I welcome the opportunity-----

I will just plough on so.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the role and importance of post offices in Irish life. We need to be frank. The post offices across Ireland, particularly in rural Ireland, are facing death by a thousand cuts. Some 257 post offices closed in the past decade. The vast majority of these closures, 78%, have been in rural areas. Anyone in this Chamber who comes from a rural community knows exactly what that means. When a post office closes, it does not just shut its doors. It deals a devastating blow to the entire…

There is not adequate bus services for these people.

To take something out of the community when there are no other services there is just not good enough.

No money will get that back.

It is an utter shame and disgrace that statements on homelessness are becoming so frequent in the Dáil. The fact that the Minister is not here either is also shameful. Every single time this issue comes before us, the numbers of people, including children and the elderly, who have been failed by this Government and have ended up homeless have risen. The number has risen drastically and it is rising every day. The facts are there in black and white before us. They spell out clearly what we in Sinn Féin have been cal…

I strongly welcome that time has been allocated to speak on the changes to the fishing quota, which will simply decimate our coastal communities. I come from a farming background, not a fishing one, but to me the parallels between these communities are clear. There is the same resilience, the same connection to the land and the sea, and the same feeling of being taken for granted. The recurring trend I am seeing time and again is a failure by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to stand up for our fishing and farming communi…

I thank my colleagues in Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. I especially thank them for bringing together over 1,100 SNAs, teachers and parents last night. They shared with us some of the most beautiful, moving and powerful accounts of the difference that SNAs make in our schools. Most importantly, they spoke of the profound impact SNAs have on the development and well-being of tens of thousands of children across the State. There were tears, disgust, outrage, hurt, upset, alarm and fear. One lady with Dow…

I welcome the time that has been set aside to discuss bluetongue. Our farming communities have been contending with challenge after challenge over the past few months, with the detection of bluetongue being one of the latest. We need to be frank. The full extent of bluetongue across Ireland is unknown. More than likely these animals were infected last summer. The first case was detected in County Down last November and the most recent was on a farm in County Wexford. This shows clearly that this is an all-island is…

In County Kilkenny, communities like Inistioge, Thomastown, Callan and Graiguenamanagh endured severe flooding during the recent extreme weather. It will take weeks to clear the damage and who knows how long to repair the destruction inflicted on local roads. This flooding has hit local families and businesses the hardest. It is very hard to tell how many of these businesses and restaurants will be able to recover from this devastation. What is certain is that a very challenging period lies ahead. In Inistioge, the…

Since my election, I have constantly raised the dangerous conditions and layout of roads across my constituency. Nowhere is this crisis more severe than in south Kilkenny along the N25. The stretch past the Rhu Glenn can be described as a deadly accident black spot. The statistics are not just numbers. They are families and communities left devastated. Over the past 40 years, more than 80 people have lost their lives on this road alone. In recent years, we have endured several fatal collisions. A road traffic repor…

Last week, the much anticipated first tranche of the national development plan’s funding for school building projects was announced. To the devastation of their communities, both Coláiste Pobail Osraí and Kilkenny City Vocational School discovered they had been dropped from the priority list for building projects. Coláiste Pobail Osraí is the only Irish-medium secondary school in Kilkenny and Kilkenny City Vocational School is the only DEIS school in the city. The demand and need for both of these schools are immen…

If the Minister wants to understand the crisis, he does not need to go far. He can go upstairs and talk to them up there. He can go and meet the farmers who have protested every day outside Bord Bia's office, and listen to them. They will tell the Minister in clear terms that their confidence in Bord Bia and the Government is shattered. The controversy surrounding Larry Murrin and Bord Bia is not an isolated incident. It is the latest. The issue should never have reached this point. It is clear that when it comes t…

I do know what it is like to be up at 3 o'clock in the morning with calving.

I do know what it is like to be subject to Bord Bia reports. I do.

We are not all-----

I do know what it is like.

That was a great performance. I thank the Minister of State.

As someone who has spent a significant portion of my adult life working with adults with disabilities, I strongly welcome this motion. I witnessed on a daily basis the financial cost of living with a disability, the relentless extra expenses and the hidden burdens that add up to a reality of constant pressure. Reading this motion reminds me of our first Private Members' business in the Dáil after the budget when we raised this very issue and presented our own solutions. Sadly, the Government parties failed to take …