Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit.

I have an announcement to make. For clarification, the proceedings on this legislation shall be adjourned at 7.34 p.m. and will resume on Thursday. I call Deputy Darren O'Rourke.

The majority of long-term residential nursing home care on the island is provided by the private and voluntary sector. We all know that. As Ireland's population continues to age, the demand for nursing home care is increasing. Ireland's ageing population is rising faster than any other European country. The changing demographics provide the single biggest challenge to the sector and the services. Despite these challenges, the Government is not listening. Indeed, the CSO pointed this out clearly but the Government i…

I thank the Minister of State for being in Ardfinnan last week. I want to ask about the situation and the reason the NTA has removed Ardfinnan from the 2023 list, particularly given previous commitments on the matter from the Government and, indeed, the Taoiseach. The NTA receives a lot of funding. To take out this application beggars belief. The bridge has been a one-way system since 2015. The Minister of State has seen it. I will be happy to hear his answer.

This matter has a long and sad history. I was on the bridge the night of the flood in 2015. It closed because of danger. The bridge was repaired. There have been numerous consultants’ reports dealing with fishing, every kind of aesthetics and architecture. I was under that bridge. It is repaired. There is no understanding of why it has been left as a one-way arrangement for this length of time. Obviously, the director of services, Mr. Marcus O’Connor, wanted to make it a one-way system permanently. The people of Ar…

I have already asked how much has been spent on consultants for this bridge. It would nearly be enough to build a new bridge. Active travel has done great things in many areas. I disagree with some of the things that have been done. There has been funding everywhere for all kinds of bridges through bogs and across rivers. We have seen that these bridges can be erected so I do not know what the big deal is and why the NTA took this out. Why do we have to go back into the process of design and submission to An Bord P…

The Minister visited Tipperary town some years ago with Deputy Cahill and others regarding the bypass for Tipperary town. The people in Tipperary town and the surrounding areas are going grey waiting for this much-needed relief road to get the lorries and trucks out of the town. All the organisations - the chamber, March4Tipp and Jobs4Tipp - as well as Councillor Annemarie Ryan and all the other councillors and everybody else want this bypass. There is a plan for the N24, as the Minister will know, but that is not …

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire, an Teachta Harris, agus an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Niall Collins. I thank them for being here and for their investment and recent announcements in the University of Limerick. It is a wonderful university. My daughter is there at present. The veterinary courses there and the veterinary hospital are most welcome. I support the university on that. In recent years, thankfully, we have started to see a renewed interest in the apprenticeship model in Ireland. As of February of this year, the…

I, too, support the motion. It is important we have a debate on this issue because this is an important service involving important people, as Deputy Healy-Rae and many others said, who deliver these services to our elderly and vulnerable and those who need supports. We have been on about this so many times. There is a dichotomy in many areas. A couple of years ago, people were all the time trying to get supports and could not get them. Now we talk to the Departments and the Ministers and are told there are heaps o…

Why are these things made so cumbersome? That family was put through enormous stress, as are many other families, waiting for a week or ten days with nobody. Thankfully, the case is somewhat resolved. There are many issues that need to be addressed but do not seem to be getting addressed. We have seen cases where home helps have been moved from the families they had or the people they were caring for. I also have cases where if the home helps say a word or make any complaint, they are punished, not directly but ind…

At this time of year, many people are travelling abroad for holidays, weddings, funerals and, in many cases, work. There is an issue with the passport service. I am not knocking the staff in the Passport Office, who are very co-operative, but there are many different problems. In the post passport system, which we should support, it takes a minimum of eight weeks before applications are even opened. There are very significant issues and delays which are causing angst. When families are going away, one member may no…

I am glad to be able to speak on this today. I believe in the phrase mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí, and I think that we are not doing that. I want to salute all of the organisations, including the youth clubs in Tipperary. My daughter, Councillor Máirín McGrath, is involved in setting up the club in Newcastle again, and Ballybreen. Then there is the Waterford and South Tipperary Community Youth Service, which comes into Tipperary as well. I salute them for the work they do, and the parents. We all have a role here.…

On behalf of the Rural Independent Group, I also question this consultative forum on international security policy. If the Government wants to pay the Army, support it and give it proper conditions, it should do it. We do not need to have a select group up in Dublin Castle and around the country, at huge expense. It is literally a talking shop to get the answer the Government wants and to ready people for a change in our neutrality. The Tánaiste has stated numerous times that our neutrality is a rather outdated pos…

They can sit at the back.

Pages of words.

The situation regarding recruitment and retention in An Garda Síochána is very acute. There are four gardaí and two sergeants in the town of Carrick-on-Suir in the Clonmel Garda district. They would want four times that number to fill the rosters. They can only fill one roster. We see the slow rate of input into Templemore but we also see the resignations, retirements and people being out sick. The situation is alarming. The situation is the same in Clonmel, in Cashel in the Cahir Garda district, and throughout the…

Has he met them?

At the outset, I welcome Cara Dermody, her mother, Noelle, her principal teacher, Brid Quinlivan, and her teacher, Andrea Mee from Ardfinnan National School. I compliment Cara on doing her leaving certificate mathematics examinations last Friday and on Monday. To the Minister, I say that I, too, was out with the firemen. Will he please give us an outline today of what he is going to do on Tuesday when the mass resignations and all-out strike happen? I will tell the Minister what the problem is. The Minister spoke a…

It is.

You have the services-----