The other issue, and the Minister of State touched on it, is the number of people opting to go private. Often, parents are putting their hands in their pockets or borrowing money to access care for their children or young adults. It is important for the HSE to do work on this aspect. I understand the Minister of State does not have these figures and that they are not readily available. Whatever means are available and at the HSE's disposal in terms of surveying must be used to find out what percentage of these 1,70…

The Government is stifling the economic potential of Waterford and the wider south east. That is the simple truth of it and there is no getting away from that. Every week that goes by without this decision being made puts a noose around the neck of the regional economy in the south east. Our region has been left waiting and waiting for critical investment in infrastructure that would unlock jobs, tourism and regional growth. Chief among this infrastructure is the long-promised runway at Waterford Airport. Planning …

With respect to the Minister of State, the line about engaging with stakeholders is wearing fairly thin at this stage. We have heard it over the years. Everything that needs to be done in Waterford has been done by the local authorities and by the airport. Planning is in place, the regional funding is there and the project is ready to go. What is missing here is the decision by the Minister for Transport that just needs to be made. This prevarication and dancing around the issue is no longer good enough. It is time…

Do we know when?

Hear, hear.

Education is the foundation of any progressive society. It shapes our children's futures, reflects our values and must adapt to the needs of a changing Ireland. For too long our education system has failed to keep pace with the diversity of modern Ireland. We need real diversity in school patronage which respects freedom of religion and finally puts parents and children at the heart of our education system. The facts speak for themselves. More than 90% of our primary schools remain under religious patronage and onl…

Europe Day should be a moment for us in Ireland to reflect on our place in the European Union, on what we have achieved as part of the European Union but also what we have failed to achieve and what has been stilted through our membership and through some of the policies of the European Union. We have seen some real benefits to rural areas from our membership of the EU over the decades, including programmes such as LEADER. Unfortunately under its latest iteration, the LEADER programme, an EU-funded rural diversific…

On International Workers’ Day, we honour those whose work sustains our communities, public services and society. As a trade unionist, I reflect on the many struggles over many years for workers' rights and fairness. I want to speak for a group of workers who are far too often forgotten by the Government, namely those employed in the community and voluntary sector. These are people who run domestic violence refuges, addiction services, disability supports, and community-based health and social care projects. They ar…

A national planning framework should be a roadmap for fairness, decent living standards, balanced development and a future where no community is written off. What we have before us in the draft framework falls far short of that. It is a framework that gestures at ambition but lacks the backbone to deliver. It reads more like a vague wish list than a serious plan for action. This Government has failed to close the gap on many fronts, but especially in this document, between policy and delivery. Whether in the inner …

What about confidence in the Minister?

How is that going for you?

Hear, hear.

This evening, we have gathered to speak about one of the most shameful failures of our health service in recent memory. God only knows how many children have undergone invasive, traumatic and completely unnecessary hip surgeries. We do not know, and that is the simple fact. We do not know exactly how many. Children have been subjected to unnecessary surgeries and families have been left in the dark abandoned and betrayed. As a father of young children with experience of some of the hospitals under CHI's management,…

If education is a right, why is access seemingly always a fight for families? As the Minister knows because I wrote to her and because parents have been in touch with her, almost 20 families in Dungarvan, County Waterford, are left without a special school place. There is a wider issue across Waterford city and county when it comes to capacity in special education spaces in mainstream schools and special schools. The State is not just failing children and failing to vindicate the fundamental right of children to an…

I sat in this Chamber last night and watched the Minister of State's colleagues in Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Lowry Independents group vote against a Sinn Féin Bill that would have permanently banned water charges. In my few short months in this House I have seen Minister after Minister duck questions about a referendum on the public ownership of water. Water must be protected as a public good in our Constitution. The crisis in our water services is not just a national scandal, it is a daily reality for familie…

It is marvellous that we had several weeks of briefings from Government spokespeople and backbenchers about the need to fight and vindicate the right of Government backbenchers to be able to put questions and make statements. There is one in the Chamber at this moment. I hope the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach will give me a bit of extra time since the speaker from the Government backbenches who was to speak immediately prior to me did not bother to turn up. I note also that Deputy Geoghegan gave an impassioned speech not…

-----when it comes to attention from IDA Ireland. I reiterate the calls from my colleagues on the Sinn Féin side of the House, that we need to develop contingency plans-----

-----to protect our pharmaceutical sector and its workers.

Aontaím leis an méid atá ráite ag mo chomhghleacaithe. Agus muid ag teacht chun deiridh ar an díospóireacht mar gheall ar alt 5, teastaíonn uaim a rá arís go bhfuil deis againn anois Údarás na Gaeltachta a dhéanamh chomh daonlathach, chomh hoscailte agus chomh trédhearcach agus is féidir trí níos mó ball tofa a bheith ar an mbord agus níos mó daoine a thoghadh ó gach ceantar Gaeltachta. I mo cheantar féin i nGaeltacht na nDéise, mhol an Rialtas go mbeidh duine amháin ar an mbord. Mholamar go mbeadh beirt, agus an r…

Is breá liom athrá a sheachaint. Is é an rud ar mhaith liom a rá ar an téama céanna leis an méid a dúirt an Teachta Ó Snodaigh. Tá sé mar gheall ar an bhforáil sin mar gheall ar iarrthóirí a bheith ina gcónaí laistigh de cheantar Gaeltachta. Is fadhb ollmhór é sin, go háirithe gur daoine óga ón nGaeltacht iad agus tá sé mar sprioc acu filleadh ar an nGaeltacht agus a gclanna a thógáil ansin. B'fhéidir go bhfuil a bpáistí ag freastal ar an scoil cheana féin sna ceantair Ghaeltachta ach de dheasca na géarchéime tithí…