I sympathise with all the families of those who died alone in hospitals and nursing homes. That was the saddest part of the whole thing. It should not have happened and I ask that it not be allowed to happen again, especially as visitors are being severely impeded from entering hospitals. Some people became seriously sick, such as Jim Tangney from the Black Valley, a naturally fit man, and Teddy O'Connor, who is still sick. The front-line workers did so much for everyone under a great deal of pressure. I am very di…

I am glad to have the opportunity to talk about our youngsters growing up and their future. We are educating children and pupils to the highest standard in our universities. I also welcome the Munster Technological University in Tralee, which is a big advantage. We needed it for so long and we are glad to have it since the beginning of last year. It is important for the vibrancy of Tralee and to facilitate youngsters from Kerry, Cork and the entire area. We are educating people to the highest standard but we do not…

I am glad to get the opportunity to speak. I will vote for anything that will help the forestry sector, whether it is felling licences, planning licences or the building of roads. No farmer has any problem with planting small plantations of broadleaf. Farmers did not have to be told by the Green Party, or by anyone else for that matter, to do so. That has been happening over the years in corners of fields, haggards, around houses for shelter and different places. It has been done over the ages. Confidence in the fo…

One issue is tied into the other. I have almost said what I want to say. I will again say to the Minister that most confidence in the forestry sector has gone and what is left is evaporating as the days go by. We have gone from 2018 to 2019, 2020 and 2021 and here we are in 2022. We are talking about nearly five years and we are still in trouble with it.

There is a lot of fanfare and much hay is being made about this proposal to allow a hectare of native woodland to be planted without needing to get planning permission. Farmers have been planting broadleaf trees in corners of fields and around houses for shelter and continue to do so. Is the Minister telling me that what they were doing was wrong? He is suggesting that they do not have to apply for planning permission. I think they would do this anyway without the Minister telling them. Could they be helped with a …

I, too, add my voice to the call that the wording used should be "beyond reasonable doubt" rather than "on the balance of probability". This is a new departure from fair play. Any criminal brought before any court enjoys the presumption of innocence until found guilty. What is suggested in the wording is wrong. It may seem small to argue about the wording but it is important to people whose heads are down at this time. This legislation does not solely affect fishers and all the grand people who came up the River Li…

When I heard Deputy Mac Lochlainn reading out what the Minister said when he was over here in opposition, I could not understand how the Minister is over there in government at all, contesting one little line that we want to change. The purpose of us asking to use the words "beyond a reasonable doubt" is to provide fairness and equality for fishermen and women under the law and the Constitution, otherwise the Government will create a new and dangerous precedent of treating fishers as second-class citizens under the…

What we are asking for is very minimal. These are hard-working people who pay their taxes. They are contributing to us in this Chamber and to services, whether those are carers, pensions or whatever. They are contributing like everyone else and they do not have surety of work. They are dependent on the weather as to whether they can go out to fish. We are asking the Minister to double the days to 60 because 30 days pass quickly. We are not long back after Christmas and the month of January is gone. The other proble…

I am glad to get this opportunity. For those who remember the Troubles and all the people who were killed, hurt and maimed, the Good Friday Agreement is a milestone that will be appreciated forever. We cannot forget the people who were involved, including Presidents Kennedy and Clinton as well as Ted Kennedy and others from America. I thank former taoisigh, Charles Haughey and Albert Reynolds especially. That man took risks when he was Taoiseach. I do not think he ever gets the credit he really deserves. Others inv…

I am glad to get the opportunity to speak and I thank Sinn Féin. I will start by apologising to the parents and those lovely boys and girls who were harmed and not treated properly by the HSE. Those youngsters and parents did nothing wrong. I have to reiterate that they did absolutely nothing wrong. They sought help and did not get it. Some 1,332 children were not dealt with properly. Were it not for locum doctor consultant psychologist, Dr. Ankur Sharma, who raised the alarm about multiple medications to young men…

I ask the Minister to outline the progress made by the steering group in reviewing the school transport scheme. What changes have been made to the scheme to date? Has the group examined the possibility of issuing school bus tickets earlier than at present such as in July, for example? This would allow for concessionary tickets to be processed before the school term resumes in order that parents can make alternative travel arrangements if they have to. It may be construed that I have a conflict of interest because w…

I thank the Minister very much for her reply. There are a number of issues I have to raise with her. On the medical card, it only covers pupils on the bus to the nearest school. If that school is full they must pay to go to their next-nearest school. Many bus operators have asked me to raise the rule that prevents drivers from working beyond the age of 70 years. These 70-year-olds go on to drive tour buses, for instance, around the Ring of Kerry with full bus loads. What they are saying is if Bus Éireann provided a…

I also want to mention the 20-year rule that prevents buses when they reach 20 years of age-----

I thank the Minister. Again, I ask her to change that 70 years of age rule because bus operators are having severe difficulty in getting qualified drivers. We are throwing good drivers onto the rubbish heap. On the 20-year rule for buses, if a bus passes the commercial vehicle roadworthiness test, CRVT - and those tests are rigorous - then it should be allowed. This is happening in other jurisdictions like the UK and the North of Ireland. There is another rule. Years ago, when rural schools were closed, a promise w…

Can most operators make submissions?

I ask whether the attention of the Minister has been drawn to a series of issues in regard to the delays in the issuing of first-time and renewal passports, and if the parent consent form needs to be simplified. One of the biggest issues is that over 40% of children's passports are sent back as not being complete applications.

I hear the reply but there are huge issues with people getting their passports on time, especially children's passports, both first-time applications and renewals. The current process still needs to be reviewed as I have been advised recently by the Minister's office that more than 40% of all children's passport applications are deemed to be incomplete. The problem is that the extra or missing information is not sought until too near the date when the application was supposed to be granted. That seems to be where t…

I doubt that.

The Minister is right. As we are talking here today, there is a backlog of 113,000 applications. Can the Minister imagine that? Something needs to be changed in regard to the parent consent form because that is where most of the difficulty is, and the application is being sent back due to a lack of information or because there is something wrong with that parent consent form. That needs to be streamlined or something needs to be done to change it in such a way that it will be more effective. One poor man applied to…

Why should it be treated as a new application because it has been 11 years?