I would like to focus briefly on the additional assessment components, AACs. These are being rolled out fully but they exist already in some subjects. This time 12 years ago, I finished my research study report as part of leaving certificate history. I did that report on the Modreeny ambush, where the north Tipperary flying column ambushed the Black and Tans between Cloughjordan and Borrisokane during the War of Independence. I had to look at Ernie O’Malley’s Raids and Rallies , the late Roche Williams' book, In an…

It is important to acknowledge the many positive benefits to AI as well. It is not all negative but it is essential that this advisory task force is up and running and doing that work. AI is moving so quickly compared to what we would have had only a number of years ago, let alone what I would have had in technological assistance doing my leaving certificate 12 years ago. There are so many benefits there to enhance students' learning experience and to enhance their ability to dig down into information but it is abo…

After a miserable winter here, many of our constituents are looking forward to their summer holidays and perhaps a bit of sun if they are lucky enough to get abroad. With that, comes a need for many people to renew passports or to apply for new passports. What are we looking at in terms of turnaround times for new passport applications and for renewals?

Yes.

I acknowledge the work of the team in the Passport Office. The numbers the Minister gave are incredible. All of us as public representatives see how hard they work and how responsive they are to helping people under pressure to get a passport. There is also the rapid turnaround time if people are going for a simple adult renewal. The passport could be arriving in the letterbox a day or two after people apply. I also acknowledge the Minister and the two Ministers of State here in the Chamber, and their staff. I part…

To conclude, I believe communication with the public would help us in those final tricky cases we are seeing. To be fair, as public representatives there are fewer and fewer passport issues coming to us because most of them are being sorted, as the Minister said, because of the investment the Government has put into the Passport Office and the increase in staffing numbers. In relation to the witness for the photographs or the parents’ consent to a passport, people need to know they should go to a 24-hour Garda stat…

Ballycommon is a picturesque village in north Tipperary, located between Nenagh and the shores of Lough Derg in Dromineer. I am here today to convey the deep frustration of the people of Ballycommon in relation to 34 houses that could be built in that village if Uisce Éireann would just do its job. I have submitted a freedom of information, FOI, request to Uisce Éireann asking how much it has spent over the last number of years trucking sewage out of Ballycommon from a plant that does not work to Borrisokane. It wi…

I raise access to fibre broadband in Rathcabbin village which is in lower Ormond in the very north of my constituency. Rathcabbin is just off the main Birr to Portumna road, very north Tipperary. We have a strange situation where the village itself is in the blue zone so therefore should be provided for by commercial operators. The rural areas around the village are in the amber zone, and provided for in the national development plan through National Broadband Ireland. The rural areas for the most part have fibre b…

In October 2025, An Post wrote to the Department of communications requesting consent for an increase to pensions of 6% from 1 January 2025 and a further increase of 1% from 1 June 2025. Last year, the Department of communications received a request for a pension increase of 2.5% for Eir, formerly Telecom Éireann, pensioners with effect from 1 January 2025. As both Ministers will know, these pensioners do not receive increases in the State pension. They rely on the agreed adjustment mechanisms. The pension schemes …

To be quite straight about this, the heart of this problem is the 2014 circular and the recognition only of primary care needs of children. If you spend 30 seconds in this country talking to a special needs assistant about their job, you will know that circular does not even nearly reflect what SNAs do every day. It is a crucial part of the job, but they do so much more: breaks with children who are overstimulated or overwhelmed or who might need even to go for a walk for a few minutes, classroom assistance for oth…

The NESC report states that Ireland is facing an ageing population over the next number of decades, with declining birth rates and a growing older population. One of the recommendations of the report is that research be carried out into the motives that affect demography, such as the decision to have a baby or to emigrate. We do not a report to tell us that. Every day, I see the vast numbers of young people in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and in Canada, the US, the UK and everywhere in between who have chosen to …

Agfood.ie , a revamped agrifood portal, was launched by the Minister for agriculture at the National Ploughing Championships last September. Dual-factor authentication, which has become a part of that, is proving quite difficult for a number of farmers who have contacted me, namely, farmers with poor phone coverage or those who have given their phone number to a son or a daughter to help them log in to the system. It is a very good system. It helps with compliance announcements, information from the Department, pay…

Is mór an trua é nach bhfuil níos mó daoine líofa as Gaeilge sa tír seo, go háirithe i dTiobraid Árann. It is well recognised that immersion in the language is the best way to attain fluency. That is why last summer I asked the Minister for education to look at introducing a mandatory Gaeltacht course for all students studying Gaeilge at leaving certificate level. Another important version of immersion in a language is Irish-medium education but that is not possible at second level in Tipperary because we do not ha…

At second level, it is 0% in all of Tipperary as we do not have a Gaelcholáiste.

We are dead last in the national rankings. I ask that we would look at introducing a Gaelcholáiste in Tipperary.

I wish to talk about road safety in the context of the quality of our roads. I represent, as the Minister of State knows, a rural constituency with a huge number of regional roads where the county council is expected to maintain and improve road surfaces, but it cannot do that to the level we need without a major funding increase. I will give the Minister of State some examples of roads I am talking about: the old N7, now the R445, particularly in Toomevara village; the old N8, now the R639; the Cloughjordan to Bor…

I will start with accountability in Irish Water. As the Minister knows, Members of the House have the right to ask parliamentary questions to various Ministers, including to him. If I want to help someone with a driving test, I can write a parliamentary question to the Minister for Transport, and he will refer it to the RSA. With regard to health, if I am trying to help someone on a waiting list for cataracts, I can write a parliamentary question for the Minister for Health, and she will refer it to the HSE. When I…

The Department of the Taoiseach's 2024 annual report states that 7,126 affordable homes were built, but none of those affordable homes was built in my constituency of north Tipperary and north-west Kilkenny. I will give some examples of areas where we need housing. Towns like Nenagh, Thurles, Roscrea, Borrisokane, Ballina and Newport, Templemore, Borrisoleigh, Urlingford, Freshford, Toomyvara, Cloghjordan and Cappagh White are just examples of towns and villages across north Tipperary, mid-Tipperary, west Tipperary…

I am more interested in the food after the Pilates class. I welcome and support the Bill, which provides a registration framework for home support providers while making it an offence to operate a home support service without registration and incorporating transitional arrangements for existing home support providers. Home support providers will be required to adhere to a registration framework supported by national quality standards developed by HIQA and meet minimum requirements set out under ministerial regulati…

Access to sport is not a luxury, it is a right. Participation in sport delivers profound physical and mental health benefits, builds confidence, reduces isolation and strengthens community connection for people of all ages and abilities. For people with disabilities, inclusive access to sport can be life-changing, yet too many still face practical and financial barriers to participation. What efforts is the Minister undertaking to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in spor…