There are two issues here. The first is the long-term development of Spring Lane, and that seems to be moving along. What is not being addressed, however, is the maintenance of the halting site at the moment. The Cork Traveller Visibility Group wrote to us in that regard. The letter states: As you should know, [this family's] temporary, makeshift bay is one of the lowest points of the site, ... one of the places which floods first and worst. The family has been both self advocating and advocating through the local …

I am on the board of the Canal Communities Local Drug and Alcohol Task Force. At our last meeting, one of the project co-ordinators raised a serious issue that will impact on Turas Training, the project on which he is a co-ordinator. It is based on Old Naas Road in Dublin 12. Turas Training was founded in 2000 and is funded by the HSE under section 39 and by the Department of Social Protection. It is a registered charity that rents a 3,500 sq. ft premises and delivers a comprehensive day programme for people in rec…

That is exactly the point; these services are not businesses, but voluntary organisations, and they are dealing with some of the most vulnerable people in our society. They cannot afford to fail and the Government cannot allow them to. No organisation whose core funding comes from the HSE can afford an increase of €13,000 to €14,000 in energy costs. It is not practical. There must be full cost recovery for section 39 projects. I hope the Government will ensure that happens. There is no fat in these organisations an…

These projects need full cost recovery.

A campaign on my.uplift.ie seeks to fund long Covid multidisciplinary clinics. It was initiated by Miriam Cullen, who is in the Public Gallery with other long Covid patients. I thank Deputy Naughten and the Regional Group for using Private Members' time to discuss this serious issue. The current HSE plan for long Covid medical support is inadequate. It proposes only eight post-acute Covid clinics nationwide for newly diagnosed people for the first 12 weeks. Should a person need continued care, there will only be si…

Do not worry about it.

A number of local authority water service workers were in the Gallery this afternoon, one of whom, Anthony, is still here. A couple of them had to leave to work the late shift. These are the workers with serious concerns about their jobs, working conditions, pay and future pension entitlements. It would be good if they could at least get some straight answers from the Minister and Government to the questions they have. A key question relates to the issue of a referendum to enshrine public ownership of water and san…

I thank Deputy Cullinane for tabling this motion on home care. It is important that this crisis in home care be discussed openly and as often as possible. It is one of the many areas of healthcare that are affected by the recruitment and retention crisis and it is playing havoc with people’s health, particularly that of elderly mothers and fathers. I support the 12 demands set out in the motion calling on the Government to resolve the issue, particularly the demand to "modernise the tendering and funding model for …

I do not know whether the Minister is aware of the situation facing water service workers in local authorities. They have been working under a service level agreement whereby they are employed by local authorities and provide services to Irish Water. That was due to end in 2026. Today and tomorrow, water services workers are withdrawing their services from Irish Water in Cork south, Waterford, Dublin and parts of Tipperary. They plan to include more areas and repeat their action next Tuesday and Wednesday. They are…

I am disappointed that no Minister or Minister of State from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is present. This is an important issue that has been going on for a long time. Bogus self-employment is an area in which I have a great deal of interest, and I was part of the social welfare committee's report into the matter. We now know that there is more bogus self-employment than we originally thought. RTÉ commissioned Eversheds Sutherland to conduct an independent review to determine whether workers'…

I thank the Minister of State for providing a breakdown of the various statutory bodies that make determinations on the employment status of a person for the purpose of PRSI, but this situation involves workers with nearly 20 years of service who are being told that they have no pension rights, will not be allowed into the staff pension scheme and so on. I received a message today from one of the workers, who said that there had been a meeting with SIPTU and that the feedback was that RTÉ was unwilling to move the …

That review does not relate to these workers.

I thank the Social Democrats for tabling this Private Members' motion. I endorse its calls to: - ensure all survivors of Mother and Baby Homes, County Homes, related institutions, unlawful or forced adoption, and abuse in boarding out and adoptive placements receive redress; - use the findings of the OAK Report as a basis for the redress scheme; - remove the six-month time-based criteria to access the scheme; [...] - require religious orders and pharmaceutical companies to contribute to the cost of the redress sche…

Last Thursday, I was contacted by constituents, parents and service users about St. Michael's House, 18 Cromwellsfort Road, Dublin 12. A man who has Apert syndrome and has relied on the service for approximately 20 years was advised on Wednesday that he would have to arrange his own transport to get to the service. Heretofore, buses used to transport service users from 8 a.m. to 10 a. m. and 2.30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Staff at St. Michael's House, which is a section 38 facility funded by the HSE, are also distraught by th…

I welcome the Minister of State’s response, but it is important to get those stakeholders together as quickly as we can because I believe it is resolvable. From my point of view, it is about the people who need the service and the transport. As I said, an older man who had been using the services for 20 years was told, all of a sudden, that he no longer had transport. He cannot physically get onto public transport. I welcome this response. It should be done in the next week or two to address the short-term and long…

When will the Minister for Social Protection publish the child maintenance review, which she received in April? Groups representing lone parents expected it to be made public before the summer recess. Does the Minister have money in the pot for the implementation of any recommendations that may come from the review later in the year?

As the Minister will be aware, this review was warmly welcomed by lone parents and the organisations One Family and SPARK, and they were very keen to process the review. The Minister says the review will not be published until possibly the end of the year or maybe early next year. Has she made provision within her Department's budget for the implementation of any recommendations that may come from that review? Most lone parents were hoping recognition would have been given to the fact that the payment of maintenanc…

The Minister will understand there is a sense of urgency among lone parents and the groups representing them that this would be processed as quickly as possible. I again ask if she has made provision in her budget from the point of view of the recommendations coming out of this review. I do not know whether payments will be costed, whether a one-stop shop will be set up or whatever comes out of this review. I read an article that said once-off payments are welcome and have an impact but that the basic welfare rate …

I do not know if the Minister is aware of the situation facing local authority workers who work in water services. Under the current service level agreement, SLA, these workers, who are employed by local authorities, provide services to Irish Water. Under the terms of the SLA, they can, if they wish, transfer to Irish Water in January 2026. Part of the agreement was that there would be a referendum to enshrine water services under public ownership and management. Recently, a draft framework agreement has been negot…

I thank the Minister. I have had a great deal of contact and discussions with the workers involved. They have told me they will resist in every way they can being railroaded into an agreement without a vote, a guarantee of their public service status and a referendum. They will not accept it. The Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Water in Public Ownership) (No. 2) Bill 2016, proposes that: "The Government shall be collectively responsible for the protection, management and maintenance of the public water …