need in relation to housing but it is also very important that the rent levels reflect reality. Local authorities, generally, exercise significant restraint in relation to that. There is obviously a very difficult and very upsetting case there of a man doing his best for his children. If the Deputy is happy to send me the details, I am happy to follow up.
Sentiment score: 0.32
I thank Deputy Lawlor for raising this matter, which I know has become a real issue around Rosslare Harbour. I have been engaging with Revenue officials in relation to this and they have informed me that the old customs facility is being used to facilitate truck parking but, to the Deputy's broader point, the site is owned and managed by the Office of Public Works, OPW. What I will do, on foot of Deputy Lawlor raising it, is ask the Minister, Deputy Chambers, and the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, to engage with him on this. I will also ask that the OPW engage with Revenue and see if we can make progress on this.
Sentiment score: 0.39
I thank Deputy Cahill for raising this important issue. Of course, he will know I am going to say that, at the macro level, we are significantly increasing the capital budget for education, and quite rightly so. However, at the level that he rightly raises of his own county of Kerry and the specific issues he highlighted for an individual school, I will ask the Minister, Deputy Naughton, come back to him directly on that, but also on his request more broadly that we would look at the school footprint across the county of Kerry and the plans that could be put in place in relation to schools. I will ask the Minister to come back to the Deputy on that.
Sentiment score: 0.14
I thank Deputy Daly for raising this issue. I will get him the numbers, but there is a commitment to increase the number of residential places and respite services this year in the HSE service plan. Allow me to ask the Minister, Deputy Foley, to write to the Deputy on that. On the broader issue, Before We Die is an excellent group. I look forward to meeting them directly. I know they met the Minister of State, Deputy Emer Higgins, recently as well. They are raising a lot of very important issues, including how the State needs to get much better from a planning perspective, and the stress and worry it is causing people. I think they have had good engagement with the Government so far. I look forward to sitting down with them shortly myself, too.
Sentiment score: 0.24
I thank Deputy Stanley. I know that much of this is the responsibility of the Department of disability, which, obviously, works with the HSE. The Deputy raises an important issue. My understanding is that there is now approval for 11 therapy posts in the midlands. Let me follow up with the HSE on that. Deputy Clendennen reminds me of this. I will come back to the Deputy directly on the OT piece. There is also the broader body of work that I hope we can get right, as an Oireachtas, in terms of the assessment of need legislation that we are looking at together. I believe that pre-legislative scrutiny at the committee is due to conclude shortly. We need to look at the legislative structures that we have in place to make sure everybody has a right to an assessment of need, absolutely, but that the structures work much better. That is a really important thing. With regard to the therapy posts, let me get the Deputy a note in relation to the midlands.
Sentiment score: 0.20
I will follow it up.
Sentiment score: 0.00