I welcome the Minister's comments in response to Deputy Gillian Toole's very important question on ensuring we have adequate provision for persons with additional needs and disabilities. We had a detailed discussion on this at our parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday night. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, was with me in Cavan on Monday when this particular issue was discussed and he heard at first hand the determination of HSE officials at local level and Cavan County Council to make progress in the matt…

I thank the Minister for his reply. He will have heard me raise this particular issue on many occasions, both in written correspondence to him in parliamentary questions and within our parliamentary party. I welcome the very substantial funding provided to Cavan and Monaghan county councils since January 2025 to continue a very impressive and comprehensive house-building programme throughout both counties. Houses are being delivered, and that is very welcome. The Minister visited County Cavan a few months ago at my…

I very strongly welcome the Minister's concluding remarks. As he has heard from me on numerous occasions, and as I have heard from our councillors in Cavan and from all the officials at all ranks in the housing division in Cavan County Council, it is a big issue that we deal with on a daily basis. Good, genuine, hard-working people are coming to us who are above the income limit. They are not in well-paid jobs. They are working hard, rearing families. We have to ensure that they are given the opportunity to get the…

I welcome the fact that last Sunday the Taoiseach described the determination by the Parades Commission as "incomprehensible". I did not genuinely think we would be back watching scenes from Portadown, County Armagh on Sunday morning television which we, unfortunately, witnessed up to 1998. I am very glad the Taoiseach met Prime Minister Burnham and that he visited an Irish centre with him. I do not think we can ever pay enough tribute to the people and those volunteers in Irish centres throughout the world, partic…

I welcome the Taoiseach's engagement over recent months with his counterparts in relation to Ireland's Presidency of the European Union. I am glad that he discussed with the Spanish Prime Minister the multi-annual financial framework. Within that multi-annual financial framework, the proposal by the European Commission in respect of CAP is totally inadequate. We have to have a properly funded CAP. In my experience, the Spaniards were always good supporters of the Common Agricultural Policy and having it properly fu…

Food security is very important.

I renew my appeal in relation to the urgent need to increase the income eligibility limits for social housing in counties Cavan and Monaghan. The social housing income baseline is €30,000 in both counties. This is totally inadequate in view of the costs today for people buying or building a home. Daily I am dealing with constituents who are working hard in relatively low-paid jobs and they are above the present income limits. At the same time, those people have no hope whatsoever of getting a mortgage as their inco…

The Minister will have heard me many times in this House, at committees and at meetings of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party advocating for closer collaboration on the delivery of education on an all-Ireland basis. There is fantastic potential, especially in the further and higher education sector. I warmly welcome the Minister’s initiative, along with Dundalk Institute of Technology, DkIT, and Queen’s University, to develop a new partnership that will enable DKIT to become a university college of Queen’s. That i…

I thank the Minister for his reply. I must say that members of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, across all jurisdictions, were very strong in their praise of the Minister’s contribution at our plenary meeting in Surrey, where he spoke about the opportunities for all-Ireland developments and also east-west developments. At a recent meeting of the further and higher education committee, we had the leadership of Queen’s University and the leadership of DkIT. They are very anxious to drive this partnership for…

As the Minister is aware, we are very anxious to progress the Cavan college of the future. I sincerely hope there will be further developments on that over the summer months. We are anxious to have that major new extension to the existing college constructed on Cathedral Road, right in the centre of Cavan town, where there is a demand for new accommodation. The Minister saw first-hand the work that goes on at the institute. It draws students from a wide area. It has a huge success rate for students fulfilling caree…

I raise again the urgent need for improved services for children with additional needs in Cavan and Monaghan. Specifically, I wish to refer today to the need to provide after-school services, including summer camps and Saturday clubs, in County Cavan for children with additional needs. Enable Ireland is the children’s disability network team, CDNT, in County Cavan. Due to staff shortages, it has been under extreme pressure to deliver the services it wants to provide for children with disabilities. I understand from…

Enable Ireland is the CDNT.

I welcome the establishment of annual UK-Ireland summits. These have the potential to strengthen further bilateral relationships and intensify collaboration in areas such as trade, business, technology, investment, energy and environment. Alongside these annual summits, the Government must also ensure that the potential of the institutions established under the Good Friday Agreement across our jurisdictions are maximised to the best possible extent. As well as that important work, legacy issues must get priority at…

It is now a year and five months since Storm Éowyn wreaked havoc on this country and caused so much damage. We were promised at that time that the Government would take effective measures to implement the learnings from this storm. I welcome the Minister's major commitment to upgrade energy infrastructure and to very substantial funding. There is also a need to implement new legislative measures, with particular regard to the relationship between forestry and power lines. I would like to know what the status of tha…

I thank the Minister for his reply. It should not be rocket science to bring forward these new legislative measures. The initial legislation in this area in this State is the Electricity (Supply) Act 1927, which was amended in 1999 to address the relationship between forestry and transmission lines. For years, I have raised in this House the difficulties facing communities, especially those in my county of Cavan, and also across Leitrim and into Sligo. Year after year, during lesser storms than Storm Éowyn, trees w…

I thank the Minister for his reply. I cannot emphasise enough the priority that needs to be attached to this. We know the horrendous hardship and suffering that were inflicted on so many individuals, families and communities. Unfortunately, that also happened prior to Storm Éowyn. We are going to have more severe weather events, according to all predictions. Whatever needs to be done, the relevant measures have to be put in place rapidly. Under no circumstances can we have this idea that people can plant land up to…

It is the lack of maintenance that has allowed trees and forestry to cause so much damage. What has happened previously cannot be allowed continue. I implore the Minister again to emphasise to the stakeholders, namely, other Departments and the statutory agencies, that this legislation has to be prioritised. I take this opportunity to pay tribute, as I did in 2025, to members of the emergency services who worked in very difficult circumstances to try to help families and communities, especially in ESB Networks.

The Rathcorick day centre is the location for County Cavan’s day activation unit. This unit provides adult day services for persons with complex needs. Unfortunately, this centre is totally outdated and needs to be replaced as quickly as possible. The adults attending a day activation unit deserve to have modern state-of-the-art facilities. It is not acceptable that these services are provided in totally inadequate accommodation at present. Day services provide a vital support for adults with disabilities to enable…

My question refers to Curravagh National School at Glangevlin in County Cavan. It is a small school and it has a 25-year-old prefab that needs to be replaced. It is 25 sq. m but the Department has offered a 19 sq. m replacement permanent building. On the advice of the Department the school partitioned that prefab some years ago so that it would have some accommodation for shared special education teacher, English language teacher, secretary and principal space. The school is requesting that the additional accommoda…

The assessment of need system has not been working. That system has not served children with additional needs or their families. I sincerely hope that the new autism assessment system works. Much faster access to assessment is essential, and follow-up therapies if needed. Time and again I have highlighted in this Chamber, through parliamentary questions and written representations, the unacceptable delays in children with additional needs in Cavan and Monaghan accessing therapies. Parents waiting for therapies for …