They are clearly not.

I want to ask the Minister about the upgrade works and the phases of the western rail corridor and where we are in respect of all that. I know he has been supportive of the extension of the western rail corridor along most of the way. We still have a section that I want to see brought all the way to Sligo, and we need to see more work in respect of that. Can the Minister give us an update as to where this is at and when we will see work commencing to move this project forward?

We all look forward to the publication of the review and to advancements being made in respect of all the issues around rail on the island. It is vital infrastructure that we need to see developed. We all recognise that, in the context of climate change, rail is one of the key pieces of infrastructure which will put us in a safe place in regard to meeting our commitments. However, we still have issues in certain areas where we are not seeing it advanced at the speed we need to see in respect of this, and the wester…

We are all taken aback by the events of the past couple of days, including the revelations in Limerick and what we heard on the radio this morning, as was referenced by the previous speaker. We are all shocked by all of this and everyone feels responsible and wonders what more can be done. We can all come in here and express our disappointment, annoyance and all of that, but we have to focus on what we can deliver. Central to that, as has been mentioned by many other speakers, is a refuge for women who had to leave…

I commend Deputies Mairéad Farrell and Eoin Ó Broin on introducing this legislation. The Rental Tenancies (Amendment) Bill 2024 seeks to establish some form of contract between the householder and the tenant renting the room in the house. I have first-hand experience of this. Last year I had three in college together, and this coming year we will have two going to college. I am well aware of the high costs involved and also the huge struggle in the first place to find accommodation. That is the first consideration …

There is one comment I want to make about An Post in the context of its parcel service. The Minister mentioned it as well. Every road in the country we go down, we see nothing but couriers delivering all kinds of stuff. They are all private businesses and they are all obviously able to compete and make money. It seems very strange to me that An Post cannot be in that field and cannot be doing an awful lot more of that work. An Post is a State company that has had years of experience and that has a depot in practica…

Who did that?

These are statements on statutory home care. The problem, as most speakers from the Opposition have made plain, is that we do not have statutory home care. That is the issue. What we have is a system where much of the care is provided by private providers and which is not working very well for most people. I have examples of that the length and breadth of my constituency. I continually have people who have a relative in hospital coming to my office. The relative wants to get home from hospital but cannot do so beca…

Last week, a number of teachers in the audiovisual room spelled out to us in great detail the situation with primary school funding. All of us across every constituency are very aware of this. We deal with schools up and down the country that are in dire circumstances, particularly in the area of special needs education. We have waiting lists there and families trying to find a classroom or a space. Usually, when they find that space in a school that is providing the service, the school is a long distance from them…

The hydrotherapy swimming pool in Sligo was closed a number of years ago. I wrote to the Minister in respect of this matter. Deirdre, a woman of advanced years, spoke to me about her daughter, who is 47 and wheelchair-bound. The only way she can exercise properly is in a hydrotherapy swimming pool. She used to use the one in Cregg House, which was quite close to where she lives. Cregg House, a facility owned by a religious institution, was closed during Covid. It then changed hands and is now in private ownership. …

I too commend everyone involved in ensuring that Julian Assange, at long last, got his freedom and a way out of the entrapment that was put in place. As my colleague has said, he stood up for democracy, for freedom and for ordinary people having a voice when they saw tyranny going on around them. We do not have enough of that in the world anywhere. In regard to the situation in Europe, the European elections have thrown up a problem for many countries where we have seen the emergence of right-wing and reactionary f…

Have you identified-----

Yesterday many of us went over to Buswell's Hotel where the Irish Cancer Society held an event to speak about its pre-budget submission on the many issues for cancer patients throughout the country. One of the issues I was struck by was raised by two radiation therapists I met there, one from Dublin and one from Galway. They spoke about the large shortfall in radiation therapists throughout the country. There is a 30% shortfall. This is leading to six radiation machines in our hospitals lying idle all the time. The…

Is there a timeframe?

I thank the proposers of the motion for tabling it. The tourism and hospitality sectors are vital industries in many parts of the country where there is little else to employ people or provide them with opportunities. For a long time now, particularly during the Covid pandemic, the sector has faced a huge difficulty in trying to survive. Many of its members were very grateful for the assistance that came from Government, which was spread out over a number of years. It kept them in a space in which they were able to…

From discussions I have had recently with childminders who mind children and provide a service in their own homes, while they accept the need for change and have no difficulty with it, there is a certain scepticism and difficulty with this Bill. They fear being overburdened with regulation. One person I spoke to asked whether visitors coming to their home would have to be vetted. Those types of issues are alien to many of us who grew up in an environment where people lived in each other's pockets in local communiti…

I want to get clarity from the Government in relation to the roads budget. We have reports that Transport Infrastructure Ireland funding for local authority projects has been stopped in many areas of the country. I have a copy of emails between the Irish Asphalt Pavement Producers Association and Transport Infrastructure Ireland in respect of this. The association asked what was happening because some of its members were hearing reports that local authorities were stalling projects that were to go ahead. The reply …

This could involve up to €40 million in funding. We need to get clarity about what is happening here. Everywhere we go in the country we hear people complain about the state of the roads and the dangers on the roads. We need to ensure funding is in place to provide adequate improvement works.

Road projects and maintenance.

It is in black and white.