As the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy Roderic O'Gorman, is regrettably unable to attend this session, I am pleased to deliver the closing statement on his behalf. I say to Senator Flynn that the usher who told her she deserves to be here is absolutely correct. Of course she deserves to be here and it is her voice that is effecting change as a Senator, a member of the Traveller community, as an advocate and the expert Chair of the special Oireachtas committee. I compliment…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I know it is something that is close to her heart and on which she has been advocating for a significant period. It is quite poignant to hear the names of the women who died in February and March over the past 27 years. It is good that their names have been put on the Dáil record, which is some sort of acknowledgement. As the Deputy correctly said, they have been made voiceless in myriad different ways. I agree with her that following Ashling Murphy's death in particular, …

Again, I commend the Deputy on her work in this area. I have seen her output on social media, including Instagram, and how effective it can be. She is right about the effect on people, even if we are just reading about it. Even the fact that so many women have lost their lives takes an emotional toll. The Deputy's work is good because it keeps their memory alive and gives credence to the momentum we are trying to maintain. Regarding the walk she mentioned, fear of harassment and violence should never be normalised.…

I thank the Deputy. I am taking this topic on behalf of the Minister for Community and Rural Development, Deputy Humphreys. The sustainability of the communities on our offshore islands is a core objective of the Government, as set out in its rural development policy. The policy acknowledges the importance for island communities of access to reliable, safe and affordable connectivity services to and from the mainland. Contracts for these services are procured by the Department of Rural and Community Development on …

I thank the Deputy. I can hear the frustration in his comments. Nonetheless, I thank him for raising the matter this evening. I will relay his comments to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys. I reiterate that, unlike the NTA, the Department does not subsidise all services on all routes and therefore any fare reduction scheme could-----

May I finish?

Could I just finish? Unlike the NTA, the Department does not subsidise all services on all routes, and therefore any fare reduction scheme could not be applied evenly and could put private operators at a disadvantage. The Deputy will appreciate that I am taking this topical issue on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys.

I am not in the Department myself. This is the information that I have but I hope the Deputy will be reassured by my stated commitment to speak to the Minister about this. I hear what he is saying about equality for islanders and note his comments on the reduction and the PSO contract. I will pass them on to her. I understand that what the Deputy is suggesting would create fare inconsistencies for the subsidised operators as not all sailings are subsidised. As the Deputy can appreciate, that is the information I ha…

I thank Deputy Carthy for raising this important matter, which I am happy to take on behalf of the Minister, Deputy McConalogue. As the Deputy is aware, extraction of peat for the Irish professional horticultural industry in recent years has been challenging from a legal and regulatory perspective. A series of High Court judgments, beginning in the early 2010s, which dealt with peat extraction and lack of compliance across the extraction sector, has generated supply challenges, both in respect of volume and price, …

As the Deputy acknowledged, this issue is not within my remit but, nevertheless, I was happy to take it for the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, who is indisposed. I hear the Deputy's frustration regarding the lack of information. Perhaps I should say the alleged lack of information because obviously I am not up to speed with the minutiae of this issue. I do know, however, the key importance of the professional horticulture industry to Irish jobs, the economy and our food safety and security. I reassure the Deputy the…

I am sorry to disappoint the Deputy that I am not the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. He too was not disposed today to take this Topical Issue matter but I am happy to take it on his behalf. I know the Deputy, like many other Members, has a strong interest in the ownership and governance arrangements of the new national maternity hospital and I welcome the opportunity to address the House on the issue. The Government is committed to the development of the new national maternity hospital, as set out in the progra…

I would like to reassure the Deputy. I set out my understanding in my original contribution to this House. In fact, I said that canon law plays no part in the new maternity hospital. I have said that on a number of occasions here, including my initial contribution, and I will say it again to the Deputy. The House can be assured that maternity and reproductive healthcare at the new hospital will not be compromised. The Minister for Health is adamant about what will happen. He will not bring any proposal to the Gover…

I very much welcome the opportunity to note and discuss the response of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands to the report of the pensions commission. I note Deputy Naughten's work as Chair and the work of other members. My colleague, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, sends her apologies. She cannot be here this evening as she is attending a number of events in Sligo throughout today and tomorrow to which she committed some time ago. The pensions commiss…

I have listened to the debate on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, who is unavailable this evening. I assure each Deputy who has contributed that I will bring their comments to the attention of the Minister. A number of issues have been raised and I will take them all back to her. The State pension is the bedrock of the pension system in Ireland and is extremely effective in ensuring our pensioners do not experience poverty. The CSO data for 2020 indicates that the 65-years-and-over age group had the lowest…

I thank Deputy for raising this matter. I always relish the opportunity to talk about special education, especially in the context of areas that need to be addressed. I will get into the specifics of the particular matter, but I want to speak about special education in general. We have an extensive budget that has increased from €1.1 billion to €2.2 billion over the past number of years, in terms of special classes. The Deputy has asked about what I call special classes and some people call ASD units. There are now…

The Deputy is correct that I do have a responsibility to meet the special education provision needs of people in various places around the country, including in Carrick-on-Suir. Regarding the assessment of children with additional needs, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, has responsibility for that in the Department of Health. She is aware of it and I understand that she has cleared 70% of the backlog. It is important that we work well together so that those assessments are made before children avail of their…

I thank the Deputy for her question. I am taking this question on behalf of the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley. My understanding is that more than 800 schools in this country already have DEIS status. As the Deputy knows, the entire DEIS model is under review at present. Funding was almost doubled to €32 million in the budget from the €18 million available last year. That is on top of the €150 million that was given to the Department to make sure there are supports for the DEIS programme. It is important we l…

All schools that did so last year will automatically provide special educational needs facilities, which will be important going forward. That is just a general point around the provision of placements for children with additional needs. I again commend Scoil Mhuire Lourdes girls' school on volunteering to open a special class and, as I said, there are enhanced capitation rates for that. I do, however, understand from the NCSE that at present there is sufficient capacity for these children in other schools. I do ac…

I thank my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, for presenting the Government's opening statement. Unfortunately, due to a change in times by the Business Committee, my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Coveney, is unable to present the closing statement. He sends his apologies to the House. On behalf of the Minister, I thank Deputy Clarke for raising this matter under Private Members' business. This discussion is important and deals with serious issues that are a priority for the Minister for Defence. …

I thank Deputy Joan Collins for her questions. Before I get into the specifics of Dublin 12, it important when we are talking about special education to acknowledge the amount of significant progress that we have made. For example, since 2011, we have increased special classes by 386% in this country. This year, we have 2,118 special classes in Ireland. We also have 126 special schools. In Dublin 12 specifically, we have 21 primary special classes, including two early intervention classes. We have six post-primary …