There are three measures I want to mention out of the many there are to talk about and welcome. Householders throughout the country know the budget that has been delivered puts money back in people's pockets. It is as simple as that. The three areas I will focus on relate to carers, pensioners and childcare. Carers will very much welcome the announcement of a direct payment to them of €500. This is to recognise the increased costs family carers face and the work they do. Catherine Cox and the team at Family Carers …

The recent increases in the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance have been welcomed. It has been a difficult time for parents with the cost of living and the cost of sending kids back to school. However, it is very restrictive in regard to who is able to claim the back-to-school allowance. A great many people in County Tipperary have come to me to talk about their experiences of the cost of sending kids back to school. A recent survey found that it costs about €1,500 per child to include books, clothes, s…

I ask that we have a debate with the Minister for Health in the context of private nursing homes. They are at a crisis stage at this point in terms recruiting staff but even more so in terms of retaining staff. Many members of their staff go to work for the HSE and have left them in the past number of years. They have struggled to replace them and this is for a variety of reasons, cost being one. People who do not understand the private nursing home system ask why we do not just pay them more money, but they have a…

I thank the Minister for coming to the House and being here for the full debate. I acknowledge this. The area the Minister is from is quite similar to mine. Kerry is quite similar to Tipperary in many political and rural ways. This has been by far the biggest issue for the past month or month and a half. For the parents of the 6,000 or 7,000 children throughout the country who have no place on a bus it does not look like the issue will be solved any time soon. This is the most frustrating part. They do not know. Th…

I also welcome our friends from Denmark. They are very welcome to Ireland even though they keep beating us in soccer and Christian Eriksen scores brilliant goals against us. We wanted to go to that World Cup but the Danish team beat us. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, for taking this important debate. I cannot think of anything more distressing or upsetting, other than a family member passing away, than a mother or a couple finding out they cannot have children. One of the most distressing parts aft…

I thank the Minister of State for her response, but it is frustrating. She stated: "At this juncture, the design and scope of this aspect of the model of care have not been finalised". For what are we waiting? The Minister for Health was incredibly vocal on this issue while in opposition. He made a commitment. People cannot wait too long. Sometimes, this is spoken about as if it is some sort of entitlement, but it is not. It is an equality issue. I ask the Minister of State, who sits at Cabinet, to use her role to …

I have just come from a briefing in the audiovisual room given by local journalists speaking about journalism in general. They have started a campaign to end the payment of VAT on print and digital newspapers, which I support. We all know they are going through a very difficult time at the moment and need as much support as possible. They are looking for a zero VAT rate to support the good work they do. Today I met Garry Cotter from The Nenagh Guardian . It is possible to see the work they do and the number of peop…

I also express my condolences to the British people, the ambassador, H.E. Paul Johnston and everyone who is grieving the Queen’s loss. I ask that we have a debate on school transport and the challenges we have had in respect of children who have not been able to get school buses over the past number of weeks. I have been inundated in County Tipperary with calls from parents whose children have been getting the bus for a number of years and, because of an increased demand, have not been able to get on it this year. …

I thank the Minister of State for attending this important discussion. This issue affects every house and business in the country. Much of the debate has been focused on households and their costs. One of the major issues businesses have is uncertainty as they have no idea what is coming in the budget. They have no idea how to manage in the next few weeks or what they will do in the winter months. People have a fair idea of what households are going to get. Figures of €500 and €600 have been mentioned a number of t…

I will pick up on what Senator Craughwell said in talking about one’s own county. I will never apologise for talking about Tipperary. I also remind him that there are 167,000 people living in Tipperary and it is the lowest represented county in the country. It needs more voices. I assume at some point, when the commission is set up, that Tipperary will be seen as a very large county that needs more representation. I acknowledge the vote of confidence in the Government yesterday, the resounding victory the Governmen…

Hear, hear.

I do not know what Senator Craughwell is going to talk about now that many of the problems in the Defence Forces have been solved.

I acknowledge the work of the Minister, Deputy Coveney, with the Defence Forces and the Department to come to a solution. Obviously, there are always things that need to be added and other suggestions but, on the whole, this is a really good day for the Defence Forces.

There are two things I would like to bring up, both of which come under the remit of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys's Department. I will raise them now because we are in the last week before recess.

I am going to name three villages in Tipperary in a few seconds. On a serious note, the deadline for applications for funding to refurbish community halls is on Thursday. I am working with many towns and villages in Tipperary-----

-----that have applied for this funding and others, including my own village of Grange, that are going to apply for it. There is a fund of €15 million. I expect that it will be greatly oversubscribed. I ask that the Minister consider a second scheme for community halls later in the year. It is the first time either the Minister or the Department has ever done this. It has gone down really well with local communities. We should look at providing money to run another scheme later in the year for those towns and villa…

I refer to the likes of Drangan, Cloneen-----

-----and Drumbane. In fairness, these are villages that very rarely get money. This goes right to the heart of the communities. Receiving that money is of significant importance to these villages. The longer they wait, the more it will cost to do them up. I am talking about playgrounds and the likes, which are really important. I would appreciate it if we could get some sort of update before the recess.

This is the most left-wing Government we have ever had.

I agree with the Leas-Chathaoirleach that it is important to respect the fact that we all have our own opinions. However, we cannot have separate facts. People must accept what is fact and what is not. We only have to look at Russia where the majority of people support the war in Ukraine because they are receiving disinformation rather than factual truth. That is, however, a much longer debate that we could have on another day. The N24 road project from Limerick to Waterford is strategically important. There are tw…