I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this very important motion to the House. I come from the Fine Gael Party, which is known as the united Ireland party. I have my grandfather's witness statement from the Bureau of Military History. He was commander of the IRA in north Roscommon, was released on the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and was a Sinn Féin councillor. He was the first garda in An Garda Síochána. We are very proud of him. My other grandfather was Felix Feighan from Cullyhanna, south Armagh. He could not go b…

Last Sunday night, 400 premises in the south Leitrim region were without electricity after Storm Amy. Power was restored more quickly this time but only because other regions were less affected, allowing manpower to be redirected there. People living in the area, with its considerable proliferation of forestry through which electricity lines run, realise this is the reason for the problem. Is there a role for the Commission for Regulation of Utilities in dealing with the ongoing failures affecting electricity and c…

The radiotherapy bus, known as the "cancer bus", provides a daily service for patients travelling from Sligo to Galway University Hospital for radiotherapy treatment. The current bus is not fit for purpose as there is no wheelchair access and no toilet facility. Wheelchair access goes without saying, really. It is a bus providing a service for people who are ill and should surely have wheelchair access. Many patients require the urgent or frequent use of a toilet because of the nature of their illness. The bus has …

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I am happy that more than 80% of the funding required for the bus has been secured. I thank the local charity for raising €50,000 through fundraising efforts. This has gone on far too long. The Department is committing to ongoing engagement with the HSE and partners to find a solution that works for patients. This is going on for at least nine months. What has happened in the previous nine months has been nothing but passing the buck from one Department to the other when…

Last April, the Minister for housing was quoted in the media as saying he would instruct all local authorities to reopen their county development plans and rezone a very significant additional amount of land for residential use so that that land is available for builders to build homes that people need across the country by the end of this year. This is a very welcome initiative. When will the Minister write to the local authorities and spell out what he wants from this process? Will he consider bringing in all the…

I want to bring to the attention of the Minister for Health an issue raised by my colleague, Senator P.J. Murphy; namely, the revelation that sick certificates are being provided through some online platforms with no consultation between patients and doctors. From the point of view of medical practitioners, employers and patient safety, there are serious issues and concerns here. When it comes to someone's health, it is vital that a consultation between the doctor and the patient takes place. I understand the Minis…

The GPO is the hallowed place where our republic was born. It is our GPO, a witness to our struggle, sacrifice and Rising. However, there are many aspects of our fight for freedom that also need to be recognised. My grandfather was James Feely. He was a member of the Irish Volunteers in Boyle, County Roscommon, and a commander of the IRA in north Roscommon. He was imprisoned during the War of Independence, released after the Anglo-Irish Treaty, and he was one of the first gardaí in our State. Our family is very pro…

The executive and many members of the Northern and Western Regional Assembly, NWRA, were in Dublin two weeks ago to meet Oireachtas Members and present a briefing note on infrastructure, or the lack thereof, in the northern and western region. With the upcoming review of the national development plan, I take this opportunity to press the Government to address the current imbalance of investment in our region and others. In its submission, the NWRA identified 33 infrastructure projects across the nine local authorit…

The Minister is always welcome to the constituency that is Sligo-Leitrim and south Donegal. Indeed, he is always welcome to the west and north west. When he does come, he can come by road, rail, bike or foot. In the Minister's case, I understand he sometimes comes by boat up the Shannon. I wish to raise the N17 Sligo to Galway and Mayo road. It is an issue everyone wants resolved, and I am delighted it now has been. In the previous Government, there was an issue. The former Minister, Eamon Ryan, came to Sligo and s…

Our sincere condolences are with the families and friends of the victims of the tragic crash of the London-bound plane from western India this morning, with 240 persons on board. I also want to extend my condolences to Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh on the passing of her mother this morning. It is my understanding that the proposal to provide phone pouches to schools across Ireland may not now proceed. Will the Tánaiste confirm if this is the case? If he can, will he clarify the €9 million allocated in the budget in 2025…

This is a very important and sensitive initiative. I thank the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister, Deputy Foley, for listening to parents, teachers, principals and, most importantly, students. It is a pragmatic proposal. It is nice to see that, hopefully, the €9 million will be ring-fenced to tackle this. As parents and, indeed, as politicians, we could take a leaf out of the students' book and put down our phones as well. Sometimes we spend far too much time listening to other people.

Maybe we could use them in our parliamentary party rooms. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, for his assistance.

I understand that over 100 small and large estates have been taken in charge by Leitrim County Council over the past eight years, some of which were in an unfinished state. I compliment the planning department of the local authority on working with developers in some cases and, in many others, on its own, albeit with the support of the Department of housing. I understand that only five estates have had their water and wastewater infrastructure taken in charge by Uisce Éireann. Despite the best efforts of the counci…

A new Garda divisional headquarters has been agreed for Sligo but the timeframe for the start of the project remains unclear. A site in a very strategic part of Sligo town was purchased some years ago. This could provide an ideal location for other emergency services apart from a central Garda headquarters. Earlier this year, the then Minister for Justice announced a new divisional headquarters for Sligo had been agreed in principle by An Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice and that the necessary work to d…

Surgical hubs are being developed in north Dublin, south Dublin, Limerick, Cork, Waterford and Galway. Surgical hubs eliminate day care waiting lists and take the pressure off various departments in hospitals. I am disappointed that there is no surgical hub for the area north of the Dublin-Galway line. The programme for Government contains a commitment to explore the possibility of providing an additional surgical hub in the north west. I understand there is a site available in Sligo. Will the Minister provide an u…

Since Storm Éowyn on 24 January last, a huge number of people living in rural parts of my constituency and in the north west have no access to broadband or to landline and mobile phone networks. There seems to be absolutely no urgency on the part of the providers to rectify matters. There are elderly people living on their own who have emergency contact buttons that do not work. They cannot contact friends, neighbours or relations. The Minister for communications needs to intervene with these service providers to g…

Across the country and especially in the north west, we have huge challenges in providing adequate home care for some of our most elderly and infirm citizens. I, like most TDs, receive daily correspondence from families who are allocated home help or care hours only to discover there are no qualified personnel to fulfil these allocated hours. The issue is having an impact on our care homes and mainstream hospitals as doctors are reluctant to discharge patients home when the care hours are not available for patients…

Sligo-Leitrim. The north west.

I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, on his recent appointment. I wish him well in his new role. I have no doubt he has hit the ground running. The Minister of State will be aware that a public meeting was hosted by the secretariat of the Leitrim public participation network, PPN, in Ballinamore, County Leitrim, on Thursday last, 23 January. This was a significant date as it was the night before Storm Éowyn hit our island. I commend the Leitrim PPN for organising the meeting. The meeting'…

I thank the Minister of State and it is plain to see that he has done a lot of work already. There is one thing I have noticed over the years. We have a lot of various Departments, and everyone is busy, but no-one seems to spend time talking to one another. I saw this happening when we had flooding on the Shannon many years ago - about 12 years ago. The local authorities were blaming one another, the ESB was blaming the OPW and the OPW was blaming Waterways Ireland, but we got them all working together. Now, years …