We encourage people to shop around for their utility bills, insurance or whatever it might be, to get the best price. I have been in contact with someone recently who had issues with an energy utility company which I will not name and he claims he was given false information in order to sign a contract. He made a complaint to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities. This is where the problem is. The commission has come back to him to say there will be a resolution in 12 months' time. That is not sufficient. The …

I refer to the publication during the recess of the Grace report. It is shocking that after eight years of an investigation no one has been held to account. Grace was a young girl, who became a young women, with complex and profound intellectual disabilities left in a foster home for 20 years without oversight of her care. Even when, in 1996, there were allegations of sexual abuse, physical abuse and neglect, and there was talk of moving her, Grace was left in that home for another nine years. It is not credible fo…

The percentage of land that is under afforestation in Ireland compared with the EU average has already been mentioned. Ireland is way below where it should be, at below 12% when the average is 39%. We know how important afforestation is as part of the solution to climate change and in addressing carbon emissions. The previous programme for Government set a target of 8,000 ha per year to be afforested. We fell way below that, with not even a quarter of the target reached. This means we are playing catch-up on those …

I have just come from the launch of a report by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre on public perceptions of sexual violence. It is research that was carried out in recent months. Some of the indications are positive. People believe that sexual violence is extremely common and are very concerned about it. The report pointed out that 85% of men say they feel safe while only 48% of women do. Most still believe that sexual violence is common for women. In reality, one in two women and one in four men will experience sexual …

I am sharing my time with Senators McCormack and Andrews.

Statements on disabilities can focus on the negative experiences and the barriers faced by disabled people in their daily reality. I commend the many disabled people who are role models and ambassadors in our country. I pay particular tribute to our athletes who took part in the Paralympic Games last summer and the athletes who took part in the Special Olympics Winter Games last month. We have many other disabled artists, musicians and so forth, who are great ambassadors for our country. Unfortunately, when it come…

Today is World Autism Awareness Day. I have just come from the launch of the Same Chance report 2025, prepared by AsIAm, and there are some startling statistics within the report. Of the people surveyed, 91% feel that being autistic is a barrier to being accepted in our society. More than 50% of them were diagnosed privately as there is still no public pathway to diagnosis for children or adults, especially adults. Some 48% of those people surveyed said they did not feel safe and 44% had experienced discrimination …

We will take six minutes and four minutes.

The Minister is welcome. Some of my points have already been raised but I will raise them again anyway. The first relates to capacity in the system, which is an ongoing problem, as we hear from parents and childcare providers. Many parents contact me because they cannot find somewhere to leave their newborn child when they need to go back to work. A childcare provider I talked to yesterday said her waiting list at the moment is between 230 and 240 children, 58 of whom are under the age of one. She has the capacity …

No problem. I thank the Acting Chair. I want to focus initially on low-income earners because they frequently fall between two stools, as it is. I will give an example of what I mean by this. Recently I was contacted by a constituent. She, her husband and their four children have been living in a rental property for the past 11 to 12 years and paying a reasonable rent. Now, however, the landlord requires the house for his son, who is returning from abroad. The family completely understands the situation. However, t…

I join earlier speakers in extending good wishes to Jeremy Wilmshurst in his new role and thank him for how very helpful and pleasant he always was to deal with. I also wish George every success in his new role. Last week, when I raised the issue of the humanitarian assistance scheme, the Ceannaire indicated that the Minister for Social Protection would be invited to the Chamber to address concerns about the scheme. There are other concerns the Minister might address at the same time, such as the length of time it …

I support what Senator Boyhan raised. I know all too well on the ground the number of people who have had home care hours approved but cannot get the carers to fulfil them. It is a significant problem in my county of Cavan and other counties around me. I wish to raise the continuing difficulties people face with the humanitarian assistance scheme following Storm Éowyn. People are now getting letters rejecting their claims for assistance, seemingly for different reasons. Some are being told they cannot claim for los…

I am sharing time with Senators McCormack and Ryan.

I move: That Seanad Éireann: recognises: - the fundamental right of every child to access education; - the growing current and projected demand for special education placements; - the current shortage of special classes and appropriate school places, leaving children, particularly those with additional needs, without access to suitable education; - the trauma and absolute heartbreak endured by parents and families due to the lack of suitable school places; - the failure of successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael gover…

I thank the Minister of State and all the Senators who spoke on the motion. I acknowledge Sarah and Darragh in the Gallery and hope an appropriate school placement for their son Freddie is identified without delay. Our population is increasing quite quickly. With that, the percentage of individuals with disabilities is increasing. In particular, the prevalence of autism is anticipated to reach 4.3% of the population. We are going to see a lot more people requiring support. I acknowledge that many autistic children …

The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, is welcome. Every autumn, when students are about to back to school, any of us who live in rural areas are inundated with contact from parents distressed over the fact that their child has not got a school bus ticket for the coming school year. They are only notified of this within maybe a week or two of returning to school. It mostly applies to post-primary school but it can apply to primary school as well. It is based on the Department rules which set down that you have to …

It makes sense, where possible, to integrate school bus services with public services. However, as the Minister of State said, that is not always possible. For example, where I live is very rural, as is where he lives. For environmental reasons, it is important to switch as many students as possible from using cars to using buses. It also gets young people into the habit of using bus services, which, we hope, will become a lifelong habit whereby they will continue to use public bus services and train services, etc.…

I raise the issue of the condition of rural roads in County Cavan. The roads are basically disintegrating in front of our eyes. This is down to a lack of investment by Government in local authorities to provide increases in funding for local roads. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Cavan was known as the pothole capital of Ireland, so much so that four Cavan Road Action Group candidates were elected to Cavan County Council in the 1992 local election. While investment in roads improved during the Celtic tiger perio…

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. If we are to address road safety in a meaningful way, we need a multipronged approach. The number of road deaths might well be reduced from what it was 20 years ago, when there was a high of 458, but the number is still far too high. Enforcement is key. People will continue to flout the rules if there is not adequate enforcement of them. It is concerning when the Garda road policing unit numbers are very low. There were 1,046 members of the Garda road policing unit 15…

I welcome the Minister. It goes without saying that Irish farmers produce top quality food to a very high standard but, unfortunately, farming without CAP would not be sustainable. To ensure long-term food security, we need to see a CAP that is fair to all farmers. Some farmers claim in excess of €100,000 per year in farm payments. In 2020, for example, 20 farmers claimed €3.6 million. It was farming enterprises, not the small family farm. They claimed €3.6 million in payments. We need to see a CAP that is fair and…