I raise this issue not just because of the importance of the water supply to Clogh and Moneenroe in County Kilkenny but also because of the many decades that have passed since this problem first arose. I fully appreciate that there is a manganese issue with the water supply and that works to upgrade the system are ongoing. However, this issue dates back decades. The county council at the time, when it was responsible for the provision of water services, knew about this. Efforts were made with the Department at that…

With respect, that is the same reply I received in 2023 and on several occasions prior to that. It is the same as the reply issued on 12 February this year. Will the Minister of State tell Irish Water that 3,300 customers are receiving water that is not just poor quality, it is also not usable? It is disgusting. I have received samples of the water in recent months to show me how bad it is. Will he ask Irish Water to prioritise and fast-track the scheme it is discussing such that it delivers a scheme that will solv…

It is stated in media reports this morning that almost 1,000 asylum seekers are living in tents on our streets. This is at a time when the Department that is supposed to be looking after asylum seekers is rejecting properties around the country that have gone through the five stages to qualify. Alongside that, you have the 13,000 homeless. Is it not that time that the Taoiseach would look at these figures and use the properties that have been rejected, thereby allowing those who have invested in those properties to…

I support the Bill and the measures contained within it. What concerns me about the development of primary care facilities and services and using the pharmacies is that, right now, they are overcome with the number of patients they have. The pharmacies are also overcome with the amount of prescriptions with which they are dealing and the amount of customers, if you like, that they have. Far greater investment is needed for both the primary care element of the Bill and for the pharmacies. We cannot put stuff into a …

I welcome the Bill and it fits in with all of the new developments taking place at third level. There are technological universities now in various regions to ensure that so many now have access to education. This will further enhance our profile abroad. It will show the world and the international markets that we are concentrating on research and innovation. It is about being at the cusp of all developments relative to the new green technology, and all of the other challenges that face small businesses and the mul…

If everything said today by Ministers and representatives of the Cabinet was true, factual and working, we would not be having this debate today. In fact, if the Government had listened to the many backbenchers who raised this issue over and over again at our parliamentary party meetings, we would not be here today. Those of us who were trying to assist in communities were hampered by the Government's refusal to give us the information required to build services within the community to deal with the number of peopl…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and Members very much for that. I want to agree with Deputy Boyd Barrett. I believe these bigger companies should be taxed and the money should then be reinvested into the arts of one kind or another. Some way should be found to do that because what we are experiencing online, with the input of individuals or of bigger companies, is nothing but trash. One is in the sewer the minute one goes into some of those online platforms. We need to have regulation. I see a very significant gap betw…

Government policy on providing accommodation for Ukrainians arriving here and for those seeking international protection is not working. Some would say it is not fit for purpose and there are those who would describe it as a shambles and a disgrace. Those who arrive here are not being accommodated. Residents and local communities are not being consulted. Business people involved in providing the accommodation are not being paid and their applications are not being processed in an efficient way. There are no answers…

I raise the ongoing row between Coillte and the forestry sector in Ireland, which is causing devastation in that sector and a lot of trauma for the landowners and people who are involved. It is a contractual issue and has to do with payments and landownership. The process at present does nothing other than to muzzle those who are trying to raise issues. Coillte is not responding. It is forcing everyone through the legal system. It is time the Department appointed an independent group to look at what has been going …

I support the Bill. It will allow the State to provide a considerable amount of money right across the various payments being made to customers of the Department and to provide for the administration of the Department. However, I have a couple of issues. One relates to various applications where the customer has an account with Revolut or any other of the fintech companies. I recently assisted a constituent who had been asked to explain every single payment made in their Revolut account. I am not singling out Revol…

SOS Services in Kilkenny has been delivering essential day and residential services for almost 50 years. It provides an excellent service. It is run by a very efficient chief executive who assists in a very direct way all of the families concerned. Last year the HSE gave a once-off allocation of €540,000 to cover the once-off costs that SOS Kilkenny was experiencing at the time. This €540,000 payment should be repeated again this year because SOS Kilkenny finds itself under extreme pressure to meet all of the costs…

The Minister of State is well aware of the services provided by people in SOS and the struggles of families, because she spoke to Francis Coughlan and is aware that they have put everything they possibly can into what they do as individuals delivering those services. They go the extra mile. The families go the extra mile and the support is there for them, although that support has diminished in terms of funding. Without the co-operation of SOS and the families concerned, some may well be institutionalised or put in…

I move: That Dáil Éireann shall take note of the Report of the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, and Reform, and Taoiseach entitled "Report on Banking 2022", copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 18th May, 2023. I acknowledge the role of the secretariat in the preparation of this report, which I recommend to the House. I ask the Government not only to give it and its 20 recommendations serious consideration but also to act on some of the recommendations. This report was compiled over the co…

It has been a worthwhile discussion. I think an Cathaoirleach Gníomhach deliberately knocked the gong there to knock the Minister of State off her last few minutes. I remember the late Brian Lenihan in this debate and "Hell at the Gates" and all he did in terms of everything that happened at that time. History will be very kind to Brian Lenihan in the job he did at that time. He laid the foundation for much that happened afterwards in terms of Government policy and other policies that were there. I want to pick up …

Since 2020, Irish businesses - small and micro - have suffered because of Covid-19, the wars, the cost of living and now the refugee issue. Big Government is ruining small businesses. They complain to me about red tape and bureaucracy and the heavy-handed nature of the approaches from Revenue because of the warehousing of debt. The banks are not lending in the way they should and businesses are saying the decisions of Government are adding further to the cost of doing business in Ireland. I want to make a case to t…

A number of medical card holders have complained to me and have expressed concern about medicines, which they will be taking for life, being unavailable in their chemist. I understand there is an issue around that. I ask the Taoiseach to clarify that for me. There is evidence that some medicines dealing with HRT right up through to asthma are being shared on social media or people are trying to source them on social media. I also ask the Taoiseach to clarify the funding for high-tech drugs. Where people are on thes…

Democracy is all we have and the best model in operation is the one we have. Whether we like it, political parties have derailed democracy to a degree. They have taken charge of it. What we have now is a directed democracy. Parliamentary parties of one kind or another in the House - I can certainly speak for my own – tend to put a straitjacket on each of the Members to ensure there is very little debate. When I was first elected, parliamentary parties in the Chamber would all discuss legislation in detail. We would…

I concur with and add to what Deputy Cahill has said. This has gone on for a significant number of years. In fact, former Members of this House such as Mary White were part of the initial group of Deputies who were making themselves available to support Dan Brennan. In 2006, the Minister of the day sent a representative to Dan Brennan's farm and found he was an excellent farmer. Everyone locally knows that Dan Brennan and the Brennan family are excellent farmers. When he legitimately brought forward the concerns he…

The Minister has ignored everything and he has gone with the line from his Department, a line that has caused nothing but trouble for Dan Brennan. The Irish Farmers' Association and the people of Kilkenny are looking on at this and they believe there was something wrong. If the Minister wants new evidence, he should look at the date the factory closed and at what happened on Dan Brennan's farm then. The Minister is wrong to take that line from the Department, because it is the Department itself that is wrong and it…

I ask the Minister not to be guided by what he is reading from the Department. I ask him to listen to Dan Brennan for God's sake and take a compassionate view on it.