Public dental services have almost collapsed under this Government's watch. There are two main issues here. Primary school children are not getting vital checks in second, fourth and sixth class. Nearly half of children are not getting their checks. This was around 100,000 children last year and 100,000 children the year before that. Up to one year ago, more than 12,000 children had been waiting for up to three years for dental assessment and treatment in counties Louth and Meath. Such basic preventative healthcare…

Coverage today by RTÉ of leaked details of the report of the Housing Commission laid bare the absolute disaster that is this Government's housing policy and the Minister himself. The report was compiled by leading experts and practitioners in the State and in it they are clearly saying the plan has failed. Calling for a radical strategic reset of housing policy is another way of saying that successive Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil Governments have been disastrous for housing. The facts on the ground speak for themselve…

I wish to raise the issue of Garda numbers in Drogheda, Ireland's largest town. It was promised a special focus and increased and bolstered Garda resources following the brutal feud that took place there. There was nothing that the Government was not promising in the aftermath of it. However, an internal Garda submission late last year outlined that regular uniformed policing numbers had been slashed by 21, from 59 down to 38. It was also stated that, on a daily basis, it is now accepted that there will not be a ga…

Is it the case that the Government has no intention of bolstering Garda resources in Drogheda as it said it would?

Is it just another broken promise conning people?

Which is it?

We are down 21 gardaí in Drogheda.

The question was whether the Government has broken its promise.

The increase in the number of roads deaths in the last year has been shocking. Every life lost on the roads is a major tragedy. The last few months in particular have been totally devastating. Sixty-three people have died on our roads this year. These are 63 families left to grieve and lives ruined by loss, not to mention those who suffer serious injuries, sometimes life-changing. There are also life-long psychological impacts from road traffic accidents. Three of those who lost their lives were from County Louth a…

As we mark International Women's Day this week, I want to use my time to speak about the women in Gaza, who are living in hell on earth. Their conditions are indescribable. It is like nothing we have seen before in our lifetime. Five months in and the people of Gaza are starving. Israel has deliberately blocked the delivery of aid into Gaza. What we are now witnessing is an Israeli-made famine and humanitarian catastrophe. Thousands of children's lives are hanging in the balance and their mothers are desperate and …

Since the Minister's bizarre decision on Thursday to appear on "Prime Time", her actions and the resignation of Siún Ní Raghallaigh have dominated the news cycle. It is clear the Minister should not have done that interview. Yesterday, at the media committee, she admitted she had been aware the then chair was threatening to resign, yet she went ahead with that interview. In fact, the then chair had indicated she would resign if a letter were sent, and the Minister sent that letter on Thursday evening. Her advisers …

I raise the issue of the problems caused by the Government's policy of privatising immigration and impact it has on communities, services and people seeking international protection. Not once were public representatives, the TDs, in Drogheda contacted in advance of that contract being signed to ask for our opinions or how it would impact our town. It was only after the contract was signed that we were contacted. The Taoiseach said over the weekend that a partial reversal of that decision was being examined, namely …

I presume he is not just stringing people in Drogheda along.

I ask the Minister for her views on the two reports recently commissioned and published by RTÉ on Toy Show The Musical and the voluntary exit programme and if she will make a statement.

First, I have to say that again I submitted a question to the Minister around bogus self-employment at RTÉ and once again, it was rejected. I am running out of ways to word the question in the hope that the Minister will actually answer it. I see that she met Mr. Bakhurst in the last couple of weeks and she also met the unions, which would suggest that it is something that comes under her remit and for which she is responsible, yet it is impossible to get her to address it in the Chamber, where she is accountable. …

Yesterday, the director of HR who was responsible for putting through that exit package, which came in at a cost of just under €500,000 to the taxpayers, appeared at the committee. The director of HR put through the procedure with that exit package, knowing that it did not meet the criteria and knowing full well it broke the rules and was not compliant with the scheme. That person processed that package and signed a letter saying it was approved by the board, knowing full well it was never approved, and that execut…

It is nearly ten years since the public service broadcasting charge was due to be introduced. Since then, we have had committees, commissions and all sorts of research, time and money invested into this question. Successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments have not had the political courage to make a call on this. In 2020, the Government again handed over the job to the Future of Media Commission, which was initially set up to look solely at the licence fee. Its remit was then expanded to cover the future of m…

The saga of the driving test centre in Drogheda has been going on for nearly six years. At this stage, it is frankly ridiculous. I raised the matter with the Taoiseach last year. The Road Safety Authority, RSA, has been promising a centre for years. Fourteen sites were identified. The RSA rejected some without even giving a reason and rejected others on the basis that there was too much traffic in the area. How ridiculous is that? Drogheda is the largest town in Ireland. People have an entitlement in this regard bu…

Last May, the CEO of Louth County Council disallowed a motion put forward by councillors around rescinding the freedom of Drogheda from Br. Edmund Garvey, a man who devised the legal strategy designed to frustrate the efforts of child sex abuse victims in achieving justice. "The Michael Reade Show" on LMFM radio submitted several freedom of information requests and appeals seeking information on the situation and was furnished with just five documents. After a ruling by the Information Commissioner, a new search di…

-----and that the council has broken the Freedom of Information Act.