Has the Minister of State given any consideration to the introduction of a leisure card for children and young people which would allow for State funding to be given directly to families for the purpose of paying for sport and-or for cultural activities and will he make a statement on the matter?

According to research published by the Federation of Irish Sport, for every €100 invested in sport by the Government, the Exchequer receives up to €195 back through taxes on sports-supported expenditure and incomes. We also know that half of the money invested by the State in the arts later comes back to the Exchequer. This proposal is based on the Icelandic experience of a leisure card. We propose a three-year pilot scheme where every child in junior and senior infants would get €130 worth of credit to use on extr…

This leisure card could be used for sport, dance, music, art or some other enriching pursuit. The voucher would be used via a designated website that lists providers who are trained and approved for youth development. That would ensure not only quality control and mentoring through what is being offered, but also that the money circulates in the local community, boosting the after-school sector. It has been transformative in Iceland and, as I said, the research shows that the money invested would come back. As we k…

I welcome the opportunity to speak to this Bill, which has been a long time coming. Those of us who are members of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media have spent the past couple of years working on the Bill, particularly during the pre-legislative scrutiny process, and I am happy that it is finally progressing to the Dáil. The Bill was amended in the Seanad and I thank Senators Warfield and Ó Donnghaile for their work on behalf of Sinn Féin in the Seanad. The Bill is vast and wide-ranging…

We are putting forward this motion at a time when energy poverty is at its highest-ever recorded rate. We are also in the midst of the biggest energy crisis we have faced in a generation with home energy and fuel costs going through the roof as we head into winter. The Government's totally inadequate retrofitting schemes are compounding the energy crisis. More than 9,000 households are waiting on works under the better energy warmer homes schemes, with a wait of well over two years. Just over 1,500 council houses w…

As we approach the winter, we are facing into the worst cost-of-living crisis that we can remember for generations. Europeans are facing into a winter of record energy prices, but in Ireland people are contending with energy cost increases on top of what was already an unmanageable cost of living. We have extortionate rents, childcare costs that are equivalent to a second mortgage, and mortgage increases. That is just to mention a few. Energy is only the latest crisis that people in Ireland have to contend with. Pe…

It is clear to everyone except those in government that a significant number of people are suffering right now due to the cost-of-living crisis. Inflation is at its highest in four decades and we are hearing stories from Barnardos and other organisations that this level of deprivation and poverty has not been seen since the 1980s. This means real hunger, not being able to use electricity due to its high cost, and workers not being able to afford to fill their cars to get to work. In winter, it will mean families go…

I raise the ongoing chaos at the Passport Service again because nothing has improved since the most recent time I raised the issue. It seems that documentation is still not being checked until the passport target date, which means that people who applied in plenty of time must go to the end of the queue when further information is requested. We are now in the peak summer season. We are now moving towards the end of June. Families are having to cancel holidays at the eleventh hour. Members of some families are not a…

I am sharing time with Deputies Daly, Cronin and Buckley. As the Minister for Health will be aware, this motion calls on the Government to retain and enhance emergency services in Navan hospital. We are also asking that the Government, once and for all, end overcrowding in emergency hospitals. Only major investment in our health service will finally change this situation. The way this has been handled is atrocious. It is becoming a feature of Deputy Donnelly’s tenure as Minister and of how the Government does busin…

I ask the Minister to outline her views on the rising cost of tourist accommodation.

Last week representatives of the Irish Hotels Federation appeared before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media. They said that there was a faster rebound in tourism than anyone had previously anticipated. They said there was a very strong recovery, exceeding all forecasts, which is very welcome, so why the price gouging? Why the extortionate room rates that are being charged? Huge reputational damage is being done to our country in both the domestic and international markets. I l…

People are comparing prices, whether it is European cities or coming to Ireland. They will see the vast difference and they will see that Ireland is no longer a value-for-money destination. In its submission to the committee last week the Irish Hotels Federation said - in black and white - that at weekends and on nights when there are major concerts or events "there are now more nights where occupancy in Dublin exceeds 90% and the last available rooms are quoted at rates in excess of the average [daily room rate]".…

For the umpteenth time, I raise the Government's refusal to extend the short-hop zone from Dublin to Drogheda and Laytown. I have met with the National Transport Authority, NTA, numerous times and it has acknowledged that its policies are directed by the Government. We know the Government can reduce fares with the stroke of a pen because it was done several weeks ago. There is a very strong and urgent case for reducing these fares in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. There is also an obvious environmental case…

I raise a long-running issue in my constituency of Louth, which includes parts of east Meath. I refer to the need to extend the short hop zone to Laytown and Drogheda. I have raised this issue on many occasions with the NTA at meetings I requested, at committee meetings and in representations to the authority. To be honest, I have been met with a brick wall. This is a pity because the extension really is a no-brainer. A monthly rail ticket to Dublin from Laytown costs €237. A monthly ticket from Balbriggan to Dubli…

As the Minister of State has heard over and over, the Passport Office is in chaos. The service is at breaking point. One of the most frustrating things is that we are now into peak summer holiday season. This has gone on for a year and the frustration is primarily about the fact that nothing was done up until this point. We are now here at the eleventh hour trying to put additional resources in place to cater for these numbers. All of this was foreseeable. There had been ample time up until now, the end of May, to …

This was prior to that. Another constituent of mine applied for a passport in early March and was due to travel on a date this month. That date came and went with no word from the Passport Office. When she eventually managed to make contact, it transpired there was a problem with her passport photo and she needed to provide a new one. That raises the question of whether the Passport Office only looks at the application on the set target date. That needs to be looked at. If it is only looking on that set target date…

The murder of reporter Shireen Abu Akleh by the Israeli military must be condemned in the strongest terms and called out for what it is, namely, cold-blooded murder. Her murder was barbaric and there are no other words for it. She was present at a raid by Israeli forces at a Palestinian refugee camp wearing a clearly visible blue flak jacket that identified her as a journalist when she was brutally murdered. She was shot in the face and another journalist was shot in the back. Israeli forces claim they came under a…

I welcome the opportunity to speak against this ridiculous proposal from Government, namely, the gifting of €450 million to developers. It is the most Celtic tiger, Fianna Fáil-type of insanity that I have seen since they destroyed the economy in 2007 and 2008. House prices are spiralling. They have increased by 15% in the past year. Rents have doubled in the past ten years. We have among the highest rents and house prices in the EU and Fianna Fáil's solution is to throw hundreds of millions of euro at developers. …

It is amazing what a mess can be created by certain governments attempting to build hospitals. Fine Gael helped by Fianna Fáil has already made a fine mess of the financing of the national children's hospital. Now we have the current debacle with the new national maternity hospital. The main problem with the national maternity hospital is ambiguity. We all know the dangers of ambiguity and what can happen when what are understood to be long-standing agreements or principles break down. Let us consider Roe v. Wade i…

The situation is so bad now that some restaurants and pubs have to close early or are having to close a few days a week to cope with the shortage. The shortage of chefs is particularly acute. The Minister of State mentioned Fáilte Ireland's tourism careers research. That showed that there is currently a shortage of 40,000 workers in the tourism and hospitality sector, and 30% of businesses that were surveyed in 2021 said that they faced closure if recruitment challenges are not resolved. Given the very difficult pa…