St. Killian's Special School in Mayfield on the north side of Cork city is a wonderful school that has 93 children attending. That figure will rise to 99 in September. The school has need of a psychologist, a speech and language therapist and an occupational therapist, and perhaps a play therapist and a behavioural therapist. Before Christmas, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, told school representatives that grant aid would be available for procuring private therapists for this work. The school lined up a re…

The European far right rallied in Madrid last Sunday, where they were addressed by Argentina's President Javier Milei who described climate change as a socialist lie. Of course, it does not take far-right leaders to jet in from other continents to come out with this kind of nonsense. The European far right is well capable of putting it forward itself. Alternative für Deutschland is saying in this European election campaign that CO2 is not a pollutant but an indispensable component of all life. Giorgia Meloni's clim…

Listening to the Taoiseach, the thought struck me as to when the Prime Minister of Spain might recognise the state of Catalonia, but in any case, I welcome the recognition of the state of Palestine insofar as it goes. I do not welcome the fact that the Taoiseach has attempted to link this to the idea of a two-state solution brokered by the international community, in other words, by the US and European Union imperialism first and foremost. That is a formula for a Palestinian Bantustan, not national liberation. Ther…

Respect the Chair.

A far-right local election candidate is sharing copies on Twitter, or X, of what she claims are people's international protection applications. One is that of an alleged Palestinian applicant and seems to have been taken down now but at least another two are still up. This is not the first time that alleged international protection applications have been shared on social media by the far right. This is a serious matter. We are discussing vulnerable people. Will the Taoiseach ensure that an investigation is conducte…

The Taoiseach has made great play of his opinions on law and order. Why is he not taking action against employers who break the law? Less than half a mile from here, there is a construction project that is the responsibility of the Office of Public Works and that is 100% funded by the taxpayer. Organisers from Unite the Union recently consulted with the workers on that project and found that more than 50% of them are members of a pension scheme. The union also has serious questions about the level of bogus self-emp…

Some 80% of more than 600 transport workers recently polled said that abuse and antisocial behaviour are an issue for them at work. A majority in receipt of this abuse expressed the opinion that the situation has worsened in the past year. Some of the workers have experienced physical assault, some of which has been of a particularly vicious character. Three quarters of those from ethnic minority backgrounds have experienced racist abuse or harassment. The National Bus and Rail Union has campaigned for a dedicated …

The English premiership ended on Sunday with Manchester City in top place, Arsenal in second and Liverpool in third. Who tops the Dáil Éireann landlord table? As is well known, this Dáil is stuffed to the gills with landlords. Whereas one in 20 of the general population is a landlord, in this place the figure is one in five and the number is rising. Some 28 TDs registered as landlords in 2022. The figure for last year was 31. Fianna Fáil takes top position on that league table, with 12 landlord TDs, or exactly one …

I understand that the special European Council had some discussion on economic matters, including the position of small business and supports for small business. I also understand that the Taoiseach is bringing forward a package tomorrow. There are a few points I wish to make about that. I will start by saying hands off the minimum wage and hands off workers' sick leave. I am open to the idea of supports for small business. I do not have any ideological opposition to that but I am utterly opposed to any attempt to …

I congratulate the students at Trinity College who have forced their college to begin divesting from Israel. They have achieved more from their actions than has been achieved by the Government. I note that students at UCD have followed their example. I also congratulate the dozens of staff and students at UCC who have now formed the UCC BDS to organise action with the aim of forcing UCC into full divestment, cutting all financial ties to companies profiting from the occupation. I wish them well and we should watch …

The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were the single most bloody event of the Troubles. Thirty-four people were killed, 27 in Dublin and seven in Monaghan, and 300 people were injured. Car bombs in Dublin were placed strategically near to train stations during rush hour in the middle of a bus strike. Many of the victims were young women workers. The Monaghan bomb was very probably deliberately timed to distract security and facilitate the safe passage of the bombing team back across the Border. I express…

The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking Bill) 2023 focuses on trafficking for sexual exploitation. There is still a need for dedicated legislation to cover trafficking for labour exploitation. I will give a recent example. I have seen correspondence between the International Transport Workers' Federation, ITF, and the Garda relating to a case where fishers from Ghana were issued with contracts suggesting they would be working in the UK before being put working illegally in highly exploitative condit…

"Nothing about us without us" is the motto of the movement for disability rights. The Government's failure to respect this principle led to its decision to launch a Green Paper on disability reform without proper consultation. Its failure to respect that principle meant the Green Paper was doomed from the start. When the Taoiseach was elected, we were told it would open up a new era for disability rights. There should be proper consultation with disabled persons organisations before the first steps were taken. To d…

I am stepping in to ask this question on behalf of Deputy Bríd Smith. I need the Taoiseach to clarify a point for me. More than 150 children lost out when the Before 5 childcare facility in Churchfield on the northside of Cork city closed suddenly last August. Before 5 had served the surrounding communities for 50 years. Three months ago, the organisation chosen to restart a not-for-profit facility at the site wrote to the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, and the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, among others, identifyin…

Many parents on the northside of Cork city are hanging on his answer here and are in very difficult circumstances and need this place reopened as soon as possible.

Yes.

Yesterday, Mr. Fintan Hourihan, chief executive of the Irish Dental Association told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health that he found it profoundly worrying that a decision was made to cancel the building of a new dental school and dental hospital in Cork. A new dental school and hospital would bring a multiplicity of benefits. Number one, it would be a big improvement on the current dilapidated, 40-year old building on the CUH campus. Number two, it would increase capacity for treatment at a time of long and…

Okay.

How many children with autism in the town of Ballincollig have been let down badly by the State and the Government? I know of 21 straight off the bat. They are the boys who attend the Scoil Eoin primary school, who are forced to struggle along in mainstream classes when special classes are what they need. This was recognised three years ago by the National Council for Special Education, which gave the green light for three special classes at the school. Three years on, there is nothing. Why? It is because the Depar…

The Minister of State used a lot of statistics in his reply. I am not going to use statistics. I am going to give him the words of a parent in the form of an extract taken from a letter that was sent. This parent had to move her child out to another school. She wrote that her family is being literally ripped apart and that instead of dropping her three children to school, she is now only dropping two of them. She continued by saying that the worst part, however, is that her most vulnerable child, whose main issue i…