A report published this week by Grant Thornton, having been commissioned by the Irish Postmasters Union, predicts that more than 100 post offices could close in the next five years if they do not get an urgent injection of State funding in the region of €15 million annually. This is required to keep the network viable. The local post office, whether rural or urban, is a critical public service. Only in the past few minutes I have been reliably informed that Crosshaven post office in the Cork South-West constituency…

This is not a numbers game but rather a humanitarian catastrophe. The whole population of Gaza, including 930,000 children, are now in famine. With our own history of an enforced famine at the hands of an occupier, the Irish people have a unique understanding and empathy for the people of Gaza. Some 66,000 children suffer severe malnutrition and 14,000 babies are potentially facing death within 48 hours if aid does not reach them. These are not statistics; they make up sons, daughters and futures lost. There are no…

Communities throughout Ireland are in huge fear as they await flood relief schemes. Many of these communities just need simple river cleaning before their houses are flooded again. The bottom line is that we need a debate. I have been promised it might happen soon but I have been looking for a debate for the past number of weeks. We need an urgent debate. We never know when a flood will strike. The sun is shining right now but it might not continue. People are living in terror that their homes will be flooded again…

It is 23 weeks and four days since the general election took place and almost four months since junior Ministers were appointed to their positions. However, powers have yet to be delegated to more than 50% of junior Ministers by this Government. The Taoiseach knows well the major housing crisis we have and the major challenges faced by small businesses, by communities that do not have flood relief schemes and by young people waiting for close to 13 months for their driving tests. Powers have not yet been delegated …

Our children with additional needs deserve our unwavering support and immediate action. Over 15,000 children are waiting for an assessment of need, which is a crucial step in identifying their health and educational requirements as outlined in the Disability Act 2005. Our system is failing these children and their families. The HSE projects that without additional funding and resources this waiting list could swell to over 25,000 by the end of the year. This is unacceptable. I highlight the incredible efforts of Ca…

The recent changes made to the nitrates stocking rate map need to be reconsidered. Lowering the stocking rate to 220 kg N/ha in additional areas in west Cork will have minimal, if any, impact on water quality. The Timoleague catchment has demonstrated nitrates concentration in water does not proportionally increase when the stocking rates increase. Will the Minister please reconsider the map and make adjustments? I sent the Minister a more detailed outline of this to which he might have an answer.

I thank the Minister. This valuable catchment, which provides important research findings to the rest of the country through the agricultural catchment programme, will be subject to the stocking reduction of 220 kg N/ha from 1 December. This will make it impossible to decouple and quantify the impact of agricultural measures on water quality from a reduction in stocking rates. In fact, critics of the sector will conveniently assume that any improvements in water quality from now on will be a consequence of a reduce…

I thank the Minister. I know he said he met the farmers in Timoleague. I think the Taoiseach has met them and the previous Taoiseach met them. The farmers there are doing everything and their utmost, and farmers who pull out all the stops need to be rewarded. It is within the Minister's remit to make changes here and make sure they do not end up in a situation where they are down to 220 kg N/ha on 1 December. It would set a good example to the dairy sector and for farmers who are making such severe efforts to put t…

This is my first chance to welcome the Minister to his new role and I wish him the best going forward. I also welcome the IFA president, Mr. Francie Gorman, who is here with us. I acknowledge the volunteers on the ground in farm organisations, such as Mr. Tadhg Healy and previously Mr. Donal O'Donovan in west Cork. Tadhg is my right ear most weeks on farm issues and Mr. Dermot Kelleher, of the ICSA, is my left ear. I do not know which ear is the best but they are certainly keeping me on my toes when it comes to agr…

This Bill aims to improve workers' rights, but it also brings some challenges for small businesses, which would cause me to be concerned. I see Independent Ireland supporting this Bill going forward, but I want to raise concerns we have because there are a lot of concerns for small businesses in particular. Small businesses would no doubt have more paperwork and formal tasks like negotiations and dispute resolutions. This can take up their limited resources and distract from their main activities and running their …

The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, said on 1 May, "The current delays in the driver testing system are simply not acceptable." He also said, "People deserve a national driver testing service that they can rely upon", and that he will continue to hold the RSA to account until we see meaningful progress. To be honest, we are all fed up of hearing the same old line over and over again. I have young adults and their parents texting and ringing me. They are begging me - as is the case with everyone here - to get driv…

As my colleagues mentioned, 14-year-old Cara Darmody is coming to sleep outside the Dáil next week for 50 hours to raise awareness not only for her own family, but for other families throughout this country. We need to put together a joint motion and we need to time to discuss this matter at great length next week because we are breaking the laws in this country, the laws we said we would stand by. It is taking a 14-year-old girl to show us that situation, so I fully support previous speakers on this matter.

I will begin by wishing Deputies Harkin and James Lawless the very best in their positions going forward. This is the first opportunity I have had to wish them well. We have situations where there is a rural-urban divide in higher education. My concern is that Skibbereen Adult Education Centre and Kinsale Further Education College are doing an excellent job but the problem is that we sometimes do not come up with the numbers. We have a situation whereby those who are doing the health level 5 higher education course…

If we got a euro for every time we spoke about housing since I came to Dáil Éireann, we would have a hell of a lot of houses built. We have a massive problem. We know that. I cannot understand why Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats and Labour have thrown out figures for delivery of housing which they know they can never deliver. Go down to my patch in west Cork and you cannot build a house there. Not one house in Dunmanway. Imagine. It is an astonishing situation. I would love the Minister of S…

I start by thanking Deputy Micheál Carrigy for bringing students from Scoil Samhthann in Ballinalee in County Longford to the Public Gallery here today. Many of them are there behind me, including my own cousin, who has very strong connections with west Cork. Aisling Hennessy is here with her fellow students and teachers. They are most welcome. The private nursing home sector provides an invaluable service to the State with the provision of long-term, short-stay and convalescent beds to the older people in our soci…

This discussion is centred on extending certain provisions of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act. This extension aims to allow the hospitality sector to continue providing outdoor seating areas for the sale and consumption of alcohol. Independent Ireland and I are in full agreement with this extension. This is crucial for offering clarity and certainty to business, patrons, local authorities and An Garda Síochána. As a politician, business owners speak to me on a daily basis about the costs of doing busin…

However, it is all about seating, and the rates for seating are coming-----

I know that, and I respect that, but I am only talking about the importance of having it there. The fact is that they now have it, but they are being punished for having it there by being rated. It is difficult for these business. In a few months, they are trying to turn over a profit and make enough to keep staff on board. These businesses are paying for rates, electricity, staff, VAT, PRSI, PAYE, telephones, Internet, purchase of stock, refuse, upkeep of buildings, maybe rent or a mortgage, and then they also hav…

The Social Democrats have tabled a motion in the Dáil that calls for the Government to increase the number of multidenominational schools and to phase out religious patronage in special education. I have listened carefully today to all the reasons we should remove church patronage. There are also those of us who oppose these statements and who argue that religious institutions play a significant role in the community and that their influence should be preserved. Along with many others, I worry that phasing out reli…

For the past five weeks or so I have been looking for a debate on agriculture weeks relating to the ACRE payments. There are 9,000 farmers waiting for their payments in respect of 2023 and 2024. Some 2,000 have not received payments for 2023. We also have a crisis with tuberculosis, TB, which is costing farmers €150 million with the highest rates of TB since 2003, up 36%. We also need to debate water quality in relation to agriculture. The derogation has improved and we need a debate on this immediately, this week.…