Last week, I spoke with a father pleading for sufficient care for his daughter's mental health. Thankfully, we got a bed for his daughter with the help of the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, and her team. However, this is just one of hundreds of children's stories and it highlights the lack of services available for child mental health services in my constituency of Louth and east Meath. A lack of emergency CAMHS out-of-hours services is resulting in 16-year-old children presenting in accident and emergency. If t…

In November, an investment of €1.3 billion in Irish forestry was announced for the next forestry programme. This represented the largest ever investment by a Government in tree planting which, as well as providing a valuable addition to farm income, promised to tackle climate change by contributing to improved biodiversity and water quality. I welcome these contributions, especially given the decline in water quality in the Dundalk water supply, with Irish Water admitting an incredible increase in manganese. Howeve…

One of the health priorities of this Government is to tackle hospital waiting lists. When I raised the issue of capacity and resources in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda last year, the Minister for Health agreed that the required resources have not been in place for a long time. He sanctioned a doubling of the number of emergency medical consultants in Drogheda and launched phase 2 of the safe staffing framework. Regarding capacity, the Minister spoke of the use of step-down facilities so that there would …

It is about capacity. There is not enough capacity.

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I thank my colleagues in the Regional Group for tabling the motion before the House. In recent years, I have lost count of the number of times I have heard of people going up to the North to Newry, or even abroad, for dental treatment due to the cost and availability of dental services in my constituency of Louth and East Meath. In tabling this motion, we in the Regional Group want to highlight the problem while also offering real solutions to the Government. …

Deputy Darragh O'Brien took on the role of Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage just over two years ago and on the back of a global pandemic. The pandemic resulted in stalls in construction and the Minister has since had to deal with the triple crises of energy, cost of living and inflation. This is in addition to the war, which has affected the supply of material and labour as well as increasing the number of people seeking asylum. These are all outside the Minister's control. I acknowledge that pla…

I congratulate the Minister for Finance on his handling of the public finances and, in particular, the flexibility he and his Department have shown in responding to what has been a very difficult time for spending on new, rapidly changing priorities. While I understand and appreciate that select committees deal with the allocation of finances and resources, our total gross expenditure is €69.9 billion, with 2023 Estimates from the budget to be €74.25 billion. This House needs to scrutinise matters of financial inte…

This topic is relevant to my constituency of Louth and east Meath, as Louth, which is the smallest county in Ireland, has the highest concentration of betting shops per capita . Therefore, I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important Bill and I will support its progress on Second Stage. A report by the HRB highlights that approximately 90,000 adults are low-risk gamblers, 35,000 are moderate-risk gamblers and 12,000 adults are problem gamblers whose gambling has negative consequences and entails a possible …

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue. A working group report that examined defects in housing found that a lack of fire safety material, structural defects and water ingress are likely to affect up to 80% of apartments and duplexes built between 1991 and 2013 in the Celtic tiger era, which equates to between 62,500 and 100,000 homes. This percentage is shocking. People save for years to purchase a property. Fire safety defects are among the most significant issues, specifically in apartment bl…

I ask the Minister for Justice why only 92 new members started in Templemore this week, whether issues relating to pay, conditions, pensions, paperwork, roster issues and antisocial working hours are impacting on the recruitment process, and will she make a statement on the matter?

The Minister said that 92 recruits started in Templemore on 28 November 2022. I believe that two recruits have already dropped out. I question the reason for the drop-outs. I also asked about pay, conditions, pensions, paperwork and rosters and I got no reply whatsoever. I believe there is a problem with recruits. Are standards being dropped in order to reach targets? Are people being called back for second interviews after failing the initial interview?

Are standards being dropped in order to reach targets? Are people being called back for second-round interviews after failing initial interviews? It is a very simple question. I ask the Minister for the third time, are any issues relating to pay, conditions, pension, paperwork, roster issues and antisocial hours impacting recruitment? The Minister said earlier that she does not think there is a problem with recruitment but when I talk to people on the ground there seems to be a problem. I believe that people are be…

This question is to ask the Minister when bodycams will be introduced and training provided to members of An Garda Síochána in respect of using them in view of the recent assaults on members of the force, and if she will make a statement on the matter.

The problem is there is no specific timeframe. There is no prioritisation of these. I believe they were supposed to be implemented in the next two years. The Garda members have asked me when gardaí can expect to wear these cameras. I am sure the Minister is fully aware of the benefits to gardaí of wearing these cameras. No training has been provided or scheduled. As the Minister will be aware, in recent years in my constituency of County Louth we have had the murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe and also the tr…

Recent comments by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Varadkar, suggest more gardaí may be armed. That sounded a warning, especially for family members. Gardaí do not wear guns. If an intruder was coming to meet them, as it were, and all of a sudden a garda has a gun, it would change the whole situation. Will the Minister give us an update on the comments made by the Tánaiste? We keep mentioning resources. I agree with the Minister that the body cameras will be a fantastic plus. …

I wish to raise a very important issue with regard to an incident which happened in my hometown of Dundalk. I am sure the Minister is aware that a video showing a cyclist being deliberately knocked off his bicycle in Dundalk by a motorist who recorded the incident has gone viral. You can hear the driver laughing as he deliberately clips the cyclist before speeding away from the scene. The cyclist was taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda for treatment for non-life-threatening injuries. While the kind-he…

Only 92 new members of the force started in Templemore this week. The Minister mentioned a figure of 200. Gardaí are not happy with their pay conditions, pensions, paperwork or rosters. Nearly everybody in this Chamber and outside it has, at some stage, relied on the assistance of the Garda. We in Dundalk have probably relied on their assistance more than most because, in recent years, we had the murders of Adrian Donohoe, Tony Golden and others. However, our gardaí want to know that the Government is behind them. …

We have reached a tipping point in the housing crisis. It is as hard as I have ever seen for somebody to get a house or find a place to rent. There are 11,000 people homeless. A young woman and two children came to my constituency office yesterday and pleaded with me to contact the Housing Agency, which I did. Within the space of two hours, 114 people had sought accommodation. Things have become really serious. It is time that all parties got together and had one working group. Four weeks out from Christmas, people…

One of the main priorities of the Government relates to climate change policies and tackling emissions, and one of the main focuses is on the transition from petrol or diesel to electric vehicles. Can the Taoiseach explain why the grant process for inserting an electric vehicle charger within the home must be assessed and approved prior to postage and insertion? An older cohort of my constituents have complained to me about this process. They actioned Government policy to move to electric vehicles. They inserted th…

I know a 65-year-old pensioner in Dundalk who bought an electric car and they will not pay him the grant money. Can the Taoiseach please have a look?