I very much welcome the investment in disability services, funding for additional posts and the allocation for behavioural supports and speech and language therapy. However, when I look at the raw figures, I see that every single post for Balbriggan is underfunded. We are supposed to have six occupational therapists but there are only five; instead of five speech and language therapists, we only have 3.6; there are two physiotherapists rather than four; and we have two psychologists instead of four. It is a similar…

I welcome the reductions. I really do not profess to know the science behind this but there is movement of children from CDNT lists to primary care and there is movement of children on CDNT lists from Balbriggan to Swords. I am not really sure why all of that happens, but I want to make sure that the children and families who need the therapies are getting them. While numbers look like they are reducing, I am not sure that the children have actually got the therapies they have sought. The other thing I would like t…

I welcome the new autism assessment and intervention pathway protocol. It is an effort to bring greater consistency as to how autism is assessed across services. The success of this reform will depend on whether autistic people and their families feel that it reflects their lived experience. The Minister of State might please advise us as to what engagement took place with the autism community in developing the protocol.

I thank the Minister of State. In regard to going forward and making sure that the lived experience of autistic people and their families included and that we learn from the experience they go through in this new process, can she confirm that there will be that ongoing structured engagement around any reforms, changes or tweaks made to the protocol, as may be required from the process?

I know the Minister of State touched on it earlier but my area has one of the longest waiting lists for assessments of need. What parents at home want to know is whether this protocol will help them get assessments and therapies? Will it make a difference to them? She might please help me give some comfort to families at home.

The public accounts committee has, after protracted correspondence, finally got to the bottom of where we might be in terms of the cost of storage of 384 buses over the last four years, with 98 electric buses still in storage. These are much-needed buses that should be servicing our community. Will the Minister of State specifically tell us the cost of those electric buses, and also the projected cost, given that we are still counting for the 98 buses still in storage?

If hundreds of electric, zero-emission buses sitting in storage represents value for money, I would like the Department to publish a full cost-benefit analysis, the opportunity cost and the opportunity lost. Will the Minister of State please confirm that the Department will do that?

The summer provision has worked well for many years now. It has supported families and in particular children with disabilities but this year has not gone to plan. Schools have no certainty about summer provision - July provision - in particular in relation to the home-based school provision. Parents are supposed to source teachers and SNAs to provide this. We are seven days out from schools closing and parents have no certainty as to whether their children have been accepted. Can the Taoiseach confirm urgently tha…

While I welcome the progress that is being made, the EPA, as it stands, is telling us that, at best, we are only going to meet half of the targets that we need to meet for 2030. What urgent additional measures is the Minister and his Department considering to try to bring us further forward in reaching our 2030 goals?

At a recent meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts, the Minister's Secretary General and I discussed retrofitting and delivering energy efficient homes. She acknowledged that is a real issue and there is a workforce gap. Has the Minister's Department made an assessment of that gap? What measures is he taking to address it? The Minister mentioned an extra 1 million EVs on the road. What we really need is better public transport. In Fingal, as the Minister knows, we need better public transport. We need local bu…

This Bill represents progress in a number of important areas. It reflects an effort to respond to the pressures on working people through a number of targeted tax measures, including an increase in the USC threshold; the extension of supports, such as rent tax credits and mortgage interest relief, alongside continued investment in our infrastructure and public services; measures backing innovation, research and quality jobs; regenerating towns and city centres; and measures to intensify the supply of housing. No mo…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. This is an issue that evokes deeply held and personal views across Irish society and it is important that we approach it with sensitivity, compassion and respect for differing opinions. There will be strongly held views expressed in this debate, and I respect that. However, I believe as legislators that we have a responsibility to carefully consider the evidence presented in the comprehensive and evidence-based O'Shea report, the improvements made since the re…

North County Dublin is one of the youngest and fastest growing areas in the country yet access to public swimming pools is extremely limited, particularly in north Fingal. Waiting lists for the limited swimming pools that are available are at 100%. Fingal County Council is planning to develop a swimming pool in Balbriggan. Will the Minister of State update us on whether any money will be made available from central government to fund that swimming pool?

I very much welcome Swim Ireland's report. The Minister of State will have seen from it that waiting lists in Fingal are at 100%. The nearest pool to Balbriggan is in Swords. Balbriggan is the youngest large town in the country. We need access to a swimming pool for Balbriggan, Skerries, Rush, Lusk and the surrounding villages of Naul and Garristown. The demand is there and we have the population. Fingal County Council has put an awful lot of work into the planning. I urge the Minister of State to look favourably o…

I welcome the Minister of State's positive comments. I think I will be back here asking him follow-up questions. I would appreciate it if he would work with me on this issue.

Fingal is one of the fastest growing areas in the country but transport needs to keep pace with housing delivery. We need buses that connect the new developments in sprawling towns like Balbriggan, Skerries, Rush and Lusk to the town centre and, crucially, also to our rail links. Rush and Lusk train station is actually in the middle of nowhere and is surrounded by fields. The car park is at capacity. When I brought this up with the NTA I was told all the focus is on the eastern rail corridor, but the reality is the…

I am very glad that since I had my twins nine years ago, a Fine Gael Government introduced parents' leave, which now stands at nine weeks for each parent. As we know, the take-up of this leave, particularly by dads, is exceptionally low. Research from the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, last year showed that awareness really is part of this, as well as the low level that both parents will be receiving social welfare payments at a time when cos…

I thank the Minister. There is a real issue with awareness and we need to have a concerted awareness campaign. Fathers simply do not know that they are entitled to take this leave. In regard to increasing the rate of payment, we know the projected child benefit payment this year is actually going to be down €320 million on what was paid last year. We should be looking at supporting families, particularly around payments for family leave. The is money there. We are going to be down €320 million on child benefit last…

In terms of looking at people and children at risk of poverty, for a mother who is availing of maternity leave at €299 or of the 16 weeks' unpaid leave, and a dad who is also taking parent's leave at a rate of €299, the two combined payments are exceptionally low in terms of actually being able to avail of this leave. It means the people in lower socio-economic positions are simply not able to avail of this leave because of the rates of pay. I appreciate pay-related rates being looked at, but at the same time it is…

I welcome the motion to extend the defective concrete blocks scheme to homes in Fingal. It is an important and overdue step for families who have lived for years with defective materials and the stress and uncertainty that brings. For those households, this offers recognition and a clear pathway to make their homes safe. However, the motion applies only to specific homes already identified and does not address a wider issue of fairness. For example, in my constituency, Fingal West, two homes on the same street have…