I do not have those here.

The Deputy will be glad to know that at the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party meeting last evening, Deputy Brendan Smith, Senator Gallagher and the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, articulated similar concerns to those the Deputy raised about Monaghan, Cavan and some other areas of the country. We are very conscious of the pressure on roads, especially from storms and inclement weather, which have compounded the problem. Enormous sums of money are going into the national road network. About €1.5 billion was announced…

I thank the Deputy, who has raised this with me before. I am glad he had contact with the Department. I will talk to the Ministers again in respect of it. We are focusing strongly on special education and capital provision to get as many places secured as we possibly physically can. Obviously, this would be a significant advance on that.

It is a very sensitive issue, with many different perspectives across the House and the country in respect of it. We had a referendum a number of years ago that essentially created the legislative framework that now governs termination of pregnancy services. Significant progress has been made in that respect over the past number of years, which sometimes does not get acknowledged in the commentary. As the Deputy knows, a Private Members' Bill relating to the three-day waiting period for termination in early pregnan…

I am obviously very well aware of this issue. It is challenging legislation and work is under way in the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration in respect of it. Interim arrangements have been put in place as well to accelerate security clearances for personnel where this is required, particularly in research and industry. It is a very important issue.

During the summer, there was an acceleration of recruitment within the HSE. That was even above approved staffing levels, so it has created a challenge for the HSE. That said, the HSE is looking at the nursing issue, specifically what can be done to accommodate those who have graduated. There are pressures on the HSE budget. There is no point in saying otherwise. We would like to prioritise front-line workers and particularly the recruitment of nurses. Over the past number of years, we have been in a position to pr…

I thank the Deputy for raising a very important issue. I support the provision of services for those who have been sexually assaulted and the establishment of centres to do that. I do not have the specifics in respect of the progression of this in the mid-west but I will talk to the Minister about it. I would be fully supportive of it, subject to resource availability.

Under section 30 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended, the Minister with responsibility for planning is specifically precluded from exercising any power or control in relation to any particular planning-related matter with which a planning authority or the board is or may be concerned. There is a legislative prohibition on a Minister intervening in any specific planning application or issue. In terms of the legislation more broadly and what the Deputy has identified as a potential loophole, I will r…

Obviously, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine is very aware of the situation with regard to ferries and the capacity to transport live cattle. Other companies are also examining this and we hope that a solution to it will be in place by 1 January. I know the Minister is very concerned and is acting on it.

Essentially, over the last five years, there was almost a de facto moratorium on data centres, and the exponential increase in data centres predated the last four to five years. Under the large energy user action plan, LEAP, which was published in January of this year, we are moving to a plan-led system that will provide greater certainty for industry and ensure that the cost of developing necessary additional infrastructure is borne in a manner that is fair and balanced. This has been reinforced by unprecedented g…

First, I want to thank Deputy Cahill. He has been a strong advocate for that road on the Ring of Kerry. I know that he is welcoming the €10 million, but he is looking for more. It is a nice phrase - humps and hollows. It is poetic, but while it may be poetic, it is not good enough for the driver traversing that road. The €5 million for Cahersiveen, which the Deputy lobbied strongly for, is very welcome. The Ring of Kerry is a famous and beautiful route, with some great views and so forth. We will talk to the Minist…

I ask the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and the House to indulge me for a moment as I acknowledge the presence and imminent retirement of our colleague Miriam Lord, who is in the Gallery today. I think we would all agree that Miriam’s journalism, and in particular her oversight and accounts of our work in this House, has been a critical part of our national conversation, and indeed our nation’s democracy, over quite a number of years. In her unsparing but razor-sharp perception and analysis, I sometimes felt that she was r…

I have been in touch with the British Prime Minister. We discussed it over the weekend. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, has been in constant contact with the Secretary of State. If we are honest about this, I do not think it is as simple as that. I think that one intervention is not going to resolve it. People have to stand back and there has to be some collective pathway determined with some degree of mediation. I was listening to former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern this morning. He made the point that the issue has never…

First, I did not see the programme yesterday evening. One has to be objective and there has to be balance in the assessment of any story. The last five years has witnessed extraordinary expansion and investment in special education, which the Deputy has ignored completely in his comments. There is no excuse for, and I do not accept in any way, any child being in a cupboard, a stairwell or whatever. The fact is there has been an 87% increase in the number of special education places in five years. It is quite extrao…

Already this year we allocated a further €646 million on top of €3 billion to cater for the extra demand in special classes and places for special education. We took that decision earlier this year when the full scale of the demand revealed itself through the parents notify system and we were not found wanting in coming up with close to €700 million to deal with that. We will continue to do that. The Deputy made the point about Stapolin national school. That is a new school. I think it moved into a new school build…

The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and the Minister, Deputy Naughton, are doing everything they possibly can, given the extraordinary expansion in the last two years of numbers. In the last two years alone, the numbers seeking places in special classes or in special schools is quite significant. Yes, as a result of that expansion and the awarding of special schools, there had been issues with creating physical space in a very short space of time to accommodate everyone-----

-----but every effort is being made and the funding has been put in place to underpin that effort.

I thank the Deputy for raising this. I say to her, again, that I concur that nobody wants to go back to the terror and trauma of what transpired over 28 years ago during that particular period. As I said earlier, I found the events of the past weekend deeply depressing. I think we have to focus on the next steps on how we mediate our way through this. I have given my views on the decision. I am not going to attempt to take the House through that or indeed through whatever rationale the Parades Commission itself has…

I just want to acknowledge the presence of Every Child Matters and the presence of children with additional needs. They are very welcome to the House. Hopefully, I will get a chance to say hello to them later. The Minister for foreign affairs, Deputy McEntee, has been in constant contact all weekend with various parties and with the Northern Ireland Secretary of State. I have been in contact with the British Prime Minister. We are well aware of the legislative framework governing actions that the Northern Ireland S…

First, the level of suffering inflicted on the civilian population in Gaza and, indeed, in the West Bank is horrific. It is an affront to human decency. In my view, the Government has been particularly strong in comparison with many other governments across the world in terms of the diplomatic, political and humanitarian response to this issue. I have noticed since the outset of the war that it has moved from one issue to another but the debate in Ireland seems to always focus on the Government not doing enough. We…