I understand that the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, has never been to the Warren Beach in Rosscarbery, so I will tell her about it. It is paradise, with golden sands, and you can look out at Galley Head and the stag rocks off Toe Head. There is nowhere like it. It is very peaceful, and anyone who has discovered this gem of a beach will know how nice it is. Unfortunately, on 15 August of this year, the beach was closed to the public because of a bathing ban. Usually when there is a bathing ban at a beach, it i…

I know the Minister of State read that statement out on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and Irish Water. The people of Rosscarbery and Owenahincha, which has another beautiful beach close to Warren Beach, cannot wait until 2025 or 2029. That is much too far out. Warren Beach is a gem, not just for Rosscarbery but the whole Clonakilty-Rosscarbery-Skibbereen area, and attracts so many people to the region. They cannot wait until after 2025 and maybe 2029 for the scheme to be included…

The free school transport introduced by this Government was a wonderful intervention. It has saved many families across Ireland hundreds of euro. However, like with many schemes, there are always consequences. Unfortunately, in west Cork, there are still many students left without bus tickets. These are students who are eligible and may be concessionary and going to their second-closest school. In most of the cases that I am liaising with the Minister, Deputy Foley on, they are deemed “late applicants”. However, th…

During the debate, the Minister will hear the current homelessness figures quoted a lot and rightly so. The homelessness figures are too high and we need to do everything to tackle that. He is also going to hear about the impact of homelessness on a lot of families and that is only right too. I know that he is well aware of many of these issues. He is going to hear a lot about the lack of properties available to rent, not just in Dublin and Cork cities but in many towns as well and that is only right because we are…

The HSE’s national women and infants health programme has recommended that women only be able to avail of home births if they live within 30 minutes of a maternity service. If this recommendation was implemented, it would eradicate the choice of home birthing for a large proportion of women living in Ireland. For example, in west Cork, where I am from, any woman living west of the town of Bandon would be affected, including in the towns of Clonakilty, Bantry and Skibbereen, and they would not be able to avail of a …

I wish to ask the Taoiseach about the mental health care and recovery centre in Bantry. The Mental Health Commission has recommended reducing the bed capacity at this facility from 18 beds to 11. I ask Government to reject absolutely this recommendation. The report and request are fundamentally flawed. It does not take into account the geographic nature of west Cork and fails to mention one of the biggest settlements in the area, which is Castletownbere. At this time, we should be investing more in mental health. W…

We all know somebody with Parkinson's disease. Unfortunately, in County Cork many people have been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease but, incredibly, we have zero Parkinson's nurses in Cork. That cannot continue. It has been proven with Parkinson's disease that early intervention is key. The Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, in fairness, met campaigners last week outside the gates of the Dáil. Their ask is simple. In the last budget we promised 20 neurology nurses. All we ask is that six of those neurology nurses…

The shortage of home care workers is causing considerable undue hardship for older people and their families. It especially affects older people who may have had major procedures in hospital and cannot be discharged because they may require two home care workers. Because they cannot be discharged, they have to spend longer than they should in hospital. There is a solution to this. The Government could extend visas to home care workers from outside the EU and include home care workers on the critical skills list the…

I thank the Minister for taking this Topical Issue matter. He will remember that I intended to submit this matter a number of weeks ago and the Minister was not available to take it at the time, so I said I would come back to raise this important issue, which I am doing now. I know the Government is motivated to reduce childcare costs and that the Minister is motivated to do so as well. Since the Minister has taken office, a key goal of his has been to make childcare more affordable and accessible. In doing that, w…

I appreciate the Minister's response and I do not question his motivation on better pay for staff involved in the sector and in making childcare affordable and accessible for parents. We have to come back to the facts of the matter. We had hundreds of people protesting outside Leinster House last week. Many of these operators were being sustained on the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, which has been removed, and they are finding it difficult to retain staff without that support. As well as that, the Minister …

This Government made a promise to tackle the cost of childcare, and we will do that. In doing so, however, we must ensure there is an early childhood care and education, ECCE, sector there to provide the service. If the current core funding model was fit for purpose, we would not have had a situation where hundreds of our early educators and childcare providers descended on Leinster House last week to express their dissatisfaction with the new model outside the gates. It is going to impact, in particular, on those …

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It is really important, at the upcoming European Council meeting, that we discuss with our European counterparts how we approach how missile tests and military tests are carried out in all European waters, not just Irish waters. More urgent, however, is the issue with the French Navy and the fact that, as we speak, looking at data from maps, its ships are within the Irish exclusive economic zone, EEZ, at the moment. Even though the French Navy has stated that it has moved its exercises out of the EEZ, all indicatio…

I wish to raise another cost-of-fuel issue, specifically as it pertains to the fishing sector. I raise the plight of the small inshore boats, specifically those punts that fish for crab and lobster. Those punts are generally run by outboard engines. Those engines are available only in petrol form, so the fishers cannot avail of the VAT back that the fishers on the bigger boats that are run by diesel are able to avail of. It is an anomaly. I am looking for a level playing field for those small sustainable fishers in…

Having observed and listened to the debate, it is becoming very clear why meeting our targets is at risk. On the one hand, there is a group of people in this House and the Seanad which is saying that we should take our foot off the pedal and not do too much too fast, start drilling for oil and gas and do everything that has led us to the situation in which we are in. On the other hand, there is criticism and some have said we are not moving fast enough or doing enough and we need to move faster. The reality is that…

The Taoiseach will be very familiar with Cancer Connect, which is a free transport service for people who need to travel to Cork city for chemotherapy or radiotherapy. On average, it takes 160 passengers per week up to Cork. It relies on the generosity of 300 volunteers drivers. The administrative and management staff are paid, which relies heavily on fundraising. Unfortunately, as we know, donations are harder to come by in this day and age. The organisation is asking that the shortfall be made up. It needs about …

I will only ask one supplementary question. I also want to acknowledge that Deputy Sherlock allowed me to put this question on his behalf. He loves west Cork and mentioned the fact that he brought his young child on the Dursey Island cable car many years ago. When it was announced that the Dursey cable car would close back in February with no warning, the Minister and her Department intervened in March. She was asked to solve a problem that was not of her making or of her Department's making. She came forward with …

What targeted measures will be included in the new agri-environment scheme under CAP to ensure that farmers are rewarded for results that help to tackle the biodiversity crisis?

I thank the Minister for his response. I have consistently said that the upcoming agri-environment scheme is going to be one of the key measures in tackling biodiversity loss and turning that tide. The Minister gave a good outline of the scheme and its fundamentals are good, particularly the eight co-operation areas. It is so important that within those co-operation areas there are targeted schemes for bespoke measures that will specifically tackle declining populations of wading birds and farmland birds. There are…

I agree with the Minister that it is important to get this right. In terms of the eight co-operation areas and the menu B items, I have been studying the maps and there is some really exciting potential there. The one most relevant to me is the Cork Kerry co-operation area which takes in parts of Kerry and large parts of west Cork. Having studied the maps, however, a very obvious omission in that area is the Mizen peninsula. The Beara Peninsula is included, as is the Sheep's Head Peninsula which is right next to th…