I thank the Taoiseach. I am informed the time for Taoiseach's Questions has finished so we will move on to statements on nursing homes and care for older persons. We will wait for the Minister of State to join us.

That is what I have been informed by the clerk.

I am told the rule is 45 minutes. The time is up so I have to proceed to the next item on the Order of Business, which is statements.

I would appreciate if the Minister could update the House on his and his Department's plans for pay-related carer's benefit payment, given the importance of that particular payment and the need for a pay-related part of it for so many people.

It goes without saying that carers in this country save the State €20 billion. We know we have more than 500,000 carers in the State. One in nine of those people are reported to be trying to juggle a job and their caring responsibilities at the same time. I appreciate what the Minister said. Obviously the pay-related jobseeker's benefit is something new, as he said. What we are looking for and what is promised in the programme for Government is to protect the most vulnerable, who are those who have, in most cases, …

I think we can both agree that the sudden change or cliff edge, as I call it, causes so many problems for so many people who have to leave work, and unfortunately their income drops accordingly. That is the issue that we are trying to raise with the Minister today. In fairness, he has come back to say that he recognises there is an issue and that he will review this as part of the consultation later in the year. Obviously that consultation relates to carers. I know we have already debated the carer's needs and the …

I want to raise the issue of an email I received from my local authority last week regarding an email from the Department of housing saying that the local authority was not to proceed with 73 social homes and a community building under PPP bundle 3 at a site in Ardrew in my hometown of Athy. My understanding is that in this case the preferred bidder was selected as long ago as last October. The reply from the Department of housing told us that after careful consideration, the Department has decided not to go ahead …

Go raibh maith agat. We have been here before. It has been 20 long years, as other Members said, since we saw the distressing footage of conditions at Leas Cross nursing home. Unfortunately, what we saw on the "RTÉ Investigates" programme replicated those horrific and dark days. I thank Aoife Hegarty, the "RTÉ Investigates" programme and, of course, Clare Doyle, the whistleblower, for exposing these abuses. What we saw on the programme aired was simply elder abuse. Older people were manhandled, pushed around and, h…

It is more than 6 km from Kildare town to the Curragh Camp. No matter what road is taken, and even the motorway can be taken, there are no footpaths. The majority of the three or four routes are winding country roads, with little visibility and a lot of danger for anyone who might want to walk them. I will come back to this. I want to discuss Curragh Community College. This is, and has always been, a fine school, but its time is coming to an end. Even the wonderful principal and the board of management say that the…

The good news is that at the moment we have 20 pupils, double Bus Éireann's requirement. There are potentially another 12 students so 32 students could avail of this. These students are residing in Kildare town, some of them less than 500 yards away from the site of the very welcome, proposed new school that will be built over the next two to three years. That will accommodate 1,000 pupils. At the moment, almost 300 students are attending the Curragh Community College. I take on board what the Minister of State has…

Every 40 minutes, a child is killed in Gaza. Before their childhood even begins, it is over. By the time we finish discussing this motion, at least three children will have been killed in Gaza. This is the cold, unrelenting truth we must face. It is more than a war; it is a war on childhood and on the children of Gaza because every war, no matter the context or the reason, is a war on children. Israel is operating a scorched-earth policy on Gaza, destroying every trace of Palestine. Gaza's health infrastructure is …

Regrettably, child poverty is on the rise in this country. It is particularly challenging in rural areas but in many of our communities as well. What is the Department's role in addressing child poverty under the six priority areas identified by the child poverty and well-being unit?

First, I join the Minister in thanking the staff of the many SICAP groups in the country, across 31 local authority groups. They do tremendous work - there is absolutely no doubt about that - but the figures we have been presented with from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, show that child poverty in this country has almost doubled, from 4.8% to 8.5%. As I said, it is a particular problem in rural Ireland, notwithstanding the work that SICAP does and the fact that we have a lack of services, particularly around t…

I will again put on record my thanks to the Local Link service. It has made a difference in rural communities but there is no doubt it can do more, particularly in areas like Ballitore, which is a small village on the outskirts of my hometown. However, there is a lack of services coming from that particular village, which, as the Minister said, is impacting on those who are seeking education and employment or just seeking social interaction. It is having a direct impact, as I know, on children in that area. It is n…

I do. I cannot let the occasion go without putting on the white jersey as well, which is what we do regularly in County Kildare across the parties. Deputy Neville is right that there is a huge issue in the major towns of County Kildare. The population of Kildare is very urban-based, and town regeneration is needed. I welcome the fact there are town regeneration officers in County Kildare. As Deputy Neville said, they are doing great work but they need to be properly resourced and need additional resources. My homet…

I thank the members of the Independent Technical Group for bringing forward this very important motion. The first motion I brought before this House along with my party related to young carers, so it is positive to see Members continuing to highlight the issues impacting family carers. During the general election, disability and care were central policy areas. I am glad to see that it continues to be a main policy priority among Members here. I am sure like many Deputies across the House, access to carer's allowanc…

Night after night on our news channels we see the devastation as bombs rain down on the innocent civilians in Gaza. Aid has only begun to trickle into Gaza after 11 weeks without anything, and we are told today that this is only six aid trucks. It is only a drop in the ocean of what is required and what this state was used to before the bombardment started. As a country that recently commemorated our own Gorta Mór, in the psyche of the Irish people famine now waits for Palestine. It has become a weapon for Israel. …

I welcome the Minister to the House. I also thank her for the briefing note. As Deputy Kerrane said, it has been very helpful to us in preparing our few words tonight. I want us all to go back to the previous debate and our discussion of the accommodation recognition payment. I again put on record our thanks for that payment and state how helpful it has been to the Ukrainian community in helping them integrate into the many communities they are in. I look forward to working with the Minister and the Department of J…

Not a single day goes by on which this Government does not break the law regarding the statutory timeline under the Disability Act for an assessment of need. In a previous Commencement matter with the then Minister of State, Anne Rabbitte, she described it as "Groundhog Day" and "as bad as it can get". Unfortunately, it has got worse since then. Now, over 1,500 children in my area of Kildare are waiting for an assessment, where we have the second highest number of children who are overdue an assessment. Nearly 1,70…

I acknowledge the young lady who has brought the entire Opposition together on this very important motion. I met Cara Darmody for the first time in November 2022, when I was a member of the first all-party autism Oireachtas committee. At just 11 years of age, Cara came in to give her testimony. She was the youngest ever person to give testimony at an Oireachtas committee. On the day, just a small number of us were in that committee room, including two members of a local support group from my hometown of Athy. Cara'…