I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case: Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú - To discuss the failure to provide an SNA for a primary school child. Deputy Matt Carthy - To discuss the impact of delays of SNA allocations on pupils and families in Cavan-Monaghan. Deputy Barry Ward - To discuss the progression of the Sutton to Sandycove, S2S, cycleway. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil - To discuss paediatric surgery waiting…

Thank you, Deputy.

You can come back, Deputy.

I note that no amendments to this motion have been tabled. I call Deputy Hearne.

I thank the Minister for being here and for his contribution. We are starting to see a trend across the House in the words we are using about carer's allowance. It comes down to choices. The Minister has spoken about the idea that he cannot abolish the means test now. I take issue with that. The Government can do it but it chooses not to do it. As he will agree, family carers make an invaluable contribution to our communities and society, providing full-time care to family members with disability, chronic illness a…

I often stand up here to debate the challenges facing Government Ministers. I am on the record in conversation with the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, and I again commend him and previous Governments on their investment in sports facilities. I know of a number of pockets of County Kildare where the population has doubled in 20 years. The county has one of the youngest populations in the country. We have seen investments coming from the Government in a number of sports facilities. I take the opportunity to t…

I mean this with the greatest of respect to the Minister of State, but this is the fourth Topical Issue raised with no relevant line Minister or Minister of State here to debate it and to engage in the conversation on it. I am not directing this at the Minister of State. He is here and I appreciate the opportunity to speak to him about this issue, but I cannot expect he will know anything about this specific issue, given his brief. I ask him to take that back to the Chief Whip. It is disrespectful at best to collea…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I appreciate the update with regard to the review by the NCSE and that it is being taken as a priority. We will feed that back to the school immediately. It has potential but the worry is the criteria for the review. We do not know what the criteria are and if the same criteria are maintained from the first review, it would be unreasonable to expect any change. There are 48 children documented for this review in a population of 700 children. We are told these children…

This week the Government supported calls for the implementation of curfews on children and young people, for fines for parents and for a mini criminal assets bureau to be established to confiscate PlayStations, Xboxes and mobile phones. It was in a motion in the name of Deputy Gogarty. The Government allowed it through with no amendment. Tonight, RTÉ has a “Prime Time” show about antisocial behaviour which seems to continue to conflate such behaviour with criminal activity. Will the Minister confirm categorically t…

I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case: Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan - To discuss the delays businesses and potential employees experience while applying for work permits. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore - To discuss issues with public transport in Wicklow. Deputy Frankie Feighan - To discuss wheelchair accessible transport for cancer patients based in the north west. Deputy Michael Cahill - To discuss the n…

As we have finished Topical Issues, we will suspend the House.

What does it say about our State that it cannot ensure every child has an equal, just, flourishing and fun childhood? What does it say about our Government that it refuses to ensure every child has a bed to call their own? What does it say about our Cabinet that it is doubling down on its so-called attention to the issue of child poverty, rather than facing up to the facts before our eyes? Ireland is fast becoming a worse place to grow up for too many children. When I was preparing for this debate, I wondered if an…

I look forward to supporting the campaign of Deputy Catherine Connolly, who did get the required signatures. I have spoken to many parents in Kildare about a lack of childcare facilities. I have a question. In many new housing developments in Kildare, we are seeing empty-shell units of childcare facilities. It is no problem if the Minister does not have an answer now because I can follow up later. However, what are the Government's intentions in this regard? If and when a private unit is left empty for a significan…

Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I will go first if that is okay.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this issue. There is probably very little I can say that is going to be news to the Minister of State at this point. Many Members have covered, quite comprehensively, the structural flaws facing the transport scheme as it stands. It is probably difficult to comprehend any sort of acknowledgement that the scheme is getting better when it is a problem that the Minister of State and the Minister have inherited. This is a problem of the previous Government's making. When the Govern…

There are some children who have tickets for buses while their siblings do not. There is a real issue with school places. If children cannot get into their closest schools, they might have to travel 10 km, 15 km or 20 km to get a place in another school. However, they are not eligible for school transport. If we can join matters up, the scheme has the potential to work. Right now, however, it is quite dysfunctional.

I will pick up where Deputy Gannon has left off. For nearly 20 years, I was a professional youth worker and a hoodie was my uniform. I thought today would be a very important day to don that uniform again. In the same way that I have tried to defend and advocate on behalf of young people who are all too often on the receiving end of negative stereotyping and rhetoric, it feels right that I wear this hoodie. If Deputy Gogarty had spent with children and young people throughout this country a fraction of the time I h…

That is not true.

The Deputy should speak the truth.

I read the whole-----