Today I wish to raise the urgent need for an elective surgery hub at Midlands General Hospital in Tullamore. This is an issue I have been raising locally since March and I also sought a meeting with the Minister for Health at the time. I received a letter from a senior member of the medical team at the hospital that highlighted the issue around this case. At the time, the hospital was inundated with trauma patients, leading to a situation where the facility had zero capacity to offer elective surgery for knee or hi…

I thank the Minister for his reply. He mentioned record levels of investment but we need to see more investment in Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore. It is disappointing that the Minister for Health did not respond to my request to work constructively with him and have a meeting with him on this very serious issue. Health is important. When elderly patients cannot access care at their local hospital we know there is a problem. When senior medical members of a team are flagging to their TD that there is a problem …

The verdict is in. This budget has been exposed for the shallow but expensive exercise in Government propaganda that it is. The headline measures have been exposed as having little to no long-term benefit. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul's assessment is that while some of the measures are welcome, the budget lacks focus and was untargeted to those who needed it the most. Where is the action dealing with the hardships being created for disabled drivers and passengers when trying to access a primary medical certif…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the budget. It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge that we have seen some positive measures announced today. However, my overall sense is that these measures are short-term and are reflective of the short-term thinking of the Government. In other words, they are electioneering, and that is the only way that many people are looking at this, unfortunately. Given the limited time I have, I can only speak in general terms on most items. What I will say is that taxpayers and ci…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this very important debate on the Mental Health Bill 2024, which, I acknowledge, the Minister of State has personally prioritised. The Bill proposes to deal with some of the most complex and contentious aspects of mental health treatment, particularly those involving consent and involuntary admission of persons who may lack capacity. Many of the new provisions are positive in that regard. Given the seriousness of the issues around involuntary treatment, however, it is crit…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute on this important and long-overdue Bill. Its increase in the mandatory retirement age for uniformed public servants, including members of An Garda Síochána, the Prison Service and the Defence Forces, from 60 to 62 is welcome. However, we need to address the root causes behind so many of our gardaí leaving. We know that morale is at rock bottom and the Commissioner does not have a favourable reputation among the rank and file. This is a profoundly serious matter. Part 3 will a…

As I listen to the same issue being brought up again and again in this House, I am obliged to ask for how much longer the Irish people are meant to put up with being ripped off and exploited by electricity companies. Have much longer will businesses have to try to put up with this situation as well? I know for a fact that many small businesses have closed because the electricity prices were the straw that broke the camel's back. We need intervention here. The Government needs to hold the energy companies to account…

Does the Minister accept that there continues to be high levels of vacancy and dereliction in many local authority areas? In particular, I raise my area, County Offaly, where the local authority is grappling with derelict and vacant buildings. I acknowledge that €2 million in funding was provided under the urban regeneration and development fund, but I would like the Minister to look at whether additional funding could be provided. I understand that under the rural regeneration fund, €1 billion was provided between…

I acknowledge that these schemes are positive and bring about improvements if towns and villages are lucky to avail of the funding through the application which is made by the local authority. They are very positive and that is why I am asking for increased funding to be given to our local authority, Offaly County Council. I acknowledge the work of the council's regeneration team, including the regeneration officers who, as the Minister said, have been funded. It is a brilliant idea. It is practical and I hope it w…

I thank the Minister for her reply. I reiterate that this could work better and be even more effective than it currently is if there was a co-ordinated approach, such as ensuring businesses stay in place and thrive and that they are supported to a greater extent. To that end, I hope the Government will take on board the need to cut the VAT rate to 9% to keep some of those businesses in place in our streets where they are needed in our villages and rural towns. We have the same issue with dereliction, as the Ministe…

I wish to raise the serious challenges that principals in primary and secondary schools are facing with the allocation of the ancillary services grant. Since I raised this issue locally, I have been taken aback by the volume of correspondence I have received from primary and secondary school principals in my constituency but also right around the country. There is a very serious issue regarding the ancillary services grant in terms of covering the services of caretakers. I will quote from some of the correspondence…

I thank the Tánaiste for his response. I welcome the positive and overdue developments in funding for our schools. While there have been capitation increases, there have also been electricity cost increases. The running costs have increased and have not gone down. However, the specific issue that I raised here today is with the ancillary grant. The ancillary grant needs to be restored to the 2019 level of €96 million. It went down to €83 million last year which was a huge reduction. Because of this situation, schoo…

It is unclear just how many times a sector has to sound the alarm before it is taken seriously and listened to by the Government. Time and again, those working in hospitality, tourism and retail have emphatically made the point that they are facing imminent and widespread closures caused in part by the reintroduction of the 13.5% VAT rate. We know from a survey conducted last week with 180 members of the Restaurants Association of Ireland that a staggering 86.7% consider the 13.5% VAT the greatest threat to their v…

In order to prevent a shortage of school bus drivers this August or, as it may be in some cases, September when schools reopen, I call on the Government to intervene immediately with Bus Éireann and the RSA, which advises on policy, to try to deal with the current policy whereby people cannot remain on as drivers after reaching 70 years of age. The policy is discriminatory and counterproductive and will mean that we will have a shortage of drivers if we do not act now. As far back as March, I wrote to the transport…

There are many people who see the adoption of this pact as the grave into which we are going to place our national sovereignty on the issue of asylum and migration. I agree with that view. In the fullness of time, we will be worse off socially, financially and politically because of it. Many also share the view, articulated some months ago by Senator McDowell, that what we are dealing with here, while it may not rise to the level of constitutional change in the strict sense, seeks to bring about constitutional-leve…

The Department of Education is placing many schools in a very difficult position of having to choose whether to fund caretaking services or secretarial services. I have been contacted by a number of schools in my constituency. They have expressed concern and were shocked over the fact the ancillary services grant would not cover the caretaking costs for this year. The CPSMA has carried out a survey which clearly showed that at least seven out of ten schools ran at a deficit in funding at least once during the year.…

The recent announcement on ash dieback finally recognised that landowners deserved to be compensated for losses outside their control. However, a number of flaws have been identified in the scheme by Limerick and Tipperary Woodland Owners. Clearance grants are capped at €2,000 per hectare but quotes for clearance are running at €6,500 per hectare and farmers will have to borrow money to clear the land. Compensation of €5,000 per hectare does not compare with the typical losses of €40,000 per hectare according to in…

I want to bring forward this issue today about Charleville National School. It really is an emergency situation. Accommodation has been approved for two modular units, which will consist of a special education room, a classroom and a special tuition room. I say it is an emergency situation because the school will not be able to open in September if the modular accommodation is not in place. The school will have 12 pupils with autism attending in September. There is absolutely no room for these children - no sensory…

I thank the Minister of State for that information and indeed the constructive and positive response. Again, I stress that it is absolutely vital that the modular units are delivered on time for September. I welcome the fact that there will be weekly meetings regarding the project to ensure that it is moving and on track. I also welcome the fact that it has entered the delivery phase. That is certainly progress but the clock is ticking. September is not too far away and the school finds itself in a precarious situa…

In the past week, the perception of the EU just transition fund and its capacity to act as a catalyst for economic revival in County Offaly suffered a fatal blow. Of the €18 million available in the latest round, Offaly, the county that without doubt has been hit the hardest and which has borne the brunt of job losses, at 53% of the job losses, got the paltry sum of €500,000 under just transition. As one can imagine, this has been greeted with great disappointment, frustration and anger. Only yesterday, Offaly Coun…