I congratulate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on his appointment. The lack of suitable school places for children with additional needs is critical for many families in my constituency of Cork East. There are 16 autism classes in five primary schools in or around the Youghal area. These are feeder schools for Youghal's only secondary school, Pobalscoil na Tríonóide, which has only three autism classes. This equates to 96 students in primary schools who will be seeking to avail of one of 18 secondary school places. Paren…

I thank the Minister of State. This week I spoke to a family that is campaigning for the proposed secondary school autism class in Youghal. Their current experience of primary education in Youghal is going very well for their son. However, the lead-up to being granted that school placement was a time of major trepidation as it was far from guaranteed due to the level of need out there. Looking ahead to secondary school options, the picture is far more uncertain and anxiety-provoking for this family and many other f…

I want to raise the long-standing issue of the water supply and water pressure in Ballyhooly, County Cork. Over the years, residents there have had to deal with extremely low water pressure and, at times, a non-existent supply of water, for prolonged periods. This has been affecting residents in nearly every aspect of their daily lives. When water pressure is low, people cannot shower, bathe or cook or use dishwashers or washing machines. Toilets do not fill or flush and gas heating systems are affected. This means…

The Social Democrats are introducing this motion on addressing the housing disaster at a time when the Government is clearly at an ideological loss. Its policies of incentives for developers and investments for vulture funds, and their inflationary demand-side measures, have failed to move the dial on the housing disaster. More people are homeless today than ever before and the Government is falling significantly short of its own housing targets, delivering fewer homes in 2024 than in the previous year. The private…

I congratulate the Minister of State on her reappointment as Minister of State with responsibility for mental health. We hear so many stories about what is going wrong with our mental health services and as public representatives advocating for our constituents it is difficult not to fall into a position of perpetual complaint and outrage at times because there is so much unmet need out there and sometimes decisions are made that are not in the interests of people attending our services. It is important to acknowle…

I welcome the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, and congratulate them on their appointments. The area of special educational needs and disability involves so much frustration, worry and stress and unnecessary daily hardship for families, as well as so much discontinuity and inconsistency of care and rehabilitation, that it is difficult to know where to focus. As I said in an earlier contribution today on mental health, it is imperative for the Minister to engage intensive…

When I was canvassing for the local and general elections last year, the need for measures to combat speeding in residential areas was one of the most pressing issues for constituents. In the local elections, it was probably one of the top three issues. Speed measures are essential for safety and quality of life. They provide a backdrop of calm in residential areas and give peace of mind to parents in particular in order that they do not have to be in a constant state of vigilance and threat when their children are…

I thank the Minister of State for being here. I raise the issue of a long-standing and worsening crisis in my discipline of psychology, and in particular within primary care mental health services for young people, with reference to the programme for Government. There are vague references in the programme for Government to workforce planning and increasing capacity for child and adolescent mental health services but there is no mention of the main roadblock that has been placed in front of the resourcing of these s…

I thank Sinn Féin for tabling the motion. The time for enacting the occupied territories Bill was six years ago, when it was introduced to the Dáil by Deputy Niall Collins, fully supported at the time by his Fianna Fáil colleagues - a very stark contrast with the scene of desertion on the Fianna Fáil benches this evening. The vote in 2019 was a resounding success with 78 in favour to 45 against. It was democracy in action. We often hear from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael about threats to our democracy from the far righ…

I am really honoured to be making this address today as a Social Democrat TD for Cork East in the Thirty-fourth Dáil. I thank the people who placed their trust in me in the election. I also owe a huge debt of gratitude to the party members, relatives and friends who put heroic efforts into my campaign. Ireland is a great place to live with a flourishing economy, yet so many of the basics of a modern, prosperous country are not in place. The lack of affordable housing, the neglect of our disability and mental health…