The family and I understood that a bed is available in Ballymahon. I urge the Minister of State to try to expedite that transfer.

I wish the Minister of State the very best of luck in her new role. She has massive determination and an overwhelming desire to make a real difference in this area. Having listened to how well she is briefed, I am setting great store and faith in her ability to deliver in this very challenged area. I also welcome the very measured and informed contribution from Deputy Ward and I assure him we have signed up to a programme for Government that pledges to work to end the admission of children to adult psychiatric unit…

I commend both Ministers of State on an excellent insight into the Estimates. It is good to have an opportunity to speak to them here today. Later this afternoon we will see the launch of the July stimulus, which is all about securing jobs, securing the viability of businesses and attempting to address regional imbalance across Ireland. Political commentators and economists are telling us that the way to deal with the crisis we face is to borrow money and subsequently to spend that money on capital projects. It has…

I am pleased to see the Bill proceeding through the Dáil today. It will be important as we look to kick-start our economy in a Covid-19 era. The Bill will enable the distribution of low-cost loans to many businesses affected by the global pandemic. That will be a great help. Equally important and as significant as those low-cost loans will be the July stimulus programme. It will include a suite of measures and supports to aid the Irish public and hospitality sectors. Those supports and incentives need to be decisiv…

I am sharing time with Deputies Cathal Crowe and O'Callaghan. I am thankful for this opportunity to speak on the Financial Provisions (Covid-19) Bill 2020, specifically its importance and relevance to rural Ireland. We all know and realise that Covid-19 has ripped through the heart of rural Ireland, robbing families of loved ones and imposing a necessary lockdown on rural Ireland that ran contrary to the civic and community spirit that best exemplifies our community. For small businesses, this could not have come a…

I thank the Acting Chairman but there has been one change to the line-up; I will be sharing with my colleagues, Deputies Devlin and McAuliffe. I commend our new Minister for Health and wish him the very best in his new role. I would be remiss if I did not single out the immense personal contribution of his predecessor, Deputy Harris, in the battle against Covid-19. The challenges in the area of health are many, deeply pressing, and all the more pronounced as a result of the budget challenges outlined here today. Th…

As a native of Leinster where peat can be found in the veins of most families, it is with a heavy heart that I accept the closure of our bogs for commercial power generation. However, that does not mean I accept the manner in which this process has been covertly fast-tracked, nor do I accept the shabby treatment of Bord na Móna workers. We are gambling a great deal on the just transition fund because at the moment not a single cent has been poured back into our beleaguered community. I am conscious that a raft of L…

As the Minister well knows, two sections of our community have paid the greatest price in terms of safeguarding the public in the face of Covid-19. I am referring to the elderly and our special needs children. Some of the toughest calls that many Deputies in the House have taken in the past three months have been from parents who are despairing as their children flounder and regress academically. The House has reflected much in terms of the future care plans for the elderly, in particular those in the nursing home …

For years to come we will reference the Covid-19 era and reflect on how it has changed so much in our everyday lives. An unexpected consequence of the lockdown is that for the first time in many years, we have been able to focus on the quality and number of Garda personnel that should be on the ground and on patrol in rural Ireland. Trainees from Templemore were dispatched nationwide in an effort to support and supplement the policing effort in the face of the Covid-19 challenge. As part of that process, eight prob…

I grew up in the shadow of the ESB power station in Lanesborough and the broad, majestic Mount Dillon boglands were the backdrop to my youth. For 75 years, our community was the cradle of the Irish energy revolution. Now, with the race to decarbonise with bright, new, shiny alternatives, we are unfortunately no longer fashionable. We must remember that Bord na Móna led one of the most ambitious housebuilding programmes in this country, building housing estates for its workers right across the midlands. Bord na Móna…

I am conscious and thankful that the Minister has given a commitment to try to have the July provision in place for special needs children. However, I want to emphasise it will be essential for these children as, otherwise, they will have been six months outside the school system and when they get back into a classroom environment, they will flounder. Notwithstanding the challenges it has presented, Covid-19 has given many organisations an opportunity to reflect on how they operate and, more importantly, on how the…

Obviously, I welcome the suite of measures that have come on stream to support businesses emerging from the Covid crisis. The measures are generic and broadly speaking do not address the fundamental threat which will be to rural Ireland, which undoubtedly faces the greatest threat in a post-Covid era. A report from the three regional assemblies has highlighted that among the eight counties with the greatest potential impact from Covid are both Longford and Westmeath with 2,700 jobs potentially at risk. The Covid cr…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak. I acknowledge that I have been preceded by a plethora of very well-informed, well-intentioned and passionate speakers from across the political landscape. However, on the basis that the good people of County Longford have waited four years to hear one of their own speak in this august Chamber, it would be remiss of me not to take the opportunity to address this historic House. Many Members referenced change and laid claim to the process of change. The people…