I want to raise the devastating news about the 650 job losses at Boliden Tara mines and the thousands of jobs that are indirectly affected by this. SIPTU said the company contacted the Government six months ago about the pressure it was under and heard nothing back. There were several contributing factors. There was a six-month delay in issuing a drilling licence. We know it was excluded from accessing the European energy fund. Government Ministers said this morning that it came out of the blue. I wrote to the Mini…

I welcome the debate we are having this morning on tier 2 hospitals. I thank the Independent Group for bringing it forward. The issue I will raise the future of Navan hospital and what the reconfiguration means for it. I thank the staff at Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, and all hospital staff throughout the State who work tirelessly for the people. It is absolutely incredible how shabbily my constituents in Meath West, doctors, nurses and other staff and patients of Navan hospital have been treated by the Government. …

I thank Deputy Brady for bringing this Bill before the House. It is designed to compel ISIF to divest itself of holdings in companies currently listed on a UN database of businesses operating within the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. In simple terms, the purpose of the Bill is to mandate ISIF to divest itself of all current assets and to prohibit future investments in any companies which operate in the illegal Israeli settlements and which are included on the UN database of com…

It was a disgrace that the Government only announced on 1 May the grants for older people and people with disabilities. That is a joke given that four months of the year have passed. On one-off planning in rural Ireland, rural areas are facing significant challenges, with depopulation, ageing infrastructure, local schools finding it hard to keep their numbers up and GAA, soccer and other sports clubs amalgamating because of low numbers. One-off planning is a critical tool for addressing these challenges and ensurin…

I want to raise housing adaptation grants for older people and people with disabilities. The grants were announced last Monday, 1 May. I heard that this was waiting on the Minister's desk for eight weeks before it was signed. The grants have increased by 2.3%. According to today's newspaper, construction costs have gone up 30%. The same paper stated that 32.5% of the housing budget was not spent in the first four months of the year. How could it be spent if money was not even allocated to these grants for older peo…

I have called the local authority several times.

I thank my colleague, Deputy O'Rourke, for bringing this motion to the House. Households are struggling to keep their heads above water in this cost-of-living crisis as Government continues to prioritise the profits of energy companies over workers and families at every turn. Average gas and electricity bills have doubled over the last year to the point that the price of electricity here is the highest in Europe and the price of gas is the eighth most expensive. All the while, wholesale prices of gas and electricit…

What measures are being put in place in rural areas to prevent an increase in homelessness on foot of the Government's decision to end the ban on no-fault evictions? In my county, Meath, 319 people are in emergency accommodation, including 85 families, 87 children and 130 single people. On top of this, 250 further tenancies have been issued with notices of quit. At present, there is no availability of emergency accommodation in County Meath and, therefore, people from the county are being sent to Drogheda, County L…

There is no social or affordable housing where I come from in rural Ireland. Evictions started to take place on 1 April and will continue right through the summer. There are 250 families facing eviction in County Meath. Where are they going? They are going to Drogheda for homeless accommodation. This has not been addressed. We need a Government that will address these issues, and that will not be done under Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.

What measures are being put in place in rural areas to prevent an increase in homelessness on foot of the Government's decision to end the ban on no-fault evictions? In my county, Meath, 319 people are in emergency accommodation, including 85 families, 87 children and 130 single people. On top of this, 250 further tenancies have been issued with notices of quit. At present, there is no availability of emergency accommodation in County Meath and, therefore, people from the county are being sent to Drogheda, County L…

I refer to the case of Tom and Maria Browne of Delvin, County Westmeath. Tom is 85 years old. He is a retired member of the Defence Forces and has had two strokes. His wife Maria is 73, has diabetes and is his main carer. They have rented the same house in Delvin for the past 11 years. Recently, they were served with a notice to quit. They currently pay rent of €700 a month. The most they could pay is €1,000 per month. They do not have a hope of getting accommodation anywhere else for that amount. They applied to W…

A family member is moving into the house.

They are over the limit to go on that.

A couple of weeks ago, we heard that 58 schools building projects would be delayed due to capital funding pressure. I raised the matter with the Taoiseach then and he said it would be sorted by Easter. I submitted many parliamentary questions to the Minister. The latest response two days ago stated that the schools building projects that are on hold due to capital funding pressures will be delivered. It is a question of timing. Therein lies the problem. Enfield is one of the fastest growing towns in the country. Wh…

I thank Deputy Tully for bringing forward this Bill. The EPSEN Act was passed in 2004 to ensure that children with additional education needs could be educated in an inclusive setting, and that all children would have the right to be educated in a mainstream school unless it would not be the best interest of the child or the effective provision of education for other children in mainstream education. Under the Act, each child assessed with a special educational need should have an individual education plan. An IEP …

The Joint Committee on Disability Matters has called for the commencement of the sections of the 2004 Act that confer statutory rights on the child, including commencement of the statutory entitlement to educational assessment, consequent development of a statutory individual educational plan and a detailed educational service to be implemented on foot of this plan. It is disappointing that the Minister of State is kicking the Bill down the road. As Deputy Ó Ríordáin said another way, it is my opinion that the Mini…

I look after myself. I received worrying news this morning about capital funding pressures in the Department of Education and about its work programme and priorities for 2023 and beyond. I have been informed that 58 school building projects are now on hold due to capital funding pressures. We need a list of the 58 schools on that list and how long the projects will be on hold. These include projects in my constituency of Meath West, including Enfield Community College. At a time when we have capacity pressures acro…

When?

Last week I raised the issue of massive electricity bills received by a 100-year-old woman and a 77-year-old man. Since then, horrendous stories started to pour in about excessive electricity bills and people not knowing how they will pay them. I spoke to a carer the other day. She takes care of an 89-year-old woman. When she visited that woman last week, she had a coat and a scarf on in her own home in the middle of the day to keep warm. She will not boil the kettle between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the evening because…

I wish to raise with the Taoiseach the cases of two elderly people who have contacted me over the past two days. Kitty from Trim, County Meath, is over 100 years old. Her electricity bill with Electric Ireland from 7 December 2022 to 3 February, 59 days, is €957.49 after all subsidies. I have Kitty's bill here. Her previous bill was €133.42. Her electricity usage involves a fridge, a washing machine, an immersion heater, lighting and two electric heaters on timers, with no central heating. Gerry Clarke, 77 years ol…