It was definitely laggards.

I would like to raise with the Minister the issue of St. Killian's Special School and Carrigaline Community Special School in Cork. I have no doubt that the Minister, Deputy Coveney, is familiar with the situation in Carrigaline Community Special School in particular. To be fair, the Minister and other senior Ministers in the constituency have made numerous representations on behalf of the student population there. Two years after the opening of that school, I am flabbergasted that there is still no CDNT team in pl…

I thank the Minister for taking the time to be here. I also thank Deputy John Lahart who cannot be here today. He has given me some of his time, which I appreciate. The Minister will be glad to hear that I will start on a positive note by acknowledging the role he has played over the last few years in making progress on this issue. Much of this has been outlined by the Minister in his opening statement. The expansion of screening is a major bonus for those families. The Minister referred to Les Martin, who we both …

Teastaíonn uaim labhairt leis an Taoiseach maidir leis an caighdeán uisce úir i dtuaisceart chathair Chorcaí. Le timpeall sé mhí anuas, ní féidir le daoine an t-uisce a úsáid le haghaidh iad féin a ghlanadh, chun a gcuid éadaí a ghlanadh nó chun é a ól. I would like to raise with the Taoiseach the issue of water quality on the north side of Cork city, particularly areas right across Ballyvolane, Dillon's Cross, St. Luke's and over towards Blackpool into Deputy Barry's turf.

The Deputy has a bit wider than that, to be fair. People there cannot use the water for washing their clothes, washing themselves or for drinking. It is going on for months with little or no let-up, and in fact I would say things are getting worse. We all get the stock answers from Irish Water about how it is monitoring the situation, working as part of a water quality group, and thanking customers for their patience. However, it is a public service at the end of the day, and people need to have faith in the qualit…

It will be of no surprise to the Taoiseach that I will raise the issue of rare diseases again this week. Let us bear in mind that Rare Disease Day was last week. I would like to raise the issue of the Mazars report, which is due to be published shortly. We have spoken about it before and I welcome its publication, but the reality is that the report will not meaningfully reduce the times for which people are waiting for the approval of an orphan drug. When this Government took office, there was an average of more th…

Today, I met with constituents from east Cork regarding funding for roads and access to grants and social welfare to help them rebuild their lives after Storm Babet. Cork County Council estimates damage of between €50 million and €70 million to the roads and bridges in east Cork. Will the Minister clarify at what stage Cork County Council will receive adequate funding to help repair that damage?

Could I have an update on the roll-out of the hot school meals programme in Cork East?

It will be very interesting to see the response in tabular form. Deputy O'Connor sends his apologies. He has an interest in the towns of Youghal, Killeagh and Castlemartyr and in east Cork in general. I taught in Fermoy for 12 years in a school with DEIS status. I can safely say that a large proportion of the students who attended probably got their only healthy meal when they came to school. We ran a programme for many years in the school. Staff and management of the school would tell you the meals were the only n…

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, for coming in. I would obviously have preferred a Minister with a transport brief but nonetheless, I appreciate her turning up. She always does, to be fair.

I am not going to leave. To make a comment on that, I understand why people get frustrated. I would not legitimise certain actions but we do prepare for Topical Issues. I have come a number of times and-----

I know that.

I welcome the funding that has been provided for Cork in the past few years. We were at the Dunkettle interchange site on Monday with the Tánaiste cutting the ribbon. There has been an investment of €215 million over the past several years. It will considerably enhance the lives and travelling habits of people across that area of Cork county and city into the future. I also acknowledge the Baile Bhuirne and Macroom bypass, which was opened by the Tánaiste last year. I am not for a second suggesting that Cork has no…

No.

As I said at the outset, to be fair, I did not expect the Minister of State to disclose the allocations that are due to be announced in the coming weeks. I am realistic about the question I asked but, at the same time, I am flagging that I specifically asked about the north ring road, as it was formerly called and the Carrigtohill to Midleton stretch in east Cork. I did not ask about the Mallow relief road because I am quite confident about it from the general talk around that scheme and TII's ambitions, commitment…

-----is quite concerning.

Today marks the first meeting of the patients' forum to support the development of the national rare disease plan. As the Taoiseach knows, more than 300,000 people in Ireland have a rare disease. I welcome the initiative the Minister for Health has shown in reviewing and committing to implementing the recommendations of the Mazars report and in instigating the review of the national rare disease plan. That is a cause for optimism. Nonetheless, as we found out this year, there is no designated funding for new drugs …

I raise the issue of the future of education and the citizens' assembly on education that was mooted. I ask the Taoiseach to provide a timeline on when that might actually be instigated. I raise this because now is a very pertinent time, particularly in the context of the skills crisis that is facing the country. I acknowledge the work that has been done on higher education over the last number of years, including the provision of extra places for apprentices. A citizens' assembly would be the right forum to questi…

I wish to raise special education. I acknowledge the good work that has been done in Cork in the last couple of years, during the lifetime of this Government. To be parochial, I point to the provision of a new special school in Carrigaline and the identification of a site for a new special school in Glanmire, not to mention the refurbishment of St. Gabriel's Special School, which will be officially opened on 1 March. There is plenty of positive news in terms of the allocation of school places for kids with special …

My initial point is that there has been extensive engagement on this, but the Minister is the only Minister who has delivered on the review, which has been promised on numerous occasions by successive Governments. It is great to see it being finally brought to Cabinet. I commend the Minister on that. She said it would be brought through the various stages by the end of quarter 1. Will she clarify whether the changes proposed will take effect when the portal opens, which typically happens in April? Will whatever rec…