Very briefly, as I am renowned for. If we are talking about the schools building programme, it has been brought to my attention - I have spoken to the Minister about this previously - that at times there can be issues with communication. Some of that is that the schools would say the power they had previously or their involvement was greater with regard to running these jobs. An example that was given to me today was Scoil Mhuire na nGael. When a yard was being finished and a stone finish was being put in for aesth…

I will talk specifically about school transport for those with disabilities. There seems to be some sort of anomaly. I will just give a quick example. There was a family in Dundalk that applied for a school in Dundalk with an autism spectrum disorders, ASD, unit but there was no room. They went to one in a rural post-primary school. They then failed to qualify for transport on the basis that one of the schools with no room, which had an ASD unit, was the nearest school to them. I will send the Minister the details …

I ask the Minister when the agreed cost of living increase of 4% for ESB pensioners will be approved and paid. This is on behalf of a constituent with 49 years of service, which is a considerable working life. Like everybody else, he could detail the cost of living crisis and so on. I ask that this is addressed as soon as possible.

Go raibh maith agat. At this stage, this is with the ESB and everything has been done from a governmental point of view. It is just the case that the ESB has to get its act together. I would appreciate it if the Government could make any sort of contact with the ESB and I will do the same. My constituent and others are awaiting this and cannot understand the impediment. We just need to make it happen as soon as possible.

I want to bring up the issue of the regulation of child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS. This issue was brought to me by a constituent and a member of Families for Reform of CAMHS. They call for support for urgent regulation of CAMHS under the Mental Health Act. My colleague Deputy Mark Ward has legislation that is right to go in relation to this. We all know the issues that exist in relation to CAMHS. We know the ping-pong game that can happen around particular silos in the context of primary care, ch…

We have heard the story before in regard to suicidal ideation and children not being able to get the services they need and, at age 18, being put to the kerb, for want of a better term.

We are absolutely failing these citizens. We need to do the business for them.

The Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman is an independent, impartial, fair and free service that helps resolve complaints from consumers, including small businesses, against financial service providers and pension providers. I do not think anyone would argue against such a body. We need to give the powers to such a body to be able to deliver for regular people. While we accept that there have been some positive moves in this regard - Deputy Doherty spoke about how the customers of Ulster Bank and KBC, which h…

I understand that, but I would like to think there will be governmental interaction to ensure we have as few job losses as possible. Some of the news is positive – that having to do with future jobs – but there are families and so on that have received very bad news.

It is fair to say that we have at least agreement on one issue, which is that the war on drugs has been an abject failure. I recall that there was a period in Dundalk a couple of years ago when, following cuts to Garda funding, we did not have a drug squad and then the drug squad was suddenly in operation again. In fairness, no one is going to have a problem when action is taken against dangerous criminals that have our communities in serious bother and under serious pressure. They have their foot on their neck. I …

The Ceann Comhairle did not expect the Deputy to come back to him with that.

Nobody has any difficulty with the IRC and SFI coming together and there being a single body for research and research funding. There is a logic to that. As many previous speakers stated, none of this really matters unless funding is put in place for research. Previous speakers also gave voice to the difficulties PhD students experience when their stipends do not cover their costs. At the lower end of the scale, issues arise with low-paid employment in research. Beyond that, there is the accommodation crisis across…

We must also focus on the apprenticeship model, put the numerous roadmaps together and ensure the money is there for research.

Yes.

I want to bring up the issue of the lack of Ozempic, which is a diabetes drug. It is also seen at times as a weight-loss drug. This could be part of the issue. I think there was an issue with production; numbers are down. People with diabetes have told me of their difficulty in getting it. It was brought to my attention by a man who has been a diabetic for 26 years. Seven years ago he was put on this drug. At times, his pharmacy does not have it so he goes without which causes huge issues for him. Lately, his pharm…

Arising from my previous question, could we also look at alternatives to Ozempic and a more streamlined process for assessments so those with diabetes could make that change? That could help us. Once again, I raise the issue of housing adaptation grants and the ongoing review. We need the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, to come to a conclusion on that as soon as possible. We all know there is an insufficient amount of money for delivering adaptation grants across the board but there is sometimes a insufficient…

The Taoiseach has indicated a timeline for when the Government might join and support South Africa in its genocide case against Israel. Is he, like some of his Ministers, supportive of South Africa and of the Government joining its case? Trócaire has also asked that the Government make its own assessment about what is happening in Gaza with regard to genocide and the risk of genocide. We all know of the slaughter going on and we need to apply all the pressure we can.

Will we carry out our own assessment?

I ask the Minister if consideration is being given to providing an enhanced or additional local improvement scheme package for areas, particularly in north Louth, that have been affected by recent flooding, and if she will make a statement on the matter. The Minister has visited the area and is aware of some of the issues. We will probably have time later to deal with some of that but the LIS will be needed to deal with some of the damage that is being done to those local lanes and whatever, and it is worse than th…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. I do not think anybody will complain about any moneys for the local improvement scheme; obviously the more the merrier. We are all aware of the necessary works that have been done and while local authorities will, in normal times, be able to prioritise, the problem with this is that the huge level of damage done by the recent flooding has impacted on a huge number of lanes that even the people who live on them may not have considered until now. As I say, in some instances we are talki…