We spoke earlier about trying to ensure that teachers who are abroad will be attracted to come back to lay their roots here and get jobs. One challenge and disincentive can arise if they feel as though they are going to enter the system at the bottom despite being experienced teachers. I have come across several cases of teachers, which I will detail in a moment, who feel as though they would be disadvantaged and would enter the system at the bottom despite their experience and, therefore, they are inclined not to …

I find the Minister's response encouraging, in which she identified some of the issues we are talking about. I can think of two examples, from Australia and Vietnam, where somebody was teaching at a private school that is well recognised by that state's authorities and operates in line with its curriculum and so on. Despite having seven or eight years of experience in those schools, on returning home they would be treated as if they were just newly qualified. That is a severe disincentive. Is it possible to get a t…

I will forward to the Minister some correspondence I received. If she is taking on board what the Teachers' Union of Ireland is saying, she might take on board what I am saying. I will also flag to her a different type of issue that arose in Britain which, at the time, was still a member of the EU. A particular teacher was working on a job sharing basis in a recognised public school, although that is not really at the heart of the issue. This teacher taught for six years, working three days per week in a job-share …

This person is working in the primary sector.

Ba mhaith liom mo chuid ama a roinnt leis na Teachtaí Martin Kenny agus Paul Donnelly. Unfortunately, while the entire nation was shocked and disgusted by the revelations of recent weeks, it was perhaps not surprised, given that they followed the pattern of revelations about many similarly run institutions - horrific abuse, a failure to address that abuse, the ignoring of complaints, the moving of perpetrators and the failure to account properly for the wrongdoing that happened in the schools run by the Spiritan or…

I echo the call from Deputy Bacik on a debate on the abuse in Blackrock College and the Spiritans. The revelations over the course of the past week have been absolutely horrifying. It is clear that there will need to be a response from the State that will need to be thoughtful, considered and in line with the needs and wishes of the survivors and those who have bravely come forward. That would benefit from being discussed on the floor of the Dáil and I support that request.

Mar is eol don Taoiseach, bhí scéal ann i dtaobh míle leanbh i gConamara a chaill amach ar bhéilí scoile de bharr gur tharraing an comhlacht a bhí ag soláthar na mbéilí amach. The Taoiseach may be aware that in Connemara recently, 1,000 children lost their school meals because the provider ceased to provide them, citing financial pressures. This problem is spreading. It has become clear that there are problems with the school meal programme in the context of the cost-of-living crisis. The Taoiseach may have seen th…

Tá mé ag roinnt ama leis an Teachta O’Rourke. I thank everyone involved in and taking part in Science Week. It is an important initiative that gives us an opportunity to platform science and how it affects and shapes our everyday lives. The pandemic, perhaps more than other times, brought the role of science and scientists centre stage and into everyday conversation. Bhí eolaithe go rialta sna meáin. Bhí an pobal ag plé ábhair chasta eolaíochta. Bhí an vacsaín ar cheann de na samplaí is treise de luach staidéir eol…

The word "debilitating" has been used in a few speeches. From the few people I have known, both through my office and in the community generally, who have suffered from long Covid, that is precisely the word. It has laid them completely low. It is quite a serious illness. Previously very energetic, active people who were very involved in the community struggle to get out of bed or maybe spend an hour or two out of bed and then return. That is the experience of complete exhaustion, flatness, mental fog, inability to…

Skehard Road.

I will make a start, a Cheann Comhairle.

Leanfaidh mé ar aghaidh agus má thagann an Teachta Paul Donnelly, ligfidh mé isteach dó. It is good to see you back, a Cheann Comhairle back. Fáilte romhat ar ais. Tá sé go maith tú a fheiceáil i mbarr do shláinte agus do bheatha arís. On Irish Water, I might surprise the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, by starting out with a positive of sorts. In fairness to Irish Water, there has been a long-standing problem in Cork Harbour with the discharge of foul waste, pollution and the impact on bathing waters, It ha…

On Tuesday, more than 100 people, many of whom were elderly and vulnerable, were on trolleys in Cork hospitals, between Mercy University Hospital and Cork University Hospital, CUH. That occurred on 25 October, with the worst of the winter yet to come. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, is looking for a number of measures to ensure the situation in CUH does not deteriorate in the coming weeks and months in order that we do not have a terrible winter. These include additional specialists to be directed…

The situation that we face this winter has the potential to be severe. Regrettably, there is a need for urgent action, including additional generation of power. For that reason, we do not oppose the legislation, but we have some concerns about the manner in which it is being processed. I accept that it is frustrating when we see the situation, we are in. It is due to Government policy in recent years. We are here because of a failure of the Government to plan to ensure we would have adequate capacity. I attended a …

Is léir go bhfuil an-dúil ag daoine ina bheith ag úsáid iompair phoiblí ach caithfidh an t-infheistiú a bheith ann chun gur féidir le daoine a bheith ag súil leis go rithfidh seirbhísí in am agus go mbeidh na feithiclí sábháilte agus glan. I commend the work my colleague, Deputy O'Rourke, has done in this area. The motion is testament to the ambition that this party has for the public transport investment that is necessary for recruitment and the scale that is there. People will take public transport. They will cho…

The whole area of assessments of need has, unfortunately, moved from crisis to crisis and rushed solution to rushed solution. A series of court cases has been taken in the past year or so. These found that the approach being taken to the assessment of needs model that was in place was inconsistent with the Disability Act. Children were not getting adequate assessment of their needs. In many instances, children were only being seen briefly under what was called the standard operating procedure. That was struck down.…

There are two very different things at issue here. On the one hand, where a school believes a child might need additional support or may have an additional need, it will talk to the HSE and the NCSE about how that child can be supported. Schools have a role undoubtedly in that and principals and teachers are well-placed to identify somebody who potentially may need additional support. It is an entirely different thing but it is completely back to front for the NCSE to put the responsibility for filtering that onto …

It is now nine months since the pandemic bonus for front-line workers was announced. HSE workers were paid quite quickly after that but there are other workers across the State and in every community in Ireland, who would have worked extremely hard during that period and exposed themselves to Covid, whether they were in the fire service, cleaners in our hospitals and healthcare providers, nursing home staff or in the Defence Forces. Many of these people are getting very frustrated. They feel they have made just as …

Ba mhaith liom tacaíocht a thabhairt don rún seo. Tá sé ciallmhar ó thaobh na todhchaí, na timpeallachta, tráchta agus costas teaghlaigh agus oibre. This is a significant time for public transport. My home city of Cork is one of the areas in which there will be a big focus on trying to shift people from relying on their cars to using public transport more. We are currently in the middle of consultations on BusConnects. I believe BusConnects is a good idea and it can work but, for that to happen, it is important tha…

The Government boasts of Housing for All but whatever we have, it is not housing for all. We have record rents, record homelessness and record house prices. For a whole generation, having a home of one’s own is just simply beyond reach. People are having to decide between independence now and having one’s money swallowed up by rent, or security later while having to wait at home with parents, even if one has children of one’s own, well into one’s mid-30s. For others, they can have neither security later nor indepen…