The story of modern Ireland cannot be told without recognising the central role of women in shaping our society, economy and national identity. I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak and mark International Women’s Day, and recognise the extraordinary contribution that women make to our families, communities and country, which they will continue to do for our future. Throughout Irish history, women have played a vital role in shaping the nation we are today. One of the most powerful examples is Countess Mar…

I again acknowledge all the postmasters and postmistresses around the country for the incredible work they do. The post office is the heart and soul of rural Ireland. I acknowledge their role in providing a phenomenal service. I also acknowledge the role of our postmen and postwomen who deliver our post every day and every week. In particular, back during the Covid restrictions, sometimes the only interaction people in rural areas had was with their postman who was driving up country boreens and country lanes deliv…

When the 2014 circular from the Department of education is updated, I hope it will clearly recognise something that every teacher and every parent already knows: that every school in Ireland has students with additional needs and, therefore, every school should be entitled to at least one special needs assistant. I welcome the recent news from the Minister that there will be no reduction in the allocation of SNAs for the upcoming year, but needs in schools do not always present as dramatic or highly visible. Yes, s…

Today, five brave young people - David McInerney and Emily Felix from Kilkenny, Eric Fitzgerald from Mayo, Niamh Ní Hoireabhaird from Kildare and Oisín Pollard from Carlow - and their families attended the AV room to raise awareness around the rare disease, Friedreich's Ataxia. These five young people all suffer from Friedreich's Ataxia and they need the Government's help with regard to approving funding for the drug Skyclarys, which will make a huge difference to their lives. Today, their parents said, "Our kids d…

The oncology unit for St. Luke's Hospital is currently offsite at UPMC, and has been for almost six years. Since the Covid pandemic, it moved there and never moved back. Providing a safe and efficient service to the oncology patients is the most important part of the work in the oncology day ward. St. Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny treats patients from Carlow, Kilkenny and parts of Laois and Tipperary but being offsite for many years has had a number of implications, such as lack of quick access to labs, pharmacy, cha…

We have to wait for it to come back onsite.

We are waiting for the Dolmen Wing as well, which will free up other space.

Is that an apology?

I want to raise St. Luke's General Hospital in Kilkenny. It is a level 3 hospital with over 1,200 staff and is the seventh biggest medical centre in Ireland serving a catchment area of around 200,000 people. I am looking for an update on the new CT machine, which is vital to support patient flow. A second CT for St. Luke's will result in no downtime and allow specialised tests to be completed on-site reducing the need for patients to be transferred to another hospital, which results in long waiting times for appoin…

I welcome the statements. I empathise with the many individuals, men, women, children, families and business owners who have been left absolutely devastated once again by the horrific impact of flooding. My constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny was hit badly again. I thank the local authorities in the area and roads crew in both Carlow and Kilkenny and the fire service for the incredible work that they did. Even up until today, they are still dealing with the fallout and the damage from the floods regarding the roads and…

I welcome the announcement today of the national regional roads funding and over €40 million for my constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny. Some of these projects have been ongoing for quite some time. In particular, I want to pay tribute to the N25 committee in south Kilkenny, a voluntary organisation that has prioritised and highlighted this issue so strongly. Investment of €1 million to allow this scheme to go to the next stage is hugely beneficial for that community, and there is €600,000 for the N24 around the Moonco…

A huge number of rural roads in Carlow-Kilkenny have been absolutely destroyed in the past couple of weeks due to the torrential rainfall and serious flooding in the area. This has resulted in serious potholes and, in many cases, complete disintegration of road surfaces, making them impassable. In some cases, there are potholes so big you could lose a small child in them. I am asking the Taoiseach and the Government to provide additional once-off emergency funding to those counties which have been so desperately af…

I want to talk about Tullow, Callan and Borris. I want to talk about all of those schools.

Management, staff, students and parents and the whole school community are extremely disappointed and dismayed at the decision last week by the Minister, Deputy Naughton, not to release long-promised funding for the Kilkenny school campus. Both Kilkenny City Vocational School and Coláiste Pobail Osraí are now at capacity. Kilkenny City Vocational School is the only DEIS post-primary school in Kilkenny city and it has an exemplary record. Both schools are non-denominational and co-educational. Coláiste Pobail Osraí …

I raise the issue of the new Kilkenny college of the future. In October 2024, the Department announced the purchase of a stand-alone 15 acre site that would become the new home of the college of the future in Kilkenny. Government funding worth tens of millions of euro will be required to drive the development of the site at Joinersfolly, south of Kilkenny city. This site will create a new state-of-the-art education and training campus for Kilkenny and Carlow Education and Training Board and, more importantly, conso…

I particularly welcome the last words of the Minister of State on delivery because that is what we want. I really welcome the fact we are getting so close to the appointment of a design team this year for this project. It is not only the staff of Kilkenny and Carlow ETB that will benefit from this. There are 5,000 full-time and part-time students in Kilkenny who can benefit from the service. We are ready to go in Kilkenny. If we need to be put forward as a pilot scheme or an exemplar for other ETBs to follow that i…

I thank the Deputy.

I will move on to the next speaker.

I call Deputy Newsome Drennan. Deputy Bennett is eating into the time of her own party members.

I thank the Deputy. I have five speakers left and nine minutes and 40 seconds. I will allow them all to contribute.