The only question that remains is whether the Minister has an outline of a scheme, including who is going to get the payment, and if he has run it by the farm organisations and perhaps some forgotten farmers themselves to make sure he gets the scheme right. That is very important given the length of time the forgotten farmers have waited for the scheme. We must make sure the scheme the Minister announces, and the funding for said scheme, works for those who need it. At this point, we have four sittings weeks before…

I ask the Minister about the changes that have been made with regard to the spreading of fertiliser and phosphorous, the new fertiliser limits for soils and the obligation now on farmers for soil testing depending on their stocking rate when it comes to phosphorous. I am particularly thinking of fertilisers like 18-6-12, which is commonly used by farmers, and any suggestion of penalties for farmers who did this by accident and without knowledge of the new changes.

I probably should not have said new changes because obviously, this was in place and kicked off from January 2023 with regard to soil sampling before spreading phosphorous, and the limitations that are there. However, the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association, INHFA, is one organisation that has raised concerns regarding possible penalties on farmers where they have spread the likes of 18-6-12 without knowledge of the limitations that are there, depending on their stocking levels. To be honest, I do not think t…

I thank the Minister for his response. I again make the point that perhaps additional communication regarding this could be looked at. I spoke to a couple of random farmers to see if they were aware of the fact that they could not spread a level of phosphorous, depending on their stocking rate, without soil testing. I do not think the awareness is there. When you have a farm organisation telling you that communication has been poor and that its members clearly are not fully aware of it, and that is its read of the …

I thank the Regional Group for bringing forward an important motion on an issue that is of real concern to farmers the length and breadth of this State. We have to start from the point that to date this has been handled very badly. We have had reports from Europe, most of which have come to farmers via the media. It is not the way to bring farmers with us and is a prime example of how not to do climate action when it comes to agriculture. Everything regarding farmers, climate action, what we are asking farmers to d…

The Taoiseach will remember the closure of the accident and emergency unit in Roscommon hospital in 2011. In its place, we were promised a rapid response vehicle with an advanced paramedic on board 24-7, not least due to the distance people in Roscommon would be from the nearest accident and emergency department. That has been in place for the past 13 years. In recent months it has been quietly removed and it is now not the case that we have an advanced paramedic in the response vehicle on a 24-7 basis. I have been…

I met a member of the Defence Forces in my constituency office this week. He has two children with additional needs and his wife is their full-time carer. He has been in the Defence Forces for nearly 20 years. He is renting privately and is one of the fortunate ones in that his landlord has not increased the rent, not yet anyway. However, he understands the landlord will now sell the property he calls home. He is worried sick because he has no security for his family and no guarantee of a roof over his head. He ear…

There is something very special about the East Galway and Midlands Cancer Support centre in Ballinasloe, which I visited last week. The last time before that I had visited was during Covid. It is a place where you instantly feel at ease. You go in the back door and it is like going into your own home. The first thing you see is the kitchen table and the kettle. It is a very welcoming and homely place and that is the very immediate sense you get when you walk in the door. You can tell instantly from those who are pa…

I acknowledge the announcement of the one-off €3 million in funding that will roll out this year. I have no doubt that East Galway and Midlands Cancer Support will attain full membership of that alliance. However, that does not guarantee it X amount out of that €3 million and therein lies the problem. I reiterate that this a is a cancer centre in the heart of Ballinasloe seeing, supporting and providing services, which would cost the HSE an arm and a leg to provide, to 130 people a week across eight counties on thi…

My colleague, an Teachta Mairéad Farrell, has repeatedly raised the crisis in the apprenticeship system, with the major backlog and waiting time for off-the-job training. Yesterday I was contacted by a young person in Roscommon who is one of the 9,000 waiting to complete that training. He was due to start phase 2 of the training in February 2024 but has been told it will not start until April 2025. He will wait 14 months for phase 2 of off-the-job training. This will add at least a year to his apprenticeship before…

It is inexcusable that in 2024 children in this State cannot easily access special class places when they need to. It is a disgrace that, year on year, parents are left worried sick, stressed and battling - as they do for everything when they have a child who has additional needs - to find a place to send them to school. This has to end. Every child that needs a class place should have one in the school they wish to attend. Every school should easily have the means and resources to open and have special classes whe…

Last month, Aircoach pulled the Galway to Dublin bus route. It served AIT in Athlone and Portiuncula hospital, Ballinasloe. This followed Bus Éireann Expressway pulling its service from Galway to Dublin, which also served routes for students going to college, hospital appointments and Dublin Airport. The pulling of public transport routes flies in the face of encouraging people to use public transport and it impacts on people who rely on public transport greatly, especially our older people. Local Link works really…

It is hard to fathom, when diesel and petrol prices are higher than they have been for years, when we have seen a 30% increase in costs in the last three years and when, since January, there has been a 13 cent per litre increase in the price of petrol and a 9 cent per litre increase in the price of diesel, that the Minister chose to increase that further on 1 April and to increase it again two more times this year. You could not find a better example of being out of touch. A Government awake to the real difficultie…

The Minister will be well aware of the increased pressure in many of our communities where Ukrainians and international protection persons have arrived and been welcomed, in many cases. I have raised Ballaghaderreen with the Minister many times and the pressure health services there are under. If someone moves into the area now, he or she cannot get a GP. Both GP surgeries in the town are running waiting lists. What specific engagement has the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, had with the Minister for Health? What have t…

This is my tenth time to raise Ballaghaderreen and the need for additional practical resources. It has received refugees and international protection persons for seven years now and has nothing to show for it. We have to battle for an extension for the local school. At long last, there has been movement. Funding for the childcare facility has been pulled and we are awaiting a decision on that. There is no access to GPs for people who are moving into the town and existing patients have to wait weeks for appointments…

I appreciate that a good chunk of time was taken up yesterday with statements on what the Minister has done to support and assist farmers given the very difficult weather conditions of the past few months. I want to ask specifically about the €100 per hectare payment that he announced for the tillage and horticulture sectors. When will we have more detail on this? Could he advise us on how he came up with the figure of €100 and whom it was agreed with? Who did the Minister hold discussions with to arrive at the fig…

Those in both the tillage and horticulture sectors will be wondering when they will get the funding. This is really important. While those in the sectors are beginning to plant and sow seeds now and will continue to do so in the coming weeks, they will need to know when the financial support will be available to them. I am sure the Minister has heard the critique from the grain growers and the IFA of the €100. Did the Minister engage with the sector when coming up with the figure of €100? I appreciate there are lim…

When will the Minister publish the action plan and strategy for ash dieback? It is now seven months since the independent review was published. Farmers affected by ash dieback in particular, of whom I have met many, are on their knees. I have never met a group of farmers so down, depressed and worried, yet the action plan is nowhere to be seen. Every reply I get states that it will be in the near future. Farmers cannot wait. Will the Minister please give us an update on when we will see that action plan?

It really is not good enough to keep using the phrase "the very near future". I have been getting that in replies for months. It has been seven months. I met with farmers in Galway a number of weeks ago. I met some in Wexford two weeks ago. They are broken. They put significant work into the plantations and they are dying. They are being left. It has been years and they are waiting for supports. To say that it will happen in the very near future is just not good enough. Seven months ago, that independent review gro…

The Minister of State is asking those affected to use the reconstitution scheme, but we all know what the independent review thought about that scheme, namely that it was insufficient. In fact, the review went much further than that in its criticism of the scheme. Why would we ask farmers and others affected to avail of a scheme that, following examination, has been found to be insufficient? It has been seven months. Farmers and others affected are on their knees. They need support now. Their frustration only grows…