There is no doubt that there are a number of road projects in my and the Leas-Cheann Comhairle's county that we would love to see progress. The Deputy stated that 120,000 cars go through the Carrigtohlil area. We have 100,000 cars going through Clarinbridge and traffic calming measures would be welcome in that area. While it is not in my script - these are my words - when it comes to safety works, I cannot understand how the TII cannot prioritise them. Where there are schools and children's crossings, there has to …

I thank the Deputy very much for the opportunity to address this issue on the floor of the Dáil. From what I can gather from correspondence I received from him when responding to the Topical Issue and from Senators Ardagh and Seery Kearney, there is a state of flux at this moment in the Deputy's area. Residential services are currently provided by way of more than 3,800 placements to people with disabilities nationally. These services are provided by the HSE itself. WALK is a section 39 organisation that provides d…

Today in Athlone, 70 people, including all heads of disability organisations and community health organisations and the entire Department, are meeting to discuss the disability capacity action plan for the next number of years. One of the main priorities of that meeting is ensuring the sustainability of services and letting people understand that we in the Department, including the Minister, acknowledge that there is a sustainability issue. We are dealing with services that have been underfunded, not just in recent…

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "welcomes: — the introduction of measures aimed at improving working conditions in Ireland, such as the right to request remote work, sick pay legislation (mandatory paid sick days), pension auto-enrolment, Parent’s Leave and Parent’s Benefit, an additional public holiday and the transition to a Living Wage; — the broader direct and taxation measures contained in the 2024 Budget package, aimed at alleviating some of the c…

I thank Senator Gallagher for raising the important issue before the House today. Respite services are a priority of mine all over the country. To be quite honest, the lack of respite services when I came into this portfolio was one of the reasons I made it a priority. The Senator identified an issue in his county of Cavan. There is no doubt that the current arrangement cannot stay as is. The status quo cannot stay in place when two counties are sharing children's respite on alternative weekends. It is no longer ac…

The Senator is welcome. To be quite honest with him, I can answer his question in two ways. If it is a section 38 or 39 organisation that can purchase the property, in conjunction with the HSE, then the project can be turned around really quickly. If it is HSE estates that I must depend on to deliver the project then I will wait. My ask is that we would partner with a section 38 or 39 organisation that already delivers services and knows the families in the area. Such a project can be operationalised very quickly. …

We are also working on providing day services in Monaghan. That is getting full priority within my Department at the moment. Ms Áine Kilroy is in my Department. She is working furiously to address the shortage of day services in the Senator's area so that we build capacity because the constituents know that there is a capacity issue coming down the tracks, and we are trying to get ahead of that.

I thank the Acting Chairperson. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is very welcome to the House. She will take the next five Commencement matters so she will be here a while.

A review is taking place in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and not only is there a review of thresholds but also a review of what specifics can be included in the way of hoists and so on.

It is very close to completion.

It is.

I thank everybody for their contributions and those who have stayed for the whole time. I thank Senator Seery Kearney and her colleagues for putting down this motion and affording us the opportunity for the conversation this evening. There have been valuable contributions made. The one that stuck out for me was that of Senator Victor Boyhan. He has taken me to task to talk through what were the asks within it which will address the motion as well, and it gives me a chance to speak to them. The motion calls on Gover…

At this moment, it is a "No".

I want to-----

I hope I have addressed the issues that were raised. Senator Boyhan challenged me to go down through the motion line by line and say what is going on. That is what I have set out here. I have not actually read my script, because it is worth responding instead to all of the Members' contributions. With regard to where Senator Currie came from, in wanting to know that the person has accessible, regular and consistent respite, it has to be the order of the day. That is why €15 million was secured. I refute the allegat…

I thank Senator Murphy for raising this important issue. As Minister of State with responsibility in this matter, I wish to be completely clear that the development of any child with a disability to reach his or her full potential remains a matter of utmost importance to the Government. I am committed to further developing and enhancing our children's disability services through the implementation of the progressing disability services, PDS, roadmap for service improvement. I acknowledge the difficulty facing child…

The Senator's straight question demands a straight answer. I will, of course, take part in such a meeting, if he wants to set it up. Only last week, in Sixmilebridge, I met the staff of two mainstream schools, including special educational needs organisers, special needs assistants and principals, along with colleagues from the HSE. We had a really good, frank discussion on how we can best support the children, most importantly, and their families. If I can help in any way in supporting that, I will do so.

At the outset, I acknowledge the interest of Members of this House in issues surrounding autism. In particular, I thank Senator Carrigy for raising the important issue of the provision of information and services for autistic people. As Minister of State with responsibility for disability, I have consistently sought to advance a national action on autism to address the bespoke challenges that autistic people face today in Ireland. These challenges occur at all stages and in all facets of life, from healthcare and e…

It was remiss of me not to mention AsIAm and the telephone line which we launched 18 months or two years ago at this stage. In the first year of operation, it had over 5,500 calls from callers wondering how to assist their children or teenagers and from young adults themselves asking how to access a diagnosis and engage in education. That telephone line has proved its worth in spades. That is why I am saying we need that personal face as well. We need to have the peer-to-peer support groups, the parental group, and…

I thank the Deputy for tabling this Topical Issue matter this evening and giving me the opportunity to discuss it on the floor of the Dáil. He quite rightly outlined that he has raised this specific case with me over the last 12 months. Not only that but he and his colleagues in Cavan-Monaghan have continuously raised the issue of the lack of respite services in County Monaghan and the fact that children have to leave the county and share the service on a week on, week off basis with the neighbouring county, with a…