It is great to have the Minister of State here. We are all here speaking on the same matter, looking at the photos and the videos of what is happening in Gaza and the horrendous situation playing out right in front of our eyes. I utterly condemn the continuing Israeli military operations. I wish to speak about the fresh hell the Israeli Government has brought upon the Gazan people. There must be an immediate ceasefire, the release of all remaining hostages and the resumption of unhindered humanitarian assistance to…

I am very grateful for the opportunity to speak on this issue. I wish the Minister very well in her role. Having listened to everyone who contributed, I believe there is not one Member across these Houses who is not inundated with queries and concerns over children’s therapies, waiting lists and assessment of need. So many of us are supporting parents and families to get services for their children. The difficulty with the assessment of need process, the waiting lists and vacancy rates is that they are all leaving …

I am speaking on behalf of the families whose lives have been turned upside down by the hip dysplasia scandal, particularly those who have sat in my constituency office in Dundalk over the past couple of weeks upset about the care for their little children. How is the Department planning to support those families to get treatment and follow-up care for children who have had surgery for hip dysplasia? These families did everything right. They brought their children to hospital and trusted the system. They believed t…

I thank the Minister of State, and I understand she is reading out an answer from the Department and it is not her line responsibility. I am getting a huge of sense of frustration here. My question was on the financial support. The Minister of State said that certain treatments are available in Ireland and therefore, it is a "No". I am sorry; this is not a normal situation, where the trust breaks down. I will repeat what I said: if there was even a hint of a suggestion that my children were operated on wrongly or u…

The Taoiseach might have heard the wee bit of news that came out of Croke Park on Sunday evening, with Louth winning the Leinster final and the Delaney Cup after 68 years of waiting. I must apologise for my voice; I got a bit hoarse during the celebrations. Louth GAA is most definitely on the up. We have two Leinster titles under our belts this year, the men's senior and the under-20s titles. There are another two to go. I can tell the Taoiseach that the people of Louth have been lifted so much. There were tears in…

No sympathies.

There is a great opportunity on this island for generating energy in a sustainable way and I am ambitious for what we can do. I believe we can be a leader and part of that is infrastructure, capacity on the grids, storage capacity, but also capital infrastructure that is needed to maintain the offshore wind farms. Greenore Port in County Louth is in a perfect position to be an incredibly valuable asset for the country, North and South, as it has planning permission for new operational and maintenance facilities. Th…

I thank the Minister for sharing time on this hugely important issue. As he will be aware, I was recently honoured to be appointed by An Taoiseach, Deputy Martin, as Chair of the Committee on Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. I look forward to working with the Minister responsible, the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, and the committee members from across these Houses to add our voices to the future of this sector. The importance of this sector cannot be underestimated. Investing in e…

The Land Development Agency claims it is committed to meeting the need for affordable homes for purchase and rent across the country. In Dundalk, we have had no workable affordable housing scheme available to the people of Louth as yet. We have three sites identified at which the LDA says it can build up to 1,000 homes. To date, we have seen no real action on making this a reality. Dundalk is a thriving town and a home of very important economic growth for the country. Housing is key to unlocking more growth in the…

I want to raise the issue of rural housing. In County Louth I am dealing with an incredible number of young couples struggling to get planning permission for their homes. Often I find they are almost demonised for asking and having the audacity to want to build on their own land and create a future for themselves in their own communities. Couples who grow up in an area expect to be able to send their children to primary schools and secondary schools in the area. Quite often we see they are not allowed to do so and …

We are in precarious times, as the Minister knows, and there is incredible uncertainty and uneasiness for anyone involved in business in this country. The new trade policy by the US has shaken the world and we need to adjust and adapt to this ever-changing landscape in which we are finding ourselves living. As we all have articulated today, as a country, we have enjoyed decades where global trade has increased, new markets have opened up and supply chains are being ever-more diverse and complex. Ireland is an examp…

The work of this programme on child poverty is hugely important for the future of the country. When looking at childhood poverty, the State could look at its causes, namely, single parent households, households where nobody is in employment and intergenerational poverty. Often our social protection system puts constraints and restraints on single parent families preventing these parents from going out to work and leaving them in that poverty trap. The State spends over €4.5 billion dealing with the consequences of …

I ask this question on foot and mouth disease because my community, neighbours and family farm were devastated in 2001 when all our animals had to be culled because of the disease. In light of foot and mouth disease being detected all across Europe, including in Slovakia, Germany and Hungary, I would like to know how ready this country will be if there is an outbreak. What are we doing to stop foot and mouth disease, and also bluetongue disease, from coming to this country?

I thank the Minister. It is good to hear that we have protocols at ports. The Minister alluded to North–South co-operation at ports like Larne. As we know, foot and mouth disease came in across the Border on the last occasion. There had been an outbreak in Meigh, south Armagh. It is very important, therefore that we have the protocols. There was considerable co-operation back in 2001 from the families and farms of the Cooley peninsula. We worked very hard to make sure we saved the rest of the country from the foot …

At the minute, we have a two-tier compensation scheme for sheep farmers. Some farmers took a legal case and other farmers trusted in the State and believed their circumstances would be reviewed after the legal case. They did so in good faith. Owing to the considerable co-operation, we owe it to the affected farmers on the Cooley peninsula to upgrade their compensation package in line with that available to other farmers.

The Bill will now be sent to the Seanad.

My question concerns Dundalk Institute of Technology, DkIT, which is of huge importance for the entire north-east region, educationally, economically and socially. I am hugely ambitious for the institution. It is the only IT that is left without university status. Last June, DkIT and Maynooth University signed a letter of intent confirming there will be a joint strategic engagement on future collaborations over the coming years. This is a hugely significant and exciting departure for both education bodies. What is …

I absolutely acknowledge the huge investment the Government has provided to the HEA for DkIT. It is a fantastic and hugely important institution. As this is a new departure from what the HEA legislation initially set out, namely, ITs collaborating together, I want to make sure there are no barriers to progress. When the ducks are being put in a row, if regulatory or legal change is needed to ensure the college's status for the future and in order that there will be no blockage from a legal or policy point of view t…

I thank the Minister for his continuing support on this matter. I look forward to his coming to Dundalk again very soon and visiting DkIT. It was not about finding a fit with another institute of technology; it was about finding the right fit. Maynooth University is the right fit. The academic strengths of the two institutions complement each other. It is a win-win for both.

I thank the Acting Chair for his consideration this morning. Rural roads in County Louth could not have enough money from the perspective of walkers, tourism and agriculture. My question relates to special circumstances, such as if there was an extreme weather event, for example. In the previous two years LIS funding was awarded to a particular road when it was damaged and decimated in an extreme weather event. In those circumstances, would the Department look fondly on them and give them money to make sure the roa…