I am, but the villages-----

Our two historic coastal towns in Cork East, Youghal and Cobh, are held back from realising their full potential by the absence of key infrastructural links. For Cobh, it is the lack of a second road access point to the Great Island. For Youghal, it is the failure to restore its rail connection with Midleton and, hence, its isolation from the eventual light rail system in the city. There are real and far-reaching impacts for residents of those towns as a result. They include safety on our congested roads and reduce…

I was going to ask a question about the presence of Russian assets in Ireland and reparations to Ukraine, but I want to raise the manner in which some questions were put to the Taoiseach during Leaders' Questions about the terrible crime against a child that happened at an IPAS centre in Saggart yesterday. There was a clear conflation made between delayed deportations and risks to children in some of those questions. That is a dangerous narrative to put out.

It is about refugees and asylum seekers and our political responsibility towards them.

There is a very febrile atmosphere out there for refugees and asylum seekers. It is incumbent on us to be very careful with our words in here in order that we do not inflame tensions further. It was remiss of the Taoiseach, as leader of the country, not to take issue with the narrative that was put to him in some of those questions. He was practically ingratiating in response to Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice when the latter made that narrative very clear. That is something the Taoiseach really needs to push back on.

It is not a legitimate debate.

If it is a false narrative that is putting vulnerable people at risk. That is not legitimate debate.

We need to be very careful about how we make that point.

Yet another young person has been suspended in Carrigaline Community Special School in the past week. There has been an alarming pattern of suspensions there since 2022. Parents have also spoken of a pattern of de facto suspensions where they are repeatedly called to pick up their child early from school for behaviours that are intrinsic to their disabilities. The Taoiseach is very familiar with the school in his constituency. Beyond the need for more therapies in the school, there is a clear school culture driving…

I commend Sinn Féin on its motion. As the Minister knows, it has been long recognised that having a disability comes with significant additional financial pressures that include the cost of therapy, equipment and transport. Despite repeated calls from advocacy groups over many years to introduce a cost-of-disability payment, the Minister’s Government decided not to implement this measure in budget 2026. The gulf between Government rhetoric and action on disability remains immense and shows little sign of closing as…

Deputy Burke wants to come in for a supplementary question.

Deputy Kenny has a supplementary question.

Deputy George Lawlor on Question No. 103

I thank the Minister of State for being here. I commend Deputy Roche on his heartfelt and powerful testimony. I thank him for sharing it with us. In response to the mental health allocations in the budget, I want to be constructive and fair. I welcome the crisis support cafés that were announced, the focus on suicide prevention and the increase in CAMHS inpatient bed capacity. However, it is also important to state that the Sláintecare report recommended that at least 10% of the overall health budget be spent on me…

I note that the Environmental Protection Agency received additional funding in yesterday's budget. That is welcome, but we know from recent events that it is not all about funding when it comes to its powers. It is also about the willingness of the EPA to impose serious consequences on entities or individuals that cause damage to our natural world. The Minister will be aware of the catastrophic Blackwater fish kill that occurred in early August. An estimated 42,000 fish died when they came into contact with some ki…

I move: "That Dáil Éireann: recognises: — the invaluable contribution of family carers, who provide full-time care to family members with disabilities, chronic illnesses, or age-related care needs, often at great personal, financial and emotional cost; — that family carers play a critical role in the Irish care system, providing unpaid labour that saves the State more than €20 billion every year, preventing avoidable hospital admissions, and enabling many people to remain safely in their own homes and communities; …

I thank all my colleagues who supported our motion. The Minister, Deputy Calleary, emphasised in his response to the motion that he will not be opposing it and that there is "nothing between us" regarding the means test for carer's allowance. Yet, there is a major difference between abolishing the means test for carer's allowance in budget 2026 and abolishing it in budget 2030. Within that gulf between nice words and concrete actions are the experiences of carers who have had to leave their careers to look after a …

I was nine or ten years old when I first read about the Holocaust. I vividly remember what a profound impact it had on me at the time. I learned of unthinkable acts committed by people against other people and it shattered the rather innocent view I had of human nature up until that point. I recall going into a very dark state of mind, something akin to what the novelist Martin Amis later termed “species shame”, that feeling of alienation and disgust that comes with an awareness of what people like ourselves are ca…

Thank you, Deputy.

I visited CDYS in Mitchelstown on two occasions recently and I was hugely impressed by the work it does with young people, not just from north Cork but also from parts of counties Limerick and Tipperary. It also works closely with young people from the asylum-seeking and refugee community living locally. The staff exhaust all grants available to them to maintain an innovative, diverse range of activities. They help young people who are really struggling to fit in or to continue their education to get back on track …