That is what the Minister is doing.

The Minister will wreck the midlands. The midlands are wrecked with the power plants closed.

He has wrecked it.

But if he is making speeches like that -----

It is not.

It is not happening.

It is not happening. I am telling the Minister that it is not happening

I want to raise the ongoing crisis in the allocation and provision of respite care services, particularly for children and adults with a disability. As the Taoiseach will be aware, this is an area that has effectively been in a deep crisis since the national disability strategy was launched in 2004. The Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Rabbitte, who I commend on her compassion and her strong commitment to improving this service, has accepted that further progress on addressing the deficit in se…

They will have looked at their own children or their young adults who are falling between the cracks in terms of child and adult disability services. Where will the services come from? How can we talk of leaving no disabled person behind when it is clear that we already have a system that is manifestly unable to provide even the most minimal levels of respite care for thousands of adults and children languishing on respite care and disability lists? What assessments are taking place of the further strain that will …

I thank the Taoiseach for his response, but even with the transfer of functions to another Department the issue of respite care in disability services is not getting enough focus. It is still severely lacking. This comes back to my core question. How will we cope with the pressures? How will respite services in this country cope with additional pressures? We need to answer this question honestly because many families are concerned. Every week in my offices I meet families who are struggling. They are begging for he…

The waiting times for children who have disabilities and need access to the likes of speech and language therapy and occupational therapy are totally unacceptable. It is also horrendous that parents must fight tooth and nail for these basic and essential services. We have a very serious problem in the State. In my constituency of Laois-Offaly, those therapies are virtually non-existent. I am aware of the case of a seven-year-old child who has never received a session of speech therapy. It is absolutely shocking, an…

I believe the Government does not appreciate the seriousness of the situation and the crisis in which we find ourselves in respect of the fuel, heating and energy costs that are facing every family in the State that is grappling with such costs. A proposal such as the one that has been put forward is a mere drop in the ocean. Taking 20 cent off a litre of petrol, 15 cent off diesel and 2 cent off agricultural diesel is an insult. I thought I read it wrong when I saw it was only 2 cent a litre off agricultural diese…

The national HGV fleet, which comprises 24,000 articulated vehicles, facilitates 86% of the movement of goods in our economy and is a vital cog in our economy. However, the hauliers are encountering difficulties. I recently had a meeting with the Irish Road Haulage Association, IRHA, to discuss this. There is a need for the fuel rebate to be increased as in other European countries. For example, in France it is 19 cent while in Belgium it is 23.5 cent. In Ireland it is still 7.5 cent. We need to ensure that somethi…

I commend Deputy McNamara and his colleagues on bringing forward this excellent and timely motion. The Government and agencies with which people must interact are going out of their way to make life more difficult than it needs to be. There seems to be no sense of pragmatism or common sense at times. Where is the common sense in the NDLS? Ever since it was rolled out in 2013 it has been beset with difficulties. The new requirement for a public services card before being able to access the NDLS is ridiculous. It nee…

Tá áthas orm an deis a fháil inniu labhairt sna ráitis ar Sheachtain na Gaeilge. Caithimid ár seacht ndícheall a dhéanamh, Domhnach is dálach, chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn. Táimid ag dul sa treo ceart ach tá i bhfad níos mó ag teastáil. Caithimid níos mó tacaíochta a thabhairt do na pop-up Gaeltachtaí, atá ag méadú agus ag fás leis na blianta agus leis na cianta agus is rud an-dearfach é sin. Tá Conradh na Gaeilge ag déanamh sárobair agus dualgas orainn go léir mar Theachtaí Dála níos mó cabhrach agus níos mó …

My question seeks from the Minister a report on the consultation process by his Department in respect of the draft territorial plan necessary to access funding under the EU just transition process, the number of submissions his Department received during the public consultation process and when he envisages the final version of the territorial plan will be completed and submitted to the Commission?

Unfortunately, the Minister's response poses more questions than it answers. How many submissions has the Department received to date? I do not think the Minister gathers how serious this matter is. I remain opposed to the transition, which is not fair. The Minister mentioned its fairness but I can tell him it is far from fair. The Government is nonetheless steamrolling ahead and imposing this cost on people who are suffering from all sorts of issues, such as the cost of living. The Government is still imposing thi…

I hope the Minister escalates the process of delivering the funding as much as he escalated the process for the transition, which was, as I said, totally unfair. I remind the Minister that only 30% of the strand 2 projects have received their final offer from the Department. There are still too many strand 2 projects - 70% of them - that have not been finalised. Those 70% of projects are, therefore, not at contract stage. I was informed by the local authority that a number of projects have encountered difficulties …

The Minister made several references to what has been done for farming families but I would like to point out that while some measures are welcome, there are serious difficulties. The carbon tax is crippling every sector, including farmers. He has left that one out. Agri-contractors cannot survive, given the level of tax being imposed on them. This, of course, is being passed on to farmers. The beef exceptional aid measure, BEAM, scheme has been an absolute disaster. I would ask for that to be revised and improved.…

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