I begin my brief remarks by commending the parents and the disability advocates who are highlighting this issue. I also commend and applaud all of those therapists who are demoralised, forced to work in a system that is not fit for purpose and against a level of demand that is unprecedented. There seems to be very little point in standing up here yet again and repeating that the assessment of need system is broken. We all know that. We all know there are thousands of children and families whose entire lives are put…

-----delivery if we are to have any chance of-----

-----honouring the rights of children to timely assessments of need.

I am finishing a sentence.

Calm down, Chair. I am finishing a sentence.

You do need to calm down.

You are the one blowing it out of proportion. There is no need for the drama.

You are creating too much drama.

The Gaiety is around the corner. We do not need the drama.

The Minister of State may have seen recent polling on Irish people's views on the EU. Certainly, they are at historically low levels, due in no small part to what is now almost a cliché, that is, the bureaucratic stranglehold that Brussels has on every single aspect of our lives, particularly agriculture. There is a level of intrusion and often just plain stupidity that is simply eye-watering. Only yesterday, the ICMSA characterised the European Commission's proposals to simplify the CAP as unconvincing, and while …

Surely removing land from food production is in contradiction with that statement from the Commission. I would hope that will be challenged.

I have written to the new Chair of the Oireachtas transport committee to demand the appearance of senior management from the Road Safety Authority before the committee members. The RSA is clearly an organisation not fit for purpose, with an increasingly bad track record that is generating chaos for learner drivers and industry sectors such as hauliers. Last year there was a call, and indeed an expectation, that the RSA would be disbanded given its failure to tackle the learner driver waiting time crisis. Unfortunat…

Tá áthas orm labhairt mar chuid de na ráitis ar an ardoideachas sa Teach inniu. Guím gach rath ar an Aire, an Teachta Lawless, agus ar an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Harkin, ina róil nua. I truly believe that education is the most powerful and liberating tool at our disposal when it comes to lifting people from economic poverty, but also the poverty of the imagination that afflicts so much of our world. I acknowledge the role our secondary schools play in preparing students for higher level education. In my constituency…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important matter. Obviously, it is upsetting for so many parents across the State and for even TDs here who have had personal experience in some form or other. We should always at least try and avoid the temptation to make any single institution the scapegoat for what are clearly systemic problems around governance and the care of children in the health service. We have fantastic people working in the health service, but where there are issues. Where mistakes are made, we …

Married couples in my constituency on decent but modest incomes are contacting my offices in frustration following confirmation from SUSI that their children are either not eligible for grants or fees or, if they are, are just entitled to the bare minimum. I am dealing with one case where one parent is a council employee and the other a civil servant. They have always instilled a profound work ethic in their children, they have always paid their taxes and they have never asked the State for anything in terms of wel…

The tariff trauma has begun. Even if our industries, particularly our pharmaceutical and agri-export sectors, can escape the worst of the challenges that arise, there is no doubt that we are in for a sustained period of economic uncertainty that is going to send chills through tens of thousands of households in this State. However, I want to state clearly that we have, in effect, squandered the last four years in terms of shoring up our own indigenous sectors. The previous Government was worse than any Trump Admini…

I wish the Minister of State well in her new role and look forward to working with her on a number of issues. The Bill before us is in response to the Pensions Commission’s recommendations and implementation plan, published in 2022. Many aspects are welcome but there are also many concerns. The Government subsequently committed to introducing a range of reforms to ensure the pensions system is sustainable and that people relying on the State pension have adequate and predictable income in retirement. However, I not…

I wish to raise an issue that is of considerable importance not only to my constituency of Offaly, but to many areas nationally that have witnessed a dramatic increase in the level of demand. I refer to special education schools and the enormous pressure they are under every single day to keep the doors open, retain staff and deliver urgent therapeutic interventions to all pupils in their care. Last November, there was major disappointment and anger at the news that special schools in Laois and Offaly had yet again…

I thank the Taoiseach for his response. The pilot scheme has failed. We are certainly all in agreement on that. However, I am concerned about the backlog of children waiting for in-school therapists. I acknowledge that a disability forum will be set up, which is progress in the right direction, but there is a need and a vacuum now. Offaly School of Special Education has done its level best in working to get the in-school therapists in place but that still has not happened. Is it possible that private therapists cou…

Stop it, will you? Have respect. The Deputies are a disgrace. I spent too long with them. I will be voting in support of the Ceann Comhairle, Deputy Verona Murphy, from one female politician to another, and as one who has had more than her fair share of spite and political attacks to contend with, particularly from one party in here. I will not sit on the fence as others have done while attempts are made to engage in what amounts to a coercive form of democratic vandalism to the constitutional offices of this State…