I wish to raise an important issue in respect of which clarification is needed. The Teaching Council is the body with the statutory authority and responsibility for the regulation of the teaching profession in Ireland, including the registration of teachers in the State. Upon registration with the Teaching Council, post-qualification professional practice is applied as a condition of registration for all primary and post-primary newly qualified teachers. Until recent years, the traditional route to fulfil this cond…

I know a newly qualified supply teacher who has a one-year contract. That teacher covers nine schools in rural Ireland. She is doing exactly the theory needed for Droichead but it is not being accepted. Teachers are human beings too who also suffer from mental health issues. They need clarity. The development and learning of our children is the most important thing. The situation at present is that scores of schools in my area just cannot get qualified teachers. Teachers spend a lot of money getting qualified. Duri…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the retrofitting scheme and how it can help with the spiralling cost of living, which is the biggest concern of my constituents at present. People are being crucified by inflation and electricity prices 89% above the EU average. This is completely unsustainable. If the Government refuses to cap electricity prices and get on top of the situation now, thousands of households will be facing into an extremely worrying and uncertain winter. Time is of the essence if the most vulnera…

We all know that the Irish people are suffering hard. Not a month passes that the prices are not going up, and they are only going one way. I have been asked by my constituents to ask the Minister a couple of questions. First of all, I want to know what is the reason that the household electricity bills in Ireland are more expensive than the European average and what are the Minister's plans to address the electricity costs and energy supply challenges. This is serious and I ask the Minister to give decent answers,…

The Minister stated that the price is because of the war. How come all these energy companies are making such high profits? Is that because of the war? How come it always seems to benefit the companies rather than the consumer? For example, today Deputies were talking about standing charges and the Minister stated that the companies have to justify these standing charges. However, the Minister can stop them putting up these standing charges. There is an amount of people coming to me in my constituency office about …

What about the tariffs?

The Minister has me breathless here. I asked him simple questions. The Minister has an opportunity to reduce the price to the consumer and he has been doing absolutely nothing. I will be honest with the Minister. I would hate to see him as CEO of a company because if he were CEO of a company, he would be sacked straightaway. The Minister will not even have a look at simple wee things I am asking him to do. The Minister stated the companies have to justify this and justify that. The Minister says we are part of the …

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate and I thank my fellow members of the Regional Group for bringing forward this motion. The purpose of this motion today is to discuss energy security, including supply and demand, electricity generation capacity, plans to best manage supply and demand and, of course, to protect vulnerable users in the coming months. At the outset, I would like to emphasise the impact the war in Ukraine is having on gas market prices and, in turn, on both gas and electricity bill…

We will have five minutes each. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue of major concern to people. The spiralling cost of living is a hot topic in every household. Ireland is one of the most expensive places in Europe to live, with prices 40% higher than the EU average. With prices skyrocketing at rates not seen for four decades, people are lying awake at night concerned about how they are going to survive the winter. My office is receiving high volumes of calls from constituents who are genuine…

-----costly to work from home with the price of heat and gas on the rise, as well as rising electricity and Wi-Fi costs.

I stated many times in the Chamber that the people of Ireland need help and they need help now. The main issues that are continuously being raised in my constituency office are the cost of living, housing and health. I have raised these issues with the Government and expressed my disappointment. On the cost of living, we need to cut taxes for those on middle and low incomes and increase social welfare in the upcoming budget. We need to continue the supports and reductions on the cost of energy by reducing VAT on ga…

I welcome the announcement that the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance will be automatically paid to families from next Monday. This will be worth €160 per child for primary school children between the ages of four and 11 years and €285 for those who attend secondary school. I also welcome the extra €100 payment to families before the end of August and the decision of the Department of Education to waive the school transport fees. As the Minister said, this measure will help 120,000 children. This is al…

I thank the Minister for coming in. I acknowledge that he has done a lot of hard work. Instead of everything being negative, it should be very positive going forward. These are family homes. Families want to get this situation sorted out and I believe the Minister will get this sorted out. Let us stop playing a political game of football. The most important thing is getting the houses built, getting the families back in and starting to move on. It is very important that all people who are adversely affected by the …

The people of Ireland are bleeding and need help now. I welcome the €2.4 billion allocated to cost-of-living measures and the reduction of VAT on gas and electricity bills from 13.5% to 9%. I will not say the Government has done nothing but I will say that it needs to do more. In my constituency office in Dundalk I hear from my constituents what is happening on the ground. People cannot afford to put food on the table, heat their homes, put fuel in their cars or shoes on their children. They are afraid to turn on t…

I am a sportsperson. Morale is very important when one is involved in sport. It is also important for society. Morale in this country is very low. Families are suffering and the people of Ireland built this country to what it is today. The Minister and I know that this country is highly respected throughout the world for the amount of work that it does. All I am trying to say is that the people of Ireland want a bit of help. There is no point in waiting for the rainy day funds. If my family was suffering and I had …

I received an email from someone looking for some advice. The email stated that a Ukrainian lady who had been staying with this person since 7 March had given birth on 8 May 2022 to a baby boy in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. Continuing, the email stated that the Ukrainian lady was making plans for her 12-year-old daughter and mother-in-law to travel to Ireland and that my correspondent was looking for a long-term option to provide accommodation for this family, as there was no space available to accomm…

The email went on to state that the author had spoken Louth County Council housing assistance payment, HAP, officials, was told they were not providing rent support for Ukrainians and was then asked to contact the International Protection Accommodation Services, IPAS.

An email was received from the IPAS stating that it was only dealing with requests for emergency accommodation. Is any other organisation supporting Ukrainians with their long-term accommodation needs, especially where a newborn baby is involved?

On Monday, 28 June 2010, around-the-clock emergency services ended at Louth County Hospital in Dundalk. The emergency department closed and was replaced by a minor injuries unit. At the time, that meant patients in the north- and mid-Louth area who got chest pains or abdominal pains, or were involved in road accidents, had pregnancy-related conditions and more, would have to pass Louth County Hospital in Dundalk to get treatment in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. From that day on, the minor injuries unit …

What plans does the Minister have to introduce policy changes to assist-----