I commend the People Before Profit–Solidarity group on introducing this motion and, indeed, the Bill with which it is associated. In the second quarter of this year, the RTB reported that 5,735 notices to quit were issued by landlords. Seventy-one of these were issued in my constituency, Clare. I dealt with many of the people involved myself. As the Minister of State, Deputy Malcolm Noonan, knows, nine out of ten evictions in this country are landlord led. Up to the end of the last moratorium, seven out of ten were…

I want to raise the case of my constituent Joseph in Kilkee who, only for policy reasons, has been discriminated against by the State for having the cheek not to be related by blood to the carer he lives with and who does absolutely everything for him. I find it disgraceful in this day and age that we are still discriminating against carers on the basis of blood when it comes to the criteria for the disabled drivers and passengers scheme. I wrote to the Minister about this six months ago and am still waiting for a …

I am disgusted as I rise. As a Member of this House and as a mother, I am stuck to find the appropriate language on this issue. I welcome that this debate is taking place but I am disgusted that it is necessary. I must question what on earth HIQA is doing. If it did its job properly, would half of the sorry excuses for acute settings we have in this country even pass the test? I commend the advocacy group 221+, representatives of which were here with Deputy Kelly last week. What we are discussing here today further…

In the past three weeks alone, we have had one significant increase in petrol and diesel prices and are now looking down the double barrels of not one but two more increases in a few short weeks. That may fly in some parts of the country but I find it hard to believe voters in the Minister's constituency would be happy about it. I assure him the owners of the 36,000 cars and 4,300 vans travelling to work and school every day in my constituency of Clare are appalled at this measure, which I can only describe as out …

I ask the Minister to give an update on his plans to further expand further and higher education in County Clare. I would be grateful if he would make a statement on the matter.

I look forward to welcoming the Minister to County Clare soon. I know he had provisionally planned to be there recently. I am interested in that event taking place as soon as possible. I thank the Minister for the information he provided in his reply. I acknowledge his work in making County Clare a university county, as he stated, and making Ennis a university town. Many people were involved in that campaign for a long time. I take this opportunity to acknowledge their hard work in the House. The TUS campus in Enni…

Before the recess, the Shannon Estuary economic task force report was launched in Ardnacrusha. This terrific plan seeks to inject a new lease of life into many areas of the mid-west. I commend the excellent work of all who gave their time freely to put it together. The report highlights several opportunities and cites the potential to create approximately 50,000 new jobs over the next 15 years. It is vital that we grab this opportunity by both arms and inject this sorely needed employment into County Clare. In this…

I want to start by acknowledging the little bit of history being made right now, as this is the first time this new slot for non-aligned Independents is being used. I thank the Business Committee, the Independent Group, the Labour Party, the Social Democrats, and Solidarity-People Before Profit, who generously lent me time over the last year. It was significant to my constituents that I found the time to raise issues on their behalf and for that I was most grateful. In principle, I welcome this legislation which se…

I commend the motion and the party to my left on putting it forward. There have been a total of ten mortgage interest rate hikes in too short a time for anybody to absorb and cope with. The people affected by these hikes, in particular, those who have mortgages with vulture funds who number in the thousands of homeowners, are no doubt sitting in their own despair today. They are at their kitchen table unsure of how they will get through the next few months. Families, in particular, who have struggled with back-to-s…

I wish to raise with the Taoiseach the true reality of homelessness in this country. The Government’s most recent homeless figures are a smokescreen, as they are not the reality. The official figures do not include rough sleepers, couch surfers and homeless people in hospitals, prisons or domestic violence refuges. People are asking why the Government would just forget about and leave out so many people. The Government only collects data on those who access emergency accommodation. I call on the Taoiseach to publis…

By presentations.

I also express my deepest sympathies to the family, friends and colleagues of former Minister Brendan Daly from County Clare. May he rest in peace. I and many other Members of this House have met representatives of the Not Our Fault campaign who have been protesting outside Leinster House every week, including doing a full 24-hour stint recently. My constituency of Clare is represented on the group by Ms Lorraine Carew of Bru Na Sionna, an apartment complex in Shannon where serious fire defects have been identified…

I raise the crisis facing child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, in County Clare, particularly the poor accommodation in which those services find themselves operating. The issue has historical value in the sense that only in 2019 they were operating out of hotel rooms, which is completely inappropriate. I make the point as it shows a pattern of years of poor decisions and an unwillingness to prioritise mental health services for our youth and our future. CAMHS in Clare are split between two teams, one…

I appreciate the information the Minister of State has supplied. I suggest she should visit them. She mentioned upgrades but when I speak to the staff, they are of a different opinion. I encourage her to visit the building in Quin Road and maybe then she will get a clearer picture of what is on the ground. Last week, it was reported in both The Clare Champion and on Clare FM that an internal staff survey - another red flag on management and communications - found that 94% of respondents felt the Clare CAMHS clinica…

I thank Deputy Tóibín for inviting me to cosponsor this important legislation. As members of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, the area of legacy issues is of particular interest to us and we are deeply and rightly concerned in that regard. As he outlined, Ireland is a co-equal guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement and its negotiated and agreed principles that brought peace on this island, peace that we have protected for 25 years. That enduring peace must be protected and nur…

I thank the People Before Profit-Solidarity group for lending me time to contribute to the statements this afternoon. I take this opportunity to welcome the additional places that the Minister, Deputy Harris, announced yesterday in medicine, nursing, midwifery and pharmacy. I congratulate the University of Limerick on its successful proposal for a new veterinary school in the region. It is a big win for the region for which I and many others in this House lobbied hard. I understand it is to build a new animal hospi…

I thank the Regional Group for bringing forward this very important motion and the Social Democrats for lending me time to speak on this issue on behalf of the people of County Clare. Bluebird Care provides approximately 91,000 hours of home care support to 173 clients in Clare every year. Its representative body, Home and Community Care Ireland, has made several representations to the HSE, the Minister of State and even to her Government colleagues regarding the delays with the 2023 tender. Not only does Bluebird …

Last Friday night, I attended a public meeting of the Clare Pyrite Action Group. One attendee told me that they will be dead before the opening of the enhanced scheme. Others spoke of suffering heart attacks, strokes and many other serious health issues because of the extreme stress and frustration of delay after delay. A frequently asked questions, FAQ, document was issued last October by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. What exactly is the hold-up here? Clare County Council has assured me …

I thank the Independent Group for giving me the time to speak on this important issue. The youth justice strategy was roundly commended on its launch in 2021. The Irish Penal Reform Trust hailed it at the time as having "a strong and welcome focus on diversion, prevention and early intervention, underpinned by children’s rights and the use of detention as a last resort". In my constituency of Clare, we have a fantastic youth service and the team that runs the Garda youth diversion project provides an outstanding ou…

I have to use this slot again to raise the lack of emergency accommodation for homeless people and families. Thanks to the Residential Tenancies Board, we know that 4,700 notices to quit have been issued in quarter 1. We can broadly assume that the Government's so-called non-cliff-edge ending to the eviction ban will result in a further deluge of notices to be served on tenants throughout the country. This does not fill the 27,000 adults and children in care who rent with confidence. Where is the additional capacit…