I know what side the Government is on. The Deputy is engaging in what our counterpart across the Atlantic Ocean would call "fake news." This Government opposed the Mercosur agreement.
Sentiment score: 0.11
No, Deputy. You had your say. Allow me to speak too. In a democracy, allow me to speak too.
Sentiment score: 0.04
This is not a kangaroo court. You speak and I speak. Thank you. You made an assertion and I am going to answer it very clearly. The Government voted against the Mercosur agreement. There was no vote yesterday in the European Parliament on the Mercosur agreement. Do you know what there should have been? There should have been a "Yes" or "No" vote. What people have done by saying to the courts, "Will you have a look at it?", is injected uncertainty for up to two years for Irish farmers and European farmers, at a time of enough uncertainty.
Sentiment score: 0.10
Do you know what vote I would have liked to take place yesterday? A "Yes" or "No" vote.
Sentiment score: 0.21
I have never needed, as a parliamentarian, the courts to tell me what way to vote.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I wanted a situation where MEPs of all sides had a chance to vote "Yes" or "No", not run off to the courts for the next two years.
Sentiment score: 0.25
Do not misrepresent our position. We know exactly where we stand. This Government has the backs of farmers but it does not believe in performative politics.
Sentiment score: -0.01
I thank Deputy Ahern for raising this issue. We are going in the wrong direction in relation to road safety. The Deputy's comments are fair. There is a whole multitude of reasons including a level of increased distraction in the car as well as more cars on our roads but there are also legitimate issues around enforcement of existing legislation. It might be useful to find a way very soon in this House to explore how best we can all assist in trying to address this issue. Of course, driver behaviour is an issue but the Government and An Garda Síochána will play their part in terms of additional resourcing for roads policing. I will ask the Minister for justice to revert to the Deputy directly with an update on the latest figures in relation to gardaí in this area and on how we believe we can make more progress.
Sentiment score: 0.39
It is a very fair point that the Deputy makes and I will certainly speak with the Minister in relation to it. We are all trying to grapple with this in real time. I very much respect, genuinely, Members of this House, public bodies and others that have decided to leave the platform. I can understand why they have done that. Equally and currently in this space, I have decided for the moment to stay on it because it is a pitch I did not want to leave to the malign influences. It is important that we continue to put forward our points but it is a balance call. It is a tough one. The Deputy's specific point in relation to child safety and the posting of children's images on X is a serious one that deserves a response. While there have been changes to the use of that app in Ireland, the broader point she makes is valid. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Naughton, to revert to the Deputy on it.
Sentiment score: 0.14
I thank Deputy Healy for raising the matter of ophthalmology in south Tipperary. I acknowledge it is an issue he has raised in this House previously. I will speak directly to the Minister for Health and ask that she examines the matter with the HSE and reverts to the Deputy.
Sentiment score: 0.14
I have consistently said on the public record that the people's democratically elected representatives across the European Union should never be taken for granted in relation to Mercosur. I have consistently said that. There has been a misrepresentation by some, although not by Deputy Lawless, that it was all about the European Council. Yes, the Council had a vote and Ireland voted "No" but there is a co-decisionmaking power and the European Parliament also has a vote. What I would have much preferred to happen yesterday, to give certainty to Irish farmers, was that the European Parliament had direct vote in relation to its consent to the trade agreement. I believe if that had happened, a very significant majority of Government MEPs would have opposed the deal. Instead, we have a situation where it now goes off for a court review that could take two years. That leaves this grey area now where the European Commission may try to provisionally implement the agreement. Ireland's position and that of the Government of Ireland is clear in opposing the Mercosur agreement in its current form. There was no question of an eleventh hour. We worked, as did France and President Macron, up to the last minute to see what we could get in terms of a good deal for farmers. We never gave up. We kept working but when we did not get a deal that was good enough, we voted against it. We kept our word and I am proud of how we handled that. We will continue, at Government level, to be consistent in relation to it.
Sentiment score: 0.23
I thank Deputy Dolan for raising this issue. I would point out that we have made a number of investments to try to assist GPs in making their practices more sustainable in recent times, including a relatively new revision to the GP contract and assistance in terms of staffing for GP practices. One of the models that I am personally quite favourably disposed to, and which is allowed for in the programme for Government, is the idea of salaried GPs. When students come out of medical school and out of GP training they want to be a doctor. They want to serve their community but may not necessarily want to be the manager of all that goes with that. They want to actually be seeing patients. There are also some parts of the country where it can be more difficult to be financially viable. I would personally like to see an acceleration of the roll out of salaried GPs as one way to make progress. There are other ways and the Deputy may be implying that, in the context of our education system, we could provide more assistance and in return, people could agree to provide a level of service. That is something that should be considered too. I will ask the Minister for Health and perhaps also the Minister for further and higher education, Deputy Lawless, to engage with the Deputy on this.
Sentiment score: 0.15
I thank Deputy Currie for raising this issue. I acknowledge her work as a vocal advocate for parents and providers and for getting this whole area of childcare right. I think that with all that went on in the world, perhaps it did not get as much attention this week as it merited. We took a very significant step forward this week with the capital investment for public facilities in relation to childcare and I thank the Minister, Deputy Foley, for that too. The issue the Deputy has raised is an important issue because ECCE has been transformational. We all see it. We see it in our own children and we see it in our schools. Children are going into schools so much better prepared, educationally but also from a child development point of view. We do have the commitment in the programme for Government to amend eligibility criteria for ECCE. I take the point the Deputy makes in relation to the loss of time that a child might experience. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Foley, to provide a timeline for when we intend to progress that commitment.
Sentiment score: 0.23
I think the Sinn Féin proposal might be to disband Bord Bia and just let you lads run the organisation. We have a board at Bord Bia and the way State boards work is very clear. They meet, they look at different issues in relation to corporate governance and then they can provide a report to the Minister. That is happening in real time. It is happening as we meet today. I believe in due process. I believe in these issues being considered. Conflicts of interest, real or perceived, are important governance issues, absolutely. I think the position adopted by the president of the IFA - have a meeting, ask the questions and then decide - is a far more reasonable and responsible position.
Sentiment score: 0.12
I thank Deputy Callaghan for raising this issue and bringing people into this debate because this is a real issue and we want to support carers right across this country. Carers are doing incredible work. They are also saving this State an absolute fortune and I acknowledge that as well. I am pleased to say that the programme for Government commitment we have given to abolish the means test over the lifetime of the Government is well under way. The last budget saw the largest ever increase in the carer's allowance income disregard, so we have taken a very strong and important start in relation to that. We significantly increased the income disregard for carer's allowance and we intend to do that in each budget. The pace at which we do it will be a matter for each individual budget, but that is how we will get to our programme for Government commitment. From July last year, the amount of weekly earnings disregard was increased to €625 for a single person and €1,250 for a couple. The budget then built on that with further improvements to the means test, which will be introduced from this July. They will see the income disregard increase by 60% for a single person, from €625 to €1,000, and, as Deputy rightly said, from €1,250 to €2,000 for carers who are part of a couple. We intend to build on that and continue to support our carers and fulfil our programme for Government commitment to abolish the means test over the lifetime of the Government.
Sentiment score: 0.36
You mentioned a lot of counties there. Deputy Clendennen nearly jumped over the seat when you said Offaly.
Sentiment score: 0.00
You did not mention Wicklow, which I appreciate. The point is a serious one because we quite rightly have a Department of rural and community affairs and it is doing very good work. We have a number of schemes as well. There are obviously issues in areas of particularly fast-growing populations and areas of increased population density. Dublin as a city and a county, and I would go as far to say the greater Dublin area, does have particular pressures in terms of population growth as well. There is never an exact science in relation to this. Population is one index, as are need and deprivation; there are a variety of indexes. It is a fair point that the Deputy makes. I will discuss it with both the Minister for sport and the Minister of State for sport. Perhaps it is a piece that we could get the Irish Government Economic Evaluation Service to look at just to make sure we are meeting the needs of all of our country's communities, urban and rural, but I am pleased this Government is increasing funding right across this country.
Sentiment score: 0.26
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and for the way she illustrated the serious impact this is having on the community college. I too commend the advocacy of the students. I take her point that they should not have to be doing this, but the pride they take in their school community and their own education is commendable. I certainly urge them to feel free to write to me or the Minister for education. I would be happy to revert to them on this as well. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Naughton, to come back to the Deputy directly on this. I know that the education capital plan is due to be published imminently, in the next couple of weeks. I will ask that the Minister looks at it in that context and comes back to the Deputy directly.
Sentiment score: 0.33
I thank the Deputy O’Callaghan for raising the issue. I welcome the people in the Gallery and thank them for being here today. I am trying to familiarise myself with this issue in real time. My understanding is that all homecare services funded by the HSE have now received the pay uplift they were meant to receive through the WRC agreement but that there are a number of services that do not receive direct funding through the HSE. However, I also understand that Northside Home Care Services does receive some section 39 funding in relation to the meals-on-wheels service it provides. I believe the HSE reached out to Northside Home Care Services last week to remind it, the employer, of the process for claiming an uplift in pay funding in respect of the section 39 funding it receives. I will personally speak to the chief executive of the HSE and revert to the Deputy directly.
Sentiment score: 0.37
I thank Deputy Gogarty. I always find these questions are so broad-ranging. This is an area I need to familiarise myself with more but I believe there is validity to what the Deputy says in that we want to ensure we fully utilise all of the airport infrastructure we have in the country. I am quite sure people in the west would welcome an increased flow there, particularly because so many who go to Dublin end up travelling west. Sitting beside the Minister of State responsible for planning, I am aware we are looking into planning exemptions for EV charging points and the like, which might help with a tangential but nonetheless important issue. I will ask the Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, to consider the Deputy’s suggestion and revert to him directly.
Sentiment score: 0.40
I thank Deputy Sheehan very much for raising this important issue. A record number of services are now operating within core funding, with a 5% increase on last year. Four thousand five hundred and fifty-nine services are now signed up for core funding. However, I take the point that a parent of a child in Castletroy concerned about his or her own service will want to know what is going to happen locally in addition to the national numbers. We have very much kicked off some of our key commitments on childcare. We will be reducing childcare costs for 47,000 low-income families by providing them with additional subsidies under the national childcare scheme this year. We saw the capital investment plan announced yesterday as well. The issue of core funding will, of course, be examined as part of the childcare plan, as it must be. However, I will ask the relevant Minister, Deputy Foley, to engage directly with the Deputy, particularly if there is local concern about Castletroy.
Sentiment score: 0.19
I will, indeed. I thank Deputy Ó Muirí very much for raising the issue. Since he raised it with me on a number of occasions, I have a detailed note here. I am a great believer in what he said, namely that if enough people are raising an issue with him and other public representatives in Dublin Bay North, then there is an issue, and that issue needs to be considered with humility and respect, and in a constructive manner, by State agencies. If changes have been made, there is no point in people who do not get a particular bus writing notes to everyone to say that bus is going grand. Therefore, I will certainly speak directly to the Minister for Transport and ask for real and meaningful engagement with public representatives on this. The NTA tells me there was public consultation in advance of the changes. It also tells me it will review feedback it is receiving on local connectivity. I detect the scepticism and frustration the Deputy is articulating on behalf of his constituents and therefore I will ask the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, to discuss this matter with him directly and determine whether we can have meaningful engagement with the NTA.
Sentiment score: 0.26
I am very sympathetic to and supportive of the point Deputy Scanlon made. The relevant Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, and I were just discussing the fact that the money spent on the schemes represents some of the best value achieved by the State in its expenditure. There is no waste or messing around, and the return on investment is good, real, meaningful, tangible and pretty immediate. I am proud of the work we have done together over the past while. It has seen progress. In this regard, the Deputy has talked about the projects delivered in his own constituency. However, he made the point that for each success, many projects need to be delivered. I will engage with the relevant Departments to determine what more we can do to support the schemes, which really help communities, particularly rural ones.
Sentiment score: 0.53
It is a fair point and I, like the Deputy, do not want to pit workers against management because what we are all trying to do here is make sure that people who have not had pension provision before can in the future and that we end the really difficult gap between people who have pensions and do not have them. That is the ultimate aim. As schemes are rolled out, issues will have to be resolved and the Government obviously does not want to see a deviation or reduction in the level of service provision to address pay or pensions issues. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Dara Calleary, who has responsibility for auto-enrolment, to take this example the Deputy has given in relation to Clondalkin and to come back to him directly on the issue.
Sentiment score: 0.12
I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for highlighting this issue. I join him in welcoming the performers and participants from the theatre group. I thank him for reminding us of the horrific horrors that have been experienced there. Culture and art can often be a very important part of shining a spotlight on this and I join with the Deputy in welcoming them.
Sentiment score: 0.24