I thank Senator Gallagher for raising this issue. I confirm that the Minister will assist and engage with those who want to increase the hours, the hospital group and the HSE. The success of the minor injuries units can be seen in Monaghan and many other places. I am happy to make sure that we maximise the use of that service. The Senator makes a good point in that there are similar numbers in other parts of the country and units in those areas are open for longer hours. Like the Senator, I compliment the service. …

I thank Senator Boyhan for raising this important issue. Like him, I am a big supporter of the work of LEADER groups. They have achieved quite a lot over recent years and I look forward to their future success. I am happy to recognise and confirm that I support their work, as do many people in these Houses because they have achieved quite a lot in working directly with our communities, both urban and rural. We want to build on their success. I look forward to continuing to work with them and to supporting their wor…

I thank the Senator for raising the issue. I am sorry that the Minister could not be here to take the debate herself. She is committed. I will certainly bring back to her the Senator's message that we need to strengthen the commitment and the language involved. I will again point to the budget that is set aside and approved by the Government as well as to the targets to have the engagement completed this year and plans rolled out in good time. I will bring those points to the Minister in the hope those concerns can…

I am glad the Senator has raised this most important issue of special needs education provision for Beara Community School. The Senator made a passionate case in highlighting the geographical location of the school and in stressing why it is so important that we fast-track a solution as soon as we can. There is no easy option for children to travel to attend units elsewhere. That has been made clear by the Senator. I will certainly bring that to the attention of the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, and the Minist…

Again, on behalf of the Department of Education, I thank Senator Lombard for raising this very important issue of Beara Community School and the surrounding community. The Department will work with the school and the Senator in order to try to find a timely solution. Naturally, it is important that the planning is granted and the hopefully we be able to fast-track all the other stages. It is also important that we have access to temporary accommodation if that is deemed appropriate. I think the school is happy to g…

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. He is right it is one that we are aware of, as a Department and as a Government. It has been raised often through questions in the House, with the Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, also saying that this is something he felt might be addressed and looked at through the permit process this year. As the Deputy knows, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is working in the area and has put together the strategic workforce working group to look at this. It is due…

I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for raising this scenario. We know there are many people who have been approved for hours and need help and it is Government policy to keep people at home as long as possible and to give them the care and support they need to be able to do that. We are very much focused on that and we will work with officials and all Departments to try to make it happen. Currently, Department officials are actively engaged with the Department of Health in regard to the recruitment challenges outlined and m…

I thank Deputy Ring for raising this issue. I will answer it on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, who, due to Covid, cannot be here. I will have to go through his script. I might not be able to answer all the questions the Deputy has raised.

I might not be able to answer all the questions the Deputy raised but I will certainly bring back the rest of them to the Department as well. On behalf of the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to, once again, set out the factual position on this issue. At the outset, it is important to note that these matters were originally raised in Seanad Éireann on 5 May last. Subsequently, the assertions made were the subject of inaccurate media reports relating to Inland Fisheries Ireland, IF…

I can only apologise that the Minister is not here. I can only give Deputy Ring the script because I do not have the details. I would not have the knowledge of this to be able to give the Deputy any other answers. I tried to address some of the issues the Deputy raised as best I possibly could but, as I said, I will bring back his concerns to the Minister. The concerns are genuine and I will make sure that they are dealt with as well. I reiterate that the current review under section 18 is not focusing on the "pote…

It is essential that the examination of the quite separate matter of section 18 of the Inland Fisheries Act 2010 proceeds in an independent and impartial manner without distraction and is not diverted by attempts to raise unconnected matters that have already been fully addressed. I accept that Deputy Ring holds a different view. I will pass that back to the Department. I can only work with what I have on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan. However, I will pass back his annoyance with the answer, as well as …

I thank Deputy Kenny for raising this important issue. As he correctly said, it is an issue in many parts of the country, including his area of counties Leitrim and Sligo and my own area of County Meath. Farmers, like anybody in business, are under extreme pressure with the price of energy, the price of fuel and the prices in general. The Deputy is right that there have been some good times, given the recent increases in the prices they get for their own products. However, those increases have been a long way off f…

As the Deputy will appreciate, I cannot give that commitment tonight, as much as I might want to do so. I will take his very clear request back to the Minister for Finance and the Department. This issue has been flagged in the engagements that have been taking place with the agricultural community over the past few weeks. The Deputy has proposed a clear target of bringing the price below €1.20. I certainly understand the pressure farmers and contractors are under, as does the Minister. Like many others in various s…

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue, which affects many people, and their families, who are in need of home care throughout the country. It is an issue that has been discussed a great deal in this House with the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, who has been addressing it in a number of ways. The Minister of State could not be here tonight and has asked me to take the matter on her behalf. I certainly will convey the Deputy's clear message to her. The Government …

I thank Deputy MacSharry again. He is asking a fair question regarding whether we can get some quicker decision-making on this matter as well. It is not just an issue concerning pay and conditions, but the Deputy has identified these aspects as the main reason. Part of the work the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is doing involves trying to determine these reasons. It also includes travel arrangements, the hours on offer in respect of full-time versus part-time work and the unsocial nature of those hours. It is a…

A new work group was set up by the Tánaiste in recent weeks to look at the whole area of self-employment. It brings together all the members of the Labour Employer Economic Forum, LEEF. The first meeting took place took two weeks ago, which I chaired. The work group is reviewing all of these issues and will bring forward recommendations, through LEEF, to my Department and the Department of the Taoiseach. I may make some changes on foot of that, if needs be.

It was important that I came in early on this debate because we are not opposing the Bill and I want to be clear on that. I thank Senator Sherlock and her team, including Senator Wall, for bringing forward this Bill. We are happy to engage with the Senator to get behind what it is that she genuinely wants to achieve and to see if it threatens the legal position or not. We need to deal with her on that more. I welcome the Bill from the Labour Party on the national minimum wage, which addresses a concern around inter…

As Deputy Collins knows, the permits do not cover that area at the moment but we are doing a review which is starting in the next couple of weeks. We have been engaging with the various Departments and agencies over the last couple of weeks to gather the evidence to make the case. If there is a case being made to extend the work permits into that area, it is something we can do. The decision will be based on evidence. We will work on it.

I thank Senator O'Loughlin for raising this Commencement matter on this very important area. She has outlined very clearly the importance of the Government focusing its work on this space, in conjunction with the private sector. I am pleased she indicated that in the most recent budget, and preceding ones, funding was increased to the sector, which was very important. The focus was on quality, policy and so on but, as the Senator correctly stated, we need to address career paths and terms and conditions and also gi…

The Senator raised a couple of issues. I will address the funding. Public funding has increased significantly in the past seven or eight years, and rightly so. There is also significant private funding in this area as well as funding from families. It is not all Government funding, but it is certainly Government assisted. As I said, I think it is possible for the process to be completed in the next couple of months in time for budget negotiations and completion of the budget. However, I am not convinced it will be …