I welcome Minister Rabbitte's recent announcement about a waiting list initiative for assessments of need and the procurement of private assessments. I sincerely hope those assessments can be carried out as quickly as possible. We are all well aware that there have been totally unacceptable delays for many years in children getting assessments of need and follow-up therapies. We must ensure that these children get their assessments in time because they determine their school placement. If the Minister can use the N…

I spoke to the Tánaiste previously about the opportunity that exists to provide much-needed additional accommodation for our Army. Unfortunately, the most modern army barracks in Europe, which opened in 1990, was closed in 2012. As the Tánaiste knows, Dún Uí Néill is centrally situated in the Border region. The next Army barracks, Aiken Barracks, is to the east, in Dundalk, and there is also Finner Camp, County Donegal. Therefore, a large tract of the Border area does not have an Army barracks. In view of the geopo…

I thank the Tánaiste for his reply and welcome the fact that this suggestion will be considered. The education and training board only uses part of that site. I cannot emphasise enough that it was the most modern barracks in Europe, officially opened in 1990. I represented Cavan-Monaghan during the bad days when this island was in the era of the Troubles. We can never overestimate the important work that was carried out in our Army barracks and by Army personnel in dealing with difficult situations. Unfortunately, …

I thank the Tánaiste. We have discussed in this House the fact that Cavan has a long and proud Army tradition. There has been stronger recruitment in areas where there is an Army barracks. Unfortunately, we are losing that attachment and that number of young people who went into the Army that we had in the past. I know the Tánaiste met some local members of the Permanent Defence Force, good friends of mine, who were recently in the Golan Heights. We still have an Army tradition but it is not as strong as I would li…

The Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, will have heard me highlight the urgent need to provide additional funding for the non-national road network in counties Cavan and Monaghan. The Minister of State and the Minister have met councillors and council officials in both counties. We took that opportunity to outline clearly to them that in view of the particular problems we have, in an area that has drumlin territory, we need additional funding. The commitment in the programme for Government to keep…

I welcome the final sentence of the Minister's response, where he says that he will examine ways to give more support to local authorities. That needs to be done now. I have been highlighting this issue since 2020. The incessant rainfall has done damage even to relatively good roads. Cavan and Monaghan depend heavily on the non-national road network. In County Cavan, 96% of the road network is made up of local and regional roads. They carry significant volumes of heavy goods traffic and 92% of County Cavan is cover…

Unfortunately, the cost of construction products and energy costs have gone up dramatically.

We are drumlin territory.

I again appeal to the Minister to give particular consideration to the request of councils like those of Cavan and Monaghan. As he will know from the officials and from our councillors, the councils do a very good job but we have very serious problems at the minute. The incessant rainfall of the past few years, the increased cost of energy and the resultant increase in the cost of construction products have had a very significant effect. I assure the Minister that, at the earliest possible date he can allocate addi…

I welcome our visitors to the Public Gallery. I commend the work of Justice for the Forgotten. On many occasions, I have attended events associated with anniversaries of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. I am always struck by the great grace and dignity of the families as they remember their lost loved ones and continue their campaign for truth and justice. I fully appreciate that the process of trying to get justice for the families of the bereaved has been absolutely frustrating, painful and, indeed, totally unac…

I spoke to the Tánaiste previously on the need to eliminate the disparity in pay levels for employees of section 38 and section 39 organisations and those employed directly by the State, such as by the HSE. People with similar qualifications and providing similar services on behalf of our State should not have such a differential in their pay. This pay gap issue needs to be resolved without further delay. In my own constituency, organisations such as Enable Ireland and the Irish Wheelchair Association have experien…

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. I was pleased the Taoiseach accepted my invitation to address the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. His attendance, both on Sunday evening and Monday morning, was much appreciated by all the participants from all the different legislatures. As the Taoiseach said, the focus of our particular plenary was on tourism. We were dealing with the opportunities there are for further development of our tourism product on an all-Ireland basis and throughout these islands. I was glad we…

There is a very urgent need to have in-person day services restored at the Irish Wheelchair Association's, IWA, centre in Cavan town. Recently and, unfortunately, the day services ceased due to staffing shortages. This has caused understandable annoyance and concern to service users, their families, and the IWA personnel at local level. These services are of critical importance to users. The service has been reduced to an outreach-only model with Zoom meetings, online activities and visits to homes. Lack of pay par…

I compliment the Minister and the Minister of State on rolling out a very comprehensive sports capital programme. It is to be hoped those applications can be processed and approved at the earliest possible date. We are all aware of the huge commitment of the many volunteers in our sporting clubs across all disciplines throughout the country. People work very hard to provide coaching facilities and to ensure that young people and older people have access to the sport they wish to participate in. Even in areas where …

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I again advocate for the regions with regard to large-scale projects. He is familiar with the project we are working on in County Cavan. It will be multisport and will cater for many sporting disciplines. As the Minister of State is well aware, there are no major sporting centres between counties Sligo and Dublin and Belfast and Galway. A centre in Cavan could cater for people from three provinces - Ulster, Connacht and Leinster. It would be an ideal place for competitio…

The Tánaiste will recall that for almost three years I have been raising with him, the former Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar and the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, the need to provide additional funding for the non-national road network. I accept that each year the Government has increased funding but it is not adequate to meet the additional costs that have been incurred due to the war Mr. Putin inflicted on Ukraine and the resultant increase in energy costs. Incessant rain for most of the past 12 months i…

As the Minister is aware, there is a commitment in the programme for Government to maintain the existing road network to a high standard and fund safety improvements. I am thinking particularly of the non-national road network in Cavan and Monaghan where we have heavy volumes of traffic. We depend entirely on the road network to move goods and people, and for day-to-day commerce and business. The weather has played havoc with road conditions over the past 12 months in particular. Additional funding needs to be allo…

The Minister listened to my Fianna Fáil councillors in Cavan County Council outline their particular concerns about the non-national road network in our county. I say again that Cavan and Monaghan are totally dependent on the road network. County Cavan has a very small proportion of national road network. I think 95% of the road network in County Cavan is classified as non-national; it is regional and local. Even when you travel the best motorways in the country now, the damage the heavy rainfall has done is eviden…

I thank the Minister. I cannot emphasise enough that the increases the Minister has given us are welcome but do not match the increase in costs allied to the damage done by rainfall over the past 12 to 18 months. We are not sufficiently protecting the investment that has been made over recent years because councils are not able to carry out adequate programmes. I appeal to the Minister to provide an additional allocation to local authorities this year in order that they can do more than they originally planned unde…

I wish the Taoiseach well in the future and I appreciate the courtesy he always extended to me in debates in this House and at other forums. We are all well aware of the need to improve services for children and adults with a disability. From the many engagements I have had with the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, over the past three and a half years, I know she is very determined to expand and improve disability services and facilities. We have particular difficulties in Cavan-Monaghan. We need stand-alone res…