My response to the Minister's fairly welcome reply will be brief. We are well aware of the role HECA plays, particularly in terms of the courses it offers. I understand it currently has 27,000 students nationwide, in colleges ranging from Hibernia College to Griffith College, both in Cork and Dublin, and covers courses from business to education to childcare. There is a good balance in terms of the colleges and students it represents. I understand the National Skills Council meets quarterly or every two months. If …

I live only 15 minutes away from the areas Deputy O'Connor spoke about, so the Minister of State is more than welcome to call to me as well when he comes to east Cork. My question relates to the role of the OPR. The Minister will be familiar with the communication sent by its chief executive to local authorities in the past few weeks on the conduct of their development plans. Will he clarify the office's role in the development of those plans?

The reason I ask this question is that Cork County Council is one of the many local authorities that have received quite substantial communications from the OPR in recent weeks. I am looking for clarification in this regard. The Minister of State said the office's responsibility is to issue advice to the Minister and so on. The report that was issued by the OPR in the case of Cork County Council included a number of recommendations, with the chief executive alleging there are clear breaches of the relevant legislat…

I note what the Minister of State said in regard to compliance with some of the recommendations, particularly in the case of the flood maps. There is a continuation of the problem in Cork in regard to the joint retail strategy between city and county. Clearly, the two local authorities are at odds in this regard. Cork County Council was successful in its case for continuing with the proposals for its retail strategy for east Cork. That is subject to another appeal to a higher court but the fact is that a court has …

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire agus roimh an Aire Stáit. Gach bliain feicimid go léir na físeanna ar líne, a bhíonn á dhéanamh ag polaiteoirí go háirithe, ag moladh do dhaoine an Ghaolainn atá acu a úsáid. Níl sé difriúil an bhliain seo. Tá na polaiteoirí go léir amuigh arís an tseachtain seo ag moladh do dhaoine an teanga atá acu a úsáid ach, mar a dúirt na cainteoirí níos luaithe, caithfimid déanamh níos fearr ó thaobh ár n-úsáid féin. Gach maidin éirím agus tógaim mo leanbh féin go dtí an réamhscoil thíos i nGaelsc…

I ask the Minister if he will prioritise the removal for VAT from defibrillators from following the agreement by European Union finance ministers to amend Council Directive 2006/112/EC.

It is encouraging to see that this is finally progressing. Hopefully, it will end in a positive result. As the Minister is probably aware, approximately 5,000 people die in this country every year from sudden cardiac death. Around 14 or 15 years ago, when I used to train an under-13s soccer team, I witnessed a defibrillator saving a young person's life on the pitch. I am fully aware of the benefits of having them in as many locations as possible. As recently as three weeks ago, we were down in Glounthaune, County C…

The Minister mentioned that the current proposal is not perhaps as flexible as the original proposal. I am not fully aware or au fait with what has happened previously. I ask the Minister to expand on why it is not as flexible as the original proposal. Second, I am aware that in the context of the negotiations around this issue at EU level, a list of supplies to which a reduced VAT rate can be applied is to be increased. Member states will also be allowed to make some supplies subject to 0% VAT. The emphasis here i…

I welcome the Minister for this discussion of what is one of the most positive schemes this Government will do in the coming years. I laud the scheme. There are so many positives in it, despite the negativity that initially greeted the Minister after he spoke. We should be discussing the positives here, which far outweigh the negatives, but it is not surprising to hear that at this stage. This retrofit scheme will provide multiple benefits. People will have warmer and more comfortable homes that are cheaper to run.…

In 2009, the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, approved the human papillomavirus, HPV, vaccine for 12- to 13-year-old girls to reduce their risk of developing cervical cancer. In 2018, on foot of a NIAC recommendation, the HPV vaccine also became available to boys in first year. Currently, the Department of Health has asked NIAC to consider providing the vaccine to girls and boys who were eligible to receive it in first year but who did not receive it, in addition to women up to the age of 25. Unfortu…

I welcome the Minister's comments that there is progress on the case in identifying the site. It is heartening to see the business cases have been submitted to the Minister and that, as he said, they will undergo assessment with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. It is probably one of the few questions on which the three speakers from Cork North-Central will all agree. We want identification of the site as early as possible. We have all spoken in the House about our preference for it and its location.…

I wish to raise the issue of home help and carers and the difficulty the HSE appears to be having in recruiting staff. I am aware of dozens of older people who are approved for a home support service but because resources are limited the HSE cannot follow through on its commitments. The HSE can outsource hours where required. I know all agencies are finding it difficult to secure staff at present, but why do a number of people I represent have to wait up to seven months? They are still waiting. In some situations o…

I start with a little bit of positivity, which has been bereft in this building for two years. I have listened to the contributions of Members opposite. There is reason to be optimistic. I would like to cite the words of Dr. Tony Holohan at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Health this morning. He said: The number of confirmed cases in hospital has decreased, with the average number of newly confirmed cases in hospital each day also reducing. The total numbers of confirmed cases in ICU, daily admissions, and case…

Last year when the Taoiseach assumed office we were presented with a situation in Cork where nearly 40 families had no special education place for their children. Since that time, we have opened a special needs school in Carrigaline and last week the Minister for Education confirmed to me in the House that a site has been also selected in my own town of Glanmire for another special education school. Given the problems we have had in Cork and the bottleneck that was recognised in the past, will the Taoiseach assure …

Teastaíonn uaim tacú leis an méid atá á rá ag an Teachta Ó Cuív. Ba cheart dúinn daltaí a mhealladh chun an t-ábhar a thógáil ar an leibhéal is airde gur féidir leo, seachas labhairt faoi T1 agus T2 a bheith ar chomhchéim ó thaobh pointí de. Ba cheart dúinn deireadh a chur leis an raiméis mar gheall ar T1 agus T2 a bheith ar chomhchéim. Má chaithfimid pointí bónais a thabhairt don chaighdeán níos airde, caithfimid déileáil leis sin láithreach.

Since the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, assumed office, I know she has fought tooth and nail for every resource she can get: material, personnel - the whole lot. She has done her best. It goes without saying, however, that the news that has come from Kerry in the past while will dominate my contribution. I came off a call with Michael Fitzgerald from the South/South West Hospital Group about half an hour ago, and the picture he painted us and what was contained in the report was quite bleak. I have listened to …

I would like to raise with the Taoiseach today the issue of autism spectrum disorder, ASD, provision in secondary schools in particular. I spoke to the Taoiseach privately about this in the past, and I have spoken about it publicly here in the Dáil. At present, small villages outside the city of Cork, such as Dripsey, Farran and Berrings, have three, four or often five ASD classes. Unfortunately, larger urban settlements in those areas sometimes have one or two such classes, if any at all. Will the Taoiseach indica…

I extend my sympathies to the family of Ashling Murphy. Like everybody else in the House this week and last, I am horrified by what happened. It is now important we allow the family privacy to grieve. There is no place in our society for violence, in particular violence against women. The safety and security of women should be at the core of our society's values. I spoke to some of the women in my life about this issue at length in recent weeks. I spoke to my wife, who told me there are certain parts of Cork city w…

Deputy Carey has asked most of the questions I wanted to ask. I understand that the Minister of State has been inundated with requests for this year's funding. Initially we had expected a decision by October, which snowballed into December and now it looks like February at best. A number of clubs have until 27 January to furnish the Department with further details. While I will not hold him to a date, I ask him to indicate when that announcement is most likely. As previous Deputies have said, clubs are getting very…

What percentage of projects initially approved have not proceeded to full drawdown in the previous two or three years? I know the Minister of State said that €6 million was carried over from last year and that may answer that question. I ask for that detail from previous years.