Yes. That is not the intention. The intention is to try to make it as swift and clean as possible. I appreciate the frustration of the House and both Deputies in particular as well as that of the landowners the Deputy spoke about. I give my assurance that, if it requires it, I will sit down and look at where the obstacles are. I will organise a meeting with both Deputies in the next week or so, if that is okay. We will do that and try to find out once and for all where the obstacles lie in this because I want it re…

If it was useful or was agreeable to the Ceann Comhairle, I think we could.

I appreciate that.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is a very challenging situation. Unfortunately, in matters like this nothing is clear-cut. The Government recognises the crucial role that family carers play in Irish society and is fully committed to their support through a range of supports and services. This commitment is recognised in both the programme for Government and the national carers strategy. Carer's allowance is a means-tested payment primarily aimed at carers on low incomes who look after certain people w…

This is the correct Chamber to raise such a situation. It is important for the Deputy's constituent to be aware of that. There is a broader issue about making this information clearer to families in that situation. The information should be made clear on the forms and at point of contact, such as websites, etc. Perhaps the Deputy's constituent was not aware of it. I hope he can bring it to her attention. Many people find themselves in a situation of marriage breakdown or whatever and because of those circumstances …

While I am on my feet, I thank the ushers and all the staff here for the past couple of days. It has been a really busy few weeks here and I want to say a huge thank you to them all. It has been long hours on all of them and I want to use the opportunity to say that while I am here. I thank all Deputies for their contributions. I have stayed here for two hours of them. The Cabinet Ministers have been very busy and there are a lot of meetings on today so I am more than happy to attend this debate on behalf of the Mi…

I agree with the points made about Castlemagner. They apply to all our small towns and villages. We launched the Croí Cónaithe towns fund this morning. A lot of Government policies are converging to try to attract families back to living in small communities. It is vital that such communities can grow in a sustainable way. I will outline the position in regard to Irish Water’s responsibility on this issue. I know Deputy Michael Moynihan raised the issue directly with the Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, and the Mi…

I again thank the Deputy. We can work with Irish Water to get a timeline, as that would be useful for the Deputy and the community in terms of when the collation of data will be completed and the different upgrade scenarios that are to be developed. The project will then have to go into a scope of works and move into the project design and statutory planning stage. There are a number of steps involved in the process but it would be useful for both the Deputy and the community of Castlemagner to have the timeline fo…

I am responding to this matter on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Rabbitte. The Deputy highlighted a difficult case and it is important the issue of access to therapies and respite be resolved. The Government recognises how important respite can be for relieving pressure and enhancing the quality of life of families, particularly due to the impact the absence of respite service provision can have on other services being delivered. It is committed to providing services and support…

As the Deputy will appreciate, I do not have those figures to hand, although I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to follow up with responses to the specific questions he asked. A letter from Majella Daly, the head of the disability service in Cork-Kerry Community Healthcare, is attached to my prepared response but it does not offer much more information than I have outlined. The Deputy has raised quite a number of supplementary issues and we will revert to him with a response to them. I acknowledge t…

The Deputy will appreciate that this is not my specialised chosen subject. I have served on voluntary boards of community-based childcare services for many years, however, so I have a great interest in the sector. I appreciate the points the Deputy raised. High-quality early learning and childcare that is affordable and accessible is a key Government priority. Before the onset of Covid-19, national data indicated that, on the whole, the supply of early learning and childcare places was meeting demand, notwithstandi…

I agree with many of the points raised by the Deputy. From my experience in volunteering in the sector, there are challenges around the requirements for facilities for children aged under one year. That is perhaps something that has not been responded to by the providers. There is a significant challenge around the actual layout of physical premises in terms of sleeping areas, etc. That is, perhaps, one of the reasons. It really falls back on the county childcare committees to work with providers in the county to l…

I am replying on behalf of the Minister. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine on 24 February and the invoking of the temporary protection directive by the European Union shortly afterwards, the Department has worked intensively as part of the cross-governmental response to the Ukraine crisis. The operational challenges brought about by responding to the conflict are significant. Our country has never experienced an influx of displaced persons like the one that we have seen over the past months. Numbers seeking …

I reiterate that the Government is not downplaying the issue. This is really, really serious. We understand. I spoke to the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O’Gorman, about it yesterday, and to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy O'Brien. We are facing an increasingly challenging situation from a humanitarian perspective. The Deputy has raised the issue in Swords around local volunteers. We need a combination of voluntary supports and professiona…

I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee. The Minister is pleased that budget 2022 reflects the commitment of the Government to ensuring that our communities are safe and that An Garda Síochána has the resources to be an effective and trusted police service. The budget provided by Government to the Garda Commissioner continues to increase to unprecedented levels with an allocation of over €2 billion in funding for this year. As the Deputy is aware, the Garda Commissioner is by law respo…

The Deputy will appreciate that the Garda Commissioner is, by law, responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, including personnel matters and the deployment of resources. The allocation of Garda resources is made in light of identified operational demand. As such, the Minister for Justice has no direct role in the allocation of Garda resources. The Minister is advised that as of 31 May, the latest date for which figures are available, Dublin Metropolitan Region North has a strength of 7…

I thank Deputy Kerrane for raising this most important issue. I want to extend our best wishes to Robert and his family. What the Deputy has described is a hugely challenging situation. It is desperate for any family to have to face that. I am aware of the case of Robert Pether, who has been detained in Iraq for over a year along with his Egyptian colleague, Mr. Khalid Radwan. Mr. Pether is an Australian engineer, and was working in Baghdad on a project to construct a new headquarters for the Central Bank of Iraq. …

Gabhaim buíochas arís. As the Deputy said, this is a challenging and concerning case and I thank her for raising it. It is significant that she has raised it here in our Parliament and that is important to maintain that pressure. The Department of Foreign Affairs will continue to closely monitor the case of Mr. Pether and his Egyptian colleague, Mr. Khalid Radwan. We understand the significant distress this case is causing from Mr. Pether's family here in Ireland. Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs wi…

I welcome the opportunity to provide an update on the passport service, particularly during the busy summer period. The service is already outperforming any previous year, despite the challenges that it has encountered over the past two years. Prior to the pandemic, the busiest year for passports was 2019, when in excess of 900,000 passports were issued. The passport service is currently outperforming 2019 by almost 20%. More than 720,000 passports have been issued to date in 2022, compared with 634,000 in the whol…

The Passport Service is experiencing significant levels of demand but there are indications these are starting to decrease. Many countries have experienced that rise in demand after Covid restrictions eased. The Government and the Passport Service have responded. Demand for passports fell by 30% in June, when just over 100,000 new applications were received, compared with 146,000 in May. The Passport Service expects to see demand level off and return to more normal levels in the coming months and into next year. Th…