I want to emphasise that.

I ask about visas for siblings of children in Gaza who require urgent surgery. Will the Government do everything possible to expedite the processing of those?

I have had many inquiries regarding back garden cabins from constituents all over County Kerry. They must be allowed to go ahead and they should also be available for rent. Local authorities should be able to adjudicate on small to medium-sized infrastructural projects by way of Part 8, even where environmental impact assessments are necessary, instead of such projects being sent to An Bord Pleanála. On rural settlement policy, we must get planning authorities to remove the zoning category of rural area under signi…

I, too, welcome the students to the Gallery this evening. The last three budgets reduced the cost of third level student fees by €1,000 per annum as part of the wider cost-of-living packages introduced by the Government. I am pressing the Minister to continue these reductions in fees for students on an ongoing basis as they and their families are hard-pressed to afford them. The cost-of-living crisis is still very much with us. Some might say that €1,000 is not a very large sum of money in the modern world, but I c…

St. Mary of the Angels and St. Francis Special School in Beaufort in the heart of County Kerry is a very special place. The special needs community in Kerry has a major respite crisis. The families do not have the time to wait. The ground and the campus at St. Mary of the Angels should be made accessible now. Families do not have time to wait. They need help. They are not asking for full-time residential care but respite care, a break and a helping hand. Having more respite will cost the Government far less than fu…

Historically, the respite at Cúnamh Iveragh respite centre in Cahersiveen has been offered from Friday to Sunday. It is only running at half-capacity. There were four beds there. It is two adults per night instead of four. I am reliably informed the issue is that the HSE is not releasing the funding. I cannot understand or accept that. I ask the Minister of State to address this issue. The facility should be available to the parents who are crying out for overnight respite. This should be done sooner rather than la…

I ask the Minister of State to relay the importance of this issue to his Cabinet colleagues. I cannot emphasise strongly enough the importance of this issue and how difficult it is for all the families concerned in Kerry. I have no doubt it is similar in other counties and throughout the country. I am pleading again. It is an opportune site and an opportune location for the Department of children, the HSE and St. John of God to make a plan and not shove the can down the road any further. They are sick to death of h…

I want to raise an urgent and deeply concerning issue regarding a DEIS school in my constituency, Scoil Saidhbhín in Cahersiveen, County Kerry. It has just had its appeal against a cut of two mainstream teachers and one English as an additional language, EAL, post rejected. This is despite an ongoing surge in enrolment, including more than 40 Ukrainian pupils and recent IPAS admissions. This school, already stretched to capacity, now faces class sizes of up to 40 children, many with complex emotional, linguistic an…

The town of Killarney is choked with traffic almost daily. This is causing mass frustration for residents, local businesses and visitors alike. Members of the public are missing trains and buses, along with GP, dental and hospital appointments, and many others, because of the gridlock. Killarney in County Kerry is the capital of tourism in Ireland and is the main reason for visiting this country for many foreign travellers. Killarney has been catering for tourists since Victorian times and is renowned for its profe…

Killarney is the best town in Ireland for a town of its size. It is also the best town in Europe for a town of its size. Everyone goes to Killarney. I cannot emphasise strongly enough how important this project is. It is in the making for quite a number of years but it has come to the point where action is required right now. It should be at the very top of the political priority list. It should be at the very top of Transport Infrastructure Ireland's priority list. I am again pleading for the funding to be made av…

The national immunisation programme should include a vaccination for shingles free of charge for all our citizens. A vaccine to prevent shingles would be of great benefit to the entire population but would particularly benefit older people who are more susceptible to viral disease. Shingles can be quite painful and debilitating and these effects are more pronounced in older people. The costs would be beyond the budget of many and as a public health issue, a nationwide free vaccination scheme would benefit the entir…

Since the airing of the "RTÉ Investigates" programme on national television, families feel terrified. They do not know what way to turn. My constituency office in Killarney, County Kerry, is inundated with queries about home care. Those queries are asking what is available to families to look after their loved ones at home. Many of these would be under extreme pressure to be able to cope at home but they are turning away from private nursing homes following the recent scandal. There is no doubt about that. Regardin…

We need to zone land and open up planning permission for people, especially for one-off houses. We need to provide affordable houses and social houses. We need to provide private housing, low-cost sites and good-quality modular homes. We need to give choices to our people. I am convinced that good-quality modular homes are part of the solution here. Four or five modular homes can be provided for the price of one affordable house. They are better insulated and much warmer. They can be erected at speed. I am focusing…

The Taoiseach is very familiar with the Ring of Kerry road from his visits to south Kerry and Valentia Island. I emphasise the importance of the Ring of Kerry. It is Ireland's premier tourist route but it is 70% substandard. The roads and footpaths through Cahersiveen have been in a shocking condition for many years. Local businesses, residents and visitors are outraged. They feel, rightly so, that they and the people of Iveragh have been forgotten. There is an ongoing €19.5 million regeneration scheme in Cahersive…

The boys of Barr na Sráide are waiting a long time. That is why I am raising the issue today. I emphasise that the Ring of Kerry is as important to us as the M50 is to Dublin. It is Ireland's premier tourist route. The town of Cahersiveen needs urgent attention, as I have outlined, as, indeed, do Killorglin and the Killarney to Farranfore bypass. I am pleading with TII, especially, to listen to our calls. I am not the first person to call for funding for the Ring of Kerry; many of my colleagues have done so over de…

Local authorities need to do much more about our vacant council housing stock. We have houses vacant for one, five, ten, 15 or 20 years, or longer. Some of these properties are beyond repair. Others require substantial works. There are vacant rural cottages that were part of a farm and that family members wish to buy and have been trying to do so for many years. Where there is value for money, of course we should be doing up these properties and reallocating them to qualified housing applicants; where it is too cos…

The closure of Skellig Michael to landings is a crime. It is having a detrimental effect on the local economy and the economies of Iveragh, south Kerry and the entire county. People come from every corner of the world to visit this very special, majestic place, which is a UNESCO world heritage site. The knock-on effect this is having, not just on boat operators, but on local hotels, guesthouses, bed and breakfasts, shops, restaurants, pubs, filling stations, etc., cannot be calculated. I ask the Taoiseach and the M…

There is a need to accelerate all of our regeneration schemes that have commenced and to expedite and accelerate town centre first schemes. They are a way of tackling dereliction. I would like to see the €100,000 over-the-shop grant introduced as soon as possible because it is another way of tackling dereliction and providing badly needed houses in rural towns and villages. There are two schemes ongoing in Kerry, the Killorglin and Cahersiveen regeneration schemes. I would like to see them accelerated. I refer also…

Will the Minister outline his plans for increasing the number of housing options available to older people to facilitate ageing in place with dignity and independence? Will he also provide an update on the development of a policy on rightsizing?

I thank the Minister of State for that. Rightsizing generally means moving home in later life into housing that is more suitable. It is more usually known as downsizing. It can also mean adapting your home to make it more age appropriate or considering other housing options. The Housing for All plan sets out that the current and projected need for housing among our older people should be made through clear, target-driven local authority delivery action plans and housing strategies. Can the Minister of State indicat…