I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes: — the announcement on 13th June by senior members of the Health Service Executive (HSE) that the final stages of downgrading the 24-hour Emergency Department (ED) at Our Lady's Hospital, Navan (OLHN) would commence on 30th June, 2022; — that HSE officials have acknowledged that Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda will see an increase in emergency patients and a projected increase of 2,100 ambulance transfers per year from Navan; — that, in May 2022, the average wait time for E…

It is very disappointing that the Government will not support our motion because by pausing it, all we are doing is kicking the can down the road. Instead of protecting and enhancing emergency and critical care services in Navan, uncertainty will hang over the people of Meath for months. The Minister could have put this to bed tonight by saying that he would protect and enhance services at Navan hospital. The Minister of State, Deputy English, said the motion we brought to the floor of the House tonight was a fair …

Sinn Féin is bringing forward this motion on the rising food prices as we recognise the plight every single worker and low-income family is going through at this moment in time. Food prices are continuing to rise, with groceries expected to cost almost €800 more over the next 12 months. New research has found that 62% of people feel they will have to cut back on food spending over the coming year, with increasing concern that the rising price of food and groceries is forcing many families to go without, as evidence…

I raise Tabor House in Navan, County Meath. It has permission to build a 12-bedroom secondary addiction centre for women. The plan is in place. It has been gifted a site and the local authority is going to fund the building. Tabor House sent a letter to the HSE in 2019 and while there has been a response, it was not the letter that we want, namely, a letter of promise that the HSE will fund the day-to-day running of the centre, which is about €284,000 a year. It has the plan, the building and everything in place ba…

I raise the issue of Enfield Community College. We have been told the new school will go to tender later this year and will be delivered by the Department's design and build team. While this is promising news, has the school project been identified under one of the current project bundles in the National Development Finance Agency, NDFA, and, if so, which one? Following a review of the project bundles for Project Boyne, Project Dargle and Project Nore under the devolved schools building programme, DSBP, 2, on the N…

A living wage makes possible a minimum acceptable standard of living. Work should provide an adequate income to enable individuals to afford a socially acceptable standard of living - a living wage that provides for needs, not wants. A living wage would help to provide employees with sufficient income to achieve a minimum standard of living. In other words, it would be an income floor or the bottom line. Employees below the living wage are forced to do without essentials to make ends meet. In a cost-of-living crisi…

St. Mary's Special School in Navan, County Meath, was informed a few weeks ago that the speech and language therapy service at the school was to be withdrawn in four weeks. The therapist at St. Mary's does not just work with the 55 pupils. She also works closely with the principal, she trains the teachers on how best to teach the children, and she works with parents and gives guidance to everyone involved. The principal has said that the therapist is the best she has seen in her 28 years teaching. The nationwide pl…

I thank my colleagues for bringing this motion before the House. People in my constituency of Meath West and right across the country are really struggling now with the cost of living. They believe they are getting very little help from the Government. The rising costs for families are evident every week, with the price of diesel up 46%, the price of petrol up 35%, the price of electricity up 22.5%, the price of gas up 28% and the price of home heating oil up a massive 126.6% in the past year. The price of solid fu…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. A public meeting was held in Meath the other night regarding the lack of services for children with disabilities. One woman spoke about her ongoing fight for basic services for her child from childhood into adulthood for the past 23 years. Another child was diagnosed with autism on the day of the meeting and the parent wondered if she will she be fighting the same battle and dealing with the same concerns in 20 years' time. Another matter discussed at the meeting was the number of vacan…

Very worrying reports have been circulating in my community to the effect that the Department of Social Protection branch office in Castlepollard, County Westmeath, which serves Castlepollard, Oldcastle, Delvin, Collinstown, Coole, Castletown, Finea, Lismacaffrey and Street is possibly in danger of closure. As the Minister can imagine, this has caused extreme concern in the large rural hinterland served by this branch office. This is an area largely not serviced by public transport. If the Department's services wer…

I thank my colleague, Deputy Tully, for bringing forward this motion on assessments of need for children with special educational requirements. Back in October 2020, the Ombudsman for Children's Office, OCO, published a report, Unmet Needs, which set out the challenges experienced by children with additional needs requiring assessments. The report highlighted the violations of the rights of children with additional needs and delays to assessments. The HSE is obliged to commence a full assessment within three months…

Councillor Michael Gallagher and I have been raising an issue for years. There was an announcement about roads recently. I have to hand a map of the Kells electoral area with details for the next three years. There are 55 sections of road being worked on, or 1 million km. Eighteen sections of road are being worked on per year. The section from Ballinlough to Ross and Mount Nugent is a huge area. There are five sections of road. The area includes Ballinlough, Crossakeel, Killallon, Kilskeer, Drumone, Moylagh, Ballyn…

We need to do something. I have been trying to address this since I was on the county council in 2014. I have just one more thing-----

Please, Minister. The Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, is hinting at him there.

This is the story in north Meath.

I wish to raise an issue relating to dentists, which I also bought up with the Tánaiste in November. There are 107 dentists in Meath, as listed on the government website. To my knowledge, not one of them is accepting new clients with medical cards. There are 35 in Navan, five in Trim and two in Enfield. This is for a population of 210,000. It is a serious issue. The dispute between the HSE and the dentists has gone on for more than 13 months. It needs to be resolved. Is there any sign of that? I receive calls every…

Green hydrogen offers Ireland a significant opportunity to meet our climate targets, North and South. Our island has one of the best offshore wind energy potential in the world, and if we can harness a portion of it for the production of green hydrogen, we can create thousands of jobs in rural Ireland and become exporters of this renewable energy to Europe, which will create wealth for citizens here. We want an all-Ireland approach on this, with a co-ordinated plan to develop hydrogen plants and storage facilities …

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for taking this matter on behalf of the Department of Foreign Affairs. I was very disappointed to read an article on Monday, 24 January in The Irish Times about the need for stronger advocacy in Washington on Irish-American issues and for Irish people living and working in the USA. The article details a statement issued by the Ancient Order of Hibernians, one of the largest Irish organisations outside of Ireland. This feeling is shared by most of the Irish community liv…

I thank the Minister of State for her answer. She stated that the influence of Ireland in the United States is remarkable. However, that influence does not seem to be used as best we can. That is the way Irish people overseas look at it. I know Covid has had a serious impact on the last two years but we need to get these talks with the American Administration up and running, especially about the undocumented. Some have been there for 20 or 30 years and have not been able to come home to their family members. That i…

These issues have been going on much longer than two years and they have not been addressed.