The Government has done an awful lot of work on bringing the cost of education down with schemes like free meals and free books. However, another cost that has been placed on parents trying to get their kids back to secondary school is really expensive laptops for each child. Laptops cost from €500 to €700 and even more, and every child who starts secondary school - in the schools I am familiar with - have this cost now. That is a huge expense on families. Yes, we have taken away one burden but the education system…

I thank the Minister of State for being here. I will speak about medical cards specifically for cancer patients. I will ask the Department to do something really incredible for cancer patients, which is something we most definitely can fix. It is to simplify the medical card application for people with cancer. We already made adaptions to the application process, which worked well for Ukrainian refugees under the temporary protection directive, resulting in a streamlined system that cut through bureaucracy and guar…

Absolutely. There have been huge improvements over the past couple of years. I will go back to the fact that people with cancer are recovering. We have more cancer survivors than ever before. That means they are leaving treatment, are healthy and are getting back to being economic actors who are delivering back to the State. I ask that when we look at cancer, we help patients with cancer through the cancer by not being financially burdened and having that hardship carry on into their recovery. The Minister of State…

I ask the Minister for an update on the community centres investment fund, and to make a statement on the matter. When will the next round be announced? It is a hugely important and successful scheme so I would like to hear an update.

I thank the Minister for the very positive response. I want to highlight communities like my own community of Mullaghbuoy. Mullaghbuoy Community Centre was built by the community, including my parents and loads of other parents and my neighbours. They went around collecting £1 a week to make sure we had a community facility. It caters for everything from the cake sales to the céilís to making sure we have events for people in our communities. These centres have supported communities all around County Louth from St.…

In relation to bringing childcare and that community and children focus, we have a fantastic facility in Cooley Kickhams which was also a recipient of the grant. We have a preschool there. My children went to it. It works well. It is the heart of the community and it is where our children should be and where they fit best. I absolutely support that.

I welcome the Minister today. It is great to have an opportunity to speak on this matter. I stand in full solidarity with every single woman, survivor and child who has been torn apart and asunder, often physically and emotionally, by domestic, sexual or gender-based violence. Every single day of the week, we are confronted by harrowing stories, brutal killings, names of women we read in the newspaper, faces we see in memorials and families who carry that burden of grief and pain that will never leave them. Their d…

I can look you in the eye.

The cheek of you.

I welcome the students here this evening. I know how important it is to have student support when going to college. I went to a tech and got a grant to go to college. I would not have been able to do it otherwise. I worked throughout college. I know how important it is to have supports to be able to succeed in college and do what you want to do and what is in you. Let us be clear: Fianna Fáil is the party of education. From Donogh O’Malley's introduction of free secondary school education to today's SUSI reforms, o…

I thank the Minister. After the tragic and desperate loss of a lady of the calibre of Veronica Guerin, we have done a lot of good in her memory and name. CAB has been a hugely successful organisation and, as the Minister said, has been mirrored and copied in other countries. We must ensure any resource that CAB needs, it gets because it is an incredibly effective organisation. We see the reality of crime in County Louth and all across the Border region. We see fuel smuggling and drug trafficking across the Border. …

It is good to hear that the Minister has been working on the commitment in the programme for Government. He mentioned the Bill that will come before the House. I reiterate it is important that we see a Border CAB unit looking at the Border region. It is not fair on law-abiding citizens and retailers that we have smuggling and illegal fuel coming across the Border. These are criminals whose criminal activity comes under the guise of smuggling. I want to ensure they are held to account.

Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda is one of the busiest hospitals in the country. It has serious capacity issues. The base bed numbers do not match the need. The accident and emergency department is regularly at capacity, requiring the hospital to enable surge capacity. This has knock-on effects such as outpatient appointments being cancelled. That is not to mention people on trolleys and waiting lists. Dundalk and Drogheda are two of the largest towns in the country. I ask that the feasibility of establishi…

I am very pleased to contribute to these important statements on the all-island rail review recommendations. This is a chance to make a generational change, transform people's lives, connect people and communities across the island, strengthen our economy and, importantly, reduce our carbon emissions. Fianna Fáil welcomes this work, which was undertaken by the Department of Transport and the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland. The Belfast-Dublin line highlights the shared ambition to deliver a decarb…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House to discuss the publication of the review of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004. The report is an overdue milestone and a wake-up call. Now, 21 years into that EPSEN Act, we must be real. Parts of the legislation have never been implemented. The Ombudsman for Children highlighted in 2021 that key provisions, especially those concerning assessments of need, were unactioned and placing intolerable pressure on children and families. As the Mini…

Next December marks 50 years since the Dundalk bombing where five people were murdered and 26 people were injured. In light of this enduring trauma, the anniversary coming up, many unanswered questions and not a semblance of any justice, what actions has the Minister's Department taken for direct engagement with Northern Ireland in relation to this to secure some release of information and some accountability, particularly regarding the long-standing allegations of collusion?

I raise the serious concerns people have in Dundalk and north Louth in particular regarding Uisce Éireann. We have huge deficits when it comes to water infrastructure. Wastewater treatment plants are over capacity and are not working to purpose. We have brown water constantly in Dundalk and all over north Louth, where people cannot wash their clothes. Their clothes are actually dirtier after the wash. After years of engaging with Uisce Éireann in good faith, we are getting nowhere as public representatives in Count…

The Minister of State is very welcome. It is great to have an opportunity to talk about housing. This is a huge issue. It is a serious issue that consumes all of us in these Houses and in each and every one of our constituencies. It affects our families and communities. In reality, despite all the talk about all the different things, we have to build out of this nightmare. Fianna Fáil has always believed that every person should have the right to a secure and affordable home, whether that is through ownership, soci…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this highly concerning matter, which has rocked many families across the country. The lack of any sort of organisation or accountability within CHI is a grave matter. This has rocked every parent and devastated the affected families again. It shakes public trust in our healthcare system to its foundations. What is happening in Children's Health Ireland at the minute can only be described as an extreme crisis. What was supposed to be a beacon of excellence for paediatric care is…

No, your two and a half minutes are up.