In speaking about the national recovery and resilience plan I want to focus on the need for a clear channel of the income to be allocated to Shannon Airport and the preservation of its jobs and connectivity. The mid-west region and my constituency in particular are reeling following the announcement by Aer Lingus to close its Shannon base. This was the latest, but by no means the first, in a series of neo-liberal market-led decisions that have gravely threatened the vitality and saliency of the mid-west region and …

Is there a contingency plan to protect the network of rural post offices in light of the recent warning by the Irish Postmasters Union, IPU, that up to 200 further post offices could close in the next 12 to 18 months?

I welcome much of the information in the Minister of State's response. I asked this question on behalf of the postmasters and workers affected in my constituency, Clare, who as we all know have endured significant hardship and uncertainty in the name of Covid. I would love to be able to return to Clare and tell them the Government is committed to putting preventive measures in place to prevent these closures as projected by the Irish Postmasters Union. It laid bare the potential impact if the Government does not co…

The introduction of a public service obligation, PSO, was vital to secure the future of the network and to allow post offices to continue to provide excellent and important services. I cannot stress enough to anyone living in Dublin the need for them to remain in these rural communities. Not committing to the introduction of the PSO is unravelling the fabric and killing the heartbeat of our beautiful towns and villages. The Minister of State should not underestimate the importance of this service, and specifically …

I wish to raise Shannon Airport and the announcement made last week. I encourage the Tánaiste to take the three and a half hour journey down to County Clare and engage with the workers and hear how they are being directly impacted by the recent announcement.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion, which is the continuation of a long stream of activism to protect the viability and interests of the small to medium-sized beef farmers, and I want to focus in particular on farmers in County Clare. For far too long, there have been extremely unfair trading practices that have disadvantaged small-scale beef farmers. Traditionally, Ireland is a nation that prides itself on the quality of its agricultural produce, exporting 90% of its beef produce to the value of €2.…

I wish to use my time to focus on Shannon Airport. It is the international airport with the longest runway in the country and was first to establish a sensory room, two years ahead of Dublin Airport. Shannon Airport and its survival is vital to my home county of Clare and the mid-west region. Therefore, the importance of its survival post Covid cannot, and should not, be underestimated. I have attended many meetings in the past week. I have spoken to many of the workers. They are on their knees. They do not have a …

It is an indictment of this Government and successive Governments that many of our towns and villages do not have wastewater treatment services in 2021 and that those that do most often need a serious upgrade as they have been operating over their capacity, causing all sorts of issues and disruptions for the community. Recently, I received a response from the relevant Department advising that Irish Water has no wastewater infrastructure in towns and villages in Clare such as O'Briensbridge, Broadford, Cooraclare, S…

We know many complex circumstances and situations are coming to light with regard to the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine. Many people are falling between the cracks of the very rudimentary categories established by the current administrative systems for the roll-out. The co-ordination between the HSE, NAS, GPs and administrative teams working through the portal is exposing the patchy lines of communication that pass extremely important and sensitive information between essential stakeholders. I raise this as I fin…

I wish to use this opportunity to focus attention on the specific case of Ava Barry. People the length and breadth of the State know the extremes to which her mother, Vera, had to go to get Ava much-needed access to the medication that would improve her quality of life. However, the family is now locked into a financial burden. They must ensure they have €9,500 upfront every three months, even during a pandemic, and wait for reimbursement. This cannot continue. It is truly unfair and it is not good enough. I can te…

I am sharing time with Deputies Daly, Tully, Clarke and Mythen. This amending Bill introduces targets into hazy and ambiguous legislation dating from 2015. It comes as no surprise that the coalition Cabinet at that time, led by Fine Gael, introduced a half-baked Bill to appease the growing ecological lobby. Under scrutiny, there were found to be major issues with that legislation, mainly the lack of any specific greenhouse gas emissions targets. Even though all the right jargon and buzzwords were present, the legis…

This motion deals with a matter that, as a parent of a child with autism, is close to my heart. Today, I speak as a Teachta but also as a mother directly impacted by this issue. The provision for autism services - by which I mean the distinct lack of provision for autism services - is one of the main reasons I felt compelled to enter the political domain in the first instance. As all parents will know, as a parent one wants to protect one's children and to surround them with as much love and support as possible. It…

I am delighted to have an opportunity to speak on this important Bill. The fact it has garnered such support from a wide range of Opposition Deputies, 56 in total, shows just how vital the legislation is. We know that rents continued to increase in the academic year 2019 to 2020 and into the 2020 to 2021 academic year, despite the pandemic exposing the unsustainable and twisted nature of accommodation inflation as rents in the capital rose by 0.3% over the pandemic period. This also begs the question as to where th…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill because it gives rise to an issue of particular pertinence to my constituents and me. It is an important Bill and its provisions should not be underestimated. It enables the transfer of heritage functions from the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. I want to use this opportunity to highlight the wealth of heritage sites in County Clare. From east to west, there is an abundance of natur…

We know that mental health was in crisis pre-Covid. We know also the crisis has escalated throughout Covid, but what does this mean? It means people are suffering and experiencing great trauma and loss, huge change and anxiety, financial strain and pressure, and home insecurity. The Government's response to mental health has fallen short for many years. I note the Mental Health Commission told the Oireachtas Special Committee on Covid-19 Response that Ireland's mental health system is not fit for purpose, it is out…

We know progress has been made with the vaccination programme, albeit not at the pace the public had hoped for. We have heard of many logistical challenges that have arisen in the roll-out. I would like to begin by mentioning some of the logistical issues with the roll-out of the vaccination programme in my home county of Clare. There was a bit of a debacle in Shannon Medical Centre last week, when vaccines were delivered on the Friday but, unfortunately, the equipment to administer them was not. According to a GP …

I wish to raise with the Minister the precarious situation of the early years and childcare sector. We all know the great work being done by people in the sector and how important that is to everyone in society. Unfortunately, some vital childcare facilities in my constituency of County Clare had to close their doors in 2020. It was disheartening to hear the news as it came in and it is disappointing to know that they will have no opportunity to reopen. Many others are struggling to keep their businesses afloat. Ch…

I am proud to be a sponsor of this important Bill along with my colleague, Deputy Andrews. We know that any true measure of a society is how it treats its citizens, especially the most vulnerable, the young and the old, regardless of their socio-economic background. We must ensure that discrimination of any kind is called out and that those who experience it have somewhere they can go to make a complaint and have their rights defended. Current legislation provides for discrimination on the grounds of gender, civil …

Last Friday I received a letter from the HSE stating that there is a plan in place to reinstate the ShannonDoc service in Shannon. The people in the area have been crying out for this service to be reinstated.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill as it is particularly relevant to my county of Clare and specifically to the residents who are affected by the planning application for the wind farm development proposed for the Cahermurphy area. This development includes ten turbines reaching to 170 m and there is strong opposition to this proposed development among local residents who, as they describe, would ultimately be living in the shadow of these turbines for many years to come. The planning application was ru…