Hear, hear.

I am amused at your carry-on. You have broken every rule in the book and every rule of the House so far.

You have broken every rule of the House so far.

You have broken every rule of the House so far.

You should respect the rules.

I know you are.

Táim ag éisteacht leat. Táim ag éisteacht.

Tá Gaeilge fhlúirseach agam.

Táim ag cloisint.

Déanaim comhghairdeas le gach Ball as a gcuid óráidí ar an díospóireacht thábhachtach seo. I thank the Labour Party and Deputy Nash for bringing the motion before the House today. It is important, in the context of the debate we are having, to make three points. I know the Opposition has to play a certain role and I appreciate that. I have been a Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas for 19 years, have dealt with many of the Members here and I appreciate that. There is a commonality here because all of us are on t…

Perhaps we did not communicate it properly or engage quicker. I accept that. I am not living in an ivory tower, as I said. I accept that point. We acted to insulate households and businesses from the worst impacts of rising costs. That is why we have two packages with a cumulative cost of €750 million. It is the second highest or highest package in Europe. That budget surplus was not conjured up out of magic money. This package supports the most vulnerable through lower costs at the pump and supporting key sectors …

I thank Deputy Cummins for raising this very important matter. At the forefront of our thoughts this afternoon is Don O'Leary and the great work he did. This is a very important Cork educational establishment. The Deputy is right that it is held in high esteem across Cork and beyond. The care and love it shows is a wonderful example of how education can be. As a former director of adult education and a teacher of the leaving certificate applied, I understand fully that the Cork Life Centre is committed to supportin…

It is important to recognise that the Department has been engaging. There was a piece going back to 2024 relating to primary school designation. Ultimately, what we all want to see is that the life centre in Sunday's Well is supported and that we keep students who would not be in mainstream education in education. The inspectorate carried out a bespoke evaluation model last year. As the Deputy can imagine, the evaluation was positive. Some of the findings include that staff were observed as being considerably kind,…

I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. He is correct that it is an important matter because more and more people are depending on connectivity by mobile phone. I am taking it on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Calleary, who sends his apologies. The telephone support allowance is €2.50 a week for people who are getting both the living alone increase and the fuel allowance, and one of a number of payments that I will not go through because the Deputy knows all the payments associated with it. The primary objective…

-----to increase it to €7.50. I will certainly feed that back to the Minister as part of the Government's deliberations on next year's budget. The Government is committed to supporting older persons and persons with disability. Given the many competing demands for the limited funding available in the Department of Social Protection, there was no increase in the telephone support allowance in budget 2026. Other supports provided by the Department, however, were increased in that budget, including the €10 increase in…

A sum of €21.6 million or 164,000 customers are not small numbers. I thank the Deputy again for raising the matter. I agree with her that in a world that is changing hugely, we cannot let older people be left behind and left out. They are feeling isolated and vulnerable in a digital world that is changing, and we cannot ignore that. The Government will not be found wanting in that regard. The Department provides targeted payments to help people with their household costs. I listed the fuel allowance, the living alo…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as an ábhar seo a chur os ár gcomhair. I agree with him that it is an opportunity present, showcase, promulgate, inform and educate people as to what is available. We should be represented in the European institutions and I fully concur with him. I apologise that the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, is not here to take this and I am taking it for him. I welcome this opportunity to address what is genuinely a success story, one that reflects years of sustained, strategic effort by th…

I again thank the Deputy. There is huge merit in what he is suggesting. The point he made on education, information and assistance is critical. He is right that we must continue to raise awareness. We must continue to ensure that there are Irish people in good quality jobs in the European Union. The Deputy is 100% right that our influence in Europe has never been more needed in a global world where there is uncertainty. We are building new friendships and new alliances. I commend the Deputy on his role as chair of …

Hear, hear.

I thank the Deputy for raising the matter and acknowledge that this is an elongated process. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has been engaged with the process on behalf of the Department and twice met the people involved. The Deputy can take it from our side that we are not happy with progress, and I will come back on that further in the supplementary. The national train control centre, NTCC, project aims to deliver a modern, safe and efficient rail traffic management system that can effectively meet the needs of a g…