Tractors, agricultural vehicles and hauliers cannot pass each other any more.

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk on this. Of course we all appreciate the power that a university education devolves to students. It opens many doors for them. We must not forget, however, that we also need apprentices in all the trades. Consider plasterers, for example. We talk of housing every day here, but houses will not be built without tradesmen. We need carpenters, we need block layers, we need plasterers and digger drivers. There is an awful lot of work to be done. It would be grand if youngsters co…

I am glad to have an opportunity to speak about the provision of housing and affordable houses. I do not know how there is so much talk about affordable houses because no house is affordable now with the cost of materials, the cost of labour and the shortage of labour. I must speak about the number of vacant houses around the county of Kerry in towns and villages and between villages. Take the road from Kenmare through Kilgarvan and down to Killarney. Within ten miles of Killarney town in Glenflesk there are 55 vac…

This is a very important motion. I thank Deputy Kerrane for tabling it. We all remember the election campaign. When we were calling to people's doors, childcare was a constant issue. In many cases, both parents have to go out to work. They need to be out of home to keep a home, and that is the honest truth. They are having difficulties sourcing places and likewise, professional childminders and childcare professionals have many problems. During the summer months when children are at home from school, these childcar…

I am glad to get the opportunity to ask about the problem we have in Kerry with the delay in youngsters getting their driving tests. This is an important issue. Boys and girls have to wait for up to six months to get their driving test, which is far too long for a young learner driver to have to wait, particularly in rural areas of Kerry where there is no public transport option and driving is the only option. Many young people cannot take up job offers, apprenticeships or college courses, as they would have to hav…

I thank the Minister of State for his reply, but most of that information was contained in an answer to a parliamentary question I tabled a number of weeks ago and we are still the same way. It was the same last year when I raised the issue at an Oireachtas committee. The truth is, Dublin is being looked after but places like Kerry are not. That is the God's gospel truth. All of the children and youngsters of the country must be treated equally. People in Kerry are not being treated in the same way as people up her…

I thank Labour for tabling the motion before us today. It is important. Nothing is more important than this. A large burden is placed on parents when they see their child developing autism. They have to fight for primary school education and special needs teachers. Then, when they move on to post-primary school, they have to do it again. Surely, when a student is diagnosed, the supports should follow through from primary to post-primary education automatically. They should not have to fight for this again. Every ch…

I am sorry, but it is very important.

I respectfully ask the Taoiseach to look at the decision to stop elderly people from getting a grant to replace a stove, range or oil burner that has broken down. Since 1 December last, this grant has no longer been available to elderly people, the people who worked to put this country on its feet through the decades of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. These people are being denied a grant. Councillor Johnny Healy-Rae, a councillor of 14 years' standing, raised this at Kerry County Council last week and he was to…

What difference is that going to make to the climate, when we have bombs going off all around us in Gaza and Ukraine, and satellites and vehicles going to the moon?

I am sorry but I am very exercised about this. We have planes in the sky and all kinds of emissions but we want to stop little old people from having a fire to heat themselves.

People in Kerry are looking forward to the new planning framework and hoping it will deliver from them in a way previous plans have not done. I am talking about people who own land, not farmers' sons or daughters because they are being looked after. There are others who own an acre beside their parents' house, four or five miles outside Killorglin or seven or eight miles east of Killarney, but are still not allowed to build. We talk so much about housing here every day. It is scandalous that people who want to buil…

I wish to discuss pension abatement for retired nurses who returned to work during Covid and other workers who returned to vaccination centres, wards and community settings. They were highly experienced people. They answered the call and came back to work. They were told their pensions would not be affected. Some went into mental health into the CAMHS clinical liaison support team. They were told they could work up to 19.5 hours and it would not affect their pensions. They brought many years of experience and knowl…

I thank the Minister of State for coming in to answer my question about this. I do not thank her for reading out the section of the reply that claims kudos for the number of extra people employed by the HSE. Clearly, the HSE, the wards and the hospitals are understaffed. Regarding this particular episode, these people who came back to work did so out of the goodness of their heart when they saw that the country was under pressure. They were told their pensions would not be affected. Then, the Department of Finance …

We have a new Cathaoirleach Gníomhach in Deputy Keogh. We wish her well. We now find ourselves in an unfortunate position. We hope the Government can deal effectively and efficiently with it. We are a small nation but we have a lot going for us. We need to get our act together. The first thing we have to cut out is spending on waste and ridiculous things that are not of significant importance to the people we represent here in Dáil Éireann. We have been exposed by our over-reliance on multinational companies. It ha…

I thank Sinn Féin for giving us the opportunity to talk about water, which is the most important item a community, population or country needs. All my life, I have worked with water services in Kerry County Council, as my father and my uncles did before me. My family are now involved in doing work for Irish Water in different places from time to time. Water is very important. We know how angry people get about water charges. That has been dealt with and we have been told there is going to be no more water charges b…

You did well there.

Over 9,000 farmers are waiting for their ACRES payments, many for more than two years. Many of these farmers are financially strapped at this time. No other group or individuals would wait that long for their money. These people have bills to pay too. We have been told the system is broken down. If we had an old tractor or lorry broken down for two years, it would be timely to call Hammond Lane or Cork Metal Company to take it away and scrap it. The system the Government has must be scrapped. It should at least pay…

It is a scandal to God above in heaven that there are people who want and could build a house for themselves in County Kerry who cannot because of this planning clause about urban development pressure. This means that young people who want to build next door to their parents on their own land are not allowed to do it. I want the Minister to look at that. It is a sad state of affairs that in many of our towns and villages, we do not have a treatment plant so that people can build and tap into the sewers. In many tow…

Representatives of the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association came up to Agriculture House yesterday. Their concerns are about proposals to rewet peat-type soils and to stop people draining peat-type soils that have not been drained yet or have had only a little drainage. This will greatly and adversely impact on farmers' ability to farm, especially on marginal farms in places like south Kerry, west Kerry and all along the western seaboard. I am glad the Minister, Deputy Heydon, and the Minister of State, Deputy…