I raise serious concerns about the current state of the National Ambulance Service, particularly its impact on rural communities like those in County Laois. Recently, I met local paramedics who were very honest about the chaos they face daily. Let us be clear, a decade ago regional ambulance control worked far better with quicker response times with local knowledge that saved lives. Since the move to a single national dispatch centre, the situation has dramatically deteriorated. Paramedics are now regularly sent al…

Yes, that is fine. I have permission from the family to mention names.

It was 10.30 p.m. before Lauren's mother was finally admitted to Beaumont Hospital, which was more than eight hours after the first emergency call. Tragically, Lauren's mother passed away shortly afterwards. One year later, the family still awaits a full response to their complaint. It is just not acceptable. We know the National Ambulance Service is in crisis. We are all listening to paramedics in our communities, but in Laois it is costing lives. Paramedics have also raised with me the worsening conditions they a…

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I respect he is taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, but Laois and Offaly are not the one county or the one constituency and they are not the one region for the National Ambulance Service. We had regions ten years ago - I think there were 11 regions - and now we have one dispatch centre. Having spoken to my local paramedics, I know that, looking at Laois and Offaly together, there are four bases, but I am talking about Count…

Statutory planning frameworks are an important part of the planning system. If we get them right, they provide a clear framework for the social, economic, cultural and environmental development of the State and the entire island. However, if the plan is not right, it will be an impediment to development. While I welcome that we will have a debate and a vote on the revised draft planning framework, the process leaves a lot to be desired. This statutory plan is of such significance that there should have been an oppo…

I raise the urgent concerns about the state of the National Ambulance Service, particularly in County Laois. There are concerns about response times, patient safety and the well-being of front-line staff. Paramedics in Laois are doing heroic work in impossible conditions. Despite significant population growth in Laois, 8% since 2016 and a 25% rise in those aged over 65 years, the county still has only one ambulance station. By comparison, Offaly, which has a much smaller population, has three stations. The current …

We are happy with everything in this Bill except for the vulture funds which I must comment on because there were promises made. These are mortgage prisoners and they are still very unhappy. There is great progress with this Bill. My colleague, Deputy Doherty, did a lot of work and the Government accepted some of the amendments. However, we need to put on record there are still mortgage prisoners of vulture funds and we need to bear that in mind.

I thank the Minister of State for coming to speak to us about flooding issues. We have known for many years now that the effects of climate change will bring about more dramatic weather events and certainly, as we have seen in the past year, we have had our fair share of storms recently. The severe damage throughout the country from Storm Éowyn should serve as a wake-up call for the Government to better prepare for more frequent and more damaging storms in future. I take this opportunity to raise the matter of the …

I welcome this Bill tabled by Senators Harmon, Stephenson, Noonan and Cosgrove. This will be the third Bill of its kind introduced in the Oireachtas in an attempt by Opposition parties to highlight the horrendous behaviour of some predatory landlords seeking sex in lieu of rent. I wish to acknowledge Ms Ann Murphy, who first highlighted this in the Irish Examiner , and thank her for all her work, and "RTÉ Investigates" as well. Sinn Féin tabled similar legislation in 2024 to ban such arrangements and advertisements…

St. Francis School is a special school in Portlaoise. It got a new school building in 2021. Because it took so long for the new school to be built - 14 years - as a result of all of the hoops that had to be jumped through, when it opened in 2021, it did not have the capacity it needed. The principal made accommodations by turning 19 classes into 12. Since 2021, the school has been promised a modular build to facilitate its growing needs, but this has not been provided. In recent months, the principal has received s…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I wish her well in her role. We do really need her to succeed in it. I want to highlight a serious and ongoing issue that I hope she will give serious attention to, which is the continued exclusion of people with disabilities from the planning and design of public projects. Time and again, infrastructure schemes are rolled out nationwide without adequate consideration for accessibility. It is not acceptable in 2025. It is not fair and it is not inclusive. For example, t…

Yes.

As the Sinn Féin spokesperson for housing, I am glad to have the opportunity to speak to the Minister today. It is one of the most pressing issues for people, especially for families throughout the country and in my constituency of Laois. My constituents tell me they feel there has been a real lack of political will from the Government for far too long. It has been unable to find an effective solution and its Housing for All plan has failed. Housing prices are rising, rents are rising and homelessness is rising. Th…

I welcome the Minister of State. I definitely will not take the ten minutes. Sinn Féin will be supporting the Bill. We welcome this debate, notwithstanding the delay with the Bill moving from the Dáil to the Seanad. The Minister listened to my colleague Deputy Pearse Doherty and made amendments in the Dáil. As reported in today's edition of the Irish Examiner , the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman or ombudsperson, as we must say, saw a significant increase in complaints relating to insurance and fraud thro…

I second the motion and call for a clear commitment. I thank the Minister of State for attending. I rise not just as a Senator but as a mother and someone who listens carefully to families across this country, especially in my county of Laois, who are in crisis. There is a severe lack of special school and autism spectrum disorder, ASD, school placements in this State. This is not just a failure of planning. It is a failure for children, families and basic rights. I want to acknowledge a family sitting in the Publi…

I rise today to highlight an urgent crisis in mental health services in my constituency of Laois and all across Ireland. Save Our Sons and Daughters, SOSAD, is a vital front-line mental health organisation. It is on the brink of closure due to financial constraints at a time when its services have never been in more demand. Last week alone, SOSAD in Portlaoise saw 108 clients compared to 45 during the same week last year. These are people in deep distress, many of whom have nowhere else to turn. SOSAD's interventio…

I thank the Minister of State and I appreciate that this is not her brief. The concern is that the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, met with SOSAD in November 2024 - Deputy Harkin is correct about that - at which stage a promise was made that interim funding would be given while the process of the HSE governance for applying for funding was in place. That promise was made, but it still has not happened. I do not know if that promise is now not on the table anymore. I respect and understand there are processes that…

I congratulate the Minister on her appointment. I am delighted she is here and to hear all her plans. I was really delighted to hear her mention endometriosis, which is what I will talk about today. It was great to hear other Senators discuss it. As Senator Clifford-Lee mentioned, it is a disease that affects one in ten women in Ireland, yet it remains widely misunderstood, underfunded and inadequately treated. These women are not just statistics; they are our sisters, daughters, friends and colleagues, many of who…

I stand here today with deep frustration and disgust at the Government's continued failure to address the dire lack of special needs school places for children in Ireland. This is an issue very close to my heart and you are all going to hear me talking about it quite a lot until the time comes that every child on this island has a suitable education place. Every day I receive calls from terrified parents in Laois alone, including a mother with 26 school refusal letters. That is 26 schools saying they cannot take he…

I will keep it local to Laois because many of the points have already been covered. In rural areas like Laois, power cuts do not just mean the lights go out. They mean that families lose access to heating, water pumps and vital medical equipment become unusable, and farmers struggle to feed or milk their livestock. Small businesses that are already under pressure lost trade and stock. We need to look at this more. I welcome the humanitarian assistance fund but it must be expanded to small businesses in our communit…