The Tánaiste said my comment was clever and deliberate but it is the reality. The commuters who are coming to me are asking for remote work and flexible working. There is a public consultation. I believe the closing date is 9 December. We need that discussion and we need new legislation. However, I am today asking the Tánaiste for a new Operation Freeflow for the M7 and the N7 because that is what is needed for the thousands of people who are trapped there every day. Will the Government commit to additional signage…

Almost 50,000 people in this country suffer from Crohn's disease or colitis; I am one of them. Will the Government support my Bill for a no-wait statutory card for those people? I am working with a Kildare woman, Maria Crowe, in relation to this. The Tánaiste and other Members will be familiar with the need for a statutory card. Many organisations have a non-statutory card but people are refused the use of toilet facilities again and again. This is so common, it is unbelievable. It is time we legislated for this an…

Before I call on Deputy McGuinness, I welcome 25 students from Gaza who are with us in the Public Gallery. They are currently studying in UCD. They are very welcome and I hope they enjoy their day. They are guests of Senator Harmon.

This is a case of déjà vu in that we mentioned this yesterday, but I want to ask the Minister of State once again if he will consider granting a fuel allowance to those who have had an application refused or revoked due to another child or family member moving back home.

I am nodding. The Minister mentioned household composition tests and people working, but the problem I have is where a person who returns to a house is not working and is getting a social welfare payment. These are low-income households and these are the people who must be targeted. I mentioned last night that I have come across three or four cases of this in the past two weeks alone. I asked last night whether we have targeted these people. Today, the Government will announce with triumph a new housing plan, the f…

I take the Minister’s reply. I acknowledge the fact that the fuel allowance has been extended to working family payment recipients, because they are in low-income families who need all the help they can get in what are housing and cost-of-living crises. I hope that if I can give the Minister three or four examples of what has been happening over the past two weeks in Kildare South, he will examine the matter again. I am sure it is not just happening in Kildare South. Maybe we are just targeting Kildare South. The a…

In our discussions last night on the social welfare Bill, I asked the Minister about increasing the eligibility of the DCA from the age of 16 to 18. I also mentioned difficulties a lot of families were having with this particular application. In his reply today, the Minister mentioned the criteria of "care and attention required by the child compared to another child of the same age". This is so hard for a parent to get their head around. Some of the applications are going to a GP who has not seen the child. The GP…

I welcome the Minister to the House this evening and I welcome the opportunity to discuss, once again, social protection and the recent budget. In responding to budget 2026 previously in this House, I described it as a punch in the stomach for many working families and unfortunately, I must repeat that here in this debate today. Budget 2026 needed to deliver real and radical policy changes towards a social welfare system that delivers equality and fairness for all those who need it. Instead, the Government gave €1.…

Will the Minister comment on the recent survey by Childminding Ireland which showed that 80% of childminding services will close, and will she make a statement to the House on the matter?

I need not put on the record of the House how important childminders are to the childcare sector in this country. It has been the subject of many conversations we have had here. The Minister is right to say there are concerns among childminders right across the country as to what this new regulation will mean for them. Many of them are minding two or three children in their own homes and have done so for many years. There is a concern, a worry, as to what starting to fill out forms, etc., and registering will mean …

I would welcome if the Minister could mention that because it has become a serious concern for a lot of childminders, who, as she said, are so important to rural life, where it is often a neighbour who is minding two or three children and who has done so for years. If that falls, rural life is really going to be affected for so many people in my area and, I am sure, the Minister's area. The Minister mentioned communications. That is vital for where we are going with childminders because many of our childminders, as…

It may be a historical question at this stage but I want to ask the Minister if she or the Department have addressed the IT issue whereby historical fee data was unavailable on the national childcare system website.

This is good news. I think I last raised this matter on 29 April 2025 so I think it has taken a slight amount of time to get everything uploaded. It is so important for parents to be able to see what is available for childcare in their areas. We all realise that there is a lack of places, but where there are places, it is important for parents to be able to look at prices. Previously, the Minister mentioned childcare committees. It was my understanding that the childcare committees had access to and were sharing th…

I thank my colleague, Deputy Sherlock, for bringing forward this important motion. I also acknowledge our MEP, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, for his considerable work. He has brought many of us in the Labour Party on a journey in relation to drug education and its effects on society. It is an education we can all be part of and need to be part of. The Minister of State mentioned in her remarks a political dispute on the drugs issue. We cannot have a political dispute on a drugs issue. We must all, as she said, work together b…

I wanted to raise with the Minister today the car park the M7 and N7 have become over the recent period. Yes, we all believe in public transport but unfortunately, we all know that will take time. This morning, as I made my way to work, it took me three hours to get here from the town of Athy. I have been inundated with emails today from people from Rathangan, where it is taking two and a half hours, and from people from Newbridge, where it is taking two hours. I have raised this in these Houses before and I ask th…

I thank Sinn Féin for tabling this very important motion on the cost-of-disability payment. I welcome the fact the Minister is in the Chamber for the debate. I will begin with an email that was sent by a constituent who has multiple sclerosis, in response to budget 2026. She writes that she cannot work and her husband's wage is above the disability threshold. She has a son in college and another in secondary school. She has been diagnosed since 2018. She has never gotten any financial support and has to pay for all…

It seems to me from what we saw in the budget yesterday that the Government does not recognise the pressures that many of our working families and working individuals are facing at this time. Examples provided by the Government in its budget documentation yesterday tell us that a married couple with two children on a modest income of €55,000 a year will be down €50 on their income compared to last year. A single person on the same income will also be down €50 on last year's income. Many of these working people are …

Hear, hear.

I thank the Minister of State for coming into the Chamber this evening and the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this very important topic. I want to talk about services in my home town of Athy in Kildare South. The population of Athy, in the recent census, was over 11,000 people. That is a growth of 82% since the 2002 census. Every morning, almost 50% of the working population of the town leaves it to avail of work elsewhere. That is a figure that grows year on year as more and more families make the town their home. …

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, too. It is good news that the DART+ fleets are being rolled out, albeit on the Drogheda line, because that will free up carriages on the Drogheda line, which is what we want. We are first up, best dressed in Athy looking for those additional carriages that come as part of the new DART+ carriages that the Government has already welcomed and that will be part of the northern commuter line, serving Dublin to Droghe…