I wish to raise the sudden closure of the humanitarian assistance scheme, which has now locked out many people seeking support following Storm Éowyn. This was not advertised or publicised. Offices are turning people with forms away. The ESB will not show any goodwill or common decency - it is going ahead with charging people for a service they did not have. I am disappointed the Government as the majority owner did not step in. People are still without landlines 54 days after the storm. I am aware of people in thei…

The current wind energy guidelines are now 19 years old. Last year, the Taoiseach promised that the new updated guidelines would be published by the end of 2024 but the date is now quarter 1 of 2025. At the same time, rural communities are being forced to battle with large companies, sometimes after repeated planning permissions are submitted. We have a particular issue in south Roscommon and north Galway. Some rural communities are banding together to try to gather money and, in some cases, are ending up in court.…

I will raise a number of issues where, primarily, women are impacted by Government policy. I will start almost where the Minister started, that is, on affordable childcare. No matter how many times the Government says childcare costs have been cut by 50%, it does not make it true. A survey last year put monthly childcare in various counties at over €600, €800 and €1,100. In the context of the fee assessment for those receiving core funding, we know the majority of those which look to raise their fees will be allowe…

First, by way of background, the accident and emergency department in Roscommon was closed in 2011. On the back of that, a commitment was made that there would need to be much better ambulance cover for Roscommon because we are farther away from the next nearest emergency department. Both Fine Gael, which was in office at the time, and the HSE committed to ensure there would be advanced life support. It would always be provided given the accident and emergency was no longer there. At that time, a separate roster fo…

If patient demand for NAS services continues to rise, with nearly 430,000 urgent and emergency calls received last year, representing a year-on-year rise in volume of 8%, why then has the National Ambulance Service stopped training advanced paramedics? Why has it stopped the privileging courses? Fully qualified advanced paramedics who have trained elsewhere, some I understand in the Defence Forces, can only work as paramedics. That privileging course the National Ambulance Service eventually agreed to run in May of…

As I rise to speak on statements on policing and community safety, I take the opportunity to remember an Independent councillor, Councillor Anthony Waldron, who died suddenly last month. Councillor Waldron had established the Enough is Enough campaign against rural crime in County Roscommon and it was an issue I had discussed with him at a number of events he held. I remember him here this evening. Garda numbers are falling and continue to fall across Roscommon and Galway. There is a lack of visibility across all o…

Yesterday, I attended a briefing by Cared Ireland. It highlighted the long-running crisis in care, supports and services for people with eating disorders. We heard directly from a mother whose young teenage daughter is about to age out of the very small supports she has been getting as a child. These are supports that have, in her mother's words, kept her alive. We also heard from a mother whose daughter died almost two years ago because of her eating disorder and from a young woman living with an eating disorder w…

I congratulate the Minister on her appointment. As my party's spokesperson on children, I look forward to working with her. Before I begin, I take this opportunity to mention an issue I have raised a number of times regarding the recent storm and its impact on people with electric wheelchairs and those who are reliant on electric beds and certain medical devices. Unfortunately, I feel I am hitting against a brick wall. Our most vulnerable people, who were on the vulnerable customers list, were left at sea during th…

I ask the Minister about the mother and baby institutions payment scheme, the review due to take place by mid-2026 and the issues raised, particularly around those excluded from that scheme. Will the Minister bring forward that review?

I thank the Minister for that. There are a couple issues here I had raised with the Minister's predecessor in terms of the scheme. The number of applicants applying and the number of payments issued to date have been quite low. That is dependent on the number applying, so clearly more work needs to be done on that messaging and communication. I know that is being done abroad but it needs to be looked at again. Approximately 34,000 people are eligible to apply. To date, just over 6,100 people have applied to the sch…

I thank the Minister. On the figures, I chaired the committee meeting last year in which Revised Estimates were gone through and there was an underspend of €158 million. It was listed as a saving and it was money brought back in this scheme. In fairness, it was expected a lot more would apply in the first year and that was fair enough. If there is such an underspend of the €100 million that is there for 2025, I really would ask that it would be looked at. I appreciate the reviews are there and are laid down in legi…

Before asking this question, I wish the Minister of State well in her new role because I did not have an opportunity to do so earlier. This question is to ask the Minister of State about the number of children on waiting lists for assessments of needs, the average waiting time for the children on the waiting lists and, more importantly, I suppose, the measures she intends to take to tackle these very long and record-level waiting lists.

On the very high figure of more than 14,000 children and the demand increase, this is fine and part of it, of course, is related to population. I would not say, though, that part of it is parents exploring all options for their children, particularly if they can go through the CDNTs without an assessment of need. We must be really careful in terms of the things we say concerning this matter because, for those children who are on a waiting list, and their parents especially, waiting and waiting is extremely stressfu…

I thank the Minister of State for the reply. Regarding those on the waiting lists, and this is an issue I have written to the Minister of State about, I take the opportunity to flag a communication issued by the HSE to parents with a child or children on the waiting lists for assessments of needs in the last couple of weeks. It told parents that if they did not respond to say their child still wanted the assessment of needs and to remain on the waiting list by a certain date, they would be taken off the waiting lis…

I want to ask the Minister about the total value of core funding and the amount of it allocated to improving pay. That is very important because we know the issues with capacity whereby some providers have the physical space but they have to close rooms because they do not have the early years educators. We have an issue with recruitment and retention. Pay is key for staff and we must make sure the early years educators are paid properly.

I thank the Minister. The review into core funding in the programme for Government commitments is very important. I am concerned that the money being earmarked for pay is not being reflected in the pay deals. I spoke previously about my concern regarding the pay talks and the JLC process that is in place because of the way in which it is designed in terms of pay increases for early years educators. The last pay increase for early years educators amounted to 65 cent. It took 14 months to negotiate that and it ended …

I make the point again that if we want a functioning early years service for parents, children and the professionals who work in it, we have to get pay right. The JLC and pay talks granted, the last time, 65 cent, which to me is insulting, to the early years educators in the sector. If we do not get that right, we will continue to have issues with recruitment and retention and capacity. We already have about 30,000 children on waiting lists for places. In many cases, they are on waiting lists for places that do not…

I, too, rise in support of this motion. It has become an annual issue and we have already started hearing from parents in respect of next September. There was a particular issue last year, in south County Roscommon, in my constituency, with 18 children and 18 sets of parents run ragged trying to ring around schools and ask for a place, an education that meets their child's needs. It is a horrible and extremely stressful situation to put parents in, and it infects their entire families. A child with additional needs…

I am very concerned about the silence from the Taoiseach and the Government in terms of seeking action from the ESB. It is majority-owned by the Government. People in my constituency across counties Roscommon and Galway have had 19 days without electricity. In some cases, they have also been without water and heating. Will the Taoiseach seek that the ESB suspends standing charges and the PSO levy and provide a goodwill payment to its customers impacted by the storm? I appreciate that the storm was not the fault of …

Today, people in my constituency of Roscommon-Galway are on day 19 without electricity. In some cases, that means no heating in their homes and no water - for 19 days. I take this opportunity, following on from the statements we made last week, to raise a number of continuing issues, particularly for businesses, farmers and customers affected by the power outages. There continues to be confusion about supports for businesses. I contacted the Minister for enterprise and his Department. The second point on the reply …