I thank the Minister for taking my question today. I wish to raise the issue of the difficulty people in Kildysart and adjacent communities in west Clare are experiencing in accessing GP care. For the past several years, the Saffron and Blue clinic has had the medical card contract for the village. Hundreds of people live in it, or thousands when you take in the wider hinterland. The quality of care is fantastic – no one is faulting it – but at a meeting I attended on Monday night it was overwhelmingly clear that p…

I am seeking the Minister's support for neamhspleáchas, or independence, for Gaelcholáiste an Chláir, which is operating as a unit, or an aonad, of Ennis Community College. That comes under the auspices of Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board, ETB. I was chairperson of that entity for many years and it was something we always strived for. There is once more a huge campaign for this to happen. Inniu, táim lán i bhfabhar an fheachtais agus ag iarraidh tacaíocht an Aire a fháil chun neamhspleáchas a thabhai…

I thank the Minister for her comprehensive reply. This arose many times, as I said, in the Limerick and Clare ETB when I was chairman. One of the members was Dónal Ó hAiniféin. Thug sé sárthacaíocht don fheachtas chun neamhspleáchas a bhaint amach do bhaile na hInse agus don Ghaelcholáiste atá ann. Gaelcholáiste an Chláir opened in 1993 in order that children in Clare could receive their secondary education, including State examinations, through the medium of all Irish. The school, as I mentioned, operates as a uni…

I get what the Minister is saying about enrolment, but I hope that if the level of enrolment increases, as I am confident it will, this will remain under review. The Minister has in recent weeks sanctioned a new school for Gaelscoil Donncha Rua in Shannon. The Irish language movement in the county is growing, as is the number of students taking on all-Irish education. We are specifically looking for neamhspleáchas, or independence, in order that the school will have its own roll book, principal, board of management…

I thank the Minister of State for being here for this debate. I will not be using my full speaking time, but there are a few key points I would like to make. Strategic negotiations are getting under way, and I congratulate my colleague Deputy Michael McGrath, who is the Irish nominee for European Commissioner. A certain amount of negotiation will get under way on what role he will fill with the Commission. There is also a campaign to have Ursula von der Leyen re-elected as President of the Commission. The strategic…

I thank the House for facilitating this important debate. Previous contributors referred to watershed moments and Groundhog Day. Unfortunately, we have had those too many times. We devoted an entire afternoon in the Dáil to statements about the late Ashling Murphy 12 or 18 months ago and the issue was in sharp focus, both in the media and in political discourse. It was being spoken about in every household in Ireland. Issues then go out of focus, which is, unfortunately, how the media cycle works and how life goes.…

I thank the Tánaiste for taking this oral parliamentary question this morning. Will he give consideration to changing the selection criteria for the appointment of ambassadors in order that a broader range of people beyond those who work in the Department of Foreign Affairs could potentially be considered.

A colleague quipped yesterday evening, "Are you looking for a way out of politics?". No, my plan is to go for the next general election, win a seat and hopefully gain another seat for our party in Clare. Back to the point, I agree there are so many talented people and Ireland has led the way particularly with female appointments. We have excellent ambassadors. Those of us in the Dáil who have had the pleasure of travelling overseas on official business would have always been greeted by Irish ambassadors who carry t…

I agree with all of the sentiments expressed by the Tánaiste. Diplomacy is a delicate skill that absolutely has to be always practised in the right way. It is good that there is a pathway for people in other Departments to transition across to the Department of Foreign Affairs. However, I again make the point that there are many people who represent Ireland, some of whom will be doing so in the Olympic sphere this summer. It is a different type of leadership and a different way of representing our country. There ar…

I raise the issue of the supply of the drug Ozempic. Someone called into one of my advice clinics this week. She has been prescribed Ozempic by her GP and had gone to many pharmacists in County Clare and beyond trying to get this all-important medicine. When she went into one pharmacy, the pharmacist looked her up and down and asked her if she had diabetes or was obese. He asked this question in front of a queue of people. Since when have pharmacists had a role in terms of diagnostics? If this person I mentioned ap…

I must gather my thoughts and breath. I will not speak for too long. I have just left a committee meeting. As others stated, it is very important that the Irish position with regard to the ongoing war in Gaza - it is not being fought in Israel - is very much reiterated at the European Council, especially the humanitarian crisis that continues to unfold there. I imagine that the Minister of State and her colleagues will also discuss, to quite a large degree, the ongoing war in Ukraine. I reiterate a very important p…

Like we saw on 7 June.

At a time of disharmony, protest and, sometimes, even the horrible burning of accommodation facilities, I have something unique here: a petition signed by 500 people in Shannon, County Clare, asking the Government to keep Phoenix House, a Ukrainian war refugee centre, open and to extend the contract beyond this Friday. It has been a wonderful home to almost 200 Ukrainian refugees for the past two years. I have letters from employers and local schools. It would be so disruptive to close this facility on Friday. So m…

I will not use my full speaking time in case other Members need it. A lot of people are rushing to get to the Chamber. I welcome and support this Bill which extends Coimisiún na Meán's and the Competition and the Consumer Protection Commission's levy-raising powers to fund new enforcement functions under the Digital Services Act 2024 and the terrorist content online regulation. The Digital Services Act 2024 designated Coimisiún na Meán as the lead competent authority of the EU digital services regulation, known as …

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I am going to share time with Deputy Lawless. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this. It is important we have a rulebook and framework that is workable and enforceable. Those who come to a country, as the Ceann Comhairle said, through international law seeking protection and asylum need to have a framework that is fair but, equally, robust. Asylum seeking has been around for many decades. We first saw the mass movement of people during the Second World War and it has, sadly, continu…

The enactment of Rishi Sunak's Rwanda Bill has put huge pressure on counties in the Border area. It has added to fear and anxiety for the migrant community. Many in Britain are seeing that migrating to Northern Ireland may now be their best option. This has manifested itself in many pressures here in the South. Perhaps one manifestation of the problems we have seen in the past 48 hours has been at Phoenix House, which is a very large building in Shannon in County Clare housing 200 refugees. On Monday, letters were …

I welcome the announcement that HIQA will examine the possibility of a model 3 hospital in the mid-west region. It is so essential and we have had many private conversations on this. I thank the Minister, over the past 18 months, for meeting with Deputy Willie O'Dea and myself one evening in his office. He came down to Ennis and met with the Friends of Ennis Hospital Committee and he met with Angela Coll, the chairperson of that committee just recently in Dublin. I thank him for all that background dialogue and we …

I thank the Minister for taking these questions. The LIS is extremely important to rural areas, as she well knows. In County Clare, 172 applications have been approved. Clare County Council estimates that even though these are approved applicants, it will take eight to nine years to fulfil them on the basis of the current funding model. As Deputies, we receive announcements. We received one a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was brilliant that we were getting extra funding. When I read through the email, however, …

I thank the Minister for her engagement and for her answer. I have looked at the funding for last year and this year. Many counties have gained. Clare could be unique - I accept that there may be more counties involved - because it has seen a diminution in funding. I am a Government backbencher. Across nearly all funding streams I can think of - including sports capital funding, the announcement of which happened last night - moneys are increasing by most metrics. I do not know if this was an oversight because most…

It is a reduction on last year.