I thank the Ceann Comhairle. Is the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, taking this Topical Issue as well? Is he taking them all?

No offence to the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, but I understood that Topical Issues were supposed to be taken by the relevant Minister. As far as I understand it, he is a Minister of State at the Department of public expenditure, and this is the responsibility of the Department of Rural and Community Development. It is disappointing but I know that is the way Topical Issues have developed over the last-----

It did not do that.

It has never happened.

I have prepared for this to be taken today. Had I been aware, I would have deferred, as I wanted the Minister to be here. Basically, we are talking to the ether anyway.

How are we supposed to know when there was no communication? I assumed the Minister was going to be here to take the Topical Issue. We cannot be charged with going around-----

Not yet, no. I will wait until I go over that side, and then we will do it. As the Minister of State knows, FASD - and he might not know of it but I will talk to it anyway - is foetal alcohol spectrum disorder. It is an underrecognised condition in Ireland. Compared to other jurisdictions like Canada and New Zealand, we are way behind in dealing with it and providing funding and support for sufferers and their families. There are estimates that between 4.75% and 7.2% of the population in Ireland is living with FASD…

I thank the Minister of State. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, has outlined in her response that funding has been allocated, that the FASD Hub Ireland was established in March 2023, and it operates from Monday to Friday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. for anyone who lives with FASD. That is welcome but there is no funding provided for that. The funding has not actually reached FASD Ireland yet to pay for that. It is operating the service but it is doing so with a loan from the bank because it is waiting for fund…

I also thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this motion. Women in this country have been failed over and over again by our judicial system, our health system, our education system, the Defence Forces and us as legislators. Each day we fail to address the rise in gender-based violence, misogynistic views and male-supremacy content online, we fail women all over again. Reports of gender-based violence seem to be daily occurrences here. News outlets rarely go a week without reporting multiple stories of gender-…

I visited the Ardara Community Childcare centre yesterday and I was horrified to see the effect the defective blocks are having on the building. Ardara Community Childcare opened a purpose-built premises in the heart of Ardara town in 2007 after securing funding from the EU's special support programme for peace and reconciliation and with the help of many local funding initiatives in Ardara. Since then, it has provided vital childcare for hundreds of families in the area and the surrounding areas, and provides an e…

I thank the Taoiseach for his response. I also thank the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, because it is vital that this is recognised. This requires a whole-of-government approach. This is a crisis that will only get worse. Community buildings, private buildings, factories and farm buildings across Donegal will all be collapsing over the next few years because of the defective concrete crisis. It will extend across the country because this is not only a Donegal issue. It has been highlighted in Donegal where it is worst,…

I will start and Deputy Connolly will contribute after me. I have already expressed my disapproval of this Bill being rushed through during a meeting of the Joint Committee on Justice on this legislation two weeks ago. I would not call it pre-legislative scrutiny because that is not what it was. Members of the committee were given a short note by the Department regarding its contents, after which a Department official came in to give a very brief explanation of the legislation. There was certainly no scrutiny or pr…

Maybe the reason for that-----

-----is that people know there is going to be no discussion.

It is shocking there is no statutory entitlement to formal home care in Ireland or even a regulatory framework for home care services. Despite the Government committing in the 2020 programme for Government and Sláintecare to introducing a statutory home care scheme, it has yet to do so. Although this is incredibly disappointing, it is hardly surprising. Given we are coming to the end of the Government's term, it seems unlikely such a scheme will be introduced now. It is yet another promise broken by the Government …

I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach for the opportunity to speak on this motion regarding primary school funding. I thank Deputy Harkin for proposing such an important motion today. I fully support the motion, which calls on the Government to commit to aligning primary educational funding with the OECD average to ensure the ancillary grant is sufficient to cover the cost of running schools and to enforce the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act 2004 to ensure every child is receiving a proper ed…

On behalf of the Independent Group, I support the various calls for debates to take place in the House. As a member of the Business Committee, I will say that the Business Committee basically has no powers. The business it does has to come to the Dáil to be voted on. That is why we have this fiasco every Tuesday. If the Business Committee had real powers, maybe that would be avoided. That is why we have this situation. Members need to know that. The impression is put out all the time that the Business Committee dec…

The Irish fishing industry has been decimated under the watch of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael since we joined the EU, particularly over the past two decades. Things only continue to deteriorate. Last week, a new trilateral mackerel deal was agreed between the UK, Norway and the Faroe Islands. These are countries that have a history of overfishing and we have previously seen them overfish by up to 44% per annum. Industry associations have accused the three countries of artificially inflating their quotas through this t…

I will go first. As I have said many times, it is absolutely farcical that we are forced to debate and extend these Acts year after year. It undermines the House and our justice system to keep working off emergency legislation on a permanent basis. This rubber-stamping exercise is just one of the many undemocratic practices that this Government insists on continuously engaging in. I have been appalled by the blatant disregard for the legislative process that this Government has shown time and time again, often for …

This question relates to off-the-job training for apprentices in the Donegal area. What is the situation and what are the plans and potential for the Atlantic Technological University, ATU, in County Donegal to provide some of those facilities?