Epilepsy is a neurological condition that is affecting nearly 40,000 people across the country and locals have been raising concerns with me about difficulties that people are experiencing that are separate from the medical condition. They are excluded from driving for many years while they are suffering from epilepsy. That is a huge difficulty for people who want to get to work, go about their normal lives and so on. While there is recognition by the State of the medical condition and support in the form of the lo…

Tá ról ceannaireachta ag oifig an Taoisigh agus tá deis an-mhaith aige cúrsaí Gaelainne a chur chun cinn, ní hamháin sa tír seo ach go forleathan ar fud na cruinne. Tá ardán mór agus láidir ag an Taoiseach agus a oifig i measc pobal na Gaelainne ar fud na cruinne. Tá an cheathrú scéim teanga i bhfeidhm ina oifig faoin tráth seo. Bheadh athnuachan le déanamh air sin an bhliain seo chugainn agus bheadh athbhreithniú ar siúl faoin tráth seo. Tá an Rialtas ag tabhairt chun cinn Bille nua a athróidh an tslí go ndéantar …

The deadline for registering returns for the local property tax, LPT, on 7 November is approaching. Many homeowners are scrambling to do their registration on time. However, many people would not necessarily be familiar with dealing with the Revenue Commissioners as they would not have any reason to, while others are not comfortable doing their business online. Some people believe they need valuations. In addition, the helpline is being overwhelmed and there is pressure on the online tool. This is causing more dist…

Qualifying for driver licences and the renewal of licences has been a big issue for people locally for a long while. People are experiencing very long delays, especially for the test. The extension of driver licences during the pandemic was very helpful but now those licences have to be renewed. The over-70s are expected to provide a medical certificate as part of their renewal and that is creating extra work for busy GPs. It is drawing vulnerable people into busy surgeries at a time of the year when respiratory co…

I ask the Minister of State for a clarification on the 17 new apprenticeships. There is a wide range from health to beauty and wind energy. Can he clarify whether such a possibility is being considered for childcare, where work placement is in place for people who are training and is supervised? While people are doing those placements, they are fully supervised and they are not counted within staff ratios. There is great difficulty in the childcare sector recruiting and retaining people. Has consideration being giv…

Ba mhaith liom, go tapa, cúpla focal a rá faoi na leasuithe seo. Tá an-bhéim sa Bhille ar iallach a chur ar chomhlachtaí pobail freastal ar phobal na Gaolainne trí Ghaolainn. Gan dabht, tá dualgais reachtaíochta ann ar aon nós ach in ainneoin sin bíonn comhlachtaí ag iarraidh éalú as freastal ar phobal na Gaolainne. Díríonn leasú Uimh. 4 ar an gceist sin. Tá sé ag iarraidh ceann de na bearnaí sin a dhúnadh lena chinntiú go mbeidh na foirmeacha leictreonacha ar fáil trí Ghaolainn. Mar sin, is leasú dearfach é. Bhí p…

Baineann na leasuithe seo le ról ceannaireachta agus go mbeadh duine i gcónaí i bhfeighil ar chúrsaí Gaolainne agus freagrach as cúrsaí Gaolainne. Mura mbíonn an príomhoifigeach féin á dhéanamh sin, bheadh an deis ann duine a ainmniú ina áit nó ina háit. Tá sé fíorthábhachtach go mbeadh duine cinnte ann agus gur duine sinsearach a bheadh i gceist ó thaobh an ról ceannaireachta, chun go mbeadh cúrsaí Gaolainne chun tosaigh agus ag an mbord is airde sa chomhlacht. Mar sin, is rud dearfach é seo agus molaim an tslí go…

Bhí plé bríomhar againn ar Chéim an Choiste ar an ábhar seo. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as é sin a thógáil san áireamh agus as a thacaíocht do na leasuithe éagsúla atá againn sa ghrúpa seo. Baineann siad le teagmháil nuair atá duine ag scríobh chuig comhlacht poiblí, idir ríomhphost nó na meáin shóisialta nó pé slí, lena chinntiú go bhfaighidh siad freagra sa teanga chéanna a seoladh é. Tá sé tábhachtach nach mbeadh iallach á chur ar dhaoine aistriú a dhéanamh nuair a bhíonn siad ag scríobh chuig comhlacht…

The time between a person making an application and getting a passport into their hand is a real concern for a great many parents who have come to my office. They are planning a holiday or travelling for work or otherwise, and having made the application several months ahead, they expect to have the passport. While I acknowledge the situation after the application starts to get processed, the upfront time, before it is checked, is where there is a big issue, and it can take several weeks - anything up to five weeks…

The real issue with first-time passport applications is the time before processing starts on them at all. There could be some issue with the application but the application rests untouched with nothing happening with it. After approximately five or six weeks, somebody identifies there is an issue, highlights it with the family, the application comes back again and time is lost before processing gets under way. It is the issue of getting to the starting line. The Minister outlined there will be emergency appointment…

Ar an gcéad dul síos, fáiltím roimh an deis labhairt faoin mBille seo. Is Bille é a bhaineann le feidhmeanna agus réigiúin na ngardaí. I acknowledge the huge work so many gardaí at every level are doing throughout the country, day in, day out, serving their communities. A huge debt is owed to so many of the gardaí who go out, roll up their sleeves and take on such a role every day. Gabhaim buíochas leo. The Bill relates to the layout, functions and regions of the Garda. In my county of Cork, it is proposed that the…

The cost of insurance is a significant burden for drivers and many businesses. We have often heard from the insurance companies that the cost of claims is a big feature in driving the cost of premiums. The Government is getting stuck in and dealing with the cost of insurance, but we need to know that it is being filtered through, that the insurance companies are acting on it and passing on the benefits such as the personal injury awards being capped, and that consumers are going to get the benefit of those kind of …

It is positive to note the various meetings with the insurance companies because many people feel that while the Government has taken measures such as the capping of personal injury awards, insurance companies are not passing on the full benefit of that. For example, a young driver, James, taking out his first insurance policy earlier this year received a quote in April, before the cap, and again two months afterwards and bought at the same price, getting no benefit from it. The insurance companies passed on no ben…

Many businesses will have specialist insurance and will have only a limited number of providers available to them. Again, it is coming back to that limited market, like the man in the van, or businesses such as bouncy castles, or the example we saw on RTÉ in the leisure services. They are dealing with a very limited number of insurance companies and they are seeing increases or are not able to get services. Despite the fact these measures have been taken, insurers are not passing on the benefit, it seems. The leisu…

Larger numbers of people have been working from home and, as a result, businesses have experienced reduced costs for electricity, including lighting, rent and so on. Some businesses have been paying the €3.20 daily rate to their employees. Others may not have been able to or chose not to, and their employees must claim tax back. In light of how the daily rate is set up, though, there is a mismatch, in that employees can only claim back a smaller amount than the €3.20. For example, €3.20 over the space of a year is …

I welcome that the Minister is considering the supports in the context of the budget. Currently, there are two tools available. It depends on which one the employer chooses, which yields different outcomes for the employee depending on which way it goes. Will the Minister ensure employees will not be disadvantaged any longer by a decision being made by the employer? Will he also ensure whatever change is made will yield a meaningful outcome for employees, especially in a climate where there is a such a change and i…

The N22 between Ballincollig and Macroom has numerous dangers, including the poor surface at Coolcower just east of the town, and the right-turn junctions at Nutricia, Dunisky, Ballytrasna, Kilcondy, and Castlemore. There are many other junctions where people turn into their own homes. The road needs to be made safer. Will the Minister outline plans to make the N22 safer between Ballincollig and Macroom?

I acknowledge the planned works at Coolcower. Since tabling the question last week, there was confirmation of the update on the contractor being appointed and works getting under way in the weeks ahead. That is positive. There are other sections of that road, such as the bridge in the town of Macroom itself and sections east of the town, where funding was to be made available and where contractors need to be appointed and works carried out on making that road safer and better. There is a section of the bridge insid…

I need to shift the focus east between the Ballincollig and Macroom section, separate from the bypass. This is a stretch of road where there are repeated accidents. There are very dangerous right-turning junctions such as those at Nutricia, Duniskey, Ballytrasna, Kilcondy, Castlemore and others. There are more than 30,000 cars travelling at speed via the Ballincollig bypass onto this road every day, in addition to the north-south traffic on the R619 from north Cork, the R585 from the west and traffic coming from Ba…

I raise the issue of free travel passes. People, predominantly pensioners, who would not have any reason to believe there may be a change of status as regards free travel are being challenged as they board buses because their passes have expired. These are conscientious people who find themselves in awkward and embarrassing situations because their pass has expired. The Department of Social Protection has the details of the free travel passes issued to people. There is no reason for not extending travel passes or i…