The regeneration of social housing flats is within the parameters of the national regeneration programme, which targets the country's most disadvantaged communities, those defined by the most extreme social exclusion, unemployment and antisocial behaviour, as per housing Circular 11/2007, policy framework for the regeneration of local authority estates. It is the responsibility of local authorities to identify opportunities to advance regeneration programmes in line with this circular within administrative areas. T…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle very much.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and Deputy Browne for their kind wishes. I also thank Deputy Browne for raising this important issue. Eligibility for a medical card is primarily based, as the Deputy knows, on a financial assessment, which is conducted by the HSE in accordance with the Health Act 1970. The HSE assesses each medical card application on a qualifying financial threshold. This is the amount of money that an individual can earn per week and still qualify for a card. It is specific to the individual’s own fin…

I appreciate the difficulty for certain individuals and families. We all, as constituency TDs, try to work with families and individuals to support them in the application process. The HSE and all Departments and agencies should strive to make sure that applying for public services is a user-friendly process for everyone involved. As the Deputy mentioned, lengthy documents or a lot of over-and-back can be particularly difficult for people applying. I will reflect that feedback to the Minister for him to engage with…

I appreciate Deputy Naughten's kind words. I am replying on behalf of Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. I appreciate the opportunity to update the House on the important matter of national laboratory capacity for genetics and genomics. It is important that we increase genomic laboratory capability in Ireland and invest in the infrastructure to drive this advancement. Genomic medicine is enabling a paradigm shift from a disease-orientated, one-size-fits-all approach in healthcare to an approach that is m…

I again thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. The national strategy for accelerating genetic and genomic medicine in Ireland outlines a clear approach to developing a sustainable patient- and family-centred genetics and genomics service. As I said, it is important that we increase laboratory capability in Ireland and invest in the infrastructure to drive this advancement. An important element to this is developing a national approach to genetic testing in Ireland. The current focus of the work is on t…

I appreciate Deputy O'Sullivan's kind words. I am taking this on behalf of our colleague the Minister, Deputy Foley. Before I address the specific issue raised, I have been asked to provide an outline of the extent of the school transport scheme which is managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year, more than 161,600 children are being transported daily to schools throughout the country at a cost of €382 million. Under the current terms of the scheme, children are elig…

I appreciate the specific difficulty being experienced by many of the students referred to by the Deputy. I will definitely reflect this issue to the Minister. Her intention and hope is that the changes being progressed from the wider review of the school transport scheme will bring about a situation that will ensure more students nationwide can qualify for and access the school transport scheme in the future. This is the wider impetus of our intention and of the collaboration I have seen between the Departments of…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy McConalogue. The footage broadcast last week showing instances of animal cruelty was extremely upsetting. The Minister shares the reaction of viewers and the wider public who were appalled and upset by such a blatant disregard for the welfare of horses. He is certain that the majority of decent people who care for horses will be horrified by the scenes broadcast. It is important to stress that what we saw was po…

I will pass the Deputy's feedback to the Minister. The footage broadcast last week was abhorrent and extremely upsetting for all of us who have never shown such blatant disregard for the welfare of horses or other animals. What we saw was potentially criminal behaviour by a number of individuals and I do not believe it was representative of the wider horse owning community. The welfare of horses is protected by legislation, and where breaches or shortcomings are identified, appropriate enforcement action must be ta…

I appreciate Deputy Cronin raising this important issue. I am taking this issue on behalf of my colleague the Minister, Deputy McConalogue. As I said to Deputy Murphy, the footage broadcasted last week showing incidents of animal cruelty was extremely upsetting and the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, shares the reaction of viewers and the wider public who were appalled and upset by such a blatant disregard for the welfare of horses. The vast majority of people who care for horses will have been horrified by these sce…

I thank Deputy Cronin again for raising the issue. As I said, the footage that was broadcast was abhorrent and extremely upsetting for us all. Many people across communities would never show such a blatant disregard for the welfare of horses. That is why what we saw was potentially criminal behaviour by a number of individuals and there needs to be consequences of that. The welfare of horses is protected by legislation and where breaches or shortcomings are identified, appropriate enforcement action is undertaken. …

I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for initiating this Bill. The Bill proposes to cap mortgage interest rates on private dwelling home mortgages and to give the Central Bank the power to issue a direction to all mortgage lenders setting out the maximum APR chargeable on housing loans, that being a rate not exceeding 3%. The Government is opposing the Bill and I will outline shortly some of the reasons it should not be accepted. I acknowledge the intention behind the Bill, which is to help people with their mortgage repaym…

I again thank Deputies for speaking to the Bill. I also thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for bringing it to the House. We are all acutely aware of the high mortgage repayments currently faced by some mortgage holders and the stress and hardship this causes for families. The Government has undertaken a number of initiatives, including measures in the budget, to help people impacted by the rise in interest rates. Now that the ECB has reduced rates, the pressure on some of those affected should start to ease shortly. Neverth…

I appreciate Sentator Joe O'Reilly raising this important issue. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister for Education who was not available this morning. I thank the Senator for raising this and allowing me the opportunity to outline the provisions that are in place to support gifted and talented students. Our students are among the top performers, as seen in international testing, but it is acknowledged that we need to strengthen our focus on the gifted and talented or exceptionally able students. To this end,…

I thank the Senator. I will reflect the feedback and perspectives he has given on the success of what is happening in Breifne College, Cavan, as well as the need to make sure all children and young people are given the opportunity to thrive based on their ability. The Senator's point is that we must mainstream that in a much more significant and substantive way within our education system. In the context of my taking this Commencement matter on her behalf, the Minister has set out to me that we have a framework tha…

I thank the Senator for raising this important issue for discussion. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, and the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is leading discussions across Government to develop actions that will improve the lives of people with disabilities, including in the areas of transport and employment, to ensure they can live full lives of their own choosing. The Minister of State with responsibilit…

I again thank Senator Crowe for bringing this issue to the House. I appreciate his contribution in this area, which is very important to us all as representatives in constituencies and also given my own role in the context of transport. It is clear that the issue of transport and mobility supports for people with disabilities is a critical one. Addressing challenges and barriers in this regard will be a very important element to get right as we develop and implement the next national disability strategy. I know the…

I would like to express my sincere condolences to the friends and families of those who have lost their lives on our roads this year. As Minister of State with responsibility for road safety, I have been working with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, my officials, the transport agencies and across government to reverse the current trend and stop the level of fatalities on our roads. The Government has set a target of halving road deaths and serious injuries by the end of this decade. As things stand, we are not on c…

On speed limits, there has been notification to local authorities of the legislative changes. Guidance is being finalised and will be issued to local authorities in the coming weeks. As new councillors are elected, that will commence quickly with a view to getting the wider implementation of the speed limits. As the Deputy said, it is about local authorities and councillors working together in the context of the legislation and the guidance, but also using their reserved function relating to local roads. We have pr…