I thank the Minister of State for the outline of developments in Donegal. That is welcome in relation to ongoing apprenticeships. There is a need for apprenticeships to be accessed locally and for all aspects of the training to be carried out locally. Apprentices have had to travel to Cork, Dundalk and Dublin to do the college part of their apprenticeship. It would be useful if they could stay in Donegal and do their full training there. That would lead to an improved apprenticeship service. I welcome the announcem…

Has an inspection taken place?

It is heartbreaking to see people in this country use those who are in an extremely vulnerable position as a political talking point, as if stances regarding migration are merely a matter of opinion and not a matter of human rights and a matter of right and wrong. We cannot stand here and debate whether people have a right to live, a right to safety, a right to a life other than the one many have been so unfairly dealt. We can never know what it is like for people to wake in a war-torn country, anxious and afraid, …

I wish Martin all the best in his retirement as well. I had the pleasure of meeting him many years before he started working in the Houses.

Yes, many years ago, and we rekindled that when he began to work in the House. I wish him well in his retirement. I am sure the Minister will agree that migrant doctors, nurses and consultants play a vital role in our hospitals and GP clinics and are keeping our healthcare system from collapsing completely. It is essential that we are doing everything we can to retain all healthcare workers, especially given the crisis in healthcare we have been experiencing for a number of years. Despite this, it has come to my at…

It is bewildering the amount of hype and positivity there is on the Government benches at the local election results which have delivered to the Government net seat losses overall. The Government is entitled to celebrate, and I say, "Fair play to you". Political squabbling will go on between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and them and Sinn Féin and so on, but, in Donegal, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have returned with only two thirds of the seats they won in 2019, with many of their sitting councillors scraping in on las…

There is no doubt the scheme is open and, as the Taoiseach said, there have been 1,500 applications, but thousands upon thousands of houses have to be redressed. It is a scheme that will last 25 or 30 years, at the rate the Government is going at present. It is a scheme that does not meet the needs of many people. There are people in their 50s and early 60s who are looking at having a build cost of €50,000 to €80,000 just to redress their houses. This is not a 100% scheme. The Government lauded it as such, but peop…

It is 29 years at the last-----

I echo and support the calls for more time to be given for the Planning and Development Bill because it is vitally important. For legislation that will be of such importance right across the country to be guillotined like this is wrong.

I am sharing time with Deputy Connolly. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this motion on special education. I thank Sinn Féin for putting it forward as well. I support this motion and its call for the Government to reverse the funding cut made to the summer provision capitation payments and to ensure more school-based summer provision is made available in the future. It is shocking that the capitation payment has been cut from €45 to just €30 a week. This would be a massive reduction at any time, but du…

I thank the Chair for the opportunity to contribute to this social welfare Bill. I welcome the introduction of a pay-related jobseeker's benefit, which is long overdue. However, the Bill missed the opportunity to also address the extremely low rate of illness benefit. It is my understanding that under the new system, those who lose their job will now be entitled to a maximum rate of €450 or 60% of their income per week. This is a necessary increase and will soften the income shock when a person loses his or her emp…

I am thankful for the opportunity to speak on the motion. I pay tribute to People Before Profit for bringing it forward, rather than the Social Democrats. There has never been a more important time to protect and preserve Irish neutrality, so I support the motion fully. It is incredible to see the significant U-turn all three Government parties have taken in their views on neutrality. Ten years ago, Deputy Micheál Martin described Fine Gael's attempt to undermine the triple lock as an "out-of-touch ideological obse…

As the Taoiseach can imagine, many young constituents in County Donegal go on to study in the North given its close proximity to home and given the housing shortage in Dublin at the moment. At the beginning of this year, it was announced that funding would be made available for 25 additional medical students qualifying to study medicine in Queen's University from September 2024 and that, as part of that arrangement, students will pay the €3,000 fee charged in the Republic, with the State covering the rest of the tu…

I was called in the nick of time. I thank the Chair for the opportunity to speak on this directive on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and CSAM. The directive addresses a number of important issues such as investigations and prosecutions of offenders, the increased possibilities for perpetrators to hide their identity, the increased presence of children on the Internet, shortcomings in assisting victims and the potential impact of new technology on the proliferation of child sexual abu…

Several deadly US Airforce Osprey aircraft crashes have taken place in recent years, one of which occurred in June 2022 when five US marines were killed in southern California. Following this, the US Marine Corps published its investigation on 21 June 2023 which stated that the mishap was due to an unpreventable mechanical failure and not any error on the part of the pilots, crew or maintenance personnel. Despite the publication of this report, a US military flyover, including Osprey aircraft, flew over Dublin as p…

-----before Osprey aircraft were given permission to fly over Dublin in August that year? If not, why not? If so, why was this allowed before the safety recommendations were implemented?

All eyes are on Rafah as we are forced to watch in horror the utter brutality of Israel's attack on the Palestinian people. The level of bloodshed and devastation the Palestinian people have had to endure, especially in recent months, is unimaginable. Israel's bombing of a camp of tents of displaced people is indefensible. The images and stories coming out of Rafah are truly gut-wrenching. What is worse is that the international community has allowed this to happen. What is happening in Rafah is happening because I…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on this motion regarding the maintenance and repair of local authority housing. I support the motion and its call to significantly increase funding for a social housing retrofitting programme to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy poverty. However, I note the motion lacks a rural aspect, which is disappointing. Although there is no doubt that significant refurbishments are required to inner city dwellings, many rural dwellings also require significant…

A lot of change is taking place in the health services, as the Minister knows. Of the most recent changes taking place, the new health regions are a key to the future health of citizens. However, according to the Royal College of Surgeons and the national doctors training and planning board, the model 3 hospitals are critical in delivering the new model of healthcare. Model 3 hospitals, such as Letterkenny University Hospital, have a crisis in general-surgeon consultant workforces. In Letterkenny, 27% of consultant…

I thank the Minister for his response. Letterkenny general hospital is one of the hospitals that face these issues but this report, which was compiled by the HSE, the Royal College of Surgeons and the training bodies within them, states that for level 3 hospitals, this has to be done. The statistics I outlined apply to all level 3 hospitals, relating to non-permanency, the age profile of consultants and so on. If we are to deliver a proper health service, we have to address this. The report specifically calls for a…