I ask the Minister to provide an update on attempts to re-establish childcare and early learning facilities at the site of the old Before 5 Family Centre in Churchfield in Cork city.

When the Before 5 Family Centre was closed suddenly last August, the community lost a facility it had enjoyed for 50 years. It lost a preschool, an after-school service, childcare provision, play therapy and adult services. More than 100 parents lost out directly. More than 150 children lost out directly and 14 workers lost out directly. There are three other childcare providers in the area and all of them have lengthy waiting lists. There are 303 children in the Churchfield area aged four years and under. This com…

I suggest that the Minister ask the parents in the area whether they think things are moving at a snail's pace or not. I do not think the Minister would be too surprised by the reply he would get. The delays in this case are unforgivable. The family centre was shut last year at the end of August. That should have been the signal for urgency in organising a replacement. On 6 February, the company appointed to organise replacement services - not Northside Community Enterprise - wrote to the Minister and other Ministe…

The motion reads: — the Nature Restoration Law aims to halt the decline of nature, work towards restoring habitats across the European Union (EU), whilst also targeting habitats that contribute most to the capture and storage of carbon; — the Nature Restoration Law will target 20 per cent of each EU Member States land area and, as Ireland comprises of 6.9 million hectares of land, the Nature Restoration Law will potentially be applied to 1.38 million hectares. Notwithstanding the nods to the rhetoric of just transi…

There is a minimum wage in this country but the law allows an employer to pay below it if the worker in question is under the age of 20. It is legal to pay a 19-year-old 90% of the minimum wage, an 18-year-old 80% and those aged 17 and under just 70%. Yesterday, the Low Pay Commission unanimously recommended that the Government abolish these subminimum pay rates. Instead of embracing that proposal, the Minister for enterprise said he would have to apply the SME test before making recommendations to the Cabinet. The…

I want to send my support to junior doctors in Northern Ireland who are once again taking strike action this month. Their pay has, in effect, been cut by 30% over the past 15 years. The junior doctors strike is about pay, but it is about more than pay. It is about defence of the National Health Service. Low pay is combining with understaffing and underfunding to force many skilled staff to emigrate or leave the profession. I hope the upcoming UK general election can become a key focal point for industrial and polit…

On 22 May, the Geneva International Peace Research Institute filed a complaint at the International Criminal Court against Ursula von der Leyen for complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity. The complaint read: Reasonable grounds exist to believe that the unconditional support of the President of the European Commission to Israel – ... economic, diplomatic and political – has enabled war crimes and the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Ursula von der Leyen is currently the nominee of the European People's Party,…

Do I get an extra 30 seconds to explain? All I will say is that you should be very careful when dealing with sash windows. The Irish Examiner reviewed the Cork city north-west ward on May 31 and included in its report the line "Big issues also include housing and rents, and - surprisingly in a modern city - delivery of clean tap water." It certainly proved to be an issue in the election. It came up at door after door. There was the man who had to lift his ten-year-old boy up to the sink to wash him with bottled wat…

A committee was recently set up in Blarney in County Cork to make the place an autism-friendly town. There are nine parents on that committee. A majority cannot find suitable places for their children in local schools. Two have children who travel 16 km to a special class. One has a child who travels 22 km to a special school. One travels 29 km to a special school. Another travels 13 km to a special school and another 10 km to a special class. Two thirds have to travel 10 km or more to go to school. One family has …

Last night, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions described the Government's small business supports package as being anti-worker. The Government promised workers that the number of statutory sick leave days would rise next January from five to seven, and again in January 2026 from seven to ten days. However, the Minister has stated that he will review the ESRI research on the impact of statutory sick leave before deciding on any further increases. This is a broken promise to more than 1 million workers. The Governmen…

-----the low paid and migrants all at once.

My question is this-----

I want to ask my question.

Let me ask my question.

The Ceann Comhairle's inflexibility on this is unreal.

Is it because I am asking questions on behalf of workers?

Answer the question on sick pay.

Answer the question on sick pay.

The Government made a promise and has now paused it.

I am glad there is a Minister of State from Cork in the Chamber because I would like to hear a response to the point I wish to make. Medical card holders are finding it increasingly difficult to access the dental care to which the card entitles them. I know that is the case in Cork and suspect it is the case across the country. Some are being forced to wait a long time for appointments. Others are being told their dentist has left the DTSS and they can now be seen only as private patients. Most dentists who are sti…