We should spare a thought today for the people of Bantry in west Cork who have once again experienced devastating flooding in their town. The people of Bantry are angry and frustrated. As politicians and, certainly, Ministers, we must get on the ground and see at first hand the damage that has been done, but to be honest, speaking to the locals there, they do not want to see any more ministerial visits or any more politicians calling to their door. What they want to see now is action. After the 2020 event, a flood …

I thank the Minister of State for attending. The matter relates to school transport in the Bandon area. There is one specific route that I want to delve into. I appreciate that the Minister of State may not have the exact details on it. I ask that he reflect what I say and that the message is delivered back to the school transport section of the Department in particular, to try to get this issue solved. This is in respect of Laragh National School, a primary school on the outskirts of Bandon. It is a mixed school -…

The Minister of State should have heard of Newcestown, the school he referred to. They are a great hurling club, and a dual club even. Getting back to Laragh, I appreciate the Minister of State would not have the full detail but the Minister, Deputy Foley, does. I know she is aware of it and is working to solve it. The very simple message I want to send to the Department, Bus Éireann and to the school transport section is to please sanction a smaller bus to cater for these 22 children in order they can get to Larag…

My question relates to the registration of short-term tourism letting legislation and how traditional bed and breakfasts will be impacted by that. The owners of bed and breakfasts right across Ireland are looking for clarity on whether they will be impacted in any way by the legislation.

The purpose of the question is to get clarity on the traditional bed and breakfasts that we have all stayed in and that have been the backbone of the tourism sector for decades. They are planning compliant and pay commercial water bills and rates. These family-run businesses have been doing everything right for decades. There is a fear out there that they will get caught up in the legislation and the requirement to register. In her answer, the Minister alluded to the fact that bed and breakfast providers register w…

I understand the self-catering element of this and the reference to self-catering bed and breakfasts, Airbnbs etc., but the bed and breakfasts to which I referred in my initial question are not self-catering but rather accommodation where people are welcomed into a family home. Further clarity is needed on that. On the overall legislation, it is a fine balancing act that the Minister's Department and the Department of housing are faced with in terms of getting this right. We are all fully aware of challenges in som…

First, I will comment on the approach of successive Irish Governments and why I think it was absolutely the correct approach to back and support an IT sector, a multinational sector and an international sector that has provided employment, that has invested in this country and that will remember long into the future the fact that we backed and supported it. Now we have the added benefit that we have a windfall from it. We have the best of both worlds. It has absolutely been the correct approach. We will continue to…

I thank the Minister of State for being here to take this Topical Issue matter. It is a very important issue. I will outline what I feel is one of the most unfair and mean-spirited moves that has happened in my four and half years in the Dáil in terms of the State and its treatment of former healthcare workers. These people came back from retirement to answer Ireland's call during Covid. They put themselves on the front line and now they are being asked to pay back money I certainly feel they do not owe. It might h…

I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate the response and her understanding of the issue. I also appreciate that she has given an undertaking to communicate to the Minister my frustration and the unfairness and mean-spiritedness I feel have taken place here. I will also, of course, do that myself. I raise a few points. My understanding is that the waiver applied to 2021 and 2022. According to what the Minister of State said regarding the correspondence it went out in January 2021 concerning the ending of the wai…

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in Ireland. Some 10,000 people per annum are diagnosed with skin cancer. Despite this, the use of sunbeds is still widespread. Using a sunbed increases the risk of developing skin cancer by 60%. That is only after just one session on a sunbed. More worryingly, 40% of people continue to use sunbeds despite knowing the risks involved for developing skin cancer. We need to do something about this. Australia has banned outright use of sunbeds and it is having an impact on h…

I join colleagues in congratulating the Minister of State, Deputy Jack Chambers, on his elevation to deputy leader of Fianna Fáil. As a fellow Fianna Fáil TD, I am delighted he has been appointed as deputy leader. From a party point of view, it is a very proud day, as it is for his community and his constituency. I know how proud he is of his country and he always tries to do what is best for his country. I offer him my congratulations. My Topical Issue is a slightly unusual one. There are 30 students living in and…

The answer I got was the one I was expecting. I am, though, making a specific plea for this area. The Minister of State is absolutely correct. Bantry is a much closer school in this area. In some instances, as well, it could be Skibbereen. This is based on student needs, however, and we should always put students and what best suits them first. Unfortunately, every summer, certainly ever since I became a TD, we have had this constant battle on our hands in our constituency offices coming up to July and August. It i…

Garda recruitment is an issue that keeps cropping up. I want to talk specifically about community gardaí and the need for extra resources in that area. I know the Minister visited west Cork recently. In my constituency, the Clonakilty community garda covers an area which includes Clonakilty, Dunmanway and Skibbereen. That is a huge geographical area. The same can be said for the Bandon area, where the Minister visited. That is a massive geographical area and the scale of the work they do is absolutely incredible. R…

One of the commitments in the programme for Government is to invest in sporting infrastructure. I was delighted to see the successful European Championship athletes visit the Taoiseach recently. It was important that he spent time with them. Ireland had an incredible European Championships. Ciara Mageean won a gold medal, as did the mixed 4 x 400 m relay athletes, and Rhasidat Adeleke won a superb silver medal. I congratulate Rhasidat on an incredible achievement. If she is listening, I want to assure her that 99.9…

Dunmanway and Clonakilty are two of the most important towns in my constituency. They are about 20 km apart. It takes just over 20 minutes to drive from Clonakilty to Dunmanway, but if I want to take a bus there tomorrow, it would take me about two hours because I would have to go via Bandon. What the people of Dunmanway and Clonakilty need is a direct bus service between the towns. Speaking of Dunmanway, I congratulate the organisers of the Feel the Force festival. It is a "Star Wars" themed festival and it was a …

I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach; he is looking good in the Chair. I also thank the Minister of State for taking this Topical Issue. Primary schools principals right throughout Ireland are screaming in an effort to retain their special education teacher, SET, allocations. The new criteria are flawed and are not working. I know this because schools throughout my constituency are having their SET allocations cut. I want to give the Minister of State a few examples of what is happening out there. In Caheragh Nation…

I thank the Minister of State. We are hearing that the number of special education teachers has increased and that the allocations are increasing but I am telling him that this is not the reality on the ground. The fundamental point is that schools are being punished for doing their job correctly and for improving numeracy and literacy. We need to go back to taking account of those complex needs. In my last two minutes of speaking time, I want to raise two very related issues. One relates to the spaces available in…

I do not say this lightly, but when it comes to our islanders and healthcare, they are treated as second-class citizens. This is especially the case in the west Cork islands and I will explain why. On Bere Island, which is near Castletownbere, at one point they had two full-time nurses. They had nursing cover on the island for 24 hours a day, seven days per week, but they now only have one nurse, whose nursing cover has been reduced to the hours of 9 to 5, five days per week. It is simply not good enough because of…

In a slight departure from the triple lock, I will bring the Taoiseach back to Bere Island off west Cork. The Department of Defence has an important training facility there for naval personnel. Unfortunately, there is an issue with Department of Defence-owned infrastructure there, namely, a slipway at Lawrence Cove. It is an important slipway used by naval personnel but also by a car ferry operating between Castletownbere and Bere Island. It is in a really bad state. I brought it to the attention of the Tánaiste al…

If we told people there was a medicine that could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 33%, they would take it. If we told people that there was a tonic that could reduce the risk of type 3 diabetes by 40%, they would absolutely take it. If we told people there was a tool that could reduce the risk of depression by 30%, they would absolutely take it. This medicine does exist. It is called physical activity. We need to incentivise it. Physical inactivity costs the State approximately €1.5 billion per year. Y…