I can assure the Minister that Cavan and Monaghan ETB will work very diligently on this. It has put together a very strong business case to advance this accommodation proposal. I do not think that we in this House can emphasise enough the importance of the further education sector. Over the years I have seen many young people who may have come from communities where there was not a particularly heavy emphasis on education go on to further education, such as Cavan Institute and Monaghan Institute, and get qualificat…

I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Burke, and the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, on their appointments and wish them, along with the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, every success in their work in the Department. I welcome the Government’s decision to reopen the increased cost of business scheme. I heard the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, in different forums encouraging companies to apply. There is a rather simple application process. I sincerely hope that message can be got out and th…

I thank the Minister for his detailed reply. I again acknowledge the efforts he and his ministerial colleagues have made in getting the message out that this money is available and there is a simple and speedy application process. Quite rightly, the areas of retail and hospitality were identified for particular assistance. I have recently been engaging considerably with small-scale manufacturing, which is facing particular challenges as well. I am sure the Minister will engage with industry, particularly the smalle…

I thank the Minister. I repeat my request that he make a particular appeal to the finance houses to support small and medium-sized enterprises, because they are not doing so adequately at the moment. I am very glad that the Minister mentioned workspaces and enterprise centres. For years, I have been tabling parliamentary questions to the Minister’s predecessors in regard to the need to adequately support local authorities or voluntary organisations in developing workspaces. In the two counties I represent, we have …

I welcome Minister Rabbitte's recent announcement about a waiting list initiative for assessments of need and the procurement of private assessments. I sincerely hope those assessments can be carried out as quickly as possible. We are all well aware that there have been totally unacceptable delays for many years in children getting assessments of need and follow-up therapies. We must ensure that these children get their assessments in time because they determine their school placement. If the Minister can use the N…

I spoke to the Tánaiste previously about the opportunity that exists to provide much-needed additional accommodation for our Army. Unfortunately, the most modern army barracks in Europe, which opened in 1990, was closed in 2012. As the Tánaiste knows, Dún Uí Néill is centrally situated in the Border region. The next Army barracks, Aiken Barracks, is to the east, in Dundalk, and there is also Finner Camp, County Donegal. Therefore, a large tract of the Border area does not have an Army barracks. In view of the geopo…

I thank the Tánaiste for his reply and welcome the fact that this suggestion will be considered. The education and training board only uses part of that site. I cannot emphasise enough that it was the most modern barracks in Europe, officially opened in 1990. I represented Cavan-Monaghan during the bad days when this island was in the era of the Troubles. We can never overestimate the important work that was carried out in our Army barracks and by Army personnel in dealing with difficult situations. Unfortunately, …

I thank the Tánaiste. We have discussed in this House the fact that Cavan has a long and proud Army tradition. There has been stronger recruitment in areas where there is an Army barracks. Unfortunately, we are losing that attachment and that number of young people who went into the Army that we had in the past. I know the Tánaiste met some local members of the Permanent Defence Force, good friends of mine, who were recently in the Golan Heights. We still have an Army tradition but it is not as strong as I would li…

The Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, will have heard me highlight the urgent need to provide additional funding for the non-national road network in counties Cavan and Monaghan. The Minister of State and the Minister have met councillors and council officials in both counties. We took that opportunity to outline clearly to them that in view of the particular problems we have, in an area that has drumlin territory, we need additional funding. The commitment in the programme for Government to keep…

I welcome the final sentence of the Minister's response, where he says that he will examine ways to give more support to local authorities. That needs to be done now. I have been highlighting this issue since 2020. The incessant rainfall has done damage even to relatively good roads. Cavan and Monaghan depend heavily on the non-national road network. In County Cavan, 96% of the road network is made up of local and regional roads. They carry significant volumes of heavy goods traffic and 92% of County Cavan is cover…

Unfortunately, the cost of construction products and energy costs have gone up dramatically.

We are drumlin territory.

I again appeal to the Minister to give particular consideration to the request of councils like those of Cavan and Monaghan. As he will know from the officials and from our councillors, the councils do a very good job but we have very serious problems at the minute. The incessant rainfall of the past few years, the increased cost of energy and the resultant increase in the cost of construction products have had a very significant effect. I assure the Minister that, at the earliest possible date he can allocate addi…

I welcome our visitors to the Public Gallery. I commend the work of Justice for the Forgotten. On many occasions, I have attended events associated with anniversaries of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. I am always struck by the great grace and dignity of the families as they remember their lost loved ones and continue their campaign for truth and justice. I fully appreciate that the process of trying to get justice for the families of the bereaved has been absolutely frustrating, painful and, indeed, totally unac…

I spoke to the Tánaiste previously on the need to eliminate the disparity in pay levels for employees of section 38 and section 39 organisations and those employed directly by the State, such as by the HSE. People with similar qualifications and providing similar services on behalf of our State should not have such a differential in their pay. This pay gap issue needs to be resolved without further delay. In my own constituency, organisations such as Enable Ireland and the Irish Wheelchair Association have experien…

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. I was pleased the Taoiseach accepted my invitation to address the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. His attendance, both on Sunday evening and Monday morning, was much appreciated by all the participants from all the different legislatures. As the Taoiseach said, the focus of our particular plenary was on tourism. We were dealing with the opportunities there are for further development of our tourism product on an all-Ireland basis and throughout these islands. I was glad we…

There is a very urgent need to have in-person day services restored at the Irish Wheelchair Association's, IWA, centre in Cavan town. Recently and, unfortunately, the day services ceased due to staffing shortages. This has caused understandable annoyance and concern to service users, their families, and the IWA personnel at local level. These services are of critical importance to users. The service has been reduced to an outreach-only model with Zoom meetings, online activities and visits to homes. Lack of pay par…

I compliment the Minister and the Minister of State on rolling out a very comprehensive sports capital programme. It is to be hoped those applications can be processed and approved at the earliest possible date. We are all aware of the huge commitment of the many volunteers in our sporting clubs across all disciplines throughout the country. People work very hard to provide coaching facilities and to ensure that young people and older people have access to the sport they wish to participate in. Even in areas where …

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I again advocate for the regions with regard to large-scale projects. He is familiar with the project we are working on in County Cavan. It will be multisport and will cater for many sporting disciplines. As the Minister of State is well aware, there are no major sporting centres between counties Sligo and Dublin and Belfast and Galway. A centre in Cavan could cater for people from three provinces - Ulster, Connacht and Leinster. It would be an ideal place for competitio…

The Tánaiste will recall that for almost three years I have been raising with him, the former Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar and the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, the need to provide additional funding for the non-national road network. I accept that each year the Government has increased funding but it is not adequate to meet the additional costs that have been incurred due to the war Mr. Putin inflicted on Ukraine and the resultant increase in energy costs. Incessant rain for most of the past 12 months i…