I met members of the Irish Wheelchair Association outside the gates of Leinster House yesterday. Listening to them describe their experiences of trying to live a normal life in our country was truly heartbreaking. Wheelchair users face daily challenges in our cities and towns, in particular when dealing with public transport. It is a disgrace in this day and age that public transport is still so inaccessible and insufficient. This is particularly the case in rural Ireland, especially in Donegal where many wheelchai…

Yes, in rural Donegal.

I have highlighted here a few times now that changes urgently need to be made to the defective concrete block scheme. I acknowledge the engagement of the Minister for housing in this matter. The Minister, Deputy Browne's, visit to Donegal was a positive step. His commitment to amending the Bill to improve the scheme to reflect the necessary changes by I.S. 465 was reassuring to the impacted homeowners. I would be grateful if the Taoiseach would give me a timeline for both of these Bills, those being, to provide a 1…

Multiple community playgroups in County Donegal face closure because they have been affected by defective concrete. The cracks in the walls of these buildings have been growing at a concerning rate. Like many buildings in the county, there is only one option, which is full demolition. Unfortunately, however, under the current redress scheme for buildings affected by defective concrete blocks, these childcare facilities do not qualify for any funding for demolition and rebuild because they are not a home. Early chil…

I thank the Tánaiste for engaging on this matter. The reality is that the defective concrete crisis still leaves many behind. Many community buildings throughout Donegal have been excluded from the scheme and classed as commercial buildings, despite the fact that they are not-for-profit. The scheme must be extended to include these buildings. We are faced with losing community centres, childcare centres, leisure centres and adult further education centres. If we do not address these issues, our community centres in…

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on the motion and thank Independent Ireland for bringing it forward. I fully support the motion and its call on the Government to abolish the means test for carers to ensure equal access to financial support, and to recognise the essential social and economic value of care work in communities. I also support its call to provide increased capital and operational grants to community hospitals, residential care homes and day centres, including specific provision for dementia …

Some 14,000 babies in Gaza will die if aid trucks do not reach them in the next couple of days. Just think about that. We cannot help but question where the humanity is in this world today. Israel is carrying out a blatant, deliberate genocide for the world to see. What are we doing about it? How can we allow this to go on? We are seeing shocking images of dead and dying children every single day in Gaza. We are hearing reports about children who are so malnourished that the doctors cannot even tell what age they a…

When does the Minister of State plan to publish the review the Department undertook on the family reunification process? I understand the review was completed months ago but still has not been published. I would be grateful if he could give an exact timeline as there are many people waiting on its publication.

Before I became a TD five months ago, I was a healthcare worker in a dementia unit. I had the privilege of working with healthcare workers from many different countries. Unfortunately, many of them are undergoing a horrific experience of being separated from their families, sometimes for years, because of the unfair family reunification system in this country. There are people who are doing essential jobs who have been recruited in Ireland because we cannot fill these jobs ourselves. These people are doing essentia…

I have been in touch with the Department about a healthcare worker whose family reunification application was refused because she took a brief drop in income last year due to her pregnancy. She should not be penalised for that or anything like that. It is a time when she should be able to access that family support. I ask the Minister of State to look into this woman’s appeal and to consider abolishing the income threshold for family reunification altogether. I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge our …

I thank Deputies Murphy and Coppinger and their staff for bringing this very important legislation forward. I support the Bill and its intention to provide mandatory union recognition where 20% or more of the workforce are members of a union. Union representation is extremely important to ensure that union reps have access to their members' places of work. This is vital. It is also important that unions are able to negotiate with employers on pay, hours and conditions. Sadly, this is not always the case in Ireland,…

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion on housing infrastructure, which I support. I thank the Minister for housing, Deputy James Browne, for taking the time to visit Donegal. He had positive engagement with the 100% Redress Party and the homeowners impacted by defective concrete. It is important for the Minister to see at first-hand the crumbling homes across the county, which he did. Having met homeowners, particularly the downgraded homeowners, the Elm Park homeowners who are seeking relocation, and …

When visiting Letterkenny University Hospital last week, the Minister’s colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, said the location of the new surgical hub has not been decided yet. Donegal is in desperate need of a surgical hub. Patients across the county are forced to travel very long distances to access essential and life-saving care. Letterkenny University Hospital is severely underfunded and has insufficient resources to address the healthcare needs of the people of the north west. There is …

I support the Sinn Féin motion on childcare. There is a serious crisis of childcare in this country that has been ongoing for years, yet the Government continuously failed to address it. Parents not only struggle to afford childcare, but also to access it. Accessing childcare is an enormous challenge facing many families across the country but particularly in Donegal. A recent survey by Early Childhood Ireland has revealed shocking figures. In Donegal alone, there are 1,345 children under the age of four on childca…

We welcome this motion from Labour. There has been a complete failure on the part of the Government to adequately plan for school places for children with special and additional educational needs. This comes up every year without fail. It is across the whole country and yet the Government fails to plan for it. Every year, there is no change. Parents should not be forced to try to ensure that their children are not denied an education. Schools should not be forced to turn any child away on foot of a lack of places. …

The revised national planning framework includes many great suggestions, such as improving local connectivity to broadband, energy, transport and water networks, recognising Letterkenny as an important cross-Border network for regional development and addressing the town and village rural population decline by encouraging new roles and functions for buildings, streets and sites. However, it is clear to me there is no intention of actually implementing many of these suggestions, including the revised planning framew…

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this Bill to repeal Part 2 of the Water Services Act 2017 and rule out the reintroduction of water charges by this and future Governments. I fully support the Bill. I am disappointed to hear of the Government's intention to reintroduce water charges despite knowing how strongly the public feels about this. The charge may be for excessive use of water at this stage. However, I believe that once it is introduced the Government will find a way to introduce domestic water charges …

I welcome the release of the draft I.S. 465 for public consultation last Monday. For a long time, homeowners affected by defective concrete have been calling for the recognition of science. The standard now recognises that pyrrhotite oxidation causes internal sulfate attack, creating deterioration in Donegal homes. It is incredible that the freeze-thaw action potential damage mechanism has been retained in the revised draft document. This despite international research, scientists, the Department of housing and the…

One of the concerns is the breach of EU regulations. The recommended total levels of sulfur they are recommending in this new version of I.S. 465 breaches EU regulations for concrete aggregates, namely, EN 12620, which limits the total sulfur level for concrete aggregate to 0.1% if pyrrhotite is present. The NSAI has set a total sulfur limit of 3% for testing defective concrete in this revised document, which is higher than EN 12620's 1%, because the test is for concrete, not raw aggregate. Raw aggregate is the pro…

I thank my colleague, Deputy Seamus Healy, for bringing forward this important motion on housing emergency measures in the public interest. I acknowledge the inclusion in this motion of the defective concrete crisis, which many Opposition parties have disappointingly failed to include in their previous housing motions. Support from all parties and independent TDs across every constituency is required in respect of the defective concrete block crisis. At least 16 counties have been impacted so far, but it is very li…