The Minister and the Minister of State may have seen reports over the past year, particularly in the Irish Examiner in December, about the situation of Fiacre Ryan, who is quite an inspiring young man of 21 years of age. He became the first non-verbal autistic person in Ireland to write a book. That was possible because he had the use of the rapid prompting method, RPM, which is a technology that helps non-verbal people with autism. Clearly there is potential with this method and parents and many others are encoura…

I am glad that the Minister of State is quite familiar with RPM, has had engagement with families on it and can see the benefits of it. That is encouraging. I take the point that you have to cut your cloth to measure and that different children will require different things. No one is suggesting that it will be a silver bullet but a request has been made for a pilot programme to be examined. The Minister of State says it can be used, but this stuff is not free. As things stand, if a child requires RPM and a school …

It seems to me that a discussion needs to happen behind the scenes on this. A pilot would potentially be of benefit. The point about empirical evidence is fair enough but some of that might be down to a lack of research so a pilot might help to establish an evidential basis. The Minister of State can talk about schools being at liberty to use RPM but that is not necessarily to say they have the resources to use it. As I said, these things are not for free. I am glad the Minister of State is taking this on board and…

I ask the Minister of State to listen carefully and to take note. I await his answer with interest. I hope we see some positive news in it but even if we do not, the crucial thing is that this message is relayed back to the Department, the Garda Commissioner and the Minister for Justice, Deputy Simon Harris. Carrigaline, for those familiar with it, is a large town of some 15,000 people. It has grown rapidly. As recently as 1961, there were fewer than a thousand people in the town. It is a commuter town, the populat…

As a small aside, it is a bit peculiar to make reference to districts given that the new operating model is based on the divisional model, as the Minister of State has mentioned. The districts are not really the metric any more. Making a comparison with 2015, which was the lowest point, is something of a distraction. In any event, we are focused on a particular part of the district, which is quite large and takes in much of the south side of Cork city and the outlying area. The population of much of that area has n…

I add my voice to those of the preceding speakers. It is vital that we ensure the redress process moves forward but the way this is being circumscribed is unacceptable, unconscionable and unreasonable. It is quite arbitrary in lots of ways. A man came to visit me in my constituency office on Monday. He wanted to tell me about his experience. I told him that typically when we instance cases, we do not necessarily mention names but he said it was important to him that his name was mentioned because he said he did not…

The Taoiseach will be familiar with the situation regarding the drug Cariban. There was an announcement of a reimbursement fund, which was welcomed. I have been contacted by many constituents about this, and I know the Taoiseach commented on it before Christmas. Women who are struggling with hyperemesis have the choice between suffering with this debilitating condition or finding themselves in significant amounts of debt and spending large amounts of money because they cannot access it. Trying to access a consultan…

The situation in Cork and Kerry is as bad and perhaps worse than in most places. There are 857 children waiting, the largest number in any CHO. Some 296 children have been waiting longer than a year. In recent days, we heard worrying news from SIPTU about serious staffing issues at the Aislinn inpatient unit at Bessborough, where only 58% of nursing posts are filled. This has a knock-on effect on the staff who are trying to plug the gaps and the pressure that puts on them. In such circumstances, it is hard to blame…

The Minister should look around himself.

Mar is eol don Aire, baineann scéal fada leis na daoine óga a bhí tráth sna scoileanna cónaithe, leis an bhforéigean a rinneadh orthu, leis an obair gan rogha a bhí ann, leis an saol deacair a bhí ann agus leis an dualgas atá ar an Stát feabhas a chur ar a gcuid coinníollacha sa lá atá inniu ann. The Minister is familiar with the long history of trying to address the abuse, forced labour and difficult life circumstances of the residents of residential institutions. The State has, to a greater or lesser extent, been…

I thank the Minister. Before I continue I want to clarify something. The response may have been drafted late last year given that this Topical Issue matter was to be taken last year, which is fair enough, and it might just be an error. The response states that the consultative forum's report was submitted late last year. I would say that should state "in late 2021" because I have a parliamentary question from my colleague, Deputy Paul Murphy, and the response to that written question, which was given in December 20…

I support the motion that has been brought forward by Deputy Michael Collins and his colleagues. I commend the work that is going on and the work of our spokesperson, Deputy Mac Lochlainn. It does not require intimate knowledge of the fishing industry to understand the injustice that has long been foisted on fishing communities across the State and the missed opportunities that exist, particularly in the context of the much greater popularity of seafood. There is no doubt that issue must be addressed. There is an i…

Ar an gcéad dul síos, glacaim an deis, mar aon leis an Teachta Paul Murphy, labhairt faoi chás Dháithí Mac Gabhann agus is mór an trua go bhfuil páirtí amháin ag seasamh sa tslí le go rachadh Stormont ar ais agus an reachtaíocht sin a chur tríd na Tithe sin. I take this opportunity to mention the case of Dáithí Mac Gabhann, who has been the inspiration for a huge campaign in the North for reforms of the kind envisioned here. It is a terrible shame that one party is standing in the way of that and I echo the calls f…

I add my Christmas wishes to the Minister, his departmental staff, my colleagues in the Opposition and in the Government, and the Oireachtas staff who do such a crucial job. I was relieved to see the increase. It is not perfect. There are questions and issues to be addressed, but I was relieved. The issue of income thresholds was something we increasingly saw in our offices. It created a number of problems. It added to the group of people who fell in that gap between being able to afford a commercial mortgage and q…

It is the Government's motion

Ar an gcéad dul síos, tréaslaím leis an rún seo ó Pháirtí na nDaonlathaithe Sóisialta. I commend the Social Democrats on this very well put together and timely motion. It contains a number of suggestions which I urge the Minister to take on board. The current crisis in our schools is quite profound. It exists absolutely everywhere but is most severe in the big cities and on the east coast. Some 60% of places on the substitute panels in Dublin are vacant. There are occasions when if three teachers are out, schools a…

Tá sé seo sách ráite cheana féin ag cúpla Teachta, na Teachtaí Shortall, O’Reilly agus Cullinane ina measc. Cuid bhunúsach den fhadhb ná an tslí inar cuireadh soláthar ar na seirbhísí sna Stáit Aontaithe, in ainneoin go raibh go leor daoine ag rá go raibh baol ann de bharr na gcaighdeán sna labs sin, an osradharc ar na tástálacha sin agus an tionchar a d’fhéadfadh a bheith aige sin ar an gcaighdeán eolais a bheadh muidne, agus na mná, ag fáil anseo. Is tromchúiseach an toradh a bhí ar sin agus chonaiceamar go leor …

It is, unfortunately, all too rare that debate changes opinion in this House but I welcome the fact that the Minister is listening on this occasion and has moved to an extent. It has been clearly a worthwhile endeavour to have the additional time to debate and tease this out. The Opposition has had an opportunity to clearly articulate the position and the reservations that exist. I suppose it is not only this one reservation; there are several others and we will return to some of them. The Minister has comprehended…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht bheith anseo chun an ábhar dáiríre seo a phlé linn. I thank the Minister for being here. I understand she has a meeting later today with the stakeholders to discuss this very important issue. It is an issue that is escalating quite significantly. The Minister will be aware of its seriousness but for the benefit of the House and the record, I will say that we have a severe crisis in teacher supply at present in both primary and post-primary schools. In my view, this is primarily…

I thank the Minister. I have acknowledged that some actions have been taken, albeit more in the primary area than the post-primary area. The Minister has acknowledged that despite these actions, which have helped to some extent, work remains to be done to address the teacher supply challenge and particularly to ensure the availability of sufficient substitute teachers. I imagine these actions have made some difference but, as the Minister said, they are clearly not fully addressing the problem that exists. I note w…