I wish to refer to the programme for Government's commitment to protecting public health patients and ensuring capacity for future surges of Covid-19. As of yesterday, 61 people were waiting on hospital trolleys at University Hospital Limerick. Today there are 50. This is unacceptable and puts patients and staff at unnecessary risk. Last week the University of Limerick Hospitals Group was forced to reduce scheduled procedures drastically as nearly 200 staff at both University Hospital Limerick and Ennis Hospital te…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important and time-pressured matter. We know that it is just short of 50 days until the transition period comes to an end on 31 December. We also know the past two years have been painful as our nation has watched the Brexit madness and drama unfold. Our people have suffered from great uncertainty and anxiety, particularly this year. We know this was to be expected when faced with a global health pandemic. However, our people have further suffered from the threat of Brexit…

I thank the Independent Group for bringing forward this motion. Along with my colleagues, I offer my support for what we deem a very important motion, which is specifically relevant to my home county of Clare. I am contacted every day by people who are concerned, affected, impacted and devastated by the lack of timely action and reassurance for Shannon Airport. As an example, no testing is being done at our airports today. Ireland's aviation sector has suffered immensely over the last eight months due to the onset …

I am pleased to co-sponsor such an important and relevant Bill with my colleagues today. Flooding is not an uncommon phenomenon. Instead, due to a lack of action and joined-up thinking it has become a common experience for many. The issue at hand is how we deal with our waterways and how we work to prevent the flooding of our towns, villages, farmlands and businesses. As we continue to fight the issue of climate change, all the while hearing about the effects of rising sea levels and how flooding will only become a…

In County Clare, there are still several issues with Bus Éireann and school bus tickets for children. There are ten children in Corofin who do not have a seat on a bus. I know the Minister, Deputy Foley, stated that she would engage with a steering group due to the fact that the review of the school bus transport scheme was not done last year. Can anything be done here and now for these children who are left without a seat on a bus, as well as those who cannot arrange a proper pick-up?

We are appealing to the Minister to use common sense in his approach. Let us not lose sight of the facts. We are trying to live with a global health pandemic and, in addition, we have had, for many years now, scandalous and embarrassing numbers of homeless people and families. It is mind-numbingly depressing. The current situation arises from a lack of action in the past. The problems with homelessness are, in large part, down to the failure that is the housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme. Teachta Michael Healy…

I thank the Regional Group for tabling the motion. The post office network is the backbone of rural Ireland. It provides a meeting place in the heart of our communities. The familiarity of the post office gives many in rural Ireland great comfort at times of need. They are usually run by local people who are well known and trusted in their communities. It brings rural Ireland to the rest of the world. It is a place where people can collect their money or send money to the four corners of the world to relatives and …

I welcome the opportunity to address the House on this deeply sensitive topic. The mother and baby homes commission of investigation was a welcome announcement in 2015. The work of the commission to examine many aspects of the procedures in these homes and how they operated was needed, and it was imperative that its work proceeded without interference. However, almost six years on from the initial announcement, we are finally nearing the end of the commission and getting closer to the final draft of its report, but…

I want to raise an issue with regard to Clare County Council. I have been contacted by a gentleman who is wheelchair bound and who claims the disability allowance. He has suffered many personal difficulties and has now been told he has reached the end of the road with regard to local authority services for one reason or another. This situation is leaving someone in a wheelchair homeless. His only bit of luck was to get a room in a hotel fairly cheaply because of Covid. We need to ensure extra supports are available…

The Minister is very much aware of the struggles being faced by Shannon Airport and the impact on the wider region in recent months. I have raised the issue with him on numerous occasions but every time I come back into this House on this matter it is with further bad news. This is seen as being directly down to the apathy from the Minister and his Department. On Tuesday, there was a commitment to additional capital funding for Shannon and Cork airports and a commitment to sign up to the EU traffic light system and…

Today's announcement will affect approximately 155 staff in Shannon specifically, and will have far-reaching implications for approximately another 55,000 jobs in the region. The enormity of the situation calls for intervention. I have specific questions and if the Minister does not respond now I ask him to respond in writing. Can he give us clarity today on the review of Shannon Group? He said the airports would be well positioned. Can he elaborate on that? Can he commit here and now that he will do all in his pow…

I thank the Minister for attending this morning to answer these questions. The announcement yesterday that the class sizes will be reduced by one point is and will not be ambitious enough. Sinn Féin’s alternative budget proposed two points. Recent figures also released to my colleague, an Teachta Ó Laoghaire, show that 1,300 schools throughout the State have class sizes exceeding 30 pupils, and, disappointingly, 38 of these are in County Clare. Will the Minister confirm her plans to reduce pupil-teacher ratios in s…

I appreciate that we are making a step in right direction but the Minister has to admit that we are not going far enough. Our class sizes are too big and our school buildings themselves are bursting at the seams in many parts of the country. One case that I have been asked to bring to the attention of the Minister is Clooney National School in County Clare. The principal contacted me and relayed to me that because of the enrolment figures for 2021, the school is due to lose a teacher. He also conveyed to me the wor…

It is appreciated that budget 2021 is the largest spending package announced to date, but it has been noted that it did not go far enough. As far as I can see, it did not go anywhere in some areas. Some of the measures in the budget are welcome, such as the reduction in the VAT rate for the hospitality and tourism sector to 9%. That reduction was needed and Sinn Féin had called for it to be introduced. Additional community beds in the health sector, for example, are also welcome. That measure was also proposed by S…

I wish to bring the perspective of the residents who endure the constant flooding that happens in their areas, particularly, the residents of Springfield, Clonlara. I attended a public meeting there before Covid-19 hit Ireland in early March and was horrified at the stories relayed to me by these residents. These people endure extreme stress and some would call it trauma. We have had incidents where residents have ended up trapped in their cars while trying to access a road close to their houses. These people endur…

It has long been mooted that Brexit will cause pressure and strain on our businesses, in particular our small and medium enterprises. Throughout the country we have seen devastation rippling through our businesses as they have been forced to close to assist our country in our time of need. Some reopened but closed again last night. The effects of these closures and the loss of business will be felt for some time to come and we need to ensure we support business during this very difficult time. Brexit will throw ano…

The Minister of State announced €10 million for disability services. That is shameful, as it falls well short of the money required to properly fund and resource the sector. Since the election I have been contacted by several people who are experiencing serious issues in access to housing, healthcare and disability services. It has been truly appalling. Just last week, I again raised the issue of transportation for service users with the Minister for Transport. These issues cannot be allowed to continue and Covid-1…

I would like to address the House briefly on the new Covid roadmap announced by the Government a number of days ago. We all appreciate that this framework was needed and that it is a roadmap for living with the virus over the coming months. However, it quickly became clear that the announcement was not as clear as was hoped. From day one, we heard Dublin was being placed on a type of level 2.5. It has since moved to level 3.5 or thereabouts. All of us in this House appreciate the need for this type of roadmap as we…

We are again debating a Bill representing a reaction to issues that have been allowed to develop rather than being nipped in the bud and dealt with head-on when they first cropped up. The issues facing the forestry industry have long been mooted and were mentioned in an article in the Irish Farmers' Journal as long ago as December 2019. As per usual, when questioned about this in May, the previous Minister, Deputy Creed, made out that this was only a temporary setback which would be soon sorted but look at where we…

I am pleased to be able to speak on this motion and to outline my sheer disgust that this statutory instrument was signed into law by the Taoiseach in the absence of his second Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. While I understand that the Minister was not sitting in that seat when this statutory instrument was signed at the end of August I feel that he and his party have not thought this through. The issues faced here need to be addressed urgently. Back in May 2018 the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, sat…