May I continue?

It is unfortunate that we have a scenario where I am being heckled. That is an increase and a good news story which has to be acknowledged. I acknowledge the work members of An Garda Síochána are doing on the ground. Sometimes we do not acknowledge them enough or the work their families do. Every time they put on their boots and go out the door, they do not know what will happen. They do a significant job for the State and we have to acknowledge that and the amount of work they do. I thank An Garda Síochána and the…

That is a significant debate that needs to take place. Garda recruitment numbers, which I believe the Minister said would be 800 this year, although I am open to correction on that, are significant compared with recruitment to the Naval Service. We should look at what can be done in the area of recruitment to ensure we reach our full potential and get all Naval Service ships out to sea. The implication of that for the State would be that what happened yesterday in the south east could happen more often because we w…

The Minister of State is more than welcome to the Chamber. I advocate on behalf of nearly 65 students living in my area who feel abandoned by the State regarding school transportation. They come from places such as Riverstick, Belgooly, Minane Bridge, Ballinhassig, Dunderrow, Ardfield, Peddler's Cross, Aghyohil, Castletown Kinneigh and Bandon. They are all at a crossroads waiting to know whether a school bus will turn up, which it will not. They feel very frustrated that they have been in this predicament year on y…

I will be brief. With regard to the temporary alleviation measures, Bus Éireann is breaking the Department's rules or else the rules have not been made clear. We do not know where that figure is and when concessionary is then tied into it a complete confusion is made of the argument. The temporary alleviation measures granted to some students is not being granted to others because of the capacity issues on buses and Bus Éireann is walking away from the problem, as far as I can see. We need to find out the Minister'…

I acknowledge the new rules of the Chair. We are all under the cosh.

I thank the Chair.

Tomorrow morning a big storm will hit Ireland, in particular the south west, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Thousands of acres of grain have not been cut. It is now 27 September. It is quite possible we will not save that grain, although most of it is lodged. I walked a 62-acre field of oats last Sunday that was not three inches tall. Maybe four or five weeks ago, this crop was the bones of 4 feet high. It has been bent over, tossed and destroyed. These farmers paid huge conacre prices and had high input costs at the st…

I acknowledge the staff of the House and the volume of work they have done. I wish them a very happy break; it is well-deserved. I wish to raise two issues. A review of school transport was started in September 2021. It is still not complete and has not been published. I am fearful of what August will bring. August in my office is the busiest time of the year with school transportation having been the top issue for the past five years. We will again have a scenario where we will have the big debate about concession…

I want to touch on the “RTÉ Investigates” programme broadcast last night and to put my views on it on the record. First, I totally condemn the treatment of those animals, particularly the transportation. There are laws that set out very strict criteria. If those laws were broken - and I believe they were from viewing the footage - there should be consequences. We have put legislation and regulations in place to make sure this does not happen but it has happened and something needs to be done about it. Yet, as much …

I just feel we need to tell the story about the amount of work that the family farms do.

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. Every time I table a Commencement matter I have the pleasure of her responding. It is great to have an opportunity to debate this major issue. I know the Minister of State has a great interest in it, given the correspondence she has sent to my office. This is about trying to make sure we put in place a suitable transportation network for vulnerable adults trying to attend services in Bantry. For the past 12 months in particular, it has been a big issue for 11 vulnerable…

As the Minister of State correctly said, it is about trying to get a realistic approach on time so that we do not have to come back in three months. The discretionary funding from the HSE seems to be the avenue we need to start talking about. The HSE has a pot of money available. As the Minister of State indicated, it worked in a remote area in Kerry. That seems to be the scenario we need to start pressing. The Minister of State correctly said that the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the local community are not …

I welcome the Minister of State to the House to discuss this important issue. I ask that the Minister of Health provide an update regarding the new endoscopy suite at Bantry General Hospital, including a timeline for the commencement of the project. The new endoscopy unit originally launched by the former Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, has started in many ways. I will go over the timeline for the project. In January 2022, it went for tender and in February 2022, planning permission was granted. In the capital …

I thank the Minister of State for his really comprehensive response. He has just clarified the position on the scaremongering. He said it is expected that the project will be completed in June 2024. That is a really significant statement. I acknowledge it because it is all about delivering multimillion-euro projects that will benefit rural Ireland and improve the quality of life there. The continual barraging of Bantry General Hospital by politicians for nothing more than their own political gain has to be called o…

Indeed.

I thank the Cathaoirleach. As I was saying, it needs to be acknowledged that the work is ongoing and near completion. It entails a multimillion-euro project being delivered on the ground. The project follows on from others that have happened in the past few years. We had a refurbishment of the medical assessment unit in 2015; the extension of St. Joseph's ward in 2016; the radiation suite upgrade in 2017; new labs and an administration building put in there in 2021; a CT scanner put in there in 2019 and now this pr…

I echo the Cathaoirleach's comments on the famous and wonderful former Senator Paul Coghlan. He was a wonderful spirit and character who will be sadly missed. I was in Killarney on Sunday evening for the removal of the remains and there was a great crowd there. Paul Coghlan was a special character. He was great fun and had great insight into politics. Life is built around characters and he is certainly one of the characters I will miss. I acknowledge the Cathaoirleach's wonderful contribution. Paul was a friend to …

The Minister of State is more than welcome to the Chamber. I want to put on the record my correspondence in the past 24 hours from the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, who contacted my office. She said she is taking questions in the Dáil today and is unavailable to attend this debate. I acknowledge that. This is a very serious issue. I ask for an update on child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, in the Cork-Kerry region, community healthcare organisation, CHO, 4. The CAMHS issue in Cork and Kerry …

I thank the Minister of State. I want to home in on the data in regard to the 12-month waiting list. The Minister of State’s figures are from March 2023 and state that there were 341 children. My figures are from February 2023 and there were 343, so we have literally taken two children off that long-term waiting list in a month. I do not want to do the maths on this but if we are to continue to take just two per month off the long-term waiting list, I am already grey and I would be bald by the time this thing is ov…