I ask the Minister if an examination of improvements to key ancillary benefits, such as the fuel allowance, household benefits package and living alone allowance, to support vulnerable groups has occurred as part of the programme for Government. If not, when is this examination to occur? Will the Minister make a statement on the better?

I mentioned the growing population and people living longer, but there is the additional problem of people living alone, especially in rural areas. As the Minister will know, having come from a rural constituency, transport costs for someone living alone in a rural area is a matter we have not focused enough on and we need to look at. The cost of getting from A to B, be it ten miles, 15 miles or 20 miles, in a rural area is more expensive. This is one matter we should be considering in terms of the living alone all…

In rural and urban areas, support groups provide an important service, particularly for those living alone or who are elderly and need support. It is important that, in reviewing those supports, there is work done across the Departments of Health and Social Protection to ensure that those groups get support to help those who need care and assistance, be they in urban or rural areas. It is something that needs to be co-ordinated to a far greater scale that it has before. Much work was done, particularly during Covid…

It is important in dealing with this debate that we give reassurance to parents because they have gone through a difficult time. When a child needs any kind of surgical procedure, it is always challenging for parents to face into that. Are they making the right decision? Are they getting the right advice? Should they follow through? When they come across a difficulty like this and have to deal with it, they in some cases put the blame on themselves. They should not take any blame for anything that occurred here bec…

Will the Minister confirm the staff retention rates among early years educators for the past five years and the actions being taken to improve staff retention in the sector? Will she make a statement on the matter?

I very much appreciate that additional funding is going into this area. It is interesting to see that the majority of services reported having difficulty recruiting staff over the last 12 months, a process that was reported as difficult or very difficult by 95% of managers. The challenges of recruiting and retaining staff are having stark consequences, with 30% of managers reporting that problems recruiting or retaining staff will result in service closure, an increase of 6% over the previous year's survey. The thr…

I fully agree that a lot of work is being done and a lot of improvements have occurred. The other challenge in early childcare is access to appropriate facilities. We need to work together on access to facilities, not only in the Minister's Department but also across other Government Departments. I have come across a number of areas where there is difficulty in getting access to facilities and therefore the service cannot be provided in particular areas. We need to do a lot more work on that, and especially in new …

The issue I am raising is the shingles vaccine. As the Minister of State knows, shingles causes quite a lot of difficulty for people who get it. Herpes zoster is the other name for it. It is very painful. It can affect people really badly, especially when they get it close to the eye. I have come across people who have suffered long-term damage to their eyes from getting it in that area and I am sure the Minister of State has too. Over 30% of people who get shingles develop nerve pain and can suffer that for quite …

I accept what the Minister of State said; obviously, there is an issue regarding the negotiated price for the medication. Surely, we must look at the long-term challenges with an increasing older population. As the Minister of State outlined, those in the older age group are more prone to getting shingles. The number of people having to go into hospital will increase, as will the number who require treatment. The cost to the HSE and health service will increase. Even if we started by only providing it to people ove…

Back in October or November of last year there was a meeting between the HSE, Cork City Council and the Departments of housing and health with a view to opening a day centre in Cork. We have more than 500 people who are homeless. They are in shelters at night but during the day they have no place to go except out on the street. This also relates to the Garda and justice. We have identified a building but need funding for its refurbishment. I note it is not included in the HSE capital plan. I ask that this issue be …

This question is related to Questions Nos. 102 and 103. I wish the Minister of State well in his new role in the Department of public expenditure. My question relates to the Blackpool flood relief scheme, which was initiated in 2013. In the past 12 years, little or no progress has been made on the matter. Has the Department received the up-to-date environmental impact study in respect of the Blackpool flood relief scheme? What is the timeframe for when the public consultation will occur?

I thank the Minister for his reply but I am getting no answer to the question I raised. I asked when the Minister of State expected to have the environmental impact study back. When will we have a public consultation? When can we move on with this project? It is 12 years on and we have not made one single step forward on this project. I am frustrated. The fact is the OPW submitted the design to the Department of public expenditure in 2018. It took until 2021 for a decision to be made. There was then a judicial revi…

Can we get a timeframe for when the study will come from the OPW to the Department of public expenditure? When will we have a consultation? Have we a guideline? Will it be in three, six or 12 months' time? I fully understand the Department has to be extremely careful because it was a judicial review. However, we now have a situation where an area on the northside of the city is totally at a standstill. People cannot even get money to refurbish many old properties because the banks will not give out money where they…

I raise the number of dental training places that are available in the universities in Ireland. It has not increased in the past 25 years, yet the population has increased by 1.5 million. The number of dentists taking part in the dental treatment services scheme has reduced from 1,492 to 810, which means 682 fewer dentists are available under the scheme. There is an urgent need to increase the number of training places in universities for dental students, which is quite easy to do. A total of 44% of current student…

What efforts are being made by the Minister's Department to prioritise improvements in farmers' mental health and well-being supports, in particular supports for rural mental health programmes, recognising the unique challenges faced by those in the sector, and will the Minister make a statement on the matter?

A recent study - and there have been a number of them - by agri-mental health group Farming Minds in UCD found that 23.4% of farmers are considered at risk of suicide, 50% of farmers are currently experiencing moderate to extremely severe depression and almost 40% of farmers are experiencing moderate to extremely severe anxiety and stress. That report and other reports have been produced over recent years and highlight this, but other health areas need to be highlighted as well. I came across someone recently in th…

It is important to highlight this issue, as I said, with the farming organisations but also to work with other groups in rural areas. There was a time when if you were, say, a dairy farmer, you went to the creamery and you met others at IFA meetings, Macra meetings or ICMSA meetings. However, a lot of meetings now are held on Zoom so there is not the same social contact. That is why it is important that we work together to try to provide support, making sure that people do not feel alone, that if they do have chall…

I support the motion of confidence in the Ceann Comhairle. She retains my full confidence. As the democratically elected Chair of this House, she deserves the respect of all its Members. She was democratically elected. As a former colleague of hers on the Committee of Public Accounts, I know of her work rate and her commitment to fairness, due procedure and full accountability. I know she will implement that as Ceann Comhairle. Regardless of whether you support the Government or the Opposition, there are very great…

I have a query about the timescale. It is about sports organisations' planning. In the Minister of State's reply, he said the next round will start in 2026. When in 2026 will it be? Is it going to be in the first or second quarter? This is about organisations preparing plans and making sure they have gone through the whole planning process. It is about target dates. The Minister of State also raised the issue of disadvantaged areas but I am not clear that we are putting enough effort in to giving funding to disadva…

Regarding disadvantaged areas, while there are some in my constituency of Cork North-Central on the northside of the city, in fairness to all of the sporting organisations and the local authorities, they have been very proactive about grants. However, I did come across difficulties in Dublin. For instance, one of projects in which I was involved was the opening of Merchant's Quay supervised injection facility, and in that whole area of Dublin there are no facilities of any description for young people. There is a p…