I appreciate Deputy McDonald raising this issue. I was surprised that nobody raised it on Leaders' Questions given the urgency of it and the importance of it. Fifty-six schemes have been completed and a further 100 schemes are at different stages of development. I am blaming nobody and have not blamed anybody other than the fact that we are experiencing severe weather events more frequently. Weather is changing and patterns are changing, resulting in very high and elevated levels of water across the land. Climate change, in my view, is responsible for the rapidly changing weather patterns we are experiencing. Every event we evaluate, as we did after Storm Éowyn. A very significant action took place after Storm Éowyn, but that was a different kind of storm. In my touring around the country on Monday, travelling to various spots, it was interesting that the Aughrim event was different from the Enniscorthy one. Each had their different local manifestations. It is important, yes, that we get better at bringing the national frameworks closer to the local manifestations of the various weather events.
Sentiment score: 0.19
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is a very important one. I also wish to convey my condolences to the family of Martin and Sharon and those the Deputy has met . We have to prioritise victims and survivors of criminal violence and we are doing that. Deputy Bacik is a person with a significant legal background. Perhaps she and the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, could engage on the substance of her party's legislation. I will talk to the Minister in the context of her raising this and perhaps he can engage with her on it.
Sentiment score: 0.17
It is unfair of the Deputy to use the language that she has used in identifying the Government's response. The Minister, Jim O'Callaghan, has seized on this issue and the legislation is anything but the status quo. The Minister is going as far as he possibly can within constitutional limits. A complete ban or a blanket ban on the disclosure of counselling records is simply unconstitutional. That is the very strong advice from the Attorney General, and indeed other legal advice has confirmed that. The Minister is going as far as he possibly can. From now on, if counselling records are sought by the defence, a judge will scrutinise the material and make an impartial and objective decision on whether disclosure is necessary in the interest of justice.
Sentiment score: 0.02
It is a significant change and there are other elements of that legislation also that represent significant change from the status quo. At least that should be acknowledged. There are constitutional constraints.
Sentiment score: 0.13
I will talk to the Minister for education with respect to the college the Deputy has raised. There is a broader issue. We have dramatically increased spending for second level and primary schools in terms of investment. The national development plan represents a further expansion and increase in projects. We will continue to keep all of this under review and do everything we can to progress as many schools as possible that need extensions or completely new builds in some cases.
Sentiment score: 0.30
The Minister for Health is seized of the situation across the country, including Mayo. We have allocated significant additional resources to the Health Service Executive this year, compared with last year. Population is growing and there are lots of pressures on acute hospitals. I will talk to the Minister in the first instance with respect to the issues the Deputy has raised. Obviously, during the Christmas and flu period certain electives were postponed. We know that. That is normal. It happens when there is a particularly bad flu season as there was in November, December and January. The Minister is working with the hospital's management and clinicians to make sure we continue to reform as we allocate additional spending.
Sentiment score: -0.03
I met with the Deputy, the local authorities and the tidy towns group in Aughrim. I pay tribute to them and the local authority for the exceptional response. It again underlined the importance of community-based facilities and community centres. These are two communities under enormous pressure from weather events. In this case it was not a particular river breaking its bank, rather it was all of the water coming off the mountains and hills taking roads with it. It caused danger and huge trauma and distress to a number of households and the village. I saw it first hand and spoke to the engineers about the need for funding for roads in the Aughrim. I spoke to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, about it yesterday and alerted him to the fact. I also spoke to the officials in that Department and with the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, about the need. They are doing an assessment with the local authorities now.
Sentiment score: -0.03
It is across the country. It is Wicklow and Wexford as well. It is a consequence of what is happening.
Sentiment score: 0.09
It will be banned in public parks, on public lands and on public roads. Coillte has a responsibility to ensure its trails, walkways and so on are not used by illegal scramblers using scrambler bikes. There will have to be a zero-tolerance approach to the use of scramblers where the public are engaged. They should be used in proper sporting facilities where they were originally meant to be used. Where I was reared we had a scrambler track nearby in Vernonmount. We never had any problems with them being used on our roads or around our neighbourhood. It was always understood that they were there for a sporting purpose. I accept that has changed and the world has changed. Appalling behaviour is evident on our roads and in public parks. We have to make sure that all public authorities and the gardaí make sure it does not happen.
Sentiment score: 0.15
We are rolling out advanced paramedic cars across the country. I was involved in establishing the pre-ambulance-----
Sentiment score: 0.12
I was responsible for establishing the pre-ambulance emergency council, which ushered in the new era of professional first responders that transformed the whole ambulance situation. There is a broader issue with how ambulances are deployed. The council and the national authorities responsible have a clear view as to what is the best and optimal deployment. Not everybody in this House agrees with that. We need to try to work through how it works with the ambulance authorities and the HSE and ongoing development in respect of it.
Sentiment score: 0.30
I have not had any specific contact although I am aware of the comments by Mr. Larry Fink that Dublin could be one of a number of potential locations for Davos, or an alternative to Davos. I notice some of the officials connected to the event were less strong about it. Be that as it may, this year is a huge event for the country with the European Presidency. The European Political Community of leaders will be meeting towards the end of the year. We will have a significant series of large meetings with Heads of State, Prime Ministers and so on. We will keep an eye on that and engage to see if an event pertaining to the World Economic Forum could be held in Ireland.
Sentiment score: 0.23
The Deputy makes a good point. There has been a lot of different strategies used to get horses off roads. There is an animal welfare issue very much involved here, in addition to the danger and health and safety issues for children, young people and humans more generally. There are laws governing this but they require review and a stronger approach.
Sentiment score: 0.20
These school have not been removed from a priority list. Indeed, the Deputy's colleagues, Deputies John McGuinness and Peter 'Chap' Cleere, have raised these two schools with me. I will engage with the Minister. We are expending more money than ever on school buildings and we want to continue to prioritise school buildings. I fully understand the pressure that both these schools are under and the need for additional accommodation at these particular schools. I will continue to work on their behalf to get them over the line.
Sentiment score: 0.01
I will alert the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, to this issue because it is a specific one in terms of the approved housing bodies, Sophia Housing and the Department. It is frustrating when a site has been identified and there is the prospect of getting it off. There is a need for a refuge centre in Laois, and I acknowledge that. I will talk to the Minister. Perhaps I will ask him to contact the Deputy.
Sentiment score: 0.09
I did more than that. When I met people in June, I advocated and intervened to get it extended to December.
Sentiment score: 0.00
As the Deputy knows, it had not actually been decided.
Sentiment score: 0.00
No, it had not. I understand it is a genuine case but I do not-----
Sentiment score: -0.15
The Deputy always has an attitude of trying to put a sting and have a go at people all the time. The more important point is that the Labour Court recommended a final extension in June and we extended it to December. Like others, I met people, survivors and those with long Covid. This does not mean supports end. Rather, staff who remain unfit to return to work will move into the public service sick leave scheme, ensuring continuity of care and financial protection. That scheme provides for payment of 92 calendar days on full pay in a rolling one-year period, followed by 91 calendar days on half pay subject to an overall maximum of 183 calendar days of paid sick leave on a rolling four-year period.
Sentiment score: 0.01
Frankly, the Department has responsibility to ensure the fulfilment-----
Sentiment score: 0.38
-----of its contracts. I cannot get involved in every single contract in the country, nor would the Deputy expect me to, but I will talk to the Minister for education, Deputy Naughton, in this regard. If there is contractual non-fulfilment - what the Deputy is saying clearly points in that direction – then the Department should rigorously pursue the company. It should also ensure the basics in the schools are put right pending any engagement with the company, be it legal or whatever, to ensure the contract is fulfilled and that children are protected and looked after in those schools with the provision of basic infrastructure, facilities and so forth.
Sentiment score: 0.31
In my city, I recall when joyriding, as it was termed, was all the rage in the 1980s and different strategies had to be pursued. There was always a challenge with pursuit because it involves pursuing young people driving very-----
Sentiment score: -0.16
-----speedily on vehicles. Very often, some pursuits could result in unintended consequences and some other innocent person being injured or killed because vehicles are out of control, particularly vehicles that are being chased or pursued. There is always a balance here.
Sentiment score: -0.23
Other mechanisms then were deployed in those communities, which did not involve pursuit but traffic calming and other measures that rendered those bikes and so on unusable. That worked over time. There were also a lot of other measures, including community policing and getting that-----
Sentiment score: 0.18
----into the communities.
Sentiment score: 0.00
There is a wide range of training.
Sentiment score: 0.00
If the Deputy knows the answer, why did he ask the question? I will ask the Minister for justice to talk to the Deputy about this issue.
Sentiment score: 0.26