I thank the Minister. I strongly agree with her about the hot school meals programme. It is absolutely excellent not only for DEIS schools but for every school included in the programme. The Minister announced hot meals for an additional 900 primary schools. Ten of those schools are in Carlow. These are schools that I had been working with. They are rural schools. For all the schools that get the programme, they are a game-changer. I was delighted to hear the Minister’s facts and figures about how it has benefited …

This is a good news story for children. Some families might not have as much as others. At least they know their children are going in every day and getting a hot meal, which is a game-changer. All schools, but particularly primary schools, should provide these meals. Schools can now reapply. We need to contact all the schools in order that they know about this. The programme needs to be extended to all schools. As I said, it is excellent. Many parents are ringing me to say it is a great success. I thank the Minist…

I welcome that we now realise from our meetings that the Green Paper was not going to work. However, the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities in 1996 recommended there should be a gradual payment to meet additional everyday costs associated with disabilities. This has come up with me recently too. There is no overall payment to cover the cost of disability in Ireland. Additional costs like equipment and disability aids, transport and communication, medical care, personal care, and other costs incurr…

I welcomed the major investment of over €25 million in our public library service recently. I know the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, was in Kilkenny to open the €7.2 million Mayfair library in the heart of Kilkenny, which was really welcome. My problem is that an extension for Carlow library and refurbishment of the Presentation building, which was classified as priority level 1 under Carlow County Council's multi-annual capital programme for 2023 to 2025, did not get the funding. The Department issued stage 3 approv…

A sum of €10 million.

Like all the other speakers I have farmers coming into my office from Borris, Bagenalstown, Tullow, Hacketstown, Rathvilly and Carlow itself - I have covered them all - and they are telling me they did not get to sow winter corn. They talk about bringing back seed because they did not get to sow. It has become a huge issue this year. Potato farmers are constantly on to me about how poor the planting conditions were this year. Only 50 acres out of 21,000 acres have been planted by potato farmers this year. My unders…

I agree with the previous speakers. I have met many small business owners in County Carlow. Their businesses are barely surviving. Grants are becoming a huge issue. Their outgoings are so much. We all welcome the living wage, the PRSI and all the different sick leave we are now looking at. It is important because people are living longer and it is important they are having a good quality of life, but small businesses, including cafés, restaurants and hairdressers are finding it very hard to survive. We need to do s…

I want to ask about what is happening for children with diabetes in St. Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny. The hospital lost two clinical nurse specialists in late 2023 and for some reason has not been able to recruit replacements. The hospital has insulin pumps but nobody is trained to use them. I have met several very upset parents who have children with type 1 diabetes. These children receive five or six injections per day, but they need to be on an insulin pump. This seems to be a huge issue in many hospitals. In Car…

I thank the Minister of State. As we know, the number of road fatalities has increased significantly in recent years. There were 188 in 2023, the highest number since 2014, when the number was 192. Already in 2024, up to yesterday, there were 63 compared to 49 this time last year. This is really worrying. The total number of collisions is up 58 this year compared with 45 at this time last year. People are dying and getting hurt, and we need to do something urgently. I welcome the new Garda roster that will see a gr…

Deputy O'Dea is sharing with Deputy Crowe. That is fine. I thank the Minister, and as we know, auto-enrolment is a sort of mandatory pension system where employees are auto-enrolled into a quality-assured retirement savings system with freedom of choice to opt out. I am going to ask the Minister about that in a minute. It is important that we give employees the option. This new system would increase supplementary pension coverage, especially for those who have not joined a pension scheme. However, I have concerns. …

I am looking for an update on the minor works grant. When does the Minister expect this to be paid for schools in Carlow? Will the Minister make a statement on the matter?

I thank the Minister. As she knows, the works that can be undertaken under the minor works scheme include maintenance and small-scale improvements to school buildings and grounds. However, many schools are finding that the costs have risen substantially and they are seeing a huge shortfall. The Minister has seen in areas such as housing, and in regard to all grants, that the costs of buildings and materials have now gone up by so much. I am asking her if she will now allow this extra funding to go towards this. I s…

This funding is really welcome. It is so important. I note that it is planned to go to nearly 90 school building projects, which are currently at tender stage. The Minister announced that in the last few weeks. I welcome that. There are two capital projects for schools in County Carlow. One is, as the fellow said, "shovel ready" and ready to go. When will the announcement be made for these new capital projects? The other issue is the delay. How can we look at things differently when I contact the Minister and the D…

I welcome the DEIS initiative for schools in areas with the highest deprivation, which is really important. However, I see this even in County Carlow in schools that I am working with now. For example, some of the schools have hot meals but they have no funding for snacks or breakfast. The supports are vital. There is the added struggle for the same students to access the public health system. They are often forced to wait years for initial assessments with therapists. While the work is great and DEIS status for sc…

I agree with previous speakers. We are so lucky to have our post offices, particularly in rural Ireland, because they play a significant role in that area where people are able to meet and the services and postmasters are excellent. However, we need to make sure we keeping adding on extras, be they banking facilities or something else. I am a firm believer that people should be able to tax their cars there. Local authorities are going online, and while that is fine for some, there are only a few hours a day where p…

I wish to raise the issue of hospitals not providing transport for patients on discharge. I have a patient who attended St. Luke's Hospital, Kilkenny. She had an irregular heartbeat and chest pains. She was discharged home. She was put into a taxi which cost €99. She had to pay it. The hospital has no transport. It is a huge concern. Previously she has gone to hospitals in Naas and Portlaoise, and when discharged, both hospitals supplied transport. Why is there not a standard charge for people who need the service?…

I would like to speak about the children's disability network teams, CDNTs, in Carlow. The biggest issue I have had for the past few months is the lack of occupational therapists and speech and language therapists. For children who are on the waiting list, there is no one to assess them. Children who should be going into classrooms in September do not have school places because they have not been assessed. They and their parents do not know where they are going to go to school. There are major issues in this regard…

As we all know, this Friday is International Women's Day. It is important that we promote women in business and politics, and it is also important that we support each other as women. I firmly believe that women need to support other women more. There are still many barriers in education, business and political life, and we must break the bias to ensure gender equality in our workplaces and communities. This will be a bumper year for elections and a chance to have women participate, be elected and be heard and seen…

I welcome the Government's Town Centre First plan. As the Minister knows, Tullow, County Carlow, now has a town regeneration officer who will manage the implementation of the plan locally and work with the town team but to me the really good thing is that work is being done with the community representatives. That is the game-changer and I really welcome it. It was announced that Bagenalstown has been identified as one of the 26 towns across Ireland that will be in phase 2 of the Town Centre First plan. Rural Irela…

Will the Minister of State provide an update on the number of Garda members assigned to the Carlow district?