As the Minister will be aware, a very large number of people will be affected by this. Some 225,000 people receive these payments, 150,000 on disability allowance and about 75,000 on the other payments. If I were to think of a single phrase that I think concerns people - the specific phrase belongs to the approach that was taken in Britain - it would be "work capability assessment". I think the Minister's Department uses a different phrase, but the former phrase would send a chill down the back of the neck of anybo…

I think there is sometimes a lack of awareness of the partial capacity element of things and a difficulty in transitioning between invalidity and partial capacity payments. That is maybe another day's work but it might be an interim issue that could be raised. I hear the Minister say that cutting costs will not be a part of this. I will hold her to that. That is vital. It cannot be about cutting costs. There are obstacles to people with disabilities entering work; there is no question about that. As regards the rat…

I had criticisms of some of the elements of budget 2024 but one of the measures I welcomed was the increase in the means test thresholds for carer's allowance. Currently, I believe, however, that there is a large-scale means test of people on carer's allowance happening which could lead to people being cut off who might then later qualify. Will the Minister comment on that?

This has come to my attention because a number of people have contacted me recently who are being means-tested for their carer's allowance. Naturally, some of them are worried, as they would be when they are being means-tested. Anecdotally, from speaking to a number of these people, they believe this is occurring across the board and that a very large number of people are being tested, perhaps more than the ordinary review of means test. Will the Minister confirm or deny that? In any event, in a number of these cas…

I am not expecting the Minister to make policy on the floor of the Dáil. I ask her to take away my proposal and think about it. There is a category of people who will be cut off and whose allowance will then be restored within a period of six months. I do not believe this is necessary. The Minister may have the power to operate on either side of that by not cutting people off. That type of thing has been done in the past. I ask the Minister to go away to think about that. It is possible to resolve this. The carer's…

When will the Bill be published?

I mean no disrespect to the Ministers who are present - I am not sure which of them is taking this matter - but I hoped the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, if not the senior Minister, would be here to take this. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, has been directly involved in this matter and is aware of the issues involved. I regret that neither she nor the senior Minister is here. I mean no disrespect to the Ministers present. It is unfortunate. Carrigaline Community Special School was set up two years ag…

I thank the Minister of State. There are two specific points I ask him to bring to the attention of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, after this debate. First, a school in Enniscorthy is being provided grants to source the therapies that are needed locally through the private sector. Can such an approach be considered for Carrigaline Community Special School? It has been on the go for two years now and it has not received anything. Second, there is the issue of having a nurse on site, which is not currently t…

How can we ensure the HSE delivers what the Minister of State is asking it to do? How can we ensure it is accountable?

I apologise for missing my original speaking slot and thank the Ceann Comhairle for facilitating me. We regularly discuss the challenges that exist to ensure that people who perpetrate sexual violence and sexual offences are brought to justice. Notwithstanding the fact that legislation has improved and that there have been improvements in reporting to some extent, it is still the case that sexual offences are extremely challenging things to report. Even when they are reported, very often they do not proceed to pros…

The delay in publishing the review is not acceptable. The school transport system has been deeply problematic for a long time. Now that I am no longer the Sinn Féin spokesperson for education, I will speak from my experience in my constituency. The issue most often raised with me relates to special education, primarily the city services in my constituency. One of the big issues I see is the challenge of finding drivers when a route is sanctioned. This is a huge problem which needs to be examined. I am dealing with …

My wife recently received a call from a childcare provider. We had put our son's name down on a waiting list for a childcare place around the time he was born. The problem is he is four tomorrow. That is the situation people are looking at. They could be waiting three or four years to get a call. Obviously it is not the same in every instance but the fact is that if people move to Cork tomorrow morning looking for a full-time childcare place, they would nearly be laughed out of it. The places are simply not there. …

I support this legislation and I am glad that the plebiscite was successful in Limerick because it provides the opportunity to progress with this. The idea of directly elected mayors is important. The points I will raise have been raised by a lot of others but I will make two points: one on detail; and the other on power. On detail, the margin in the plebiscite in Cork was narrow. We supported the campaign in favour of it and we were active in that but it was narrow. I believe that the Government wanted it to go th…

The thing that strikes me about this debate is that the people who are most affected by this are among those the Government styles itself as being for. The Government styles itself as being for getting up early in the morning, aspiration and home ownership. This is how Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael style themselves. They seek to speak to the people who are affected by this, yet these are the people who are being hit from every direction. They are facing enormous childcare bills of €1,500, €1,800 or maybe even €2,000 pe…

I would also like to express my thanks to the staff. This is a great place to work,. That is the case because we are served by so many excellent people. A couple of moments ago, the Tánaiste criticised the leader of the Social Democrats for opposing measures that would address the housing crisis. Leaving aside the fact that the genesis of this housing crisis lies in the failure of the last Fianna Fáil Government to build adequate social housing, does the Tánaiste regret getting all eight of his party's city council…

I will clarify-----

Can I clarify? I am happy to withdraw that.

Not against social housing. Can the Tánaiste give an example of us being against social housing?

Where?

What about in Cork? We have not been against any over 20 years.