As the Taoiseach knows, one of the most important things is achieving a driving licence. In three very large towns, Dundalk, Drogheda and Navan, the situation is getting worse. I got an email yesterday from a young man in Navan and he is saying the exact same thing. He is getting on and trying to apply for a test. Every time he is on, they tell him to come back in another week and another week. I passed my driving test when I was 18 and it opened up so many opportunities. There are nearly 3,000 people waiting in Dr…

The driving test centre was at a temporary location for two years.

I have spoken to the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste in recent weeks about privates in the Army being forced to retire at the age of 50. I know a man who is only 50 years of age. He has a family of three and is being forced to retire. He is a chef. The Army has only paid him pennies. He wants to work on. I have asked the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste what they are going to do. In two weeks' time, this man will be forced to leave the Army. That is an absolute disgrace. The numbers in our Defence Forces are below 8,000. The …

Last week, PayPal announced a cut of 62 jobs in Ireland and the closure of its Dundalk office at the end of March. PayPal stated that there were to be a small number of jobs lost in Dundalk - 27, to be exact. This is less than the average, based on the 2,000 worldwide losses that PayPal announced in January. However, I empathise with those affected by these job losses. It is difficult for all concerned. I hope that they will find something soon. Nationally, the IDA's strategy, entitled Driving Recovery and Sustaina…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue and thank my colleagues in the Regional Group for tabling the motion. Yesterday, I spoke about the recruitment and retention issues in respect of recognition, pay, resources, working hours and poor working conditions within the National Ambulance Service. With this motion, my colleagues in the Regional Group and I are seeking to overhaul the delivery of pre-hospital emergency care services. We are seeking to provide better training for staff in schools and …

New figures from the HSE reveal that the National Ambulance Service is not meeting the response time targets for emergencies throughout the country. While it is outrageous that 62 ambulances dispatched in County Louth to deal with life-threatening emergencies in 2022 took more than an hour to arrive at the scene, I commend the tireless work of front-line paramedics and operational staff for dealing with increased demand and limited resources. These timelines are not a reflection of the work put in by NAS staff but …

First and foremost, I commend the Government on the national drugs strategy, which rightly promotes a more compassionate and humane approach to people who use drugs. By treating addiction as a health issue rather than solely as a criminal justice issue, we have the opportunity to educate and empower people at an individual level to improve their health, well-being and quality of life through the promotion of rehabilitation and recovery. The establishment of a citizens’ assembly on drug use is another step forward i…

Figures published in the Housing for All: Q4 2022 Progress Report at the start of this month showed 29,851 new homes were completed in the first full calendar year of the plan, exceeding the target by 20%. Construction started on 27,000 new homes in the year, the second highest since 2014. Strong activity has also been seen in the area of mortgage approvals, particularly for first-time buyers, with recently published data showing first-time buyer volumes at their highest levels since 2007. Yet, there are many peopl…

The military is in the grip of a staffing retention crisis following a mass exodus due to pay, pensions and conditions. Last November, the then Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney, secured an extension of service for sergeants who had joined on post-1994 contracts and were due to retire on age grounds. One of my constituents is a 50-year-old private who has served for almost 29 years, including on seven overseas trips. He is a highly trained individual with level 3 qualifications, but is being forced to retire. It…

-----personnel has fallen to below 8,000?

This man is willing to work. He is medically fit. I ask the Taoiseach for action now.

Why? It is only common sense to do so.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the spiralling cost of living, which is the biggest concern for my constituents coming into spring. Although income tax changes and the cost-of-living supports announced in budget 2023 aimed to protect households from the rising cost of living and the impact of inflation, a survey by Barnardos published earlier this week showed that one in ten people had relied on the likes of food banks or food donations over the previous 12 months. This is more than double the number from the…

Will the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth outline the changes he plans to implement in order to improve and to fulfil the rights of children and adults with disabilities, specifically in respect of access to assessment of need tests and required services come 1 March 2023, when the remit will transfer to his Department, and will he make a statement on the matter?

Families of children with autism and moderate learning disabilities, dual diagnoses, are in crisis in counties Louth and Meath. I am aware of 15 families who have adolescent children with autism and moderate learning disabilities who urgently require a psychiatrist's review while being told by the HSE that that service is unavailable as there are no psychiatrists on the HSE team. In addition to no psychiatrists being available, the only paediatrician available in Louth and Meath is Dr. Maeve McCormack. Dr. McCormac…

The Minister knows and I know that the suicide rate in Ireland is probably one of the highest in Europe. I have parents coming to my office regularly. They go to CAMHS and everybody is trying to help, but they are not getting the help. What happens, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, is that parents end up taking their children to accident and emergency departments. If the child is 16 years of age, he or she is put into an acute ward. Then, all of a sudden, the child is in limbo. People automatically think that if the…

In November, addressing the issues of home ownership and emigration among young people, the Taoiseach, then Tánaiste, Deputy Varadkar, pledged to make home ownership affordable again, advising “what we can have is stronger Government interventions to help close the viability gap”. Last week, the European Central Bank raised its base rate of interest, taking it to a rate of 3%, and pledges to raise rates by the same magnitude in March to squash raging inflation. That would see the deposit rate going to 3% and the ma…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this crucial Bill and I unreservedly support its progress on Second Stage. Regrettably, already this year, we have seen a number of serious assaults on gardaí. An officer was assaulted at an anti-asylum seeker protest in County Cork on 19 January. A traffic garda had part of his finger bitten off in a vicious attack in Ballymun on Friday, 20 January. Let us not forget the arson attacks on the homes of a Dundalk garda in recent years, which was the third attack on a Garda home i…

People wishing to avail of the disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme, which provides tax relief on the purchase of specially constructed or adapted vehicles for someone with a disability, are being rejected at community level and then left waiting for an appeal date due to the inaccessibility of a sitting board. To qualify, applicants have to obtain a primary medical certificate via assessment at community level. It does not take a medical qualification to know that the language used for the six criteria …

I thank the Taoiseach for his response but I remind everybody that three schemes were operating at one time. The other two schemes were suspended in 2013. It is now 2023 and these schemes have not been replaced, even though it was indicated at the time that alternatives would be devised. I understand that since December 2021, three previous members of the DDMBA have participated in a subgroup to review the disabled drivers and passengers scheme set up by the Department of Finance, lending their experience and exper…