I thank the Minister for the elaboration. It is clear there are supports available. It is about accessing those supports and for students to know they are available and make sure they are kept under review so that they can respond to emerging challenges, unforeseen challenges and circumstances and continue engagement with advocates in particular and young carers and young adult carers. Another related factor is older carers - mature students, people returning to education who provide care or who during the course o…

Ar dtús báire, déanaim comhghairdeas leis an mbeirt Airí. I congratulate the Ministers on their respective roles. As Deputy O'Reilly has said, both she and I, as their counterparts on this side of the House, will endeavour to co-operate with them and engage constructively with them, but it is also our role to hold them to account. Accountability is at the crux of my question. It relates to Our Rural Future and the rural development plan, which, as we know, is terminating this year. I note that public consultation h…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as an bhfreagra sin. I am glad that the OECD report is to be published. I think that will provide food for thought for everybody living and working in rural Ireland. From my conversations with people in rural Ireland and my own experience, I imagine the biggest result and theme that will emerge from the consultations, which will no doubt be reflected in the OECD report, will be the issue of housing, particularly in rural Ireland. One of the key deliverables is the regeneration and repo…

I welcome the Minister's comments, in particular about the importance of housing, infrastructure and facilities. The previous plan had a very significant focus on digital connectivity. That might have been a product of the time it was put together. The focus must now shift, as my colleague said earlier, with regard to bricks and mortar, and having facilities, homes and infrastructure so that people can live their lives in rural Ireland, raise their children there, and access public services. That must be the focus …

It is the same here.

Who is to blame for that?

Such as 40,000 houses.

The Taoiseach has tied himself to Deputy Michael Lowry and will regret it.

I welcome this long-overdue legislation and I commend the team involved in it. It involved a huge amount of work, no doubt interesting but painstaking. It also involved a huge amount of detail. We are grateful for that work having been completed and being presented to us here today. Having a look through this, I see so many proclamations that refer to activities in my own county of Waterford in the 1840s and 1850s. It struck me that these proclamations - the laws - were, indeed, some of the legal means used to bind…

Ar an gcéad dul síos, tuigim go bhfuil leasuithe Uimh. 1 agus Uimh. 3 as ord. Ní aontaím leis an gcinneadh sin, ar ndóigh. Mar dhuine atá ag cur faoi i gceantar Gaeltachta agus mar dhuine, roimh dom bheith i mo Theachta Dála, a bhí i mo chomhairleoir ag déanamh ionadaíochta ar cheantar Ghaeltachta, tá a fhios agam go bhfuil an t-éileamh ann ón bpobal go mbeadh Údarás na Gaeltachta iomlán daonlathach. Tá sé sin againn sna comhairlí áitiúla - déanaim tagairt anseo do leasú Uimh. 2 - agus níl an tAire tithíochta ag ia…

Bhí comhrá agus díospóireacht leathan againn ansin cé go rabhamar ag díriú isteach ar leasú áirithe. Bhí caint mar gheall ar phobal mór na Gaeilge agus lucht labhartha na Gaelainne fud fad na tíre seo. Is ceart an comhthéacs sin a bheith againn ach caithfimid a aithint go bhfuil an Ghaeltacht éagsúil. Is rud aonarach í Gaeltacht na hÉireann. Ní hamháin go bhfuil an Ghaelainn beo bríomhar mar theanga labhartha laethúil ag an bpobal ach tá sé ann leis na glúnta siar. Tá sé beo beathach ó bhí an Ghaelainn ann mar thea…

Tá an leasú seo dírithe ar chathaoirleach agus leas-chathaoirleach a bheith ceaptha ar an mbord ionas go mbeadh an t-údarás acu labhairt ar son na Gaeltachta agus an t-aitheantas acu chun é sin a dhéanamh. Bheadh an dlisteanacht acu go mbeadh siad in ann é sin a dhéanamh agus bheadh éisteacht á fáil acu. Ar ndóigh, mar a dúirt an Teachta Ó Snodaigh, tá gá leis an mbord iomlán a bheith neamhspleách. Is cinnte go gcaithfidh an cathaoirleach agus an leas-chathaoirleach a bheith neamhspleách ón Aire agus ón Rialtas. In…

Tairgim leasú Uimh. 5: Ar leathanach 11, idir líne 24 agus líne 25, an méid seo a leanas a chur isteach: “(2D) Chun críocha fho-alt (2C), déanfaidh an tAire, ag féachaint don chóras caighdeán ar a dtugtar an Creat Comhchoiteann Tagartha Eorpach le haghaidh Teangacha, leibhéal B2 a fhorordú mar an leibhéal inniúlachta i nGaeilge is gá a bheith ag duine dá dtagraítear san fho-alt sin. (2E) Ní bheidh feidhm ag fo-alt (2D) maidir le cainteoirí dúchais Gaeilge.”. Ní mór a léiriú go mbeidh iarrthóirí do na toghcháin in a…

Tá díomá orm a chloisteáil nach bhfuil an tAire chun glacadh leis na leasuithe seo. Is dócha go bhfuil sé seo chomh tábhachtach gur cheart é a bheith istigh sa bhunreachtaíocht in áit é a bheith ag teacht ón Aire i ndiaidh don reachtaíocht a bheith curtha i bhfeidhm. Ní hamháin go mbeidh sé tábhachtach go mbeadh comhaltaí boird in ann feidhmiú ag leibhéal an bhoird sna cruinnithe as Gaeilge agus tuarascála agus a leithéid a léamh, díospóireachtaí a bheith acu agus cinntí a dhéanamh, ach caithfidh siad a bheith in a…

Then it has taken you nine years to stand up for your own backbenchers.

While this discussion is going on, the people of Lismore in County Waterford are without water again today. This will be the seventh time in recent months that the entire town of Lismore has been without water. Outages are becoming more frequent. They last 24 hours or more in many cases. They are impacting local businesses, families and a care home. One of the largest secondary schools in County Waterford has been closed on several occasions because of water outages. These outages are also impacting childcare facil…

We had a discussion about this matter last night. I mentioned that there are 17 applicants on ice in Waterford at the moment. That is 17 families dealing with anxiety. It is also 17 landlords who are considering pulling out and going to the open market. This signal being sent from the Department is to dissuade applicants. Local authorities are not encouraging people to make applications, but rather the opposite. A clear message is being sent out to landlords to go to the open market and not to engage with the local…

Global tensions in the area of trade, particularly those relating to the emerging trade war being waged by the United States against many countries and blocs, are creating uncertainty in global markets and across various sectors. Any escalation in these tensions will disrupt supply chains, increase costs and limit access to critical raw materials. There is also some concern about the rhetoric coming from Washington regarding the pharmaceutical sector, particularly that part of it located in Ireland. This sector is …

I thank the Labour Party for moving this motion to ensure this important issue is aired in the Dáil Chamber. I too welcome the delegation who are here to witness proceedings. This debate provides an opportunity to discuss the challenges, frustrations and failings that carers grapple with daily. It allows us to acknowledge the immense contribution they make to the loved ones they care for and to society as a whole. The motion proposes measures that will improve their situations and their outcomes. Young carers and y…

A total of 17 applications under the tenant in situ scheme have been suspended in Waterford. This involves 17 families grappling with significant uncertainty and anxiety not knowing if they will have a roof over their heads this year. That sorry story is replicated in the hundreds all across the State. The moves by Government to reduce funding and restrict the tenant in situ scheme will lead to children, women and men becoming homeless right across the State. Some 15,280 people are availing of State-provided emerge…