I wrote to her.

I wrote to her.

Is that why we did not get anything?

Is that why we did not get anything?

This is not the first time I have raised the issue of home care hours being approved but not provided. In a lot of cases not enough hours are provided to clients. One lady in my constituency currently going through cancer was approved home care support months ago but she has yet to receive that care. Care availability remains an issue. It has been highlighted for years but not dealt with. There is a lack of staff who want to take up the role of a caregiver due to the poor pay and the poor travel expenses in between…

Last Friday, 18 modular homes arrived in Coole, County Westmeath, although there is no planning permission to erect them. There are almost 100 international protection applicants on the site at the moment. Westmeath County Council has said there is no planning permission for these homes and it has issued a letter to the developer instructing it to stop works. If the homes are for international protection applicants, the developer needs planning permission. However, if looking for a loophole in the law, the develope…

I want to address the state of the regional and local roads infrastructure in Meath, as well as the danger and the expense it is causing to motorists. The roads in the county, especially those in north Meath, are in a state of neglect. This neglect has translated to a risk that constituents face every time they start their engines. They must avoid some of the worst potholes - or should I say craters - in the country and it is getting worse. Navigating these craters on four wheels is a nightmare, let alone on two wh…

I have submitted several parliamentary questions on the issue of the Loughcrew megalithic tombs, also known as the Hills of the Witch. This is a group of neolithic passage tombs near Oldcastle in County Meath. Spread over four undulating peaks the tombs date back to approximately 3000 BC. Cairn T of Loughcrew is older than the pyramids in Egypt has stood silent over the Irish landscape for millennia, keeping the secrets of our prehistoric past locked beneath its stone cairn and within its ornately carved chambers. …

You have another couple of months.

I want to bring to the Tánaiste's attention the plight of 26 families who have purchased homes in Johnstown Demesne, Enfield, County Meath. It is a development by Westin Homes. In some cases deposits were paid in April 2023 and people were told the houses would be ready in August. Then they were told October, then December and then January. It is now more than one year since people paid deposits. Many of these families gave up their tenancies in private rental homes and have ended up with nowhere to live. These peo…

Uisce Éireann is a joke in a housing crisis.

We have a housing crisis.

Over the past few years we have witnessed a steep and relentless climb in fuel prices, a trend that has become a significant contributor to the deepening poverty among our people. It is a punishing reality that those who use the road to earn their living by car, van, tractor or lorry are met with the harsh penalty of soaring fuel costs amid an already crippling cost-of-living crisis. The repercussions of these escalating costs are felt throughout my constituency of Meath West and beyond. With the Government's decis…

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, for coming in to address the important issue of the reduction in special education teaching, SET, hours at Kilbride National School, Trim, County Meath and many schools across my constituency of Meath West. In response to parliamentary questions I submitted, the Department of Education stated 67% of schools saw their allocation increase or remain the same while 33% experienced a reduction in hours and that, of the schools that experienced a reduction in hours, 90% was…

I thank the Minister of State. In some cases the ratio is 30:1. I believe that is the ratio in Kilbride National School. Although the Minister of State has said she will look at it in the appeal, I was hoping she would give a commitment tonight to reverse the decision on SET hours in Kilbride. One third of schools have had their SET resources cut. However, prior to these cuts the vast majority of parents did not believe their children were being adequately supported in mainstream schools. This is according to resea…

In June it will be one year since Boliden Tara Mines closed with the loss of 600 jobs of those employed directly and more than 2,000 jobs of those employed indirectly. Management and unions are involved in negotiations but progress is very slow. These workers and their families have been left with a feeling of uncertainty over whether the mine will reopen in the second quarter of this year and what the terms and conditions will be for workers, who in many cases have big mortgages and kids going to school with many …

It is often the case that the elderly and people with a disability feel they have been forgotten about. Many fear they will have to move out of their home because they cannot continue to live independently due to a lack of support. Many carers I have spoken to have told me they go into a client's home on their days off to assist them. That is scandalous. If not for the compassion shown by those carers, their clients would not cope. Simple tasks like cooking meals, taking medication and turning on the heat would not…

I raise the crisis in student accommodation. Just to let the Minister know what is happening, there were eight students in accommodation in Galway who, at the end of November, got an email stating they had to move out of the apartments they were in because of renovations. They moved out and they were moved into similar accommodation in two groups of four. Within two or three days, families were moved into the accommodation the students left with no renovations done. Last year, these students paid €8,000 for their a…

I did not think I would be asked to speak. I offer my sympathies to Richard and to John's wife and family. I did not know John myself but from going around canvassing in north Meath I can say I am glad he has not been there these days because it has been a lot easier to get a vote. I offer my sympathies to Richard who I know and to John's wife and family. May he rest in peace.

Many parents of children with autism have contacted me to say they have major concerns that their children will not have a school place this September due to the lack of available spaces in ASD classes right across counties Meath and Westmeath. One school I contacted has three ASD classes. It feels it has done its fair share in this regard, while other schools do not have a single ASD class and, it appears, some do not have any plans to open any. Several of the parents who contacted me said it looks like their chil…