I raise the case of a constituent in County Galway who has experienced lifelong difficulties and trauma as a result of historical abuse at the hands of a member of the Christian Brothers who was his primary school teacher. The individual who carried out the abuse has since been convicted. My constituent's legal representatives have written to successive Ministers requesting redress from the State but those letters have fallen on deaf ears. His solicitor has advised him that he may have to initiate High Court procee…

Will the Minister provide an update on investment in infrastructure in the west of Ireland?

I want to raise a really important piece of infrastructure from a tourism perspective in County Galway, which is Dunguaire Castle in Kinvara. The Minister may be aware that this iconic landmark has remained closed to the public in recent years. It is in the ownership of the Shannon Group. There have been attempts to have ownership transferred to Galway County Council with a view to the council bringing it up to a safe standard and ultimately reopening it but funding issues have prevented that from happening. As per…

I am going back to the Minister of State, Deputy Moran. This is in relation to the castle. It is a key and world-class attraction on the Wild Atlantic Way. This castle has been closed for the past three years, as I mentioned, and is a huge loss to the local community. I know the OPW has a lot of other similar sites in County Galway, of which Athenry Castle and Portumna Castle are two that come to mind, and the OPW does a good job of running those sites. They are fantastic attractions, and I have a lot of confidence…

I ask the Minister to provide an update on the south Galway flood relief project and a timeline for delivery of this scheme, which is critical to protect homes in the area.

As the Minister of State will be aware, flooding in south Galway caused devastation in previous years. This scheme has been on the cards for a long time. There is frustration locally at the slow pace of delivery and that communities in the area continue to be left exposed as a result. The weather has become more changeable and extreme. We have seen the impact that flooding has had in the south-east in recent times as well. There is a real fear in south Galway that the longer this drags on, the more it increases the…

I acknowledge that Galway County Council's engineers are doing great work on this. The south Galway flood relief committee has documented the issues and delays the scheme has faced. The Minister of State mentioned the NPWS engagement. That was originally scoped just around one technical question on the flow controls but that has since seemed to have blown up into a full environmental review of the scheme. It has dragged on for 18 months. A timeline needs to be put on this to bring it to a conclusion. As has been me…

The cessation of turf cutting compensation scheme was set up in 2011 to compensate domestic turf cutters who were forced to stop cutting turf on bogs designated as special areas of conservation and national heritage areas. In the time this scheme has been in operation, over 3,000 applicants have availed of the €1,500 index-linked payments for 15 years. The issue now is that many households are coming to the end of this 15-year period and there is no clarity as to what will happen once their payments end and whether…

I thank the Minister of State and I appreciate it is not her Department. However, it is deeply disappointing we do not have any clarity on what is going to happen in terms of supports for households, if anything, once these payments end. I have outlined the situation where families are no longer going to be receiving a compensation payment while not being allowed to cut turf in their bogs and we know we have a real crisis in terms of energy poverty and so on in this country at the moment. It is very concerning and …

There is still no PET scanner operating in the public system in Galway or across the wider western region. We are being told it will be at least 2033 before a PET scanner will be provided for University Hospital Galway. This is completely unacceptable because this imaging technology is vital for monitoring cancer patients for cancer diagnosis. Patients are being forced to travel long distances to access these scans. They are often referred to private operators at significant cost to the State. They cost millions of…

As Deputy Daly has outlined, we support the removal of the cap but there needs to be effective oversight and transparency in terms of the definitions and powers it gives the Minister when coming to the decision to give a ministerial order. This will ensure local communities are engaged with and listened to. This has to strike the right balance between ensuring our international connectivity while protecting local communities and local residents who will have to deal with the consequences of this. At the very least,…

This legislation on the passenger cap must strike the right balance between ensuring our island's connectivity while also acknowledging the experiences and voices of local residents who live close to the airport. The €32 million annual passenger cap has been in place for many years now. However, in this time, passenger demand has far outgrown this limit and the cap has caused significant regulatory uncertainty for the aviation sector. Sinn Féin supports the abolition of the cap but we believe this should be done in…

Galway County Council has been underfunded for years, and the figures are stark. Galway County Council receives €1,051 per person, while the average across the State is €1,534. If Galway County Council was receiving that State average, its annual budget would increase from €203 million to €296 million, an increase of almost 50%. It is undeniable that we are not receiving our fair share in County Galway. This has an enormous impact on all of the services which are provided by the council, whether roads, environment,…

The Minister of State's response does not address the key questions as to why Galway County Council is losing out and what specific formula is being used to calculate the funding to local authorities. It is important to say that Galway County Council has done everything that has been asked of it. It increased the local property tax - I did not support that, but it did it - on the specific promise that increased funding would be coming from central government in response to that. It also increased the rates, but the…

This question is in the context of the National Transport Authority, NTA, stating that it does not have money for further public transport expansion this year. Why has it been left in this position? I have a relevant local example in Athenry in my area. I know that the Minster is aware of the situation there. Will he touch on it?

This reset the Minister is talking about means fewer new services. That is what the NTA is saying, and the impact of that is massive. I know the impact of it in Athenry, and the Minister knows the story there, where we have been promised a PSO bus service for the past two years since the previous service ended. We still do not have that bus service. We have been told that the 6.50 a.m. train, the only early morning train service at around that time between Athenry and Galway, is ending in six weeks' time at the end…

I welcome the Minister's commitment on the 6.50 a.m. train. I ask that that be communicated to the NTA and Irish Rail as well, that clarity is provided to them on that. The responses I am getting have not reflected that until now but I welcome the Minister's comments on the matter today. If additional funding is forthcoming, of course that will be very welcome as well but my question is on when that will happen. In terms of Athenry, we have been waiting two years for that promised bus service. The NTA says that whi…

Yes.

I ask the Minister to provide an update on the replacement of the State's rail traffic management system; to provide an updated timeline for delivery; the projected costs for this; and to make a statement on the matter.

The €50 million that has been written off on this failed traffic management system represents a shocking waste of public money. The information given to the transport committee last week by Irish Rail showed that, for years, Iarnród Éireann staff expressed concerns about the ability of the contractor, Indra, to deliver this project. Despite these concerns, millions of euro continued to be put into this project. It demonstrates a real failure in project oversight. I understand that, in mid-2025, Iarnród Éireann reco…