There is a housing crisis.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion on targeted investment in the health service. Although it is centred around the University Limerick Hospitals Group, the points raised are also applicable to my constituency of Louth and east Meath. The 2010 report of the national acute medicine programme alongside the 2013 framework for smaller hospitals outlined the need for smaller and larger hospitals to operate as a single local hospital group. Hospital services working in groups to provide acute care, integrat…

This question is to ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will seek briefings from IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland on the work that they are currently undertaking to actively secure foreign and indigenous direct investment in areas in County Louth, such as at a complex in Dundalk regarding which details have been supplied, and if he will make a statement on the matter.

The Department saw an increase last year in the number of early warning reports for FDI companies which may be experiencing trading difficulties or are ceasing operations in Ireland. The number of early warning reports for the first 11 months of 2022 is higher than the same period in 2021. We saw this in County Louth, with the exit of National Pen and the closure of PayPal and Actavis in recent years. There are currently a number of significant players being impacted by global trading conditions and the war in Ukra…

I thank the Minister of State for visiting Dundalk. It is nice to know he came to Dundalk to sit down and have a chat. I appreciate that the IDA and Enterprise Ireland have, as the Minister of State said, been involved in 800 investments. There have been 36 in Louth alone, comprising 4,485 jobs. Enterprise Ireland has been involved in the creation of 630 jobs. This is all very welcome. However, we have also seen the closure of the PayPal offices and the exit of National Pen. Many FDI companies do a fantastic job in…

Fresh data from the Construction Information Services highlight that the planning backlog is delaying the delivery of about 65,000 new residential units due to being tied up within the planning appeals, judicial review, and strategic housing development processes. To put that in context, that is two years' worth of homes being delayed. In my constituency of Louth and in Meath East, I receive calls weekly regarding planning permission rejections. From 2021, Louth County Council’s planning permission requirements in …

School placement limits and enrolment criteria have changed in recent years. While this creates discomfort for many parents who, because of lack of choice, have to enrol their child in a school miles away from their home, this is being exacerbated by the fact that the applications for first-time users of the school transport scheme closed over a week ago, on the last Friday of April. Some families are still waiting to hear back from the Department of Education or Tusla regarding their child’s school placement. If a…

The Ombudsman’s report stated that if, as a country, we are committed to the full implementation of the UNCRPD, we must ensure an inclusive approach to ensuring all those living with a disability can participate equally and actively in their communities and work. Transport really is a liberator for people with a disability, particularly if they live in a rural area. First and foremost, I would like to point out the fact that there has been no progress on this issue since our motion on 16 February 2022. The lack of …

This week the Government has chosen to increase the carbon tax, which has increased the cost of home heating oil, peat briquettes and natural gas for household use. At times last year, the daily price of generating electricity in Ireland was more than 12 times higher than normal. Annual household electricity bills doubled from a typical €1,000 per year in 2020 to more than €2,000 per year. While other EU countries opted for various measures such as price caps, reducing taxes and fees and giving temporary tax waiver…

I support this Bill for the majority of people who are impacted by the current housing crisis. The percentage of household income spent on rent in this State is higher than any other country in the world. Rents in Ireland are 78% higher than the EU average. What does this mean for renters and how does it affect people's lives? It means real stress and real poverty. Households are facing rising energy bills and food costs as part of the cost-of-living crisis but there is no respite when it comes to housing costs. La…

Last week, I highlighted an issue that is making teaching highly unattractive and directly impacting on the supply crisis in the education sector, namely, the lack of full-time contracts being offered to new teachers. The Taoiseach replied that we have more teachers in Ireland than ever before, that the pupil-teacher ratio is lower than in the past, that we have a pay deal with teachers and that we are in a period of full employment in the private and public sectors. However, that was not my point. The issue is tha…

The Taoiseach basically gave me the same answer I got last week. I have asked a simple question. I come from Dundalk, County Louth, and have spoken to many teachers in recent weeks. I received numerous phone calls from people across the country last week in respect of this matter. People are going to college and paying massive amounts of money to be educated to become teachers. They want to teach in their own country but the number of full-time jobs up for grabs at the moment is practically zero. Only 13% of teache…

The Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, ensured there was funding within the budget for the employment of teachers and SNAs. Without a viable career structure, however, teaching careers will remain unattractive and the supply crisis will continue. The teacher recruitment crisis is a direct result of attempts to make the education system do more with less. A Teachers Union of Ireland survey highlighted that only 13% of teachers receive a permanent contract on initial appointment and only 31% of teachers recruited …

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important issue. I will support the amendment Bill today to defer the termination dates of certain tenancies to 31 January 2024, in order to mitigate the risk of homelessness. I wish to start off with some figures. There was a 47% increase in the number of notices to quit in the private rental sector between quarter 1 and quarter 2 of 2022. Some 7,539 eviction notices were issued from January to September 2022. Last Friday, there was no emergency accommodation in Lout…

Will the Minister outline any updates on the mandatory retirement age in the Defence Forces for post-1994 privates and corporals; the steps he will take to retain the affected personnel in amidst a staff-retention crisis; if there have been any advancements in his discussions with the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform highlighted during Leaders' Questions last week; and if he will make a statement on the matter?

The numbers in our Defence Forces are under 8,000 which is an all-time low. I have raised this matter with the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach in recent weeks. It is due to compulsory retirement and is an absolute disgrace. In the past few months, 51 recruits were in Gormanston Camp training to become soldiers but only 12 passed out. A number of them had to be transferred from Cork to make up the 51 and still only 12 passed out. In Dublin, two barracks had to be amalgamated to try to get recruits to pass out. Gormanston…

I know the Minister supports it but the bottom line is that action is needed now. We cannot get recruits. We cannot get soldiers. The current strength of 8,000 members is too low. I mentioned Gormanston training camp. We cannot even get personnel to train soldiers. We have qualified soldiers who it cost the Army a lot of money to train. They cannot even pass on their experience because they have been let go. In the case of a young man of 50 years of age, who is medically fit, it makes no sense. While I appreciate t…

Family Carers Ireland, in its biannual state of caring report, reported that 1,484 carers were caring for a total of 1,984 people across a range of caring situations, including parents caring for a child with an illness or disability, those caring for an adult, carers of older people and those caring for multiple people. Carers do a fantastic job and, as I have often stated in this House, they save the State a fortune. We must do more to provide additional flexibility around the means threshold to ensure parents an…

The programme for Government, under Sláintecare, sets out a pathway for expanded access to healthcare in keeping with the vision of universal healthcare. We need to get to a point where we truly have healthcare delivered free at the point of delivery. Three principles should underpin all of our approaches to healthcare - affordability, accessibility and accountability. With regard to affordability, all of us have received great care in the public system but we also know about the issues with costs. We welcome this …

Tá fadhb ann. Tá tiománaithe óga ag fanacht ró-fhada lena gcuid tástálacha a dhéanamh agus níl sé sin ceart. Last week, the temporary driving test centre in Marian Park closed, leaving 2,717 customers who have applied for a driving test in Drogheda having to transfer their application to an alternative centre, such as Navan or Dundalk. Bear in mind that, at the end of December, the estimated waiting time for Drogheda was 38 weeks; in Navan, 32 weeks; and in Dundalk, 27 weeks. The centre in Marian Park was a tempora…