I thank my colleagues, especially Deputy O'Rourke, for bringing this motion to the floor. Affordable electricity is the main theme of this motion. Ireland has one of the highest prices of electricity per unit in Europe. Sinn Féin and other Opposition parties have raised this issue countless times on the floor of the Dáil and presented countless ideas and solutions, including a windfall tax, at a time when prices were at their peak and unscrupulous actors were exploiting the wars across the world, including the one …

The basic income for artists was introduced in 2022. It was designed as a pilot scheme for a period of three years. Since its inception, it has added greatly to the culture of the State and has financially sustained many talented artists, whom we are lucky to have, from musicians to poets and writers, to name but a few. This scheme has given many of our citizens the ability to pursue their artistic potential and creativity, including many artists in my constituency of County Wexford. I ask that the Government avoid…

I thank my colleagues, Deputies Tully and Patricia Ryan, for their dedicated advocacy on behalf of carers and the elderly and for tabling this motion. It is universally accepted that people with disabilities and their carers are more financially vulnerable than any other section of society. In fact, the Joint Committee on Gender Equality recommended bringing social protection rates for carers in line with the minimum essential standard of living, MESL. It is critical that the Government understands, and what is mor…

Following on from the briefing I requested from the Library and Research Service on the provision of extra time for dyspraxia accommodation in State exams by Dr. Etaoine Howlett, senior parliamentary researcher, I ask that a full review would be conducted on the current State Examinations Commission's position regarding extra time for students with dyspraxia. Under the current rule, ten minutes' extra time may be granted per exam. However, students with dyspraxia who are currently not eligible for additional time h…

I thank Deputy Clarke for bringing forward this motion. Special needs education is and should be regarded as a right and a given. Every child with special needs must be given the opportunity to attend school and be treated as an equal participant in their school community. However, this is not the case at the moment. Every year, we see a growing demand for school places for children with disability and the constant battle their parents must fight to achieve that goal. Organisations like AsIAm, Inclusion Ireland and…

We all know and agree there is not enough affordable and social housing available for councils to allocate. However, we also know there are councils across the entire country that are years behind on the maintenance and upkeep of their housing stock. The day-to-day maintenance of social housing is primarily funded by the rents paid by tenants. However, when it comes to county council budgets for planning for maintenance, there are huge shortfalls. Time and again, renters are getting similar responses from county co…

We are now at the end of the school cycle and the commencement of the 2024-2025 school cycle begins in four months' time. Every year the school transport scheme is significantly oversubscribed. Year after year this is repeated, causing financial and social worries for parents. Some parents have had to give up their jobs to bring their children to school. This week we had a major protest in north Gorey, with 150 families and 190 children directly involved who are in desperate need of a school transport system for th…

I thank Deputy Ó Broin for his momentous work on forming Sinn Féin's housing policy and bringing the motion to the Dáil. I have to say the Government's response to the breaking news this morning on part of the Housing Commission's report is bewildering. All Opposition parties have been saying for years that there is a national emergency housing crisis in this country. Sinn Féin has called for a national emergency to be declared on the status of Ireland's housing demand and for the right to housing to be enshrined i…

I wish to raise the issue of a local community organisation that deals with suicide ideation, addictions and mental health. It is called It's Good 2 Talk. It provides high-quality service and is responsible and accountable for its work. I have it on good authority it recently applied to the HSE for funding to the tune of €40,000 but was flatly refused. Over a three-year period it professionally provided more than 7,800 hours of psychotherapy and addiction counselling to its clients. Will the Tánaiste please make su…

I commend Deputy Ó Broin and the rest of my party on allowing me the parliamentary time to debate this important motion on affordable housing. We know the cost-rental and affordable purchase targets were missed by 60% last year. In fact, no affordable homes were built in my home county of Wexford. Time and again, we have seen young people's hopes dashed against the backdrop of constantly high rents, averaging €1,155 per month in my county. This amount is unaffordable to a single person or young couple, especially t…

As the Minister will be very much aware, people are battling with the cost of living, inflation, higher mortgage rates, higher rents and higher energy costs, while fuel prices have risen by 30% in the past three years. That is not including the further charges the Government will introduce. Tomorrow the Government will increase the price of fuel for households. It will do so again in less than four months in August, with a third increase on the cards for 9 October, and with the AA predicting the possibility of fuel…

Some 186,000 Irish people are living with a neurological condition, with 50,000 diagnosed with such a condition annually. In Europe, there is an average of nine to 14 neurologists per 100,000 people. In Ireland, there is an average of just 1.3 neurologists per 100,000. We have a serious problem. The World Health Organization has stated that one in three of us will develop a neurological condition in our lifetimes. Will the Minister of State support a neurological unit at Wexford General Hospital, given that the pro…

There are no nurses.

There are no nurses in Waterford.

I thank Deputy Cullinane and the Sinn Féin team for tabling the motion, which is about a life-and-death issue. I can safely say there is no one in this Chamber, or outside it, who does not have a relative or friend, or who does not know someone, who has either survived cancer or died because of it. Ireland ranks 13th out of 27 countries in terms of cancer survival. In fact, Ireland has the third highest mortality rate in western Europe. Cancer is on the increase, with an average rise of 3% in the general population…

I thank Deputy Cullinane, our spokesperson on health, for bringing forward this motion. The bottom line is that local health services are under severe strain and the situation is getting worse. People in my own constituency in Wexford, and particularly in rural areas of the county, are waiting for up to four weeks to get an appointment to see their doctor. That statement alone is shocking. Not alone is it a shocking truth, but it is neglect of the duty of care to our communities and those who require immediate medi…

I thank my colleagues for bringing this important motion to the floor, particularly Deputy Tully for the personal work she has contributed towards it. The Action Plan for Disability Services 2024-2026 is welcome. However, there is not a mention in the plan of ratifying the most important element of the UNCRPD, which is the protocol on the right for the individual to make a complaint to the United Nations. A report undertaken by the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice on behalf of Family Carers Ireland found t…

In a recent parliamentary question, I asked about the setting-up of a promised new child and adult mental health services, CAMHS, team in County Wexford. The answer I received amounts to an endorsement of Deputy Ward's Bill, which we will be voting on tonight, to put the regulation of CAMHS on a statutory footing. The reply to the parliamentary question stated that the recruitment for the third CAMHS team in Wexford has been ongoing for some time. The candidate for the consultant psychiatric post withdrew their acc…

I commend all the campaigners who stood outside the Dáil today, especially the Byrne family from County Wexford. This motion has come about due to the failure of the Government to fulfil its promise to the children who suffer from spina bifida and scoliosis. The promise was that no child would have to wait more than four months for surgery. The Minister has said the State has failed the children affected by spina bifida and scoliosis. The recent exposure of the alleged use of non-CE marked implantation springs demo…

We in Sinn Féin welcome the Coroners (Amendment) Bill 2024 and support its intention to supply extra coroners to the Dublin district and to provide temporary coroners to other districts when and where the need arises. As stated, this legislation was introduced as an instrument to create a legal avenue to allow the assignment and appointment of temporary coroners to the Dublin district during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is therefore important to state that the Bill should be viewed as an interim measures, with a full …