There are three speakers. Deputy Clarke has ten minutes and Deputies O'Reilly and Ward will each have five minutes. Is that agreed? Agreed.

The legislation under which the Civil Defence currently operates is outdated. I therefore welcome this Bill to enhance the what is currently in place. I see the great work the volunteers in Carlow Civil Defence do at local level. Working with the local authority, they demonstrate the best of us. I cannot commend them enough for their work during the Covid-19 pandemic. While the headlines made it appear that blanket assistance was provided in communities, Civil Defence volunteers were a beacon of hope for many peopl…

Deputy Higgins is sharing time with Deputy Flaherty.

I met Carlow County Fire and Rescue Service members the other day and four of them told me that they are nearing 58 years of age. They want to be able to stay on when they turn 60 but the current rules do not provide for this. All other county council staff, as the Taoiseach knows, can stay on until 70 years of age. It is widely known that retirement age is only 55 for these firefighters and an annual medical has to be passed for them to stay on, which is totally understandable. If they fail, naturally enough they …

The benefit of this Bill is that we will be able to bring in legislation in areas left to national discretion in a manner that is most appropriate to Irish agriculture, with a view to protecting animal health and ensuring that the market for veterinary medicinal products and medicated feeds is an effective, equitable and functioning one. The introduction of the proposed prescribing database will allow for the direct uploading of all generated veterinary prescriptions to a centralised cloud in order that, once they …

I am of the same opinion that it needs to be looked at. There are so many schemes, including the carer's allowance. I know of so many people going into appeals where the Department wants further information. There is a far higher refusal rate than I have ever seen before. I would question this. When we look at it, people who are caring are looking after people instead of them being in hospitals or in homes, and yet every time a decision is appealed the Department wants further information. It is also being means te…

We all know the very good work which CE supervisors and their assistants do and of the commitment which the Government is giving to these workers. I am aware that the talks have been going on since April, with a 2% increase in November and a further 1% increase thereafter. This is unacceptable. A great deal more talking needs to happen. The CE supervisors have not had an increase since 2008, which is 15 years ago. I met a group of CE supervisors recently who told me there are some people on the CE scheme who, becau…

Last month, the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, who is in the Chamber, came to Carlow and saw the pressure on out-of-hours services and the limited use of a perfectly good X-ray facility at St. Dympna's Hospital. The Caredoc team have met me several times on the matter of securing doctors from abroad to assist in tackling the significant workload. The atypical working scheme, AWS, visa was taking 30 working days to be issued while entry visas normally took 20 working days more, but the AWS permit only…

They did.

I thank the Minister.

The Minister is aware that if one asks for the truth, one will get a perspective. Providing our police service with the use of body-worn cameras for gardaí and the expanded use of ANPR technology assists in obtaining the right perspective. Body-worn cameras are widely used across the EU as an effective tool for evidence-gathering in the investigation of crime. I join my colleagues in Fianna Fáil in condemning in the strongest possible way attacks made on a member of An Garda Síochána. It is important that they, and…

I asked in a parliamentary question the number of learner drivers awaiting a test date in County Carlow. On 31 December 2022 more than 1,073 were awaiting a test date. A further 955 have been issued with an invitation to book a test but have not used it within ten days. Only 316 lucky people have been allocated a test. I have been calling for increased resources for the service. The earliest test appointment in Carlow I could find using the Road Safety Authority, RSA, estimator this morning was in August. That is u…

Carlow County Council has applied for €12 million funding for conservation work on a former Presentation Convent building at Tullow Street in Carlow, which is a huge part of our cultural quarter. This is a dynamic design at the rear of the existing library building, which is too small and inadequate for the expanding services since university status was awarded to Carlow. The new build will have an enhanced local studies section, which is so important for schoolchildren and students; an impressive county archives a…

I work with an organisation that gives out food parcels and provides meals. The uptake is a concern. I spoke to families when the double children's allowance was given out in November. Many families told me they bought food with the payment because with Christmas coming, they wanted extra food. Every week, I contact the Minister for Education to ask her to look at one school or another seeking DEIS status. This is the key to everything. I welcome the fact that 14 schools in County Carlow received DEIS status this y…

Every school should be a DEIS school because under it, students get hot meals, including lunches, which is important. It is also important to mention free schoolbooks for primary schools this year. These are the things we need to do to make sure parents have enough money to pay for extra costs because of the cost-of-living crisis. I ask the Taoiseach to consider that.

When the most recent EU Council meeting took place on 15 December, it was the last one that Deputy Micheál Martin attended as Taoiseach. Many of the issues discussed that day are still present today. It was so important that he participated in showing how much unity the EU has on all these issues. The Council addressed the war in Ukraine and listened to President Zelenskyy on the immediate needs and state of play. It is, therefore, important to say that there are significant issues on moving fast enough with our pr…

Since November we have waited for the publication of Dr. Geoffrey Shannon's report on his investigation of abuse into St. John Ambulance. While it is important to state that I and my party, Fianna Fáil, as well as the Minister, believe the report must be published, it is more important to put on the record why Mick Finnegan, the tireless campaigner, believes this publication to be in the public interest. I welcome Mick to the Gallery tonight. He is here and listening to what I am saying. Without his bravery and ten…

I thank the Minister. It is very important, from speaking to Mick tonight, to note the work the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, have done on this matter and that they have spoken to and met with Mick regularly. That is very important and Mick has been very appreciative of it. As the Minister said, however, this is about the survivors, including Mick. This is how we now need to make sure we get this report. As the Minister said, the report was completed by Dr. Shannon in early November. It was h…

Will the Minister of State provide an update in respect of the action plan for sport 2021-2023 and the Government target to have 40% female representation on the board membership of national governing bodies of sport?

It is true that women have achieved major sporting success as of late but the push for greater gender representation in Irish sport is something in which we all must get involved. I see challenges myself. In Carlow, an issue that constantly comes up is securing female coaches for female teams. Another obstacle is Garda vetting. This is an enormous issue. On the ground there are challenges that mean there are situations in which young women cannot access sports locally because clubs do not have enough women coaches.…