The last six months have been extremely difficult for many businesses. Business owners and employees recognise that they had a part to play in flattening the curve, and supports were put in place at that time. As the restrictions were lifted some businesses were in a position to reopen, but in many cases they still need supports. Others are still unable to open and many people are still out of work with no prospect of returning any time soon. One sector that has little prospect of reopening soon is the entertainmen…

May I deal with Question No. 39 on behalf of Deputy Funchion?

When will the autism committee be established as per the commitment given in the last term of the previous Dáil?

In April 2019, Deputy Funchion moved a motion in this House calling for an autism empowerment strategy and the establishment of an autism committee. The motion received widespread party support at that time. A commitment was given to deliver an autism empowerment strategy for Ireland. The issues affecting autistic children and adults are long-standing and families, children and adults have been battling for years for their basic rights and entitlements. Children face lengthy waiting times for assessments, they stru…

While I welcome a stand-alone committee dealing with disabilities, I do not see autism as a disability; I see it as a different ability, I suppose. There was agreement that the State was failing children with autism and their families and we saw many cases where children's hours were being cut at school because they did not have the proper services or resources available. In many cases children did not attend school at all as a result. We all agreed that was a national scandal at the time. The failure to make a dia…

Has a budget to be provided to facilitate the reopening of day services for people with disabilities? I was led to believe a budget for this was meant to come to Cabinet last week. If so, how much has been allocated to ensure the full reopening of services? If not, will it come before Cabinet and what does the Minister of State envisage the amount will be? A stand-alone budget needs to be provided for this very important service and it should not be part of the winter action programme, for example. A budget was pro…

I join with others in welcoming the fact that between last week and this week, schools have reopened since their forced closure five and a half months ago. All of us hope that they will remain open in what are challenging times for teachers, auxiliary staff and pupils. I commend all of the staff involved in getting schools ready at very short notice in what are exceptionally difficult and unprecedented circumstances. We all want our schools functioning properly so that our children and young people get back to some…

I welcome the roadmap for returning to school. I doubt there is anybody who does not wish to see a full return to school at the end of August or the beginning of September. However, it is very late considering that the schools have been closed for more than four months. It has put unfair pressure on everybody affected, such as those responsible for preparing the timetable. Most post-primary schools would usually have the timetable prepared in June. Now we have principals or deputy principals trying to prepare a tim…

I am calling for the immediate resumption of day care services for people with intellectual disabilities. It is imperative at this stage. People with intellectual disabilities and their carers are at their wits' end and feel they have been forgotten. The totality of care for adults with intellectual disabilities has been left with parents, who are often aged. They have received little or no support for more than four months now. I have heard reports of adult children suffering from depression and loneliness and som…

I welcome the comments made by the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte. As my colleague, Deputy Funchion, has said, at the Covid committee last Friday week a roadmap was discussed and August was mentioned but there was no specific date and it was very general and vague. September and possibly next year were mentioned and this was quite concerning. People are frustrated. Many parents have told me they see this as an essential service and that there should have been plans much earlier for reopening it. We are speaking…

I raise the matter of the drug Spinraza, which was approved in June 2019 for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy. The roll-out has been very slow as only 12 of 29 children with this condition have so far received treatment. Spinal muscular atrophy is a degenerative disease and these continued delays have a real and psychological impact on children with the condition, who lose a little more motor function every day. Adults are not included in the roll-out of the drug. Will the Government address this matter and…

I wish to support the motion. I commend Deputy Funchion on tabling it. Childcare in Ireland is at crisis point and has been so since long before Covid. It has been edging towards disaster for years, but little or nothing has been done to address the situation. It is now urgent. The cost of childcare was astronomical even before Covid. Prices are now being forced upwards again as a result of restrictions on numbers due to Covid and the cost of necessary personal protective equipment, PPE, and deep cleaning essential…

This is on the disabilities sector in the programme for Government, which we were talking about and is on page 90. I will speak on the somewhat connected issue of suspension of day care and respite services for people with intellectual disabilities due to Covid-19. I have been contacted, as have many of my colleagues, by many parents who are left dealing with children and sometimes adults with intellectual disabilities at home with little or no support. Will the Tánaiste address the issue of when the day care and r…

I wish to speak in favour of this motion to extend maternity leave benefit and to represent the views of the many mothers throughout the country who have contacted me on this issue. The Covid restrictions were difficult on everyone but mothers who gave birth just before or during the pandemic were particularly badly affected. Gone were the normal support networks such as help from extended family, breastfeeding groups, baby massage groups and mother and toddler groups. All of those outlets were prohibited. Visits f…

As Teachta Dála for Cavan-Monaghan I pay tribute to a past pupil of mine, Ms Sonia Lee, and her family, for the strength they have shown not just in recent weeks but in the past two years since Sonia endured an horrific attack by her former partner that left her with life-changing injuries. I wish her well in future. The unprecedented levels of gender-based violence is a global problem that transcends all borders, age groups and socio-economic groupings. It causes untold heartache and hardship for families from all…

I was deeply concerned to learn at the weekend of plans to merge the midwifery-led unit in Cavan General Hospital with the consultancy-led services there. I have been reliably informed that the unit has been closed to anyone who wished to book this facility from 1 June 2020. While women who were booked prior to that date will be facilitated, anybody attempting to make a booking after that date has been told to make alternative arrangements. It is unclear as to why this decision was taken and if there was any prior …

One of the biggest problems facing rural Ireland has been the lack of investment in our towns and villages that over decades has resulted in the depopulation of once vibrant communities. My county, Cavan, has, like most of the Border region, endured an unprecedented level of decline, not least in those towns and villages where several empty, and sometimes derelict, buildings blight the main streets. These decaying structures dishearten and demoralise the people who reside in these towns and villages, as well as any…

Last week, the Minister addressed the House and indicated that more clarity around this year's leaving certificate and other issues would be provided after he and his Department officials examined the issues in detail. I welcome the fact that some clarification has been provided and I do not believe for one minute that any of this process is easy or straightforward. However, schools need as much guidance and clarity as possible and as soon as possible. Last week, teachers were reasonably confident that they had a g…

As this is my maiden speech, I wish to take the opportunity to thank the people of Cavan, Monaghan and north Meath for their tremendous support for me and my party colleague, Deputy Carthy, at the general election on 8 February. After everything that has happened, it seems like a lifetime ago now. I never envisaged it would be more than three months before I would get to make my maiden speech but we live in unprecedented times. I will comment on the alternative to the leaving certificate and I have some questions. …