I appreciate this opportunity from the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach.

I thank the Minister. I do not for a second doubt his personal commitment, or that of the Taoiseach, to dealing with child poverty. When I look at the taxable payment that has been recommended by the ESRI, it has a lot of things going for it: its effectiveness; it could take up to 20,000 children out of poverty; it could eventually subsume the child support payment; and it could tackle a lot more of the children who are in poverty at the moment. It is simpler to introduce and it is much easier to understand as well…

Today, I speak to the Minister of State about the need for expansion and reform of our approach to dyslexia, dyspraxia, apraxia of speech and the other associated difficulties around literacy for children in our schools in particular. As the Minister of State knows and as I have discussed with him on many occasions, this is something that is very important to me but also something that affects 10% of our population, which is the percentage perceived to have dyslexia, notwithstanding the other difficulties with dysp…

I particularly thank the Minister for State for his acknowledgement of the need for reform in this area. That is a very welcome statement by him because I know of his personal interest in this matter and his personal commitment to the whole area of special education. I emphasise again that I am not doing down the amazing work that is done by front-line staff in our area but it is about making sure that the full gamut of tools is available to all those who are in area of dyslexia and assisting those with dyslexia. W…

Ba mhaith liom labhairt inniu maidir le cúrsaí a bhaineann leis an gceadúnas tiomána. I ask for some common-sense interventions with regard to certain categories of driver licensing that we have in the country. Two issues have been raised with me by constituents regarding the removal of code 78, which restricts a licence holder from operating a manual vehicle if he or she demonstrated proficiency in an automatic vehicle. An arbitrary line has been drawn whereby anyone who qualified to drive before November 2013 has…

Is ábhar imní agus buartha é líon na ndaoine atá ag cailliúint a gcuid saolta ar bhóithre na hÉireann. Tá mé ag caint ní hamháin faoi líon na ndaoine atá ag cailliúint a gcuid saolta, ach freisin faoi líon na ndaoine atá á ngortú go trom agus iad ag úsáid bóithre na hÉireann. Road deaths and serious injuries continue to devastate families and communities across Ireland, in particular on rural and regional roads. Unsafe behaviour remains a significant contributor. Strong visible enforcement, as we have often discuss…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Taoiseach as na freagraí sin. Cuirim fáilte roimh an méid atá leagtha amach aige i dtaobh na gcéimeanna atá á dtógáil le déileáil le sábháilteacht ar ár mbóithre. As the Taoiseach mentioned, the number of fatalities this year alone is the highest it has been in the last ten years. There is now urgency and a need for political priority to be centred on this issue. While fatalities are one side of it, there is another side that is not reported all that often, which is that in our cities and t…

Is mór agam é labhairt ar an mBille seo, Bille a cuirfidh le nua-aoisiú An Gharda Síochána agus a chinnteoidh go bhfuil na cumhachtaí atá aige oiriúnach don lá atá inniu ann. I welcome this Bill as a programme for Government commitment and as a very important step for An Garda Síochana and the way in which its members do their work, the context surrounding the way they do their work and the legislative framework underpinning it, in terms of modernising them and keeping pace with working practices and procedures in …

The schools I intend to address are St. Thomas Junior National School and Scoil Aíne Naofa in Lucan and Divine Mercy junior and senior national schools and St. Kevin's Community College. What is the current status of the Lucan Community College project and Scoil Chrónáin? I ask the Minister to make a statement on the matter.

I thank the Minister for her very comprehensive answer. I see first hand the progress that is being made with school buildings across the constituency but there are also buildings that need to be addressed as a matter of urgency. The Minister mentioned Scoil Chrónáin. In answers she has given me in parliamentary questions, she is aware there is a delay on the tender with that particular school. I would very much welcome any urgency we can apply to make sure we break ground by quarter 4 of this year because that is …

Hopefully, we will not need to extend the planning. That is the intention of all. Similarly for Lucan Community College, we need to get the planning right now for phases two and three. I wish to speak about the pipeline because it is important that the message we get out to parents is that there is a pipeline and that we are not taking a stop-start approach to prioritising schools. I wish to emphasise how important it is that the likes of Devine Mercy Junior National School, which is a very proud school in Balgaddy…

I am taking this Topical Issue with my colleague, Deputy Lahart, on behalf of the children and parents affected by Nexus preschool, which is a service provider based in Knocklyon, but which has centres and provision in communities across Dublin Mid-West and Dublin South-West. Nexus preschool provides specialist educational programmes for children with autism spectrum disorder, many of whom have been unable to secure appropriate school placements. In recent times, the service has been informed by Tusla that, as a re…

I thank the Minister of State for that comprehensive response. The providers in question have indicated that they are exploring the possibility of securing education provider status. I understand they have started those discussions. I fully acknowledge the parameters of the regulations, as set out in the response from the Department of children. Like Deputy Lahart, what I am asking for is certainty. Paths forward have been identified. What is needed now is urgent engagement between Tusla, the Departments of childre…

I thank the Taoiseach for his update, especially with regard to the Dublin city task force. This week, the Garda Commissioner has been in front of two Oireachtas committees, speaking about the issue of e-scooters, and has given his thoughts about the enforcement side of things. I was pleased to hear this morning that the Garda Commissioner is also of the view that e-scooters are propagating drug supply lines in my constituency and are devastating communities across the country. Whatever course of action the Governm…

Fiafraím den Aire Forbartha Tuaithe agus Pobal agus Gaeltachta faoin tacaíocht atá á cur ar fáil ag a Roinn maidir leis an gclár Gaeilge365, faoi mar atá leagtha amach sa chlár Rialtais. Is clár é seo atá ar bun sna húdaráis áitiúla i mBaile Átha Cliath, agus tá sé i gceist é a leathnú amach ar fud na tíre. An ndéanfaidh an tAire ráiteas ar an ábhar seo?

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht an fhreagra chuimsithigh sin. Faoi mar a dúirt sé, is é ceann de na rudaí a dhéanann idirdhealú idir Gaeilge365 agus tograí agus tionscadail eile Gaeilge agus Gaeltachta de chuid an Státchórais ná an tomhas atá air maidir le haischur. Cruthaíonn sé deiseanna cainte do dhaoine dul i ngleic leis an Státchóras agus le seirbhísí poiblí. Is cur chuige nuálaíochta é sin. Ba chór dúinn an cur chuige sin a leathnú amach, ní hamháin i measc na n-údarás áitiúla ach i measc na n-áisíneach…

Nach bhfuil deis agam teacht isteach arís?

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht an fhreagra sin. Ag eascairt as an méid atá ráite aige, tá mé an-sásta cloisteáil go mbeidh deachleachtais á bhfoghlaim maidir lena bhfuil bainte amach ag Gaeilge365. Cuirim fáilte roimh an tomhas atá á dhéanamh ar dheiseanna cainte chomh maith. An bhfuil sé de thuairim ag an Aire go leathnófar é seo amach go dtí na húdaráis áitiúla ar bhonn moillithe, is é sin, go dtosófar le cúpla údarás i gCúige Laighean, cúpla ceann eile i gCúige Mumhan agus, de réir a chéile, cúpla ceann e…

These questions are to ask the Minister for Health what steps her Department is taking to address the delays in processing reimbursement applications submitted under the cross-border directive. Will reimbursement under the cross-border directive include interest costs incurred on bank loans or credit facilities used by patients to fund upfront medical treatment abroad, particularly in those circumstances where the reimbursement delays significantly exceed indicative processing timelines?

I thank the Minister for that very comprehensive answer. I welcome her support and proactiveness in getting the HSE to commit to that timeline. I have a few follow-up questions. This is around confidence-building. It is a very useful directive and gives us additional capacity in getting people the treatment they need. From my understanding of how the scheme operates, it centres on a small number of providers and hospitals because of the specific procedures that are there. As the Minister said, waiting six months fo…