I thank the Deputy for raising this Topical Issue matter. On behalf of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, I acknowledge the fantastic effort and commitment of animal welfare organisations and the many volunteers dedicated to the care and welfare of canines, who often operate, as the Deputy said, in challenging and stressful circumstances. Animal welfare charities play a crucial role in helping animals in need, educating people and raising public awareness about improving animal w…

It is also important to note that the programme for Government includes a commitment to promote responsible pet ownership. In speaking about the period after Christmas, the Deputy makes a valid point. This commitment is being advanced by cross-divisional co-ordination within the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on various aspects relating to pet ownership. A multi-stakeholder council, the advisory council on companion animal welfare, has met on three occasions this year already. It includes non-govern…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I am taking the question on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke. This is an issue of national and local importance. I appreciate the Deputy's concerns for communities affected by boil water notices. I can hear his frustration on behalf of his constituents. The Deputy will appreciate that the operation of Whitegate regional public water supply is a matter for Irish Water. I know he has had engagements with it. Since 1 January 2014, Irish Water has had statuto…

I will stand corrected if I am wrong about this, but my understanding from the briefing I have been given is that the upgrade works to the filters is under way and additional parts are on order. Delivery is expected by the end of December. Following the implementation of these measures, the HSE will be asked to confirm that the criteria for lifting the boil water notice are met. If that is the case, the date will not be 2025, but much sooner. It appears from my briefing note that it is the water treatment plant tha…

On behalf of the Minister for Transport, I thank all Deputies for their contributions to the debate on a new vision for transport in Galway and other areas. In the motion and contributions from individual Deputies during the debate, we can see the range of challenges and opportunities that exist and the progress which has been made to date in reorientating our transport system towards sustainable transport. We are all in agreement about wanting to provide a comprehensive public transport network that serves the nee…

I thank the Deputy for raising this Topical Issue matter. I know it is an issue that has frustrated him for a significant amount of time and I believe he raised it on radio on Saturday. I know he has this particular family in mind when discussing the assistive technology scheme. I will talk about the assistive technology scheme in a little more detail. I am confident there will be a satisfactory resolution to this in the coming days. I have spoken to both the NCSE and Department on the matter. I know they are in cl…

I can clearly hear the Deputy's passion in advocating on behalf of these children. I reiterate what I said earlier that I am very confident - I can only push it so far - that there will be a satisfactory resolution to this. I have personally spoken to the NCSE and the Department on this. I am encouraged and glad to hear there was a conversation yesterday with the principal and with the mother which indicates there is movement already on this. I do not doubt the Deputy's bona fides regarding the correspondence he ou…

I thank the Deputy for raising this Topical Issue matter. It is an important topic. As a previous Minister for Education and Skills, the Deputy did a lot of work. I think he introduced the school inclusion model, which I will talk about momentarily. My Department's main responsibility in this area relates to the provision of education for children with disabilities, whether in mainstream settings, special classes or special schools. The provision of therapy supports for children with disabilities, as the Deputy poi…

I note what the Deputy said about the court ruling. He spoke about the demarcation between the different Departments. The Department of Education will be assisting the HSE in relation to the AON process, which will hopefully speed up the time within which children will get therapists and the therapy they require. The HSE is responsible for therapists being provided to special schools. I appreciate the point the Deputy is making about collaboration between Departments. Rather than having Departments in their silos, …

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Social Protection. The additional needs payment is available from the Department of Social Protection to assist people who are experiencing genuine financial hardship. As of the end of September 2022, almost 66,000 applications for additional needs payments had been processed and awarded, representing a 60% increase in the number of applications awarded compared with the same period in 2021. This rise in the number of applications in 2022 reflects a return to pr…

We all recall that during the pandemic, and the Deputy mentioned this about Limerick, the staff in the Department of Social Protection went above and beyond to ensure people got the support that they needed in a timely fashion. I have every confidence that will be the case here as well. The Minister has confirmed that she will allocate additional staff to deal with the processing of payments. The Deputy mentioned delays. A lot is being done. We have to remember that this is taxpayers' money. Where all of the necess…

I thank the Senator for the invitation to visit Dundalk and Louth. When I visited Coláiste Chú Chulainn, I was extremely impressed by the principal, Mr. Sharkey, and the incredible work he has done in opening two special classes in the school. I was also impressed by the incredible work by Maria Doyle and Eileen Harte in the CBS primary school. I also went to St. Colmcille's in Tullydonnell to see the four autism spectrum disorder, ASD, classes and met the principal, Anne Marie Forde. There are incredible examples …

There is a difference there. If there are 144 students in primary school at the moment and we assume the majority of those will be going on to post-primary, we have to make sure we have the placements for them. The NCSE is aware of that. Mr. John Kearney, who is the new CEO, will be able to recruit extra staff to implement that and use our forecasting model to be able to anticipate where there is capacity in local schools and how we can provide for them. We have the new legislation as well which can assist us with …

It goes without saying that there are, and will be, conversations we are not aware of that are ongoing with schools in Louth and in the environs and that would not be publicly available. Those children may already be catered for, but that is something on which I can update the Senator. One of the things we want to do is to make sure that gap between primary and post-primary is closed, not only in Louth but throughout the country, so that nobody falls off a cliff and there is an appropriate placement for them to con…

I thank Senator Kyne for raising this matter and for this opportunity to provide an update on the status of the new emergency department at University Hospital Galway. I also take this opportunity to acknowledge the very difficult and unacceptable conditions for patients and families and healthcare staff who work in University Hospital Galway. I am pleased to say, as the Senator acknowledged, that an interim or temporary emergency department has opened in the hospital in recent weeks. That is a €13 million capital …

I will convey the Senator's concerns to the Minister for Health and the Department. The proposal for the new emergency department is now part of a larger development that incorporates maternity and paediatric services. It is a complex project that is in the early stages of design and progression. It is regrettable that it has taken this long. I hope that by the time this hospital is built it will be better and worth the wait. Probably getting it right in the first instance and putting all of these services in it at…

I thank Senators for the opportunity to be here to talk about the summer programme. It has been a particular focus for me as Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion. I had the pleasure of visiting many of these summer programmes and I have seen first-hand the immeasurable difference this programme makes to children with special educational needs and those experiencing educational disadvantage. The provision of education for children with special educational needs is an ongoing prio…

I will address the Senators who are in the House as opposed to going through the contributions from the other Senators. Senator Murphy raised some of the points already raised by other Senators. For Senator Dolan's information, there were 45 different summer schools in Galway looking after 726 children. In Roscommon, there were 11 looking after 249 children. We would love to see that number increased next year as well. The Senator mentioned targets. We have a large number of students who do home-based summer progra…

We have all of that data. There was an 18% increase in participation from last year. As was mentioned, there were 1,000 schools involved in the programme, up from 945 last year. That is one in four schools, but it is still not enough. I was talking on the radio earlier and a school principal from County Carlow phoned in. He said that schools should not be shamed into providing the summer programme. It is certainly not my intention to shame any school. Nor should the Department be shaming any school, and it does not…

I thank the Deputy for the question. This is particularly important vis-à-vis my role as Minister of State with responsibility for special education. Many children have difficulty reaching their potential without access to digital technologies. We need to provide these to them so that they can overcome traditional barriers to learning, and to support inclusion across the system. The assistive technology scheme is provided by the Department to supplement the overall approach. The overall approach is the digital stra…