The last part of the Minister of State's answer showed that she fully understands the issue and the problem in north Tipperary. As she said, we have a brand new primary healthcare centre in Thurles. It was officially opened by the Taoiseach a couple of weeks ago. It would be an ideal location for a core centre in the town of Thurles. It is a matter of geography. As the Minister of State said, it is an hour and a quarter from Portumna to Thurles but the north Tipperary region stretches another 15 miles or so beyond …

I want to raise some serious road safety concerns that I have in relation to the R489. That is the main road linking Portumna and Birr and it is at the very end of my constituency and my county. Because of its geographic location, the road does not get the resources that it deserves. For 1 km from the Ferry Inn in Portumna and Lorrha the road gets extremely narrow and trucks have to stop to pass. There is a blind bend there which is extremely dangerous. I would like for Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and Ti…

As Teachta Dála for Tipperary I welcome the €31 million we got this morning from the urban regeneration and development fund, URDF. The people of Cahir, Carrick-on-Suir and Roscrea are absolutely delighted. I thank the Government for delivering that for us. The N75 is the main artery from Thurles to the motorway. The junction at Drish Bridge has, unfortunately, seen a number of fatalities over the years. This junction needs work from Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII. Will the Tánaiste urge the relevant authori…

Usually when Deputies get to their feet in this House, we are looking for resources to be put in place for our constituency. There is the nonsensical situation where access to a swimming pool in a town that locals have used since the establishment of the Garda depot in Templemore in 1965 is now being denied to them. This is nonsensical and makes no sense. Leaving the pool idle for the next few months, as we are told might happen, could result in serious infrastructural work having to be done to it to get it back in…

As I said, the Taoiseach met Deirdre Ryan, one of the protagonists in trying to get the pool open to the public of Templemore, and it is clearly not his view that this is Government policy. As for energy saving, surely swimming lessons for the children of Templemore comprise an activity that warrants public expenditure. This notion it is for energy saving just does not wash and is not acceptable. I want the OPW and the authorities at the college to revisit this decision immediately. They have also said they will no…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and it is great to see him back in the Chair. I thank Deputy O'Connor for letting me go first because I have to go to another engagement. My first point concerning Irish Water and its policy is that the process of transferring workers from county councils to Irish Water is currently under way. In County Tipperary, definitely there has not been enough consultation, if any, with the workers. This will have a major impact on and represents a huge change for these workers. It will also impac…

How many CDNTs are in CHO 3 and CHO 5? Where are each of the teams based? How many staff in WTE terms are approved for each team? How many are currently assigned to each team? How many vacant positions are there in each team? I ask the Minister of State to make a statement on these matters.

I will allow Deputy Murnane O'Connor to talk about Carlow and Kilkenny. The three figures the Minister of State shared in respect of Tipperary are extremely concerning. There are vacancy rates of 38% in north Tipperary, 20% in Cashel and 37% in Clonmel. Those are disturbing figures. There is no way to have an effective operation with vacancy rates such as those. CDNTs are only staffed to approximately 50% of the level required, according to Professor Malcolm MacLachlan, clinical lead for people with disabilities at…

Last Sunday evening, I stood with businesspeople and residents whose homes had been flooded for the third time in four years. Thurles has a combined sewer, where storm water mixes with sewage, which exacerbated the situation. Having your home or business flooded with water is one thing, but having sewage come in around your home is another entirely. When will money be provided to put the infrastructure right in Thurles to allow for the waste treatment plant? Will these homes and businesses that were flooded get com…

I want to talk about the restoration land policy that is now being formulated by the Commission and the very significant impact it will have on this country. At the outset, there needs to be much more discussion on this restoration policy. It has to be modified greatly. This country will suffer very severe consequences if it goes through as outlined in the proposals that we are seeing coming out of the Commission at the moment. France and Germany seem to be pushing this policy. As there are little or no peatlands i…

I raise the issue of two sets of workers. I refer to civilian Garda staff, of whom there are 4,500, and those county council workers who work in water services. It is proposed that county council workers are to be switched over under the control of Irish Water and that civilian Garda staff be switched from the Civil Service into the public sector. Both groups of workers are greatly concerned about their terms and conditions and promotional prospects. Civilian Garda staff took jobs in the Civil Service, which allows…

This is not the first time I have stood in this Chamber to talk about crime. I want to make a few specific points about the escalating situation in County Tipperary. Last Thursday night there was a large public meeting in Moyle Rovers GAA club, which illustrates the growing public concern about the levels of crime and criminal activity. The first point I want to make relates to the Garda Commissioner's decision to remove a chief superintendent from Tipperary. We have always had a chief superintendent based in Thurl…

The trespass laws most definitely need to be strengthened and not just in the context of illegal hunting. Anyone found on property who has no right to be there should face far more severe penalties. Rural crime is not the only issue in my county. There are also problems with anti-social behaviour in town centres, including Ballina, Nenagh and Clonmel. I have had numerous complaints in the recent past about anti-social behaviour. Our battle against drugs is the greatest challenge facing modern society. I want to see…

I welcome the expansion of the employment permits system to allow for a growing workforce to be made readily available here in Ireland. I constantly speak to business owners, machinery operators and farmers. The message I have been getting for a long time now is that there is a major shortage of workers for key parts of the economy. I am consistently contacted by employers, particularly in the services and hospitality industry and in agrifood production, who are looking for people to start work. It is a very positi…

I was listening to the debate in my office earlier. One would think that this Government has built no houses but the reality is that 54,000 new homes have been brought into the system and we have provided over 9,000 social houses last year. I very much welcome last week's extension of the grant for vacant and derelict houses to rural areas. That will be beneficial in creating more supply. My office has had numerous inquiries about that since it was announced. I want to raise a few issues that affect rural counties …

Thurles is one of the towns that has been chosen for the settlement of Ukrainians in modular units. I raise the issue of the services needed in the town so that we can properly accommodate our new occupants. GP services in the town at the moment are under extreme pressure. We have no primary school in the town with DEIS status and only one such post-primary school. I have raised these issues with the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, and he said it is the responsibility of other Departments to provide these services. When…

As a Government Deputy, I am proud to be associated with this budget. We have been lobbied a lot over the past couple of months. We have been in an unprecedented crisis given the war in Ukraine. We have made a very serious attempt at addressing the cost-of-living increases for those under the most pressure. At times in politics, we receive a lot of criticism and many issues are raised with us, but since Tuesday we have received many calls from people saying they are delighted with this budget. There has been a seri…

I will make a point before I start and I intend no disrespect to the Minister of State who is here. I have looked for this Topical Issue matter on a couple of evenings and it has been selected for this evening. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has responsibility for the area that I wish to discuss and I am disappointed I was not informed by the Ceann Comhairle's office that she was not available. The Minister of State is hard-working and this is in no way a criticism of my party colleague. She has been very he…

I accept that fully and am not criticising her in any way. I just feel the Ceann Comhairle should inform us and give us the choice if the Minister or Minister of State with responsibility is not available.

In case there is any misunderstanding, I am not criticising the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, in any respect. She delivered a Jigsaw project for Thurles that is fully operational now. We were waiting a long time for it and I am thankful. She has such an excellent record of delivery that I wanted to make the points about a dementia unit to her personally. She is developing the strategy for dementia. The case I want to make is parochial and fairly straightforward. I have seen the facility in Bruff and it is an ex…