Farmers are far from stupid; they are the backbone of the indigenous Irish economy. They also know that this Government has their back. It had their back on nitrates and on Mercosur and will have it when it comes to the CAP and bluetongue. We know that they know we are with them and will be supporting them. We have had a point of disagreement with regard to the chair of a semi-State board. The Government has a job to do, and this Oireachtas has had a vote in respect of that. We have had committee hearings and there have been board meetings. The Minister for agriculture, Deputy Heydon, is engaging intensively on these matters. I thank him for all the work he is doing. The board of Bord Bia held a scheduled meeting on Wednesday, 18 February. Following that meeting, the IFA submitted a document that consisted of seven strands and that requested that the board of Bord Bia commit to initiating a review process into the various issues that have arisen in recent weeks. Many of the seven strands relate to the quality assurance schemes. These can be dealt with by the farmer forum that Bord Bia is establishing on foot of the commitments given at the 18 February meeting. In addition, the Minister is examining the option to commission an expert-led governance review which would cover the other strands of the IFA proposal. There has been direct contact with senior members of the IFA regarding its proposals in the context of trying to find a potential compromise. The word "compromise" is important here, because compromise does not mean somebody getting their own way. I have spoken to the president of the IFA in recent days, as has the Minister. Everyone wants a resolution to this. The board of Bord Bia will meet again on 2 March. We all agree that this protracted dispute is not in the best interest of the agrifood sector. Engagement is taking place and efforts are being made to resolve the matter.
Sentiment score: 0.11
The Deputy has been in this House long enough that when he says he attended the most impactful presentation he has been to, I take that very seriously. I will certainly arrange for the relevant Ministers, perhaps Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, in the first instance, to engage with that organisation and work through the list of, no doubt, constructive proposals it has put forward to try to make progress in support in this area.
Sentiment score: 0.22
The Government has voted expenditure of over €118 billion. Within that voted expenditure, this additional allocation of around €19 million will be made to the Department of Education and Youth. No official should be in any way glib in that regard, because we are very sincere in respect of this matter. That money will be provided. I say this as a coalition leader and as the Minister for Finance. I take the point that after the week we have had, trust has to be earned back. That is a fair point. People were deeply upset and hurt. I can outline the rationale and all the statistics, but what I have said is also true - people were upset and hurt. How you earn that trust back is by listening and delivering. Therefore, in the first instance, we will deliver on the part of the review that would have seen additional SNAs being allocated to schools. We will not go ahead with the part that would have seen a reduction in the number of SNAs. We will revise Circular 0030/2014, and it is a long time since then. We are happy to hear the Deputy's views and the views of others in relation to that. We will get the SNA redeployment scheme over the line. I say the following to be constructive- I said it a moment ago, and I know the Deputy has a sincere interest in it. We in this House need to look at how we can have wider engagement on the broader policy issues. The demographics are bringing us into certain areas, as are the complexities involved. We need to have an informed discussion about the policy approach we want to take, as well as about the funding approach.
Sentiment score: 0.16
I truthfully do not know if the Minister has received the report, but I will certainly find out for the Deputy and ask that the Minister write to him. The programme for Government is clear in relation to this. There are examples around the country. I should declare an interest that I am a former member of a town commission in Greystones. There are examples of how town councils and town commissions provided excellent work, not just for budding politicians who might have wanted to go from a town council to a county council or maybe even the Dáil, but also for people who wanted to just serve their communities in that role. The councils organised events such as the Christmas lights or St. Patrick's Day parades and fostered a sense of civic pride. This is something the Government is actively considering. It might be something that bridges the political divide in Tipperary, because Deputy Murphy has also raise this matter in the context of Clonmel. I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, and the Minister, Deputy Browne, to come back to Deputy Healy regarding the timeline for that report.
Sentiment score: 0.28
In the two budgets that I intend to deliver as the Minister for Finance, I am absolutely determined that we do something in relation to retail investment. Irish people are among the best savers in the European Union, but we have one of the lowest rates of participation in investments. The reality is that good, hard-working and decent people right across the country are trying to do the right thing and put aside a few bob - even very small amounts because times are tough -but that money is not earning them anything. We have to fix that. In that context, I am actively considering how we might bring in a savings and investment account in line with the Savings and Investment Union at EU level. I am looking at what has been done in the UK, Sweden, Canada, Japan and a number of other countries. I intend to convene a stakeholder forum on this within the next month or so, with the view to having options in advance of the budget. Deemed disposal is something that definitely deserves consideration. There is an unfairness in relation to it, and it was brought in at a very different time. I am minded to see what progress can be made on it in the time ahead. Specific taxation measures are obviously a matter for budget day.
Sentiment score: 0.15
SMEs remain the backbone of the Irish economy. While this country proudly has a good tradition - and one we want to continue - in terms of foreign direct investment, including in the Deputy's county, the biggest employer in Ireland remains small- and medium-sized enterprises the length of breadth of the country. This is why we took a number of measures in the budget to support small businesses, to protect jobs and to try to maintain competitiveness. We also brought forward the reduced VAT rate on gas and electricity for SMEs and the reduced VAT rate on hospitality will come into place on 1 July. The Minister, Deputy Burke, has established the cost-of-business advisory forum. This will consider all of the costs that businesses face, and particularly small and medium businesses, and any regulatory, infrastructural or policy or budget changes that should be addressed. Specific measures as to what we may or may not be able to do in the budget are a matter for budget day. I assure the Deputy that the next budget, just like the most recent one, will be about protecting jobs and supporting Irish businesses.
Sentiment score: 0.28
I thank the Deputy for raising the very specific issue in relation that particular stretch of the N68. I will follow up directly with the Minister on the matter, on the funding involved and on the purpose for which the Deputy believed and which the documents indicated-it was for versus what she has heard locally. I will ask the Minister to come back to the Deputy on the matter. I join with the Deputy regarding the broader point in relation to the importance of road safety. We are not that far into 2026, and we are already seeing road fatalities going in the wrong direction. This is an extraordinarily serious issue, after years of progress, and it is going to require all of our best thinking, not just from a policy perspective but also from an enforcement and individual behaviour perspective, to try to reverse this awful situation on Irish roads.
Sentiment score: 0.01
I thank Deputy Ó Cearúil for raising this important issue in relation to St. Patrick's National School in Celbridge. I am pleased to hear that the Minister visited the school in recent times and will, therefore, have an awareness of the situation. I am also conscious of the health and safety information the Deputy has read out in respect of the seriousness of this matter. On the basis of what he said, it seems that there may be a temporary situation that can be put in place to help alleviate this, including new modular accommodation. The Deputy is being constructive in bringing forward ideas as to how unused accommodation could also help. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Naughton, to look further at this issue and to revert to the Deputy directly.
Sentiment score: 0.41
I thank Deputy Ward for raising this serious issue regarding water quality in Dún Laoghaire and Dublin Bay and more broadly. We have made a lot of progress on water quality in recent years. We are investing more now through Uisce Éireann. On foot of the Deputy raising this issue, I will speak directly to Uisce Éireann in respect of it. We have provided a lot of additional funding to Uisce Éireann for the years ahead. I will certainly ask that it considers the point he has made about the need for a further attenuation tank. I will come back to the Deputy directly.
Sentiment score: 0.22
I sincerely thank Deputy Mythen for raising this very important issue. As he rightly says, I was in Wexford very recently and I took the opportunity to visit the hospital. I met with the hospital manager, Linda O'Leary, and the team there who do very good work. I was very conscious in all of my engagements in Wexford that there is an acute issue with mental health services in the county. I have had very good discussions with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, in relation to this. I welcome the fact that the HSE's capital plan in recent days tries to move this forward, with the commitment to a ten specialist bed unit in Wexford. I will ask the Minister of State to come back to the Deputy directly on timelines as to how quickly we can advance it. In the limited time available to me, I am also aware there are other measures in the here and now that I think need to be advanced, including the provision of 24-7 ED consultant presence in terms of mental health expertise within the ED in Wexford, which I believe is also lacking. I will talk to the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, and ask her to come back to the Deputy on timelines.
Sentiment score: 0.34
I thank Deputy O'Flynn very much for raising this issue and the concerns of his constituents and the community in relation to the presence of asbestos and the actions that have been brought about potentially as a result of demolition works. While I am not familiar with all of the granular detail, on foot of the Deputy mentioning that the HSE and the HSA are both familiar with it, I will ask the Minister for Health, who has responsibility for the HSE, and the Minister for enterprise, who has responsibility for the HSA, to engage with both of those organisations and to come back to the Deputy directly. I will also ask that we follow this up with the planning authority from a planning enforcement point of view.
Sentiment score: 0.26
I thank Deputy Kenny very much, and for his ongoing work in this important area. I can assure him that the Government is working on this constantly through both the Minister, Deputy Naughton, and the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan. As a Government leader, I am being kept up to date regularly on this, as are others. There are a number of issues here. There is the opening of additional special classes. There is the fact that the portal opened earlier this year to try to have advance and earlier knowledge of the number of places needed. There is also the fact that through no fault of their own, other parents needed to apply after that date. There is also the fact that there may be some students in mainstream classes who may now require special classes as well. There is quite a piece of work going on here to try to clarify all of these matters. We have provided significant funding for more than 400 new special classes, and at least 400 new special school places. This will see almost 3,000 new special education placements created for next September. I assure the Deputy that active work is going on to ensure that places are provided in advance of September. The Government at every level is working closely with the Minister for education and the Minister of State with responsibility for special education on this issue.
Sentiment score: 0.30
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. What he said is right based on what I have heard today from the Deputy and his colleagues - that you have to see it to believe it. The good news is the fact that the Minister for education has seen it. I know she was out at the school in the past month or so. On foot of the Deputy raising this, I will speak to the Minister, Deputy Naughton, later today and ask that she would endeavour to pull people together to see if we can find a temporary solution that seems to be based around modular, while planning for the longer term future and advancement of the school. The immediate priority has to be to address the health and safety concerns and modular may well be an option and a way forward there. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Naughton, to come back to the Deputy directly.
Sentiment score: 0.25
I thank Deputy Moynihan very much for raising this issue, which I can only imagine is causing significant concern for residents and businesses in Palmerstown and Clondalkin in his Dublin Mid-West constituency. On foot of him bringing it to my attention, I will speak to the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, who is the Minister with responsibility for energy and also ask that he engages with the ESB in relation to this. There is a broader issue in regard to our need and wish to invest more in our energy grid, and energy network. The Government has identified significant additional funding for EirGrid among others. It is important that the investment plan is put in place as quickly as possible.
Sentiment score: 0.43
I thank Deputy O'Shea very much for raising this matter on behalf of his constituents. My understanding is that the Kanturk wastewater treatment plant has provision in the current RC4 investment cycle. There are plans to initiate a wastewater treatment plant upgrade project. This project is currently at stage 1, where Uisce Éireann develops the project objectives and outcomes and indicative range of costs. This work will continue through the year and I hope we can get this to the business case stage as quickly as possible. More generally, we need to see this moving quickly in terms of water and wastewater. One of the big focuses the Minister, Deputy Chambers, has been working on is that where we have identified need and provided funding, we reduce the regulatory and bureaucratic hurdles in terms of the length of time between the identification of a project and its delivery. Perhaps this is an example of such. As this business case is developed, I will keep in close contact with the Deputy to see that we can deliver the project as quickly as possible.
Sentiment score: 0.09
I will indeed, and I thank the Deputy for highlighting the issue. I thank his constituents in the community for the incredible amount of fundraising they have done, raising €41,000 for maternity care that is no doubt urgently needed in Gaza where the health service has been obliterated and utterly decimated. I will ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to inquire with our embassy in Cairo on this issue to see what assistance Ireland can provide and she can revert to the Deputy directly.
Sentiment score: 0.03
I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett. The Government is in the process of working to develop a cost-of-disability payment. The consultation opened on that last week. We are actively engaging now with people with disabilities directly and also with their representative bodies. I encourage everybody and political parties in this House to get involved in that process as we try to design, for the first time, a cost-of-disability payment. I appreciate the cost-of-living challenges are real people, which is why we took a number of measures in the budget that were targeted, including expanding the eligibility for fuel allowance. I also make the point that emergency payments are available through community welfare officers for anybody in any difficulty.
Sentiment score: 0.22