I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber and thank her for coming in. I have a letter in my hand from the national cancer control programme, NCCP, detailing how the HSE is failing to meet its radiation treatment target of 90%. This target aims to have those who are deemed fit for radiation treatment to begin the treatment within 15 days. The 10% buffer is there to allow for exceptions where a patient is too ill for treatment, does not show up or dies in the interim. The NCCP has told us that in 2024, the nati…

I welcome the good news which the Minister of State has come with here today in that the deficit in staffing has reduced from 30% to between 14% and 22%. I do not really know what that means but it is good that it is improving and that has to be welcomed. The faster treatments are not always suitable for patients because they are more concentrated. As they take a shorter time, they are more concentrated, which means that there are more side-effects. Not all patients are suited to taking these faster treatments. I w…

I want to address the issue of Cavan General Hospital. This last bastion of safety for the unborn is now performing abortions. This means that all 19 maternity hospitals in Ireland will end the lives of preborn babies. This is happening despite the many pro-life doctors, nurses and other staff of the hospital who bravely stood by their belief in the Hippocratic oath to exercise ethical conduct and the core principle of doing no harm to patients in their care, often putting their principles before their own career a…

The Minister is very welcome to the Chamber. The Government is drowning in dysfunction. The implementation of the accommodation recognition payment is another example of this dysfunction. The scheme was originally set at €400 per month, it was then doubled to €800 and the proposal now is to reduce it to €600. The Government has offered no clear rationale for this. The entire implementation of the scheme has been haphazard. The accommodation recognition payment was introduced as an emergency measure to support those…

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this important issue. I wholly support the Sinn Féin motion. Across the country, there are thankless parents who have to fight tooth and nail to get access to education for their children. As was mentioned already, a child's right to education is enshrined in our Constitution. There must be equal access to education for children with disabilities. In Cavan and Monaghan, people have to travel for multiple hours to bring their children to school as there is no special edu…

I too welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Niamh Smyth from Bailieborough, and her family. It is great to see them here today. I call on the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs to take immediate action on the war crimes Israel is committing by bombing hospitals. Cavan native and surgeon, Dr. Morgan McMonagle, is currently acting as a humanitarian worker in Nasser hospital. Following the recent airstrikes, my constituents reached out to me voicing their serious concerns for Dr. McMonagle's safety. Over the we…

I thank the Minister of State for coming to speak to us. Every single death is a tragedy for victims, families, friends and communities. However, the new speed limits were a knee-jerk reaction to an issue that was more complicated. Speed can be a factor in road deaths but it is not the only issue that contributes to the loss of lives on our roads. For example, motorways have a high speed limit and are four times safer than single-carriage roads, and that is because they are safe roads to travel on. Poor road surfac…

We are eight weeks out from Storm Éowyn and we still have many difficulties in my area in Cavan. To date, the Department of Social Protection has received 66,000 applications for the humanitarian assistance scheme with only one third of them approved. Many people have been in touch in recent days to say their applications for support have been rejected. In fact, some people have not received any response, not even an acknowledgement letter. All of the rejection letters read the same. They state lost freezer or frid…

The Minister is very welcome. I thank him very much for coming here to hear what we have to say. We hear time and again about the Government's commitment to rural Ireland but the figures tell a different story. The latest statistics on CAP payments reveal a shocking and unacceptable disparity. The statistics point to evidence that proves what we all know already: there is no actual commitment to fairness and regional balance. Farmers in Dublin receive an average CAP payment of €25,500 per year. Meanwhile, the figur…

I wish to raise the issue of the school bus scheme. While it may seem too early to be raising this, I am already being overwhelmed with communications from stressed-out parents. Under the current criteria, a primary school pupil must live at least 3.2 km from their nearest school to qualify for a bus place. In 2024, it was mooted that this will be reduced to 2 km and then eventually to 1 km for primary pupils. One of my constituents lives on a road where there are 12 students who do not meet the criteria and are no…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill, which Aontú will support in both Houses. It is a pity that the Government's promises have rung so hollow that my colleagues in this House have been forced to introduce a Bill to push the Government legally to fulfil its commitments to people with scoliosis. It is a condition that has severe physical impacts, but it is not just a physical ailment. We know it can also lead to harmful emotional challenges. Prolonged wait times for treatment only exacerbate the condition…

In the run-up to International Women's Day, I want to acknowledge and recognise a woman who is suffering greatly in a bid to get justice for her son, Noah Donohoe. Each and every one of us is someone's child. Many of us have a child or children of our own who we know could very well have been Noah. If what happened to this family was to happen to any one of us, none of us would ever stop looking for answers. We would never give up and I know, with this case in particular, the public are keeping a tight eye on it.

I do.

The support for Fiona Donohoe, Noah's mother, all over Ireland is incredible and I want her to know that it is unwavering. We all know that something is not right and that Fiona is not getting all the information that is available and that she rightly deserves. Every woman and mother I know, North and South, talk about this case. They stand united in full support behind Fiona in her quest to obtain the truth and in her fight for justice for her son, Noah. I ask that we, in this House, ask the Minister for Justice t…

Mar atá luaite ag daoine eile inniu, táim fíorbhuíoch as an deis a bheith agam inniu labhairt libh ar ábhar tábhachtach, is é sin, ceiliúradh agus cothú ár dteanga dhúchais. Tá an Ghaeilge luachmhar don ghlúin seo agus na glúnta atá romhainn. I gContae Mhuineacháin, tá traidisiún láidir de labhairt na Gaeilge atá cothaithe sa phobal ag teaghlaigh, Gaelscoileanna agus grúpaí mar Muineachán le Gaeilge. Tá an céatadán is mó daoine sa tír a labhraíonn Gaeilge gach lá agus a fhreastalaíonn ar Ghaelscoil i Muineachán. I …

I welcome the recent announcement from the Department of Transport that there will be an increase in funding to improve rural and regional roads in Cavan and Monaghan. While this is an encouraging step in the right direction, it does not allow for the overall shortfall that we saw in funding between 2008 and 2023. Over that 15-year period, there was a shortfall of €105 million in the funding for road improvements and maintenance in Cavan alone. The drop in spending is reflected in the condition of the roads around …

Fáilte and best of luck to the Minister in her new role. I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate on women’s health. The Department of Health has released statistics to Aontú which show that there is a 12% difference in the five-year survival chances for women diagnosed with breast cancer in public hospitals versus those diagnosed in private hospitals. This is a very sad statistic. It is shocking to think that 12 more women out of every 100 will die after being diagnosed in a public hospital compared …

I thank the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association for raising a crucial issue and bringing it directly to the doorstep of the Dáil and Department of agriculture today. I had the privilege of joining the protest and hearing at first hand the genuine concerns and frustrations that these farmers are facing due to the recent decision to include mineral soils under GAEC 2. This policy fails to differentiate between peat lands and mineral soils and is simply unfair. It places a disproportionate burden on farmers, who…

I thank the Minister of State for coming in to listen to us today. When Storm Éowyn happened the people in my constituency were hit really hard. There was loss of connectivity, electricity, water, as well as fuel shortages and a total blackout in my area. An 84 year old man looking after his 83 year old wife with dementia could not call for help because there was no network coverage. They had no power, water, or heat and no way to cook. His wife stopped drinking water because she did not want to use the bathroom as…

We are now five weeks from Storm Éowyn and while ESB crews worked tirelessly to restore power, broadband services remain in total disarray. Many people across Cavan and Monaghan are still without a connection for broadband, landlines and network coverage. People are completely stranded, especially those working from home and those whose livelihood depends on connectivity. I will take the example of a family in my constituency who recently brought home their newborn baby. What should be a time of celebration is cons…