Every town and village across this island has a Palestinian solidarity group. Some are small and others are much bigger. They are made up of thousands of people who are involved every single week in making sure we do not look away and that we do all that we can to sanction Israel and support the Palestinian people in the face of a brutal and vicious genocide. I refer to groups like Balbriggan for Palestine and Skerries for Peace and people like Dr. Sarah Taaffe, whose exhibition is running in Lusk Community Cultura…

I welcome the opportunity to make a small contribution to this debate . I pay tribute to the parents of Harvey Morrison Sherratt, people like Claire Cahill of the Scoliosis Advocacy Network, the parents of Mikey and all those campaigners who time and again have brought to the fore the issue of the scandalous treatment of children with scoliosis. We should not know the names of these children. They should be able to live their lives in peace and not have to continually waive their anonymity and beg for every tiny bi…

My question, as is often the case, is very straightforward. I am looking for information about the provisions that have been made concerning agencies and organisations which deliver services on behalf of the State, are funded by the State and have workers who want to be part of the auto-enrolment scheme but are concerned they are not funded to be able to do that. The Minister will well know the last time there was a cut to the budget of these agencies, they were told to find the savings from within their own envelo…

However, they are going to be disadvantaged if the Government does not fund them. Bearing in mind the hands-off approach that the Government takes to these agencies, we should remember that although it caused the homelessness crisis with its policies, it has asked people to come in to shore it up. Some of the agencies are funded only by the State, and if they do not have additional funding – I have checked in the budget and I do not see that there is any – it will simply mean they will have to try to find it from w…

The Minister and I know they are covered, but my question is on whether they are funded. The Minister of State says he has had extensive engagement, and I absolutely do not doubt that for a moment. I would say his engagement was exceedingly extensive; however, as a result of his engagement, have his Department and other Departments confirmed that the agencies they fund to deliver services will be in a position to meet their obligations to all of their workers without having to cut back on services or wages? If they…

This relates to the commitment given in the programme for Government to phase out the means test for the carer’s allowance. I am genuinely struggling to understand the timeline the Minister has in his head. He told me, via a parliamentary question, that it will cost more than €600 million. He has only budgeted €10 million for next year, which is a partial year, so it works out at €20 million. By that logic, it would take 30 years to get to €600 million. I am interested in finding out how many additional people will…

Forgive me but I am still none the wiser. Following on from the budget announcement, I submitted a parliamentary question to the Department. It told me that the budgeted €10 million only covers existing recipients. By implication, the 3,000 people the Department estimates will benefit from the measure are people who are already in receipt of carer’s allowance. Am I right on that? Presumably, the 53,000 people the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation says could p…

It is from the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation.

I know the Minister’s ambition is to abolish the means test. I am not disputing that but if he cannot tell me how he is going to do it, he will forgive me for being somewhat sceptical about the commitment. It is a little bit like the however many thousand houses the Government was going to build. That was an ambition as well. Ambition is not going to put money in the bank account of carers or bring those carers who are not currently eligible into the net. I welcome the fact that the Minister has said he will provid…

I want to talk to the Minister about the filling out of these forms. The parents of children with additional needs are the exact same as every single parent in the State. They want the best for their kids, they want their kids to be given a chance, and they want their kids to be able to thrive. They celebrate the milestones for their kids the same as every parent. In order to be able to fill out a DCA form, they have to write about their children on their worst day, about the implications for the families, about th…

Is Deputy Byrne sharing time with Deputy Heneghan?

I will have to ask the Deputy to conclude. I call Deputy Gibney.

That concludes our debate. I welcome those in the Gallery and thank them for staying and listening to the debate this evening.

De réir Bhuan-Ordaithe 85(2), cuirfear an vótáil siar go dtí an am vótála seachtainiúil an tseachtain seo chugainn. In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the next weekly division time.

I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case: Deputy Michael Cahill – To discuss the shortage of early childcare places in Kerry. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue – To discuss the development of a minor injuries hub plan for Balbriggan. Deputy Jen Cummins – To discuss the ongoing miscommunication with the NCSE regarding the deadline of the notification process. Deputy Carol Nolan – To discuss contract work delay…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I also welcome the fact that it gives us a chance to talk about not just the social welfare element but also auto-enrolment, which some of my colleagues will focus on. As we near the start date, the issues that are arising are coming to the fore for people and there is less and less time to deal with the questions that are arising as time is running out. To deal with the first part of this first, as it were, we are here to legislate for measures that were in b…

The Leas-Cheann Comhairle can try.

I am doing the lotto tonight.

I thank my colleague, an Teachta Pa Daly, for bringing forward this motion. It is timely. In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis the least we should be able to expect from any decent Government is that it would not make things worse. Yet, somehow, at every single turn, it manages again to twist the pressure that is on hard-working, hard-pressed people. My constituents living in north County Dublin, in places like Rush, Lusk, Skerries and Balbriggan, towns that have expanding populations, are experiencing worsenin…

I stress that the waiving of pre-legislative scrutiny, PLS, is never a good idea. I do not know what the Government has against transparency and accountability. I welcome the fact we opposed the waiving of PLS. I also welcome the fact the Government is finally acknowledging the need to invest in our grid infrastructure. It is long past time. This Bill provides for investment in energy infrastructure but it does not provide details about how this will happen. Who will be responsible for managing and ensuring value f…