I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer.

I thank the Minister of State for being here today. This matter concerns the lack of Leap card access for journeys starting from Banteer and Millstreet to Cork city, and the absence of an early train from Banteer, which is an issue that forces students to make impossible choices every week.

A woman in my constituency reached out to let me know that her daughter travels to college in Cork every day. She works part time and studies full time. Like so many others, she is doing her best to make it work. Because Leap card fares only apply from Mallow to Cork and not from Banteer and Millstreet, her daily journey costs considerably more. For young students, the difference does add up. Over a week, that is money that could have been put towards groceries, potential rent or even just a small bit of breathing room. It is not fair that two students sitting side by side on the same train pay two completely different fares simply because one lives a few stops further into rural Ireland.

This is not just about the cost; it is about opportunity and fairness. Many of these students live in Banteer, Millstreet, Kanturk and the surrounding areas simply because they cannot find or afford accommodation in the city.

The accommodation crisis has pushed them home, not by choice but by necessity. When we are talking about regional development and sustainable transport, this is what really matters. These young people are trying to do the right thing. They have made it to college despite every obstacle, like rising rents, housing shortages and limited public transport, yet they are being penalised because they live outside the commuter belt.

To make matters worse, the early morning service from Banteer to Cork city does not run on Mondays. There is a train at 7 a.m. on every other weekday that allows students to reach UCC, or Munster Technological University, MTU, for 9 a.m. lectures. On Mondays, however, the first train is not until 8.25 a.m., which is far too late for morning classes. What happens? Students then have to make other arrangements. Some travel to Mallow by car just to catch the early train, adding extra expense and time to already long days. Others simply miss out on their Monday lectures. It is a small scheduling gap but it has big impacts for these students. Rural students are doing everything right and they are constantly reminded their communities do not count in the same way. Whether it is transport, broadband, housing or healthcare, there is always an extra cost, an extra hurdle and the extra things they just do not qualify for.

All we are asking for is a bit of fairness. Can the Minister of State please extend Leap card access or provide fare parity to include journeys from Banteer and Millstreet to Cork city to ensure students are not penalised because of where they live? If there are technical or infrastructure barriers, could the Minister of State please outline a clear and immediate plan to address them and provide an interim fare solution in the meantime? Can the Monday morning gap in the timetable also be addressed to ensure there are services from Banteer that allow students to reach Cork city before 9 a.m.?

This is about giving rural students a fair start and saying where you are from should not determine the opportunities you can access or how much you have to pay for them. Today, therefore, I am asking that the Leap card be extended to Banteer and Millstreet and for the Minister of State to try to restore the early Monday morning service. These students have already overcome so much and they deserve the very best. Just for us to make their journeys to education a little bit easier should not have to cost the world.

I thank Senator Ryan for raising this important topic, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O’Brien. I clarify at the start that the Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding in public transport but neither the Minister nor his officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public transport passenger services nationally rests with the National Transport Authority. The NTA works with the public transport operators that deliver the services and have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters. The NTA also has responsibility for the regulation of fares charged to passengers in respect of public transport services provided under public service obligation, PSO, contracts.

That said, I reassure the Senator that the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options, and public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. To support this objective in the budget just announced, the Department secured €940 million in funding for PSO and Transport for Ireland, TFI, Local Link services, providing a significant 43% uplift, which is an increase from €658.442 million last year, the allocation of further supports for subsidised bus and rail services across Ireland as well as maintaining targeted fare initiatives such as the recently introduced free travel for all children up to the age of nine and the young adult card as part of the NTA’s national fare strategy.

On the Senator's specific query regarding the need to extend Leap card fare access to students, I clarify that, as Members will know, there are currently two Leap card options available that offer 50% discounted travel for young people and students. The young adult card is available to all young adults aged 19 to 25 and the student Leap card is available to full-time students aged 16 to 18 and to those aged 26 and over. To qualify, students must be in full-time education and training for at least 16 hours per week. Any student who meets the eligibility criteria, supported by a valid student ID indicating full-time status and-or a letter from an institution, will be issued a student Leap card. The NTA encourages all customers to use the TFI Leap card to ensure they receive the best possible value on fares. Leap card users can save up to 30% compared with paying with cash, making it a more cost-effective option for regular travel.

In relation to train services, Senator Ryan and the Members will know we have invested significantly in recent years in our national rail network, particularly in Cork, to create a more efficient, safe and better service for the people of Ireland. The opening of a new through platform at Cork Kent Station last April represented a landmark day in the delivery of the Cork area commuter rail programme. This platform will facilitate Cork commuter trains to travel through Kent Station from Mallow to Midleton or Cobh without requiring passengers to change services, which will support a better rail service.

A public consultation on phase 2 of the programme, which includes the delivery of eight new stations, provides upgrades to existing stations, including Mallow, and provides for the electrification of the new Cork commuter rail system, concluded in July.

Phase 2 works will be advanced following the completion of phase 1 and subject to funding and relevant approvals.

The improvements in frequency provided by the Cork area commuter rail programme will also benefit passengers travelling from stations on the Tralee line, including Banteer and Millstreet, who can interchange at Mallow station and travel onwards to Cork Kent Station. The development of infrastructure from the Cork area commuter rail programme will increase capacity and frequency from Mallow to Cork. As fleet becomes available, this will provide opportunities for service expansion on the network, which is subject to agreement with the NTA.

The new DART+ fleet will add significant capacity in the greater Dublin area, and will be then redeployed elsewhere on the network, based on demand and infrastructure capacity.

I have two questions for the Senator. Can she quantify the number of students who are discommoded, in terms of this Commencement matter, and cannot travel from Banteer or Millstreet to Cork city on a Monday morning? The Senator mentioned that students cannot arrive on time for their classes in the morning. What is the earliest train the students can take to travel to Kent Station? I ask because there is a good bus system between UCC and Kent Station. I would like the Senator to quantify the number of students who are discommoded so I can go the NTA on her behalf.

I would have to conduct a survey because I do not know how many students are affected. It was just one constituent and one mother who came to me about the matter.

Banteer has no bus service at all. The earliest train from Banteer to Cork Kent Station on a Monday morning is at 8.25 a.m., which means that students cannot make their 9 a.m. class because the train only arrives at Cork Kent Station just after 9 o'clock.

On the ministerial response, I know the rail service is not entirely the brief of the Minister of State but what we saying to students right now is that they cannot use their Leap card because that option does not extend to Banteer or Millstreet. Young students and people who have a Leap card cannot use their card to pay for travel between Millstreet and Cork Kent or Banteer and Cork Kent. They can only use their Leap card from Mallow. Essentially we are saying people cannot use their Leap card and, equally, there is no improvement to the service that only leaves Banteer at 8.25 a.m.

I will take up the remarks made by the Senator. I think she will agree with me that the Government has invested €940 million in the PSO and Local Link services for next year and that demonstrates the commitment of the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and I, along with the Department of Transport, to a sustainable, equitable and accessible public transport network for all, irrespective of where people are from. The Government and the Department of Transport are fully committed to investing in public transport services for the improvement of our transport network, not just countrywide but also in Cork, while also maintaining the financial sustainability of the system in the long term.

The programme for Government is very much committed to rolling out contactless payment, and to keeping fares affordable and equitable. As I said, in the case of Cork that new through platform at Cork Kent Station represents a landmark change in the delivery of the Cork area commuter rail programme. It will also allow for greater frequency. This platform is the first element of the Cork area commuter rail programme. It will also have other effects in terms of Glounthaune, Midleton, etc.

I will raise the situation in Banteer with the NTA and Irish Rail. I am not familiar with the situation and if the Senator conducts a survey on the matter, I would be happy to convey the information on her behalf. Again, I thank the Senator for raising the matter this afternoon.

Over two years ago a pilot programme called Retrofit Ready was launched. It covered the counties of Cavan, Monaghan, Sligo and Leitrim. The aim of the initiative was to bridge the knowledge gap among homeowners and communities who want to retrofit their homes. Two community retrofit champions were appointed, namely, Owen McConnon for Cavan and Monaghan and Luke Tarmey for Sligo and Leitrim. They became the faces of the project. They built up trust with communities and individuals to work with them through community events and one-to-one clinics providing information on retrofitting homes. They were seen as honest brokers because they were not selling or endorsing anything; they were just providing a service to make sure that people understood what was available. Older people in particular often were not aware of the programme and did not want to navigate these quite complex projects or applications for different projects and grants.

They organised a number of meet the builder events where they invited local contractors and suppliers to come to a community setting, set up their stalls and engage with the public to advise them about what was available, the costs and timelines and even the tradespeople who could deliver the works.

Word of mouth spread, lots of people engaged and it was a successful project. Many people they met there were not aware that if you were in receipt of the fuel allowance, that meant you could apply for the warmer homes scheme. Some people did not even know that they qualified for the fuel allowance in the first place and by qualifying for that, they were able to access the warmer homes scheme but also the SEAI grants and everything that was available. They pointed out that while the warmer homes scheme is great, the waiting list is still quite long at a year and a half. It is something that we should look to invest in because there are a lot of older, colder houses out there and especially with the cost of energy rising on a continual basis, people would be willing to retrofit their homes. However, sometimes they are a bit worried about the process, how to fill out the application forms, who to engage with, etc., and this provided a great service to people there. I am conscious that we face significant penalties from the EU if we do not meet our climate targets in the next few years. If we could invest that money instead in schemes like this to get more people involved in retrofitting their homes, it would benefit us in the long run.

Hugh Wallace, the television personality and architect, attended the concluding conference of this scheme and he endorsed it and felt it was a worthwhile scheme. He had been involved in projects retrofitting of his own house, and he was in houses that are built of stone that we still cannot provide proper insulation for. There are lots of learnings to come from this project. Is there a plan to review this pilot project and roll it out on a permanent basis, not only in the four counties involved but across the nation because it would be worthwhile?

With the Acting Chairperson's permission, as there is a vote in the Dáil, I will give the Senator an abbreviated answer. She makes a good point. There is merit in what she is proposing about an extension. She will get a copy of the prepared reply as well.

Since 2019, over €1.5 billion has been provided to homeowners for 228,350 home energy upgrades. As the Senator knows, the retrofit programme is a community-led home retrofit project funded by the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, on whose behalf I am taking this matter. It has been awarded almost €500,000 since it commenced in October 2022.

Retrofit Ready serves four counties, Monaghan, Sligo, Cavan and Leitrim, and is developing a community retrofit service which is allowing homeowners to navigate access to retrofit grant schemes. The point the Senator made is that there is a waiting time and we must make it easier for homeowners to be able to avail of this grant and the schemes. Many of us are conscious of the piece around retrofit champions, which the Senator referenced in her contribution, and fuel poverty and agreed to have awareness campaigns around that.

I will certainly convey to the Minister and the Department the Senator's concerns about the need to extend the scheme nationwide. Targets have been set at a national level in the climate action plan regarding the installation of heat pumps. Equally, there is a road to travel. We must ensure that, collaboratively and collectively, we make houses warmer, more comfortable and, as the Senator said, less expensive to heat given the rising costs.

I will bring the Senator's points back to the Minister. They are well made and are increasingly relevant today given the need for us as a Government but also as a society to adapt for climate change and to retrofit more houses.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Cathaoirleach Gníomhach agus an Aire Stáit. I thank the Minister of State for coming in to listen to this today.

As someone born and raised in Drogheda, I speak not only as a Senator here today but as a proud daughter of a place that has outgrown the soubriquet of Ireland's largest town and now needs to be made Ireland's next city.

For far too long Drogheda has been spoken about as though it were still a provincial town on the edge of Dublin. That really does not reflect reality. It has a population in excess of 50,000, but combined with its natural hinterland in east Meath we are talking about a population of about 80,000. Drogheda is already larger than the city of Waterford and is close to overtaking Galway and Limerick within a decade based on current growth trends, yet it still does not have city status or a single local authority.

In 2014, during the Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition, Drogheda lost its borough council and, with it, meaningful local decision-making. That was a turning point. From that moment on, Drogheda began to grow rapidly but its ability to plan and manage that growth was taken away. We now find ourselves governed by two local authorities, Louth County Council and Meath County Council, from two distant towns. That division is failing the people I represent where I live. We are falling between the two proverbial stools because we have two councils and two development plans, but one urban population with no unified strategy. It is entirely unsustainable. The consequences are felt every day by people living there, by businesses and by workers. Parents cannot find school places for their children, not only at secondary school level but also increasingly at primary level. The young couples who are buying the many houses that we are building in new estates expect basic public transport, but buses are overcrowded and the rail service is beyond capacity. A second railway station, on the north side of the town, is now imperative. Workers commuting from Drogheda face daily gridlock on local roads that were never designed for the scale of development that we are now seeing in our town, which is soon to be a city. GP practices are full, waiting lists are growing, and sports clubs and community groups are squeezed to breaking point because facilities have not kept pace with population growth.

This is what happens when an area grows like a city but is governed like a small town. Despite this, Drogheda has not given up. In recent months, we have seen real progress. Millions of euro have been secured for town centre regeneration. The living city initiative has finally been extended to Drogheda to unlock the vital investment we need and to restore life into our heritage buildings, which I hope the Minister of State will see next month. The port access northern cross route is opening new potential for expansion and jobs on the north side. This is the vision in Drogheda. There is ambition and there is real momentum but we cannot deliver long-term progress while trapped in the wrong governance structure. If we are serious about balanced regional development, we must recognise that Drogheda’s role is the future of this country. We stand on the Dublin-Belfast economic corridor, which is the most strategically important growth axis on this island. If Ireland is to develop sustainably, it needs strong cities beyond Dublin and Drogheda is poised to be one of those.

City status is not about prestige; it is about planning, proper investment and accountability. It needs a single authority with responsibility for housing, infrastructure, transport, education, planning and economic development. This means fair funding, including access to urban regeneration funding for schemes like the West Gate vision we have coming down the road. It means a governance model that matches the scale of the population it serves. Therefore, I am proposing that the Government establish a Drogheda city status task force to produce a road map to full city status within 12 months. It must be cross-departmental, must engage with both local authorities and must be driven by facts, not political hesitation. It is time to give Ireland’s largest town the status, structure and support it needs. It is time to make Drogheda the country’s next city.

I thank the Senator for the way she articulated the case for Drogheda to become a city. Clearly it is her home town - or city - and she is very proud of it. This came across incredibly well. She is proud of the progress that it has made but she has also identified some challenges which she sees city status as a key way of overcoming. I will outline the Department’s position and rationale, as well as some opportunities for future discussions.

Project Ireland 2040 is the overarching planning and investment framework for the social, economic and cultural development of Ireland. The national planning framework, NPF, together with the 2021 national development plan, NDP, combine to form Project Ireland 2040. The NPF sets out a vision and strategy for the spatial development of Ireland to 2040. It recognises the strategic importance of Drogheda. It aims to support its development and its economic potential as part of the Dublin-Belfast corridor, which the Senator referenced, and, in particular, as part of the core Drogheda-Dundalk-Newry network. This strategy targets significant growth into the regional growth centres, including Drogheda, to enable them to act as regional drivers.

The revised NPF was approved by Government and the Oireachtas in April 2025. This concluded the revision process and allows the revised NPF to take effect in the planning system. The NPF aims for a roughly 50:50 distribution of growth between the eastern and midland region, and the southern, northern and western regions combined, with 75% of the growth to take place outside of Dublin and its suburbs. The revised NPF retains the strategy approach to Drogheda in relation to its role as a regional driver. Drogheda's role is also reflected at a regional level in the regional, spatial and economic strategy for the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly area.

Local authority areas are specified in primary legislation. The Local Government Act 2001 currently provides for three cities, namely Cork, Dublin and Galway, and for each of these cities to have a city council. If an additional city council were to be established, it would have significant implications for the county in which the area concerned is situated, particularly around loss of functions of the relevant county council. Creation of a Drogheda city local authority would have a major impact on County Louth, leaving the county council with much reduced territorial jurisdiction, population and resources. This would be further complicated by the fact that the area being proposed for Drogheda to qualify as a city includes part of County Meath. For a city council to be established, provision will have to be made for this and other consequential matters in the relevant legislation. At the moment, there are no plans for legislation in this regard.

We need to be clear what exactly the Senator is looking for. I can see the complications in terms of a separate local authority for Drogheda and how it impacts County Louth and that local authority. I have seen a similar situation happen in County Cork where the city boundary expanded, and it had a detrimental impact on the county. However, there is precedence where city and county councils are merged, like in Limerick and Waterford. It is important that we learn from the experience there. Is it the local authority element of the city recognition that the Senator is looking for or is it the potential to give status to Drogheda, similar to Kilkenny city, which also has city status, but to keep working within Louth council local authority? There is potential for discussion on the future of Drogheda, and we might develop that further.

I thank the Minister of State for that response, even if it is not exactly the one I was looking for. At the same time this is a wider discussion that needs to be had. We know that it will take legislation and the Minister of State mentioned some of the precedents with Limerick City and County Council and Cork City Council, and Dublin County Council being divided into the three local authorities of Fingal, South Dublin and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown. There are examples. We are not looking for a precedent to be set, but at the same time we have a huge and burgeoning demographic. We are looking at 7,500 new houses, which brings 25,000 in new population to this area, and we do not have our own local governance. We are being governed from north of the county and from Navan, which is far away from east Meath and south Louth. We need to look, as the Minister of State mentioned, at a wider discussion of how this will be looked at going forward. The current situation cannot stand, and I noticed in the programme for Government that we are keen to get local government back on our books and maybe look at a borough council, town council, town manager or city manager for Drogheda.

The Senator is right that the establishment of a local authority is primary legislation. However, the recognition of somewhere as a city is different. That has been done through charters and by different methods over the centuries. To back up the Senator's point, the CSO will define a city as having a population over 50,000. Drogheda ticks that box. Kilkenny only has a population of 27,000. My view is that there is definitely merit in the recognition of a city. I think the separate local authority creates far more complications. A local democracy task force is being established by the Minister, Deputy Browne. I assume that will look at things like bringing back town councils. The Senator correctly alluded to the fact that town councils were done away with. In my view that was a retrograde step for many of our towns, including my own town of Clonakilty. I assume the task force will look at that. Perhaps, Drogheda's status as a city could also be looked at in that process. It is certainly something I will bring to the senior Minister.

I welcome guests of Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh and members of the Straide Women's Group. I also welcome guests of former Deputy John Paul Phelan and of Deputy Matt Carthy. We hope they enjoy their visit.

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the Seanad today to respond to my Commencement Matter on the national monument at 14-17 Moore Street. The Minister of State may not be aware of this but I am growing very, very old in this job. I spent all of the previous Oireachtas asking his predecessors for updates on the national monument at 14-17 Moore Street and, before I spent those years in here doing that, I spent many years, or rather decades, pursuing local authorities, governments and the State generally to protect, restore and create at that national monument site a 1916 commemorative museum. The buildings at 14-17 Moore Street are the final meeting places of the leaders of the 1916 Rising. It was in No. 16 Moore Street that the decision was taken to make an unconditional surrender. Pádraig Pearse made that decision with his comrades in the rooms upstairs on Moore Street. The Minister of State has been there and I thank him because very early in his ministry, he took an interest and came down to inspect the buildings there. I want to acknowledge and congratulate those who have worked on those buildings. Conservation and archaeological work is painstaking. To us on the outside, it seems to progress at a glacial pace and we find that frustrating.

I grew up in that part of the city and, for me, Moore Street was always a very vibrant street. In fact, it was probably the most vibrant trading street in the city and so it genuinely breaks my heart to have witnessed the deterioration of commerce on the street over the last 20 years. It has now reached the point where, apart from Paddy Buckley, Stephen Troy and the few women traders who are left, the street has more or less died. Most of the street is actually in private ownership. The State designated 14-17 Moore Street as a national monument back in 2007. In 2015, after all of our campaigning, the State acquired 14-17 Moore Street from the private owners, which was a great step forward. It did so with the very clear intention to turn it into a 1916 commemorative museum. Since that time, Dublin City Council, the OPW, the Department of heritage and many others have been involved in, first of all, stabilising the buildings. They are fragile, 18th century, mid-terrace, three-storey residential units above shops. Various entities have stabilised, protected and conserved the buildings and carried out archaeological work on them. They found more than 4,000 artefacts on the site, according to the Department's website.

I know from being down there in the shells of the buildings, even as they are, that the history that will come to life when we have a 1916 commemorative centre is going to be incredible. It is going to be world class. I absolutely believe that because the concept that is being proposed by the State and the Department is one which is of an incredibly high value. It is one that will absolutely articulate the values of our State and of those who fought for our independence and freedom.

I hope the Minister of State can update the Seanad on the progress that has been made to complete phase one, the conservation works and the protections, and most importantly on phase 2. I hope he can stand up and give us an indication of when works will commence and when we are likely to see a commemorative museum open.

I thank the Senator for raising this important matter concerning the future of the national monument at 14-17 Moore Street. These buildings are among the most significant surviving locations associated with the Easter Rising and are central to the State’s ongoing commitment to commemorating and preserving our shared history.

As the Senator will be aware, the Government decided to accept the recommendations of the Moore Street advisory group and instructed the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Office of Public Works to advance a project to conserve the national monument at 14-17 Moore Street and to open it as a visitor site commemorating the events of Easter Week 1916.

Since that Government decision, significant work has been undertaken to advance the project. A design team was appointed to lead the development of detailed proposals for the conservation of 14-17 Moore Street. The design has now progressed to a point where the major conservation and design decisions have been settled. An application for ministerial consent under the National Monuments Acts 1930 has recently been lodged and is currently under consideration. In parallel, interpretive designers have advanced the permanent exhibition to detailed design stage.

There is no statutory decision timeframe for ministerial consent beyond a specific two-week consultation period with the National Museum of Ireland. For programming purposes, the OPW has assumed a decision period of approximately eight weeks. At this point, it is not possible to give definitive start and completion dates for the full programme of works prior to the approval of ministerial consent and the completion of procurement. However, the Moore Street project remains a Government priority, and subject to these statutory and procurement processes, it is anticipated that on-site progress will be made in 2026.

The OPW and the Department Housing, Local Government and Heritage continue to work closely to progress the project in line with Government direction and statutory requirements. Interim protective measures remain in place to protect the historic fabric while the necessary design, consent and procurement processes are completed.

The conservation and presentation of 14-17 Moore Street represent a major national heritage project. It will honour those who took part in the Rising and create a meaningful and enduring visitor experience of national and international importance. The Government remains fully committed to this project, and I thank the Senator for her ongoing engagement and support as we move closer to the delivery of this important commemorative centre.

I welcome the news that a design team has been appointed and that major conservation design concepts have been developed. I really welcome the fact that this work is taking place in parallel with the application for ministerial consent. In his further reply, I would appreciate if the Minister of State could clarify if it is the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage who is required to give the consent for the works to the national monument. It is really welcome to hear it that we can anticipate that works will commence in 2026. We have been a long time waiting. I believe that the painstaking work has been incredibly valuable and will lead to a richer and more powerful exhibition when the work is actually completed.

I again thank the Minister of State for the update. He needs to keep the pressure on. We have waited a long time and we really want to see this realised not just for Moore Street and the relatives of the 1916 Rising. This is a national monument of national and international importance. The actions that those heroes took in 1916 sparked a trajectory for our Republic that we still enjoy today. Our independence, democracy and freedom came from that spot and it is really important that it is appropriately commemorated.

I could not agree with the Senator more and it is the Minister who has only just gone out the door. While it has taken so long to get to where we are, we have moved a long way. As the Senator said at the outset, many different bodies and agencies have been involved to get to where we are. I have shown huge commitment to this project as has the Taoiseach. We visited the site to look at it at first-hand.

The work being done at 14-17 Moore Street is phenomenal. It is painstaking and slow work that takes an awful lot of time, but next year when we get contractors on site, we will see it progress much faster. I remember Moore Street as it was when I first learned to drive a car. We still do nearly all of our shopping on Moore Street and to see it change so much, when I returned there only recently, frightens me in a sense. This project will enhance that whole part of the city and do an awful lot for tourism and the people of Dublin. While it is important for the whole country, it is particularly so for the people of Dublin who cherish this area, as do I and as does everybody in the House. We will work together going forward. I assure the Senator that, with my commitment as Minister of State for the Office of Public Works and that of my colleagues, we will fully progress the scheme.

It is my first time speaking to the Minister of State and I am delighted. I thank her for coming in to discuss the critical issue of blood donations.

Last week the Irish Blood Transfusion Service said it needed an extra 12,000 blood donations as most blood groups have fallen to under three days of stock. Without the selfless act of a person donating blood, the Irish health system will come to a halt. As the Minister of State knows, blood only lasts 35 days and supply is almost always dynamic. It became so critical last week that the Irish Blood Transfusion Service almost went into amber alert. That would mean that elective surgeries would not continue. I spoke to the Irish Blood Transfusion Service and, after last week's appeal, up to yesterday afternoon, it had 5.8 days' supply, but it aims to hold seven days. What it really needs is more new donors. Only 3% of the population donate blood, which I could not believe when I actually looked at the statistic. A total of 8% of those donors are O negative. The service needs younger, repeat donors, donors of African heritage and other ethnicities to ensure the national blood supply remains safe and sustainable. With all of this in mind, now is the time to appeal to younger donors, ensure there are clinics in every county, educate people on the importance of donation and perhaps allow employees time off to donate blood.

The average donor age in Ireland is age 46 years even though we can give blood from the age of 18. The maximum age is 65, but as we are all living longer lives, should this not be extended? When I did some research on this last week and, in fact, this morning, I saw that, although supplies were critical, we had no blood transfusion clinics in ten counties last week nor are there any in those counties for the last two weeks of October. When I had another look today, 15 counties out of 26 have no blood donation clinic for the last 11 days of October, including my own county of Meath. We are at a critical juncture and, in fact, five counties, among them Westmeath, Longford, Leitrim and Laois, have no clinics planned for November either. Are we investing enough or is it a manpower issue preventing us from running more clinics?

Similarly, education is key. Why are there not more donors? Why are we in a critical time? How can we reach underrepresented communities? We need to ensure materials are available in every language and that we appeal to religious groups and immigrant support centres. We need to educate people on the importance of blood donation and what they can do for their communities.

Blood is used in more than 70 hospitals across Ireland. Every week hundreds of patients in Ireland rely on blood transfusions for surgeries, cancer treatment and emergency care. Blood is also needed for women who have with complications while giving birth. The IBTS needs around 3,000 donations every week just to meet the demand in hospitals across the country.

I urge employers to perhaps allow employees time off to donate blood. They would need only two hours per year. The average time it takes to donate blood is only two hours. As I said, blood is used in 70 hospitals across Ireland. Every week hundreds of patients in Ireland rely on it. It is estimated that one in four people will require a blood transfusion at some stage in their lives, with 67% of all blood used to help support cancer patients. Every single day in Ireland, somebody’s life depends on the generosity of a blood donor.

The Irish Blood Transfusion Service has said it would welcome the Department of Health’s support in continuing to promote blood donation awareness and in every way that enables it to meet its objectives.

What can the Department do to help the Irish Blood Transfusion Service? Have we increased our investment in it? Can we increase our investment in how the message of the urgency of blood donation is communicated?

I thank the Senator for raising this important issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. I have taken all of her concerns on board and I will definitely come back at the end on what she has brought up.

The Irish Blood Transfusion Service is a non-commercial State agency responsible for collecting, processing, testing and distributing blood and blood products in Ireland. It relies completely on the generosity of voluntary non-remunerated donors to provide sufficient donations to ensure a consistent supply of blood. The IBTS is funded by charging hospitals for the products and testing services it provides to support patient care. The product pricing is informed by an activity-based cost recovery model. As part of the annual IBTS budget process, prices for blood and blood products are agreed and approved annually by the Minister for Health. The IBTS anticipates an income of approximately €86 million for 2025, with total projected costs for 2025 of €86 million, which results in a balanced budget. The IBTS is adequately funded and has not sought an increase in price since 2023. The current blood appeal is not related to funding.

The IBTS endeavours to maintain five to seven days' stock of each blood group. To ensure this, the IBTS remains in constant communication with hospitals in relation to blood stock levels. The IBTS has robust emergency blood management plans and business continuity plans to manage the national blood stocks in times of blood shortages. Since 2019 Ireland has seen an increase in demand for red cells. Specifically, this demand reflects an increase in the number of patients in Ireland undergoing lifesaving treatments, including urgent surgery, chemotherapy, stem cell transplantation and red cell exchange transfusion, including additional blood requirements to support increased weekend patient treatment activity. In 2024 the IBTS issued the highest number of blood donation units to Irish hospitals in over a decade, at just under 128,500 units, and this exceptionally high demand has further increased during 2025. The IBTS operates within an establishment ceiling of 567 whole time equivalents. This includes 27 additional posts to support the increases in IBTS service delivery that were sanctioned in December 2024 by the Department of Health.

If the national blood supply falls below a certain level a number of steps are taken. The Senator mentioned the pre-amber alert, whereby the IBTS writes to hospitals regarding restricting issues of blood and asking hospitals to reduce their stock holding. This allows the IBTS to more effectively allocate the national supply of blood. The Minister for Health will be alerted if the alert status changes to amber. An amber alert means that elective surgeries requiring donor blood support are cancelled and hospitals are advised to reduce blood usage under the national transfusion advisory group red cell and platelet shortage plans. The IBTS has never issued an amber alert and every effort is made to ensure this continues.

On 15 October, the IBTS issued an appeal for immediate public and donor support to collect more than 12,000 blood donations over the next four weeks to help boost the national blood supply, as current supplies are under three days across most blood groups. This is an issue and I acknowledge the Senator's concerns about this. The IBTS has robust blood shortage mitigations, which include optimising attendance at clinics, increased media and social media, additional targeted text messaging of donors, running multiple additional clinics and having longer opening hours. To support increased collections in response to the appeal, additional Sunday clinics were offered on Sunday 19 October at D’Olier Street in Dublin, St. Finbarr’s Hospital in Cork, Dunboyne in Meath, and Waterford city.

These additional Sunday clinics collected an additional 0.7 day's supply overall. I will come back to the Senator with the rest of the reply.

The Minister of State said that the IBTS has not looked for extra funding since 2023. There is still a problem in the sense that we went to a critically low level last week. I raised this last week and I ended up doing an interview on the radio and issuing a press release. Since then three people signed up, including some colleagues. That was just because of me coming out and talking about it.

We definitely need to look at the age. Why is the average age 46 if people can donate from the age of 18? Should we look at increasing the age limit above 65? We need to educate people on how one donation can save up to three lives; it is key. We need to have more clinics. Right now, 15 counties do not have clinics for the next 15 days, yet we are critically low on blood. Something is not adding up.

I will give examples of the type of text messages I received after donating blood:

Linda, thank you for donating blood in Trim. Donations made have helped patients throughout the country.

Another one said:

Linda, thank you for donating blood. Your donation has just been issued to Tallaght hospital.

Another said:

Thank you for donating blood. It has been issued to Clonmel.

I always believe that giving a present is much nicer than receiving one. There is nothing better than giving blood and getting a message like those that lets you know you have impacted on someone's life and perhaps saved them.

I totally agree with the Senator. The increase in demand is driven in part by the success of the recent investment in expanding the surgical and health system capacity by delivering better access to care for people. To ensure this demand is met, donor attendance figures are up by 10,283 in the year to date. This is an increase of 8.9% on target. There has been an increase. With the increase in donor recruitment drives, some 11,291 first-time donors were recruited in 2023. This number rose to 11,351 in 2024. I will bring up the Senator's concerns. I also want to express my gratitude to all blood donors who turn up, roll up their sleeves and help us maintain the blood supply, particularly following the IBTS's appeal.

I encourage anyone who is able to donate. They can register their interest at giveblood.ie where they will also find clinic allocations, opening hours and all the other details. The IBTS's number is 1800 731137. I will raise the Senator's concerns about the average age of donors being 46 and the number of counties without an upcoming clinic. It definitely something we need to look into.

I assure the Senator that her issues will go back to the Minister for Health. It is such an important service that saves lives. I thank her for raising such a serious issue.

I welcome the Minister to the Seanad. It is my first time speaking to him on a Commencement matter. I raise the issue of funding for local improvement schemes, LIS. The LIS, as it is commonly known in all local authorities, is essential for maintaining private roads that serve multiple homes, farms and rural businesses. These roads are often the only access routes for families and communities. Their upkeep is vital for everyone's safety, connectivity and rural development.

Across the country, county councils are working hard to meet the growing demand under the LIS programme but the funding available falls short of what is needed. For example, 580 roads are currently on the waiting list for repair in County Kerry. The Kerry County Council, in accordance with its actual capacity, which means what it can achieve, requested €5 million to address this backlog but received just €2.2 million, less than half of what was sought. To its credit, the council expects to complete up to 38 roads in the current year, which is very welcome.

However, the scale of the backlog remains very significant and many communities will continue to wait, despite having met the criteria and being willing to contribute their share. In reality, the roads have gone beyond repair in many cases, and waiting for years ultimately has a telling effect.

Kerry has the largest number of local roads in the country under the LIS, and that is one victory in Kerry we are not happy with. Let me put the matter into perspective. When the scheme opened in 2018, 804 applications came in, of which 737 were added to the priority list for completion. Kerry County Council has 580 roads remaining, with 137 done since the scheme began. At this rate, the last road on the list will not be completed for 15 years, and as a result some of the people in the affected communities will not live to see the works on their roads completed.

Kerry County Council has indicated in recent application requests to the Department that an additional €5 million per annum is what is realistically needed to complete the roads projects on target in a calendar year. I urge the Minister to support me and the residents on the roads with extra funding of €5 million per annum for Kerry. This will have to be addressed across the country in addition to Kerry.

We got €2.2 million in Kerry County Council. If that were increased – allowing for a doubling of the number of roads completed in a year, which will be 38 this year – we would start to eat into the backlog.

We need to put plans in place to review the whole current funding model for the LIS nationally. Can consideration be given to counties with particularly high demand, such as Kerry, the county I represent? Might additional resources be available to help councils to clear these backlogs more effectively? It is hard to digest a waiting period of 15 years. I appreciate the Department’s ongoing support for rural communities and rural development and the Minister's role in this regard, but today I urge that additional funding be put aside for the LIS, not just for Kerry, where I am proud to be from, but also for the rest of the country.

I thank Senator Kennelly for raising this issue. As he knows, the LIS is a programme for improvement works on small private or non-public roads in rural areas that are not normally maintained by local authorities. The scheme is funded by my Department but administered through the local authorities. It is important to note that the focus of the scheme is supporting the continued improvement of non-public rural roads and laneways that would not normally be regularly maintained by local authorities. As we both agree, these roads are vital pieces of infrastructure for rural residents. The scheme was reintroduced in 2017, and since then the Government has allocated almost €184 million allocated to local authorities.

The programme for Government commits to the provision of additional funding for the LIS. Last August, I was delighted to be able to provide an additional round of funding to local authorities for 2025. It was almost double the previous allocation committed. It saw the 2025 budget increase to €30 million. As the Senator has said, Kerry County Council was given €1.2 million in additional funding, bringing the total funding for Kerry in 2025 to over €2.2 million. The council has confirmed that it is utilising this funding to make good approximately 38 roads in the county this year.

Since 2017, Kerry has been allocated some €11.6 million in LIS funding. I am committed to ensuring the scheme continues to be well funded in the coming years. As part of budget 2026, my Department has received €17 million in LIS funding for the scheme next year. This represents an increase on the base funding announced in recent years.

While my Department provides funding for the scheme, it is administered by local authorities. They are responsible for managing the waiting lists and scheme applications and for determining the eligibility of roads. My officials are engaging closely with Kerry County Council.

While in previous years, a small number of local authorities, not including Kerry, did not spend their full allocations and returned the money, I have insisted to colleagues in local government that this must not happen again.

To try to limit this happening and to maximise works completed, my Department officials are engaging with each local authority to understand where full spending may not occur and the potential to redistribute funds to local authorities that will be in a position to utilise them.

I assure the Senator his suggestion in relation to that is something I will keep very much alive. This is a very important scheme. I have made it a priority in the Department since my appointment in January. The officials in the Department know this is a priority for me. The money we were able to allocate in August was money that resulted in savings from other schemes within the Department. I was determined to ensure this money would be invested in the LIS. I continue to keep the scheme under review and to support the counties that spend the money efficiently and on time and do not return LIS funds to the Department.

I thank the Minister. That is fantastic. His last few words were that it is under review and that local authorities should spend it efficiently. When we see 580 roads on the local improvement list in Kerry, it is very unfortunate and disappointing that some authorities are not even taking up their allocation. I propose that if moneys are not taken up this year as well, that funding should be extended to other counties like Kerry to catch up on the backlog. I would like the Minister to do his best to keep it under review. If we can locate more funding going forward, it would be very welcome indeed.

Absolutely. I assure the Senator of my commitment to the LIS. I am engaging with officials on it. There are disparities in the funding per km across local authorities and I want to get a national standard on that. If we get a national standard, that will result in more roads being done in the counties that are delivering. I am also looking at the level of expenditure. Sometimes we gold-plate roads, as it were, when that is not necessary. We need to give a workable surface that people can travel on; we do not need gold-plating. If we can come to an agreement on the standard that is safe and efficient but not gold-plated, we will cover an awful lot more roads and give people a lot more access to their homes, farms and property.