I welcome the announcement yesterday by the Minister for Children, Disabilty and Equality, Deputy Norma Foley, of seven new early learning and childcare projects under the State-led early learning and childcare capital programme. It was especially good to see Boyle included in that allocation this year. There have been a lot of representations. It has been raised in this House and the Lower House on repeated occasions by Government representatives and it is good to see Government is delivering where a community has…

I wish to extend my condolences to the family of Seamus Carroll, the usher who passed away. I acknowledge what Senator Goldsboro mentioned earlier about PV solar panels for medically vulnerable individuals. She had a number of questions and was seeking a debate. It is something I spoke about in the House last night during our motion on fuel and energy supports and it is something I have raised here repeatedly. I even tabled a Commencement matter with the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley. It is a great scheme in whi…

He congratulated Fine Gael on the training.

I welcome the Minister of State for this debate on an important topic. I will follow on from what Senator O'Reilly raised. We are able to get money for big schemes, but sometimes the ones that will have a bigger impact and a wider geographical spread are the ones that suffer. As I have raised before, we have spent in excess of €50 million on the safe routes to school scheme, but 50% of the schools that originally applied to that scheme still have to get the work done. Yet, schools are on busy main roads and, predom…

I thank the Minister for coming into the House to speak about a project that I know she is very familiar with. I acknowledge the significant announcement last January that included Scoil an Chroí Naofa among the 105 school projects prioritised to progress to tender for construction during 2026-27 as part of an initial investment of more than €1.6 billion by the Minister and her Department. I welcomed that announcement then, and I welcome it again today. I thank the Minister for her involvement in progressing that u…

I thank the Minister. I have seen by her actions that she has prioritised this project. From working with her Government colleagues, we know they have prioritised this project. We all know the need and this is a programme that the Government needs to deliver for Ballinasloe. The Minister mentioned that the project is valued at over €10 million. Has the necessary approval from the Department of public expenditure been secured to allow the project to proceed to tender? If that approval has not yet been secured, what …

Last Thursday, during statements here on a report on inclusion, I mentioned Lisa and Aoife O'Rourke's final appearances on Thursday and Friday last. I was lucky, on Saturday evening, to be a part of the welcoming committee welcoming them back to their native Castlerea with their families and their two gold medals. It is something we are getting used to. Today, I want to bring it back to something that I have raised here on a number of occasions in terms or resourcing the Garda. Probably to follow on from what Senat…

The lesson there is to never go second. I thank the Senator. I fully support the motion. I will not go over a lot of the points that have been mentioned, but I want to highlight that this motion is targeting assistance for vulnerable households, which is something that I have regularly raised in the House. I have been a big proponent of the warmer homes scheme and ensuring that those who need it most - those who are getting the assistance that many of my colleagues have mentioned - get the actual retrofitting that …

That is why I ran over a small bit.

I compliment Senator Craughwell on that particular point. One of the beauties of this House is our ability to raise a particular topic and raise awareness of it. When it comes from lived experience, Helen's legacy could be simplifying that process to future people who experience it. It is an important thing to raise in this House. I compliment the Senator on that. Last week, I met with an individual who is a recipient of disability allowance. They are supported by our disability services and were talking to me abou…

The Minister of State is welcome. I too acknowledge Senators Ní Chuilinn and Harmon for bringing this motion before the House today. It is very timely. It is a very important issue to raise. All of the Oireachtas committees always do great work. The publication of reports with recommendations is really at the core of the work we do in this House. It is where we do not have the theatrics of the Chambers or the influence of social media. It is where people sit down to discuss the issues and see what recommendations t…

I too was not available yesterday but I would like to be associated with the condolences to Senator Craughwell on the passing of his wife Helen. May she rest in peace. There are a number of issues I would like to raise. I could talk about the ongoing difficulties with school transport, the serious concerns across rural Ireland about synthetic and semi-synthetic cannabinoid vapes and the pressures on our National Educational Psychological Service, especially the lack of an educational psychologist available to schoo…

The Minister is very welcome here this evening. I welcome the opportunity to speak on childcare. I commend my Government colleagues on bringing this motion to the House today because we have to be fair about where we are right now. There has been real progress. There has been record investment. The national childcare scheme has reduced costs for families. Average out-of-pocket childcare costs are down 36% since 2022. Budget 2026 provided almost €1.5 billion for early learning and childcare while core funding for 20…

I am shocked to hear that.

At 9.30 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Can we reset the clock? I will start by mentioning the "parents notify" portal on the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, website for special classes and special places, which has a deadline of 1 September. The whole principle of the early notification this year is to determine demand, plan ahead and provide the special class places and special classes for 2027-28. To clarify for people, the portal is open 12 months of the year but the deadline is to allow the NCSE to plan and prepare a budget. The additi…

I welcome the Acting Leader to his new role and wish him well with that. I will refer to a report that appeared in our local paper this morning. Local councillor, Micheál Frain, from Ballaghaderreen, County Roscommon, is calling for a 24-7 staffed Garda station in Ballaghaderreen due to an increased amount of antisocial behaviour, including reports of people with e-scooters on paths and loud music at night. There is no presence in the community on a regular basis when these situations present themselves. It highlig…

I welcome the Minister to the House. Like so many of the previous speakers, it would be disingenuous of me not to concede I agree with some of the points in the motion. However, having read the countermotion and having benefited significantly from the Our Rural Future policy in the past and looking forward to its future iterations, I note that none of the speakers so far have mentioned that budget 2026 was the largest the Department Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht has ever had. There was €611 mill…

I too wish to be associated with the welcoming of the deputy head of mission from the French Embassy. I wish him a happy Bastille Day and the best of luck tonight. I am not going to be as blatant and pick a side before the game, but it is hard to go against France on a night like tonight. I also acknowledge a colleague from Roscommon, Dympna Daly-Finn, who is in the Gallery. I welcome her to the House. She is a guest of Deputy Clendennen. I am calling for a debate in the House on the regional spatial and economic s…

The Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, is very welcome to the Chamber this morning. I welcome Ireland's first national financial literacy strategy and the recent publication of the first annual review and action plan for the period 2026 to 2027. It is a comprehensive piece of work and demonstrates that the Government recognises that financial literacy is no longer simply about understanding money. It is about consumer protection, financial literacy and confidence throughout every stage of people's lives. I also welc…