I am the son of a farmer. My father was born in 1911 in Banogue, Croom, County Limerick. My mother was born in the 1930s in Cloverfield, Dromkeen. My father's family were Fianna Fáil, my mother's family were Fine Gael and they bred an Independent. We have an independent voice here today. They would be so disappointed in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael because of how much waffle the two parties have given us for a hundred years. We are sick of it. It is the same spin and waffle all the time. They have let the farming comm…

Why must we wait for the likes of Aer Lingus to close its cabin crew base in Shannon for us to wonder why things like this happen? I told the Government that it would happen but the Government did not listen. Our airports must be attractive for airlines to use as a base for their business. We in Ireland are entering a very competitive landscape and it is too late to act when companies are closing and leaving the country. The Government must commit to delivering a multi-annual fund, not just for Shannon but also for…

Will the Minister review the schools that now need to have a teacher appointed for September? The Covid pandemic has skewed the figures for children enrolling in September. Children booked into schools did not materialise, such as those from other counties or coming home from abroad, while others who were not booked in for September are now coming to the classroom. Can a review be done under these unusual circumstances?

I wrote to the Minister's office and was informed that the pupil-teacher ratio has come down and that a pupil-teacher ratio of 25:1 will operate from September 2021. Why then has a school in my constituency, Ballingarry National School, got 38 pupils in one classroom and 35 in another? It needed to have 199 at the end of September and it had 194. It now has 201 as it has gained numbers over the year, mainly due to circumstances relating to Covid. I advised it that there is an appeal process, but on Friday evening, …

Another school in my constituency has said it will be practically impossible for it to open in September as a junior class has 28 children and it is impossible for them to be in pods. It is losing a teacher in its appeal, which was also turned down. Under any circumstances, is it possible to have 38 students, two SNAs and a teacher in one classroom? That is 41 people in one room. It was turned down just because the process says "No". Is the Minister satisfied there will be 38 unvaccinated students, an unvaccinated …

Overall, I am blown away by the positivity towards accredited grades in secondary schools. The system is fair and gives students a choice. Students make the decision themselves as to whether they select accredited grades or sit the leaving certificate examination. It seems to be the consensus this year that leaving certificate students are opting to merge this choice by both sitting examinations and taking accredited grades. One school of 1,200 students said that the students were putting themselves under pressure …

I support the Bill that is before us today. However, in considering the provisions it contains, we have to look at the past. I spoke in the House last night about how, at the time of the financial crash in 2008, people went to the banks looking to negotiate. Many people were in trouble because of the inflation that led to the price of housing going through the roof. The banks would not deal with them, however, and they were just told that they had to keep paying. It was only when it got to the stage where people st…

I give credit where credit is due and this Bill is very welcome. It will stop ticket touts with no interest or involvement in music, sport or other cultural events rewarding themselves at the expense of fans, sporting bodies, artists and promoters. Everyone can be comforted by the fact that, as fans, they will now have the information they need to ensure they are not being ripped off. When people know their rights, they can be in a much stronger position. There is only one situation where reselling tickets above fa…

I understand that. I want to clarify a statement the Tánaiste made in the Dáil about the Kerry Group and 150 jobs, among 150 families in Cork and Limerick, that are being lost in the Kerry Group in Charleville. The Tánaiste said the redundancies were voluntary. This is not the case. Will the Tánaiste clarify if he knows that? I have 100% information that those 150 people who are being made redundant were not asked about their jobs. Some people have been told their jobs are safe and now see their jobs are advertised…

Is history repeating itself? We have had centenary commemorations in recent years. I attended an event commemorating of 100 years of volunteers in Granagh last Monday night. We have had the case of Debenhams workers and companies like Debenhams are taking their profits from this country and using the laws against people in Ireland who have worked to feed their families and have paid their taxes. The Debenhams workers, who have stood on the doors of the company's premises for the last 400 days, are volunteers. Not o…

Essentially, this Bill is a move by the State to hand out the current work undertaken by the county sheriffs and registrars to regulated firms. If we go back in time to 2008, we can see that the mortgage and bank arrears people suffered were actually caused by the banks. At that time, when people were going into arrears, they contacted the banks, who told them to keep up with their payments. Following legal advice, after getting into significant debt, the banks had to tell the people to stop paying altogether. They…

It is crucial that we do not turn a blind eye to the situation of the thousands of farming families whose lands daily support our local businesses. We can see the mistakes Governments have made for years, including when it comes to the designation of land. We have seen through the pandemic the mistakes that were made and the good things that were done. The only way we can protect farmers under designation of land is by way of consultation. We can protect farmers only by giving a voice to them, because they are the …

More expensive.

I am still baffled that there is no Limerick venue for the roll-out of the vaccine. We heard today about the Radisson hotel and how dangerous it is for people who do not have transport to cross that motorway to get to it. I highlighted this concern months ago. There are people travelling from Limerick to Clonmel, Mallow, Cork, Clare and Kerry for vaccines. We offered the Government Limerick Racecourse, the University of Limerick, UL, and other venues these people could have gone to and now they are travelling to di…

In my constituency of Limerick, theory tests could have continued the whole way through the pandemic because they are done on a portal system. It would have been very easy. Other businesses kept going. This was a very easy system that could have been kept going to get the theory test out of the way so people could get their licences. It is so important to get the theory test done so people can apply for a licence because that gets them on the system for the insurance companies down the line. That is the main thing.…

I am very disappointed with the Minister of State. He said a theory test is not essential. What about the harvest this year? What about the farmers whose sons and daughters want to help to bring in the harvest? That is essential. Those sons and daughters can get their theory tests when they are 16 years old and can then drive tractors on their own farms. The Minister of State thinks that is not essential, but that just proves the point I have been making since I was elected. The Government is too city-based and doe…

I welcome the motion. Unfortunately, I can confirm that the private rental sector in Ireland is totally dysfunctional. Government after Government has tried to stimulate the housing market but that has resulted in driving rents higher and higher. Rents have increased by 100% since 2013. The most shocking revelation of this week was the case of Mullen Park in Maynooth, where a global property investment firm purchased most of the 170 first-time buyer homes available. There is no legislation to stop investors doing t…

I am raising issues on which I need answers. Why is there a disconnect between what was printed in the 150 commitments in the Government's Rural Development Policy 2021-2025, Our Rural Future, published on 29 March, and what is happening on the ground? The rural development policy states that it is 100% focused on supporting people and enterprise to remain in rural Ireland. The main ambition of the policy is to have more people working in rural Ireland. My understanding of this is that people would be enabled to wo…

I draw the Taoiseach's attention to County Limerick, which I represent. Askeaton is 33 years waiting for a sewerage system and Dromcolliher is waiting ten years. Glin is waiting more than 20 years, Hospital more than ten years and Oola more than ten years for infrastructure. There is 27% of the infrastructure left in County Limerick and that is the only place where the investment is going. It is not going into the areas we are talking about. The Government's 2040 plan is going to close down areas completely. Where …

What is a primary medical certificate? It allows a person with a disability to claim back the VAT on their vehicle. It also allows for tax relief on the purchase and adaptation of a vehicle. I have raised this issue on many occasions. This week, HSE community primary care sent me figures on this issue for around the country. Since January 2021, 403 people have been approved, 62 of whom are in north Dublin, while between Limerick, Clare and Tipperary only three have been approved. This is completely unacceptable. Di…