The stakeholder group is chaired by John Twomey the former deputy Garda commissioner. That shows how seriously I am taking this matter from the point of view of enforcement. The stakeholder group has a broad and diverse range of viewpoints. One member is a representative of Dogs Trust, which does excellent work. They bring important experience of what they see from an animal welfare point of view. Farming interests are also represented on the group. The Deputy mentioned livestock. It is not nice to see livestock be…

The stakeholder group has had an initial meeting and a follow-up meeting as well. The members are looking at a number of issues. I am happy to hear what their views are. It is a diverse group and I will take on board the recommendations they put forward to me. Going back to the dog wardens, I have given more funding - an extra €2 million - to local authorities to upgrade the dog shelters and buy more dog warden vehicles and such things. Staffing of the dog wardens is for the local authorities themselves. I have spo…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 8, 18, 43 and 44 together. Our Rural Future sets out this Government’s vision for the future of rural Ireland. Central to this vision is the importance of supporting the regeneration and development of rural towns and villages as vibrant and thriving rural places. This theme is further supported by the town centre first policy which includes a central focus on helping local communities to address challenges such as vacancy and dereliction in their own towns and villages. In support …

I agree. I go through towns, see vacant and derelict buildings and ask why we are not doing something with these. They are a resource now because they are serviced and have electricity, sewerage and water. We have been doing a lot of work with local authorities trying to get more people back living in the centre of towns. I am a great supporter of that because I believe there are huge opportunities. In fairness, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has been doing a huge amount of work. The vacant home refurbishment grant …

Fingal has got €2.7 million since 2016 under the town and village renewal scheme. Cork city got €1.5 million and Cork county got €7.9 million. There has been considerable investment in those areas. The town and village renewal scheme provides grants of up to €500,000 for large-scale projects. If you need more funding for bigger projects, there is the rural regeneration fund. The town centre first officers are making a difference, as is giving extra funding to town teams, which are local people. Local people know wh…

Investing in our library service is a key priority for me, as Minister, and this is reflected in the new public library strategy, The Library Is the Place, which I launched in July last year. The strategy recognises that public libraries are at the heart of our communities. My Department is supporting this by providing a wide range of funding for library buildings, mobile library vehicles and ICT equipment. Last month, I announced a new libraries capital programme, which will see a major investment of €22.6 million…

I love libraries. They are wonderful places and do fantastic work. They are hives of activity for all the community. Older people learn computer skills. There are classes for people who are looking to learn a new language. There are book clubs, which are a great way to meet people. A lot is happening in our libraries. We have 330 libraries across the country. They come in different shapes and sizes and my Department is supporting them through a number of strands including the libraries capital programme and the rur…

Debate is through the Chair, Deputy.

I thank the Deputy for raising this. I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 and 48 together. In budget 2024, the Government decided to extend the payment of child benefit to 18-year-olds who are in full-time education or have a disability. This was one of my key priorities in the budget. With many children now starting primary school at age five, together with the increase in pupils doing transition year, there has been an increase in the number of 18-year-olds still in secondary education. The extension of child bene…

It was originally planned to take effect next September so I asked my officials to expedite the work on this. Some work needs to be done when we change payments. The IT systems have to be updated. We got the legislation passed last month, the systems are ready to go, and it will take effect from May. I would say to the parents whose children just turned 18 in February, for example, to contact my Department and reapply. It is just a matter of confirming they are in full-time education and putting in the application.…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The free travel scheme provides free travel on the main public and private transport services for those eligible under the scheme. There are over 1 million customers with direct eligibility. The estimated expenditure on free travel for 2024 is €103.5 million. As part of budget 2024, I was particularly pleased to extend access to free travel to people who are medically certified as unfit to drive, including those with epilepsy. From July 2024, the measure will extend access …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 15 together. The objective of the school meals programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. Following the expansion of the programme in recent years, some 2,600 schools and organisations, covering 443,000 children are now eligible for funding. I recently announced that the hot school meals programme has been expanded to include an additional 900 primary schools and 150,000 children. Thi…

Not too many measures are universally popular but I think that everybody absolutely supports the hot school meals programme. I have always been a firm believer that it is not possible to beat a hot meal in the middle of the day. I visited St. Thomas's Junior National School in Lucan with the Taoiseach last week. We saw the children getting their hot meals. They were all sitting down around the table. They were having their chats and eating whatever they had chosen from the menu the week before. They had a choice be…

I say to Deputy Murnane O'Connor that the hot school meals programme is running in 31 schools in Carlow, covering 5,639 children. In response to Deputy Wynne, Ennis Community School was brought to my attention. I was obviously very conscious that the amalgamation, involving some DEIS and some non-DEIS schools - that was the secondary school. We were able to provide that support and solution at the time. We have to continue to work with them and I am happy to do what we can. It is important that children are treated…

Regarding dietary standards, healthy eating guidelines are set out for the suppliers. They must meet certain standards and I would expect them to do that. There are intermittent inspections by my Department in different schools. It is up to the principal and teachers to make sure the appropriate food is coming in because it is being paid for.

I will deal with Deputy Tully's question later. I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire for raising this matter. I am committed to addressing the cost of disability and improving outcomes for people with a disability. I announced a number of measures to support people with disabilities in budget 2024, including a €400 lump-sum payment in November, a Christmas bonus double payment in December, a cost-of-living bonus payment in January and a €12 increase in the maximum personal rate of weekly disability payments. The free travel …

One of the main findings of the cost of disability report was that there is a broad spectrum of disabilities. We all recognise that some people need more support than others. We all recognise that. There are some people with moderate disabilities who are able to work and some with profound disabilities who we know will never be able to work. That is the reality. The Cost of Disability in Ireland report specifically said it should be targeted at those most in need and that is what the proposal in the Green Paper was…

Regarding the Department of enterprise, the Deputy is right that it has an important role in getting the message out to employers that all workplaces need to be assessable. That is why I will be shortly announcing a new and improved scheme to support employers in adapting their workplaces for disabled people. The Deputy mentioned transport. I am extending the free travel pass to anyone who is medically certified as being unable to drive. That is going to be a big help to people with disabilities. Again, I am doing …

I also value the important work carried out by employees of the citizens information service, or CIS. I acknowledge the role they play in providing people with free, quality and independent information, advice and advocacy services throughout the country. It is important to point out that employees of the CIS are not employees of my Department nor are they public servants. They are employees of independent companies that provide important services on behalf of the Citizens Information Board, CIB, which are delivere…

To be clear, there is a process under way. It has been referred to the Labour Court and a date set for 14 June. We have to let that process run its course. When the Labour Court concludes its work, my Department will not be found wanting in responding. Shortly after I was appointed, we managed to sort out a long-running issue, and it was long running, for CE supervisors. We provided them with an ex gratia payment. I absolutely value and recognise the work carried out by the staff in the citizens information offices…