The Select Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands has completed its consideration of Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024 and has made amendments thereto.

Go raibh maith agat, a Theachta.

I ask the Minister about the efforts to ensure there is adequate access to residential respite services for young people with complex needs and their family carers in the Cork area.

First, I acknowledge the various services that are being delivered, including at the likes of Enable Ireland, where I understand 48 children are accessing residential respite in the area, and CoAction, which has capacity for two to three per night. I refer also to St. Joseph's Foundation, the Cope Foundation and Brothers of Charity Services Ireland, which are offering real meaningful services to people. However, they do have waiting lists. Enable Ireland, for example, has 16 children on a waiting list. While the or…

In some cases when residential respite is not being offered, respite in the home is being offered as a substitute. It can work for some people but for many others it does not really happen. It is not like the family will be going away for a family event without a key member of the family while the respite is ongoing. There might be a call to say they are in trouble and need the support of the parents back in the house. In the event where respite in the home is not suitable or not working out, should those families …

There is a whole range of people who want to support their local credit union, including clubs and societies and people with savings. A number of them have been raising with me that when they go to draw down a grant to do work on the house, for example, or sports capital funding, they come across this cap on the amount of money they can have in the credit union. Has the Minister of State had any engagement with the credit unions and the Central Bank about any flexibility on the cap on their credit union account?

The issue has been raised with me by a number of different sources, including older people intending to do works on their own home who would be accessing a county council grant, or sports clubs advancing works on their own grounds. Instead of a bank, they are dealing with a credit union but when they go to draw down the grant there is a cap in force on their credit union account. They cannot receive or have anything more than that cap in their accounts. Many will not be familiar with the issue until it comes up. Th…

This is about a cap of €30,000.

Just to clarify, the maximum of €100,000 is not an issue. It is not what is up for discussion. The issue is with far lower caps being imposed on credit union accounts in the region of €30,000. Some local credit unions in Cork are doing that. It would seem it is a more local or ad hoc arrangement. It is unclear. I ask the Minister of State to engage with the Central Bank and the credit unions on establishing how extensive the issue is. Given that a far higher cap is possible, there may be flexibility in it. This eme…

The ability to do business with cash is so valuable for so many different people throughout the country, and a key part of the ability to do your business in cash is to have access to an ATM network, to be able to get the cash out of the bank. Is the Minister in a position to ensure that all the ATMs will be registered and regulated? Increasingly, ATMs are not associated with the banks but more independent operators are on it. Will the Minister ensure they are registered and regulated?

I wish to clarify with the Minister of State the plan to advance the roll-out of the national broadband plan in areas around Macroom and west of the town, where there are no surveys pending and no expectation of a national broadband plan until 2025 or 2026.

Locals in the areas of Kilmichael, Ballingeary, Baile Bhuirne, Carriganimmy up towards Aubane asked about the roll-out of the national broadband plan. When they log onto the website and see 2025 or 2026, one can imagine it is frustrating. I appreciate the details the Minister of State has on the different switches in Carriganimmy, Dunmanway and Ballingeary. It is not available to the public when they log on to the website. They look down the Lee Valley towards the city and see other switches were switched on, such …

The Minister of State is right; if the information was available, it would ease some of the stress on people. You look down the valley and you see the Templemartin switch, which was connected, bringing a fantastic service in areas from Crossbarry, Newcestown, Coachford, An Chúil Dubh and a wide area there. The focus has now been moved up towards the Donoughmore area. On this area, west of the town, if the Minister could give clarity regarding those communities and the opportunity, it would be very positive. At the …

The locals in Grange Manor and the wider Ovens area have been raising concerns with me about the proposed changes on the 220 bus route. They have been raising them directly with me and with local councillors Gobnait Moynihan and Mick Looney, and outlining very reasonable concerns about the proposed changes. We have been engaging with BusConnects Cork about its proposed plan. This proposed plan would mean less frequent service to Grange Manor as well as the end of a night-time service. They currently have a direct r…

Considerable changes are being planned for the network. Specifically, for BusConnects Cork, it is planned to move the terminus at Grange Manor and to put two bus routes into that general area with very different services. While there are other issues on down the network that need addressing, I want particularly to focus on the residents of Ovens and Grange Manor and the new homes that are being built there. They currently have a 24-hour service with four buses per hour through the day, with reduced frequency at nig…

My question relates to the possibility of additional or dedicated family court sessions that would be afforded in order that people hearing or involved in those sensitive cases would have the maximum opportunity for the maximum privacy. Often the matters discussed are very delicate. I ask that the best service available would be afforded to them.

I thank the Minister of State for outlining the situation. Having dealt with many people who have been involved in various cases, as he will have done as well, I know that many sensitive matters will be discussed at those courts. The courts already recognise that in the way they schedule cases for different times, yet situations nonetheless arise on the day whereby one party will be on one side of the building and the other party will be on the other side, but they will still end up mixing with many other court use…

I thank the Minister of State. I might briefly move to the issue of the Circuit Court, where, for example, divorce proceedings are heard and where there tends to be some time spent waiting for those hearings to be held. Some of that might be down to adjournments but, despite that, people still often have to wait a considerable number of years for the case to go through. Having a dedicated court would allow for those lists to be processed faster and would give people an opportunity to complete their business and mov…

Is togra an-tábhachtach é Coláiste Íosagáin, ní hamháin i gcomhair cheantar Mhúscraí ach i gcomhair na Gaeltachta i gcoitinne, Corcaigh, Ciarraí agus an t-iardheisceart ar fad. Tá plean cuimsitheach á ullmhú le tamall. An bhféadfadh an tAire Stáit léiriú a thabhairt ar an gcaiteachas chun an togra sin a chur i gcrích agus na chéad chéimeanna eile atá amach romhainn chun é sin a bhaint amach?

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit agus tá an-chuid sonraí ansin. Tá togra an-dearfach i gceist agus i ndán do Choláiste Íosagáin leis an mol digiteach atá luaite aige agus go leor eile. Tá sé fíorthábhachtach go gcuirfí é sin i gcrích agus tuigim go bhfuil costais ardaithe ó thosaigh an plean agus go bhfuil foinsí éagsúla á gcur in úsáid chun an maoiniú sin a bhailiú. Tá sé fíorthábhachtach go mbeadh an t-údarás breá sásta a chuid maoinithe féin, maoiniú suntasach, a chur i gcrích agus a chur ar fáil ann agus nac…