I thank the Minister for the details. Clearly, the message has to be put out loud and clear that it is quite possible to have overpaid and that people should check to see whether they can claim back on their funds. That is needed now more than ever, even if just to pay ordinary household bills. It is very possible to be eligible to claim back anywhere between €500 to €1,000, and maybe more, for many people. I understand that tax can be claimed back for up to four years after it has been paid when returns are being …

Across north-west Cork, a range of vital community groups and initiatives provide wonderful support to many communities. They are people who would otherwise find themselves socially excluded. These groups include IRD Duhallow, Westgate Foundation, Macroom Senior Citizens, and Coiste Tithíochta Uíbh Laoghaire Teo., to name but a few. They help to tackle social inclusion and poverty locally. This winter, they will face higher operating costs, elevated fuel costs, increased electricity bills and so on. They need to be…

Organisations such as Coiste Tithíochta Uíbh Laoghaire Teo., Macroom Senior Citizens and Westgate Foundation deliver meals on wheels and provide vital support in many communities. They recently outlined how they feel they will end up having to withdraw many supports because they will run out of funding later next year. They are facing higher operating, energy and fuel costs, and many more costs. I acknowledge the community support fund and the social inclusion and community activation programme, as well as the new …

Tá líon mór grúpaí pobail áitiúla, lena n-áirítear coiste tithíochta i gCléire, coiste tithíochta an oileáin agus go leor eile, ag freastal ar phobail inár ndúiche. Is pobail iad sin atá thíos leis. Tá na grúpaí seo ag cur an dinnéir, córas iompair agus go leor eile ar fáil. Tá sé fíorthábhachtach go mbeadh gach foinse mhaoinithe a bhféadfadh tacaíocht a thabhairt do na grúpaí sin ar fáil dóibh agus nach mbeidís fágtha ar lár. It is vital that those different community groups can be funded. I acknowledge that the M…

The programme for Government is committed to supporting childcare, and a great deal has been done in supporting the sector, parents and operators in respect of costs. Concerns have been raised with me by a number of small rural services about the early childhood care and education, ECCE, funded seasonal preschools. They outlined to me concerns about possible closure. One preschool, for example, is attached to a primary school and it feels it may not be able to open next September based on the core funding model. I …

It is important to acknowledge that the Minister is not here this evening. I have the height of respect for the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, but we need a housing Minister to deal with this issue. Irish Water is running and hiding from Ballingeary. It needs to answer to somebody and it should be the Minister in this House. I must note my frustration with that. The outdated sewerage scheme in Ballingeary is discharging into the river below the village. Some 15 years ago, the water authority received a convict…

Tá Uisce Éireann ag déanamh faillí ar mhuintir Bhéal Átha an Ghaorthaidh. Tá bac ar thithíocht sa sráidbhaile toisc nach bhfuil aon chóras séarachais ag oibriú ann. Tá truailliú leanúnach in Abha Bhun Sílinn agus sa Laoi in ainneoin gur ciontaíodh an t-údarás uisce as an truailliú sin. Bhí an chomhairle contae ag forbairt pleananna ach níl aon rud déanta ag Uisce Éireann le breis agus deich mbliana anuas. Nuair a bhíonn an tuile ann, tagann an séarachas amach chuig an pháirc CLG agus bíonn ar an gclub é a ghlanadh …

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

With many opticians, you can expect to wait from three to five weeks to get an appointment for an eye test. I have raised this with a number of opticians locally and across the area. They are struggling to get enough optometrists; as a result, people have to wait longer to get a service. Has the Minister's attention been drawn to it? Is there a way of improving those wait times for people?

Private and public.

Many people use private operators, that is, the optician on the high street. They serve the public with the PRSI scheme and so on. They struggle to get staff. Across Cork a half dozen optometrist posts are currently advertised and, for as many again, the advertisement has been taken down because they have not been able to recruit anybody. Locum cover is extremely difficult to get. Fewer than 30 people graduate from the one course each year. Very often, they are in direct competition with the UK for those people, so…

The need is there and is growing. On top of driver licence applications, there are people with more complex conditions. The pandemic saw people having more screen time and that will have a knock-on effect. Demand is growing each year. There is only a very small pool qualifying from that one course. It takes up to four years to qualify so there is a greater urgency there. Is there a college that will start a course in the short term so that, in four or five years time, we could expect to see further growth? Optician…

Irish Water has imposed a boil water notice on Macroom residents for nearly three weeks at this stage. The notice relates to high turbidity, which means Irish Water is not able to give a clear result. Great credit is due to the crews that are working weekends and long evenings trying to get the plant operational but the plant is not suitable. There is talk of getting an upgrade. In the meantime, there is a lot of stress and hassle on residents and businesses but there is also the issue of cost, especially with the …

More than 17,000 people who are on illness benefit will now qualify for the Christmas bonus. That is a good move and is an acknowledgement of the financial pressure they are under. I acknowledge that. They should also be able to access the means-tested fuel allowance. Up until now they have been precluded from the means-tested allowance on the basis that they are on a short-term payment. Really, people just want to recover their health and get back to work and a somewhat normal life. In the meantime, however, when …

There remains a particular focus in the Cabinet subcommittee on health on the recruitment of people into the health and disability services. Cope Foundation in Macroom was to have a seven-day-per-week service to support clients and their families. While that was approved, it is still not possible to deliver it because Cope Foundation has not recruited people. Similarly, there is a serious situation with care assistants and home help workers, in that up to 20% of posts in the Cork and Kerry region remain vacant. The…

I need to raise a road safety matter with the Taoiseach. On rural roads there is an increase in incidents of wild deer in collisions with cars, especially now during the rutting season. There seem to be more of them throughout the country. Drivers really are not expecting to be dealing with that kind of a hazard. They might see a sign but many drivers do not recognise the danger of it. There have been four incidents on the N22 east of Macroom recently, and another car was written off on the N22 just west of Baile B…

When the Bandon river floods at Ardcahan it causes a great deal of disruption for people trying to get to Dunmanway and west Cork and to mid-Cork. The R587, which is the key artery from mid-Cork into west Cork, is blocked when the river floods. There has been a great deal of talk for many years about advancing flood defences and improvement works in the area and much investigation has been done. Could the Minister outline the progress on it as we need to see headway on getting the flood defences improved?

I thank the Minister of State for the overview. It is essential that headway is made on commencing the work. The Natura impact study was expected earlier this year, and it is frustrating and of concern for locals to hear that it will not be available until next year. I understand that Cork County Council is taking the lead role in the project. Once the various plans are ready, is there a possibility that the project could be fast-tracked through the planning services to ensure that work can advance as quickly as po…

I thank the Minister of State. It is very disruptive when that area floods. A key artery into mid-Cork and west Cork is disrupted and there is a great deal of disruption for locals as well. I thank the Minister of State for the various details on it. It is hugely important every effort be made to advance that work as quickly as possible in the interests of locals. I acknowledge the work the council and the various Departments have been doing on it.