I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. The progressive shared island initiative is bringing to fruition many cross-Border and all-Ireland projects that many of us thought would never be realised. The National Economic and Social Council, the ESRI and some universities have been enabled to carry out very substantial comprehensive studies through shared island funding. Through the office of An Taoiseach and in various parliamentary questions, I have asked if the National Economic and Social Council will undertake a stu…

The publication last September of the joint framework between the British and Irish Governments relating to legacy issues arising from the Troubles was a welcome development. The legislation enacted by the previous British Government whereby murderers, be they from state forces or paramilitary organisations, could give themselves immunity was reprehensible. Will An Taoiseach update us on the progress in advancing the measures provided for in that framework? Last Sunday marked the 52nd anniversary of the Dublin-Mona…

I have previously welcomed the substantial and much-needed increase in investment in special education. The establishment of additional special classes and autism spectrum disorder units and the provision of additional staffing resources are positive developments in the context of overall education provision in our country. More investment is needed to establish more special classes. I commend the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and the Minister, Deputy Naughton. The chief executive of the NCSE, Joh…

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. I previously mentioned to the Taoiseach the case of Cavan No. 1 National School in Cavan town, which is under the patronage of the Church of Ireland and which has done exceptional work in providing a top-quality education for children from different denominations and of different nationalities. Inclusion is at the very heart of all activities in the school, and the work of the principal, Sabrina Richardson, her staff colleagues and the board of management is to be strongly comme…

-----impacted very severely on schools under the patronage of the smaller churches. We must ensure that policies do not impact severely on small schools.

On the last sitting day here before Easter, I raised the very serious difficulties confronting farmers and agri-contractors due to the enormous increase in the price of green diesel at that time. I also referred to the increase in farm input costs, such as fertiliser. Combined with those additional costs has been the reduction for some time in the prices paid to farmers for farm products, namely commodity prices. Following the Government announcement of a scheme to help offset some of those costs. It is essential t…

As the Minister knows, chapter 15 of the national development plan is titled "Access to Quality Childcare, Education and Health Services". With an increasing demand for places across those three sectors, it is absolutely essential that we have that increased investment put to use as quickly as possible. We need increased facilities in rural and urban Ireland. I sincerely hope that the money allocated can be spent as quickly as possible and that we do not have the type of interminable delays which have occurred over…

I thank the Minister for his reply. I heard him speak at the recent meeting of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly. He said that in far too many instances over the years process won out over delivery with regard to the capital programmes for different Departments. I refer to the childcare sector in particular. With the Minister's approval, the Minister, Deputy Foley, recently introduced the building blocks grant scheme towards the provision of new childcare places and the upgrading of existing facilities. That…

The need for additional childcare places is replicated in small areas. I am working with groups in small parishes and villages such as the Denn Toddlers Playgroup in Crosskeys, County Cavan, and Happy Days Childcare in Belturbet, County Cavan. Crosskeys is a small village and Belturbet is a small town but they have huge demand for additional places, as the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach will know. It is therefore extremely important that the building blocks scheme be expanded, if at all possible. There is a similar situat…

The Tánaiste and other members of the Government indicated clearly on Tuesday that the introduction of other relief measures would be kept under constant consideration in light of the serious difficulties facing households and businesses due to the increase in energy costs. I suggest that the omission of the farming community and agri contractors from meaningful support in that announcement should be addressed as a matter of urgency. I understand that three weeks ago, green diesel cost 96 cent per litre. Today, it …

This is the first opportunity I have had in this House to wish the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, well with their very important work in the Department of Defence. The implementation plan for the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, published in November 2023, stated very clearly that the Reserve Defence Force, RDF, needs to be revitalised. For far too long, numbers have been much too low in the RDF. Will the Minister of State outline what particular measures he hopes …

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I sincerely hope that the laudable objectives he outlined from the RDF regeneration development plan, which was published in July 2024, are implemented with as much impetus as possible. It is extremely important that we increase the numbers. The RDF should have a greater presence throughout the country and in each community. Deputy Crowe and I were on the foreign affairs and defence committee from 2016 to 2020. At that time, as Cathaoirleach of the committee, I invited t…

As regards the Minister of State's final comments with regard to the review of particular services that can be remunerated, I hope that issue can be addressed. As the Minister of State knows, I grew up on the Border. I saw the importance of the Reserve Defence Force. In many instances, good members of the community got young people who may have been in certain difficulty into the Reserve Defence Force. The young people enjoyed the training and benefited a great deal from it. Many of them went on to serve in the Per…

First, I apologise for the absence of Deputy McGreehan, who has another commitment that clashed with the timing of questions here. Three of us here, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, and I, are from the north east and any investment in Louth is important for our respective counties as well. Of course, I am thinking of Aiken Barracks, Dundalk, where many people from my constituency serve as well. It is important for County Meath as well. I sincerely hope that where investment …

I thank the Minister for her response. Our colleague, Deputy McGreehan, will be glad to hear of the Minister's commitment to further investment in Aiken Barracks. I am glad that the Minister emphasised that accommodation needs to be upgraded. As a member of the then Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence some years ago, I had the opportunity to visit some barracks and I have to say I was very disappointed with the quality of some of the living accommodation. In the meantime, I had a lot of engagement w…

I thank the Minister for her response. Deputy Timmins quite rightly referred to investment in cybersecurity. We all agree with that and we know the urgency of it. In the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces of 2022, the preferred enlistment is 11,500 by 2028. That is the target that was outlined in that report. To cater for that enlistment that I sincerely hope will be reached and exceeded, additional accommodation is needed. The most modern barracks in Europe was Dún Uí Néill, Cavan, which, unfortunately…

What I have suggested, and some of the senior Army personnel at a committee said should be considered, and I would hope the Minister would ask her Department officials to consider, is that Dún Uí Néill could be opened again as a forward operating base-----

-----where members of the Defence Forces could acquaint themselves with the topography and detailed knowledge of that Border region because we are in a difficult security situation and we never know what is ahead of us.

As the Minister is well aware, the Commission on the Defence Forces produced a very important strategy in 2022, and the subsequent implementation plan outlined a series of measures that needed to be taken to strengthen our Defence Forces. One of the key issues was the whole area of recruitment and retention of personnel. I welcome the progress that has been made, but I am sure the Minister will be the first to admit it is slower than any of us want. Are there any particular measures the Minister can introduce in 20…

I thank the Minister for her reply. Again, it is important we recognise there has been stabilisation in the whole defence numbers, with a welcome increase also. Recent programmes for Government gave a welcome commitment to build on improvements in the recruitment process and, as the Minister rightly referred to, better representation of women at all levels of the Defence Forces. Are there any particular additional measures being proposed this year to implement those commitments? Some years ago, there was a ludicrou…