I ask the Minister about community employment, CE, schemes and the fact that it is now almost impossible to retain participants on them. I am chair of a scheme. I know it is not totally the Minister's remit, but it has a huge impact on rural organisations, rural communities and their viability and sustainability. Will the Minister make a statement on the matter?

I thank the Minister. I know he is hands-on. He understands it because he is from a rural community. There is just an impossible strain on the voluntary boards that are trying to fill these positions, trying to get the work done and keeping the whole plethora of areas going. Schemes such as rural transport services, meals on wheels, day care, community centres and Tidy Towns groups are under enormous strain. While many of the groups receive State support, that is no good if they do not have the workers. The scheme …

I acknowledge the work they do. A man on the volunteer boards went to places in Tipperary like Knockanrawley FRC, Millennium FRC in Glengoole and of course Spafield FRC in Cashel. Recent data have shown there are 106 vacancies now across the schemes in Tipperary. It is difficult at this time of year to cover everything, including Tidy Towns, the GAA, community groups and all the other issues, such as meals on wheels and community centres. We just do not have enough staff. I thank the officials we deal with in the D…

The shocking treatment of the community and people of Dundrum in County Tipperary is ongoing by the Government, as it was by the previous Government. The Tánaiste met Mrs. O'Dwyer and Andrea Crowe in Clonmel during the election and he listened to them. He also assured me here after the election, when he was appointed as Tánaiste, that a pause was being put on the use of hotels. Now we find a contract has been signed, by some faceless and nameless official, with a Spanish company with a book value of €120 while ther…

Everybody has been talking about it. The people of Dundrum have a peaceful protest there. They are good, decent people who looked after the Ukrainian refugees very well. This continuing blackguarding of a community is shameful.

I support the motion. In my constituency of Tipperary and across the nation, family carers are the unsung heroes who provide unwavering support to their loved ones, which often requires great personal and financial sacrifice. These carers, numbering more than 500,000, save the State an estimated €20 billion annually - imagine that figure - through their unpaid labour yet many are subjected to a means test that is both outdated and completely unjust and which disqualifies them from essential supports. While budget 2…

In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is deferred until the voting block later tonight.

The crisis surrounding the assessment of need process for children with disabilities sees it not just under severe strain. It is a system in breach of its legal obligations, leaving thousands of children without access to vital supports which they are entitled to by law. This should be a national emergency. What we are doing to young children and families is criminal. The HSE has been allowed to breach the law for years with no repercussions. Under the Disability Act 2005, children are supposed to receive an assess…

I agree with most of what people have said tonight. It is a shocking situation. I welcome Cara and her dad. I think of her mam at home as well as her two brothers. It is such an indictment. I know Cara lives in a lovely house in Ardfinnan. Looking out her back window, she can see the Liam Lynch monument, a man who gave his life for our freedom and democracy in this country. What has it come to now? We have the HSE, an organisation set up 25 years ago just to put buffers between the Government and the public who are…

Ar an gcéad dul síos, gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue, albeit to be taken after midnight. There is a concerning issue affecting the lives and health of many vulnerable people across County Tipperary, namely, the unacceptable and short-sighted cuts to hospital patient transport services. For many in rural areas of Tipperary, especially the elderly, the sick and those on low incomes, access to hospital appointments in places such as Clonmel, Limerick, Cork, Waterford and Dub…

I do not know. I remember six months ago, when the Minister of State was not in government and, like me, she was crying out about this. It is not a massive increase from €88,000 in 2019 to €127,000 in 2024; it is nothing in the scheme of things. The Minister of State mentioned all the extra staff. How many of them are penpushers and executives in made-up jobs - that is what they are - and not nurses or front-line staff? It is a shocking situation. A month ago, I stood in Clonmel in front of St. Joseph's Hospital fo…

Tá nóiméad go leith ag an Teachta.

In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is deferred until the weekly division time next week.

I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case: Deputy Michael Cahill - To discuss the disparity faced by school secretaries in terms of leave entitlements and pension rights. Deputies Rose Conway-Walsh, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, Pearse Doherty, Donna McGettigan - To discuss the increase in the cap for the defective block grant scheme. Deputy George Lawlor - To discuss progress on the new Wexford campus of th…

Before we start, I would like to express on my own behalf and that of the House good wishes to our new Pope elected this evening while we were doing the session. I wish him well. Our hearts and prayers are with him. I thank everyone who supported the cardinals for their diligent work. It was a speedy process. Go n-éirí go geal leis an bPápa nua.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this very serious issue. A number of ASD units were approved for three secondary schools in south Tipperary. Three principals and their staff, boards of management and parents of children with special needs were waiting for places and expected them to come on stream. In fact, the SENOs asked them to generate space and accommodation and all of the resources needed to deal with an extra class this year. However, they got shocking news from the Department a coup…

I appreciate it is not the Minister of State's reply - he is reading it out - but it is not about quotas, deadlines and systems like that. It is about ordinary children with needs. It is not fair on the schools that expected to open these schools to now have to wait to see if the decision will be reversed. By the Minister of State's account, I do not think it will be. We are approaching the end of the school term and principals have already been including the expected allocation in their numbers. One such school is…

I, too, compliment Sinn Féin on bringing forward this very timely and important motion. Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. It is a bad state of affairs if we do not look after our young people and nurture them properly. Ar an gcéad dul síos, I salute na máithreacha go léir, the mothers who care for children in their homes, as well as the extended family - grandparents and neighbours and friends in the sense of the meitheal. The old adage is that it takes a village to raise a child. I salute the visionaries for the comm…

I thank the Minister of State for engaging with all of us in Tipperary. I thank him also for meeting a parent recently, Tina Barrett. Her son recently got a place in St. Michael's and I thank the Minister of State for his involvement there, albeit in Tipperary town. There are two excellent special schools in Tipperary, Scoil Aonghusa and Scoil Chormaic, but they are at capacity. They had to turn away 17 children. There is a real problem in providing sufficient numbers of second level classes. It is really a failing…

The driving test situation is appalling. There are 81,000 people on a waiting list. Many of them are in my county of Tipperary. There is only one tester in the town of Clonmel, which is a large town with a huge hinterland. This is causing enormous strain for families who now have to accompany drivers with L plates. Those drivers cannot get apprenticeships. I know many young people who have got jobs but must have a licence. There is one tester. We were told last year that 75 new testers were being appointed. I want …