Given the liberty we have been shown, I have to wish Athenry ladies camogie team the best of luck in the all-Ireland final at the weekend. I look forward to the publication of the strategy. I hope that we can see some incentivisation of the third level sector to provide accommodation in close proximity to the institutions and that it will be available to students at a reasonable cost. The Minister outlined very well the supports he has provided and the increased supports he has provided. Could the Minister tell me …

I will pick up on a point Deputy Neville made about the abuse adults suffered online. One can only appreciate the significant impact that also has on children when they suffer abuse or bullying online. As adults, we have perspective. We receive political abuse online that we might describe as bullying, but we should have the perspective as adults to be able to tolerate that. Not that we should have to tolerate it, but we should be able to deal with it. However, for a young vulnerable child who is unsure of themselv…

The Minister of State will be aware, as all Government TDs are, that one of the most significant promises we made at the outset of the formation of the Government was to enhance services for children with disabilities. I recall the Taoiseach defining what we needed as a step change in how we provide these services. The programme for Government is explicit in its objective to: Ensure children and their families who need early intervention and therapy input can access that support in a timely way by increasing staffi…

In October 2022 I received, as a member of Galway City Council, a presentation from the NTA Galway park and ride office. Even though it is called the Galway park and ride office, it is based in Dublin. As a general point, there was limited comment in last week's sectoral transport plan regarding park and ride. On that occasion the office advised us it was pursuing three sites for the development of park and ride facilities in Galway. It told us it was in discussions with landowners on agreements and that submission…

In the sphere of policies and strategies that the Government has announced today and possibly will over the term of the Government, I think this is one of the most important if not the most important. Together with the announcement today of how we are going to accelerate infrastructural development over the coming years also, the combination of these really will determine, I believe, how this Government will fare. However, that is not the most important thing. It will determine the well-being and welfare of our cit…

It is opportune that the Minister is in the seat. Successive Governments have committed to building the Galway city ring road. In October 2023, which is over two years ago now, the Galway roads project office resubmitted the planning application to An Bord Pleanála. That followed a three-and-a-half year assessment process by An Bord Pleanála, which unfortunately failed in the judicial review process. There has been over six years of an assessment process for a piece of infrastructure that is badly needed while in G…

Ar nós mo chomhghleacaí, cuirim fáilte roimh an deis an t-ábhar seo a ardú agus ceist na leapacha in Áras Mhic Dara a phlé anseo anocht. Má fhaigheann sé deis, molaim don Aire Stáit an tuairisc is déanaí ó HIQA ar Áras Mhic Dara a léamh. Taispeánann sé cé chomh hard is atá an caighdeán cúraim san ionad. Is aoibhinn an rud é sin d'éinne a bhfuil duine dá chlann san ionad seo. Táimid ag brath ar an bhfoireann ansin agus ar na daoine ar fad atá ag obair ann. If the Minister of State gets the opportunity, he should rea…

Aontaím le mo chomhghleacaí. Cuirim fáilte roimh an gealltanas go bhfuil an tAire Stáit chun casadh leis na hoifigigh áitiúla ansin. Tá sé geallta aige go bhfuil sé ag iarraidh an fhadhb a réiteach chomh luath agus is féidir chun na leapacha sin a oscailt. Is dócha go bhfuil ábhar níos leithne anseo. There is a wider issue certainly. One of the things I noted is that in 2024, of the 17,168 critical skills employment permits given out in the country, more than 5,000 of them were for nursing staff. We have to examine…

I want to ask about the facilities for mental health treatment within University Hospital Galway. The acute mental health facility within the hospital has 50 beds but they are consistently full. That raises concerns about the ability to admit new patients to the ward. Increasingly and anecdotally, I am coming across stories of people attending the accident and emergency unit who are unable to access an inpatient bed. To compound matters, the Mental Health Commission found that the accident and emergency unit at Uni…

Last week Exchange House Ireland, the national Traveller service, presented to the joint Oireachtas committee on issues affecting the Travelling community, particularly regarding health issues. It spoke about the complexity of issues which determine the poor health outcomes for members of the Travelling community. I acknowledge there is complexity in resolving those issues but immediate improvements need to be made in the area of treatment for members of the Travelling community who suffer from mental health issues…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. To echo some of the sentiments of Deputy Lahart, there is a sense that men do not look after their own physical health and, possibly, mental health as well as they should. Opportunities like this to highlight the need to make sure people are aware of the supports that are available, and that it is important to look after their health, are appropriate. This is particularly the case because, as I understand it, November is a month where there is an organised cam…

Cuirim ceist ar an Aire faoi na hiarrachtaí ar siúl ag an Roinn chun cur le líon agus raon na gcúrsaí trí mheán na Gaeilge atá ar fáil do mhic léinn sa chóras ardoideachais. Is léir nach bhfuil mórán acu ann. Níl faoi láthair ach 1,779 mac léinn i mbun staidéir i nGaeilge amháin, agus tá formhór na mac léinn sin ag déanamh staidéar ar Ghaeilge mar ábhar é féin. Is beag deis atá ag mic léinn staidéar a dhéanamh trí mheán na Gaeilge sna hinstitiúidí tríú leibhéal.

Molaim iarrachtaí an Aire an cheist a fhreagairt i nGaeilge. Tá mé fíorbhuíoch dó as sin. To put things in numerical perspective, 8% of children can attend primary school through Irish, and 3.8% of those proceed to attend secondary school in Irish. However, titeann sé sin go dtí níos lú ná 1% sna hinstitiúidí tríú leibhéal. That falls to less than 1% of students who complete their tertiary education through Irish. Ar bhealach, in a way, it is a matter of rights. D'aon pháiste nó d'aon duine óg, for any young person…

We should look at that Welsh model. It is a state framework for the promotion of courses through the Welsh language across their third level institutions. It has doubled since 2011 the number of students completing their third level education through Welsh. It offers additional grants to the institutions to offer courses through Welsh and scholarships to students. Those people from Conradh na Gaeilge who attended the Irish language committee recently spoke about the real impact it is having on the Welsh language an…

I compliment the recent changes made by the Minister in the budget to increase the income thresholds for the SUSI support and to put more families in a position to get the SUSI grant. Will the Minister's Department review the method used to calculate commuting distances for the SUSI adjacency grant eligibility?

I welcome the fact the Minister has outlined a method that prioritises being fair, whereby we give every option to ensure the detail is clear for the family about having that non-adjacent categorisation. There is one thing we should examine, namely, the household income threshold. This should reflect in some way the institution the student wishes to attend. If we take my own example, I am fortunate to live in Galway city and my children have a wide range of options to attend third level education on our doorstep th…

I welcome that. Again, it contributes to the impression I have of the Minister in terms of innovation and what he is bringing to this Department to make sure more people can access third level education and that no opportunity is denied. To reiterate, there is some inequity in that household income is assessed irrespective of a student's adjacency or proximity to the third level institution. That is something we can look at it. We must recognise it is going to cost some people more . I acknowledge that we recognise…

I welcome today's debate. It is a significant day for third level education in the State. It indicates the commitment of this Government and that of the Minister to the development of the sector and, as he has rightly said time and again, the crucial nature it has in terms of the provision of skills. As the Minister, Deputy Lawless, has always said, this portfolio has an economic impact, and today we are seeing that it has a direct economic impact as well as a long-term economic impact. Today, we will indicate that…

I think I have said it all. I compliment the Minister and Minister of State and look forward to seeing the implementation of this over the coming years.

I welcome the emphasis in the budget on capital investment in infrastructure and housing. There is a full allocation of €19.1 billion for infrastructure in budget 2026, which is an increase of more than €2 billion on the 2025 figure. I very much welcome this. When we have such quantities of money to spend, it is important that we do not allow it to become bogged down in red tape and bureaucracy, which slows down the development of infrastructure. I know that next month the Minister, Deputy Chambers, is to publish a…