With respect, it is six months after the storm and we are still at survey stage.

In many cases what we need is action. I recently had contact from a family who experienced a power outage. They live at the end of a forest. They are living in fear of the next storm. They know that should a storm hit, they will certainly experience a power outage. This is the type of work we need to get down to business on. I appreciate the survey is being undertaken but we are now in the summer and in many cases the best time to achieve this work in terms of ground conditions is now. My fear is that there will be…

We have a teacher shortage that is worsening year on year. Principals are finding it increasingly difficult to fill teaching posts. We also have a lack of places for children with disabilities. Meanwhile, there are thousands of Irish teachers teaching in the UAE, Australia and other parts of the world. Many left during the crash in search of employment. Many of them want to come home, but there is a barrier and disincentive. That disincentive is the teacher pay scale. Many teachers have to start at the very bottom.…

The entire scandal with regard to CHI has been shambolic from the outset. We have more than 200 children waiting for spinal surgery. There are children waiting for scoliosis surgery who are in pain. Meanwhile, very young children had surgery needlessly. This is the legacy. We have children the State has failed to treat and failed in terms of their treatment. What happened is absolutely shocking. What we have learned from the CHI whistleblower is that there was greater emphasis on protecting the system and protectin…

I thank the Minister and Minister of State for attending to discuss these important matters. The questions concern SUSI applications for County Mayo, in particular the number and the percentage of the refusal rate, the revoked applications and the successful applications, and how this compares with the national situation.

I would like to raise some concerns, in particular regarding the revoked applications. In some instances, the money is never actually seen by the applicant and is directly linked to the university. I am aware of one case where the university failed to notify SUSI that the student had left the course and, as a result, the student was penalised the following year – essentially, the student was abandoned in that situation. Of course, we need to have a rules-based system and that is very important. However, this is par…

I welcome the Minister's assistance on those cases. As the Minister quite rightly pointed out, people who make second-chance applications and move courses should be supported in a bigger way than is currently the case. The extension of the timeline should be looked at and the acceleration of more online courses, which will reduce the cost to the person, would be of assistance as well. I also want to raise another case. A constituent of mine, who has two students in college, received a very modest gift as a result o…

I thank the Minister very much for engaging on this important topic. I ask him to provide a breakdown over the past five years on CLÁR funding per county. How does our county, Mayo, compare?

I look forward to reviewing the breakdown. The Tánaiste stated this morning that the Government has failed and is failing children with disabilities. I propose that funding for playgrounds would require them to have an inclusive element. The State is failing children with disabilities. There is a significant lack of services for children - a lack of space in schools, a lack of children's disability network teams and significant delays with assessments of need. Perhaps the Government could provide some short-term jo…

I too commend Mayo County Council on the great work it is doing. I also commend Manulla FC on its leading work on supporting children and families with disabilities. I also wish to refer to Ballyhaunis. The purpose of CLÁR is to support rural towns. In recent years, Ballyhaunis has lost three of its banks and the credit union is now reducing its hours. The lack of financial institutions in the town has resulted in a loss of economic activity. We are seeing a hollowing out of the town in regard to economic enterpris…

I want to raise a very important issue on HHC, a semisynthetic cannabinoid. It is being sold legally in the State. It is being purchased and consumed by teenagers. Recently in my constituency of Mayo I heard of a harrowing case of a young teenager who consumed the drug not realising how dangerous it was because it was so freely and readily available. It ruined his life. He had to withdraw from school to try to get himself off HHC. The fact is that it is sold in vape shops throughout the country. It is sold with swe…

We also need to ensure that companies can no longer target children with vape shops and lovely beautiful colours-----

-----and beautiful scents and smells. It is absolutely wrong. We need cross-party support. We need to address this.

There are children who are walking the streets and teenagers purchasing vapes and HHC.

It is a major issue and I hope the Tánaiste will address it and we will bring legislation-----

-----to ensure this is provided for.

I welcome the motion, which we in Aontú are delighted to support, and thank my colleagues in Independent Ireland for bringing it forward. I am happy to hear that the Government will not be opposing it. Every day in Ireland, carers, both paid and unpaid, provide tremendous service to their families, their communities and the State. The value they provide, both socially and economically, is significantly undervalued by the State. Over 5,000 people, in the main elderly people and the most vulnerable people in our soci…

I raise with the Taoiseach a reply to a parliamentary question I received from the Minister for Health. In the past year and a half, since January 2024, just five paramedics and 12 emergency medical technicians, EMTs, have been hired by the National Ambulance Service. This is despite the fact that a recent report states that there are 1,000 staff shortages. There is a major crisis in the National Ambulance Service. There are qualified people sitting on panels in Mayo and right across the country and they are traine…

There have been no paramedics hired this year.

Front-line paramedics and EMTs.