Hear, hear.

The lowest level of funding.

We all welcome this belated move to set up this commission of investigation. We have all heard the stories of family members, friends and constituents and watched documentaries featuring people who had the courage to come forward and tell their stories and, let us be honest, force the Government to set up a means to investigate and somehow reconcile with the past. I hope this commission of investigation will bring healing and acknowledgement and that a measure of justice will be made available to victims of sexual …

Baineann mo cheist le hoibrithe forbairt pobail agus na buarthaí atá orthu i dtaobh acmhainní. My question relates to the critical and important role of community development workers and their concerns around resourcing, both pay and conditions, and also resourcing within organisations. The Minister of State will appreciate from his engagement with community development bodies that there are serious concerns now about both pay and conditions and the ability of these organisations to recruit and retain workers in th…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an gcomhairliúchán sin. It is good that consultation, with a view to arriving at a new strategy, is taking place. However, this comes down to a question of resources and to the level of Government funding. There is a huge amount of training and accreditation going on and the bursaries are very welcome. However, it is about creating a situation and environment where community development workers - people who put time, effort and thought into becoming professionals - enter into that discipline. Th…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. I think we all acknowledge the skill and the resilience of those working in the sector. Indeed, it is their resilience that got them through and kept them in their jobs when austerity was tearing the very heart out of the sector. Many of our communities are grateful they stayed the course. However, as I said, it is becoming more and more difficult for community organisations to recruit and retain staff into these. What we need is an extension of the community development program…

Ní ghlacaim leis an léamh atá ag an Teachta Ó Muineacháin ar an gceist seo. Baineann an ghéarchéim seo le hAire amháin ón DUP san Fheidhmeannas ó Thuaidh atá ag cur srian ar mhaoiniú. Tá gach iarracht á déanamh ag na páirtithe eile san Fheidhmeannas. Mar a thuigeann an Teachta, ní gnáthRialtas é. Ní oibríonn sé sa tslí chéanna a n-oibríonn an comhrialtas sa dlínse seo. Caithfimid dul i ngleic leis an bhfadhb seo. Tá sé níos measa ar an bhforas mar gheall ar na ciorruithe a tharla thar na blianta, go háirithe le lin…

School secretaries and caretakers have served their schools and communities for years and, in many cases, decades. They are the glue that holds our school system together and they do not want to go on strike. They just want fairness when it comes to pay and conditions but this Government has shown no such fairness. There has been zero engagement. Fórsa trade union has made numerous offers to talk and every one has been ignored. Forced into a corner, Fórsa has written to 2,000 schools to give formal notice of indefi…

We are in the middle of a deep and escalating housing crisis. House prices, rents and homelessness are all rising. Social and affordable housing targets are being missed again this year. Tá an ghéarchéim tithíochta ag cur todhchaí na Gaeltachta i mbaol ach fós níl na treoirlínte pleanála Gaeltachta feicthe againn agus níl faic déanta i dtaobh tithíocht inacmhainne nó tithíocht sóisialta a chur ar fáil do mhuintir na Gaeltachta inár gceantracha Gaeltachta. Government buries its head in the sand while rural communiti…

Students were protesting outside the gates earlier demanding answers. Their families are demanding answers. Students are young people trying to enjoy their summer holidays after finishing the leaving certificate and beginning college. Families across Ireland who are sending youngsters back to college and those who may be in their final year and looking to knuckle down to get their degree are demanding answers. They are getting none. They want to know one simple thing: will it be €2,000 or €3,000 they have to pay co…

Before I speak on the substantive issue, I commend and thank my colleague, Deputy Crowe, for raising the previous issue and add my support to it. We need to do all we possibly can and more to halt, as best we can, the genocide that is taking place in Gaza. It is truly an affront to our collective humanity. My Topical Issue relates to the provision of a premises in Tramore for Naíonra Philib Barún. We have there a thriving Irish-medium early years facility, full to capacity on a Department of education-owned site ad…

With respect, if Government policy excludes a thriving, oversubscribed naíonra providing the only service of its type in a large urban catchment area, that already has secured a site and that has huge community backing, then the policy is not working and the prioritisation is not right. I ndáiríre, tá a fhios agam go bhfuil an tAire Stáit ag tabhairt na teachtaireachta seo thar ceann an Aire, an Teachta Foley, ach níor fhreagair sí an cheist sa mhéid sin. I understand the response is from the Minister and is not ne…

I am asking this question on behalf of my colleague Pádraig Mac Lochlainn.

I ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is aware that only 52 persons have availed of fish assist across the State as of 31 May 2025; and if the Minister of State with responsibility for the marine and his Department officials will now engage with the representative producer organisations, POs, for inshore and islands fishermen to discuss a financial support or subsidy scheme for the sector.

I thank the Minister. The figures are glaring. There are 13,000 active fishermen in the State and the idea that only 52 of them are in need of support is absurd. There is a disconnect. No one can seriously claim the sector is not under pressure. My understanding and sense of it from the figures, which back this up, is the fish assist scheme is too restrictive and limited. It is not that fishermen and fisherwomen are not aware of it - they know about it - but it is too limited and restrictive and it is not fit for p…

I thank the Minister. To his credit, I know he is engaging with the sector and he has heard from fishermen around the coast. However, the figures still speak for themselves, notwithstanding that some may be disqualified on income grounds. Some may not need the scheme but we know there is great hardship in the sector. This is not necessarily about creating a new subsidy from EMFAF funding; it is about making the existing scheme work for fishermen. The feedback we are getting and the figures released to my colleague …

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to add my voice to this important debate. The issue of solar farms on prime agricultural land is a critical one in parts of County Waterford. We all see the advantage of solar power, including solar farms and solar on rooftops. Farmers in rural communities are in favour of this and see the advantages and benefits of it. However, we cannot have development of large solar farms on prime agricultural land take place in what is essentially a legislative and guidance…

The Teagasc survey might show increases in income, but let us not get carried away. We all know that these increases are coming from rock bottom. A rise on next to nothing is still not enough to live on. We have to be clear and truthful with ourselves. The stark reality is that only 42% of farms are economically viable, even after the so-called rebound. Take dairy out of the mix and things are worse again. Suckler farmers are on €13,500 a year and beef farmers are on €18,000. That is far below the minimum wage. It …

The message is out there that TAMS is running low. Let us be clear: the Government has failed to address the crisis in farm incomes and, by extension, rural Ireland family farming. We can talk about surveys and percentages, but families are struggling to make ends meet. There is a cost-of-living crisis gripping communities, urban and rural, all across this State. When we look at farm incomes and the low floor that is there, they need something they can rely on, something that is sustainable, fair and secure. I refe…

Is it €2,000 or €3,000?