This morning, I was contacted by a school in Kilnaleck, a small village in my locality in County Cavan. Four families have been living there for the past 18 months. All four families have applied for international protection. They have been living in apartments in that village. Their children attend the local school. The parents are on the parents association. They support the school in everything it does. The children play football with the local GAA club and the parents go to matches. They are from all different …

I want to express my sympathy and condolences to the families and friends of the five young people who were tragically killed in County Louth, and indeed, to the communities of Carrickmacross, Drumconrath and Ardee. They have all been rocked by this. At the same time, I know that those communities will be a strength to those families and relations in getting through all of this. I want to raise an issue that affects Cavan. I am from a rural area in County Cavan. There are approximately 3,000 km of local roads in th…

I raise the issue of childminding as well because we are looking at an inevitable crisis in childminding if the Minister, Deputy Foley, does not act quickly. The Minister needs to engage with the childminding sector to discuss and rapidly adjust a new Government system for childminding. Up to 80% of childminders are going to cease operation within 12 months if action is not taken immediately because the new system will increase the paperwork, and the subsidies and grants are insufficient. There is no longer support…

There is nothing in this motion I could not support. It is something we discussed in the committee on education and youth just over a month ago. At that committee meeting, Dyslexia Ireland and the State Examinations Commission were present. The State Examinations Commission indicated it is not a question of if but when. It is very frustrating that it is such a slow pace of change. Dyslexia Ireland has been calling for years for additional time for students with dyslexia. It is the norm in many other countries, wher…

I call for an urgent debate on the National Ambulance Service. In an article today in my local newspaper, The Anglo-Celt , a whistleblower from the National Ambulance Service contacted the newspaper to express concern about ambulance cover in Cavan, which is at an unsafe level. The newspaper also reports that morale among staff is at an all-time low. There are also obvious recruitment and retention issues. It states that Cavan is regularly left with reduced numbers of ambulances. If the roster is left as it is for …

I too want to be associated with the expressions of sympathy on the sad passing of Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy. She was a truly inspirational figure, dedicated to helping those who were less fortunate and in need. She was compassionate and had great vision and organisational skills, as we see through Focus Ireland and the Immigrant Council of Ireland, for example. She was tireless in her quest to improve lives. She inspired many and, hopefully, her legacy will live on in others. I also congratulate Catherine Connolly, o…

I welcome the national human rights strategy for disabled people. I welcome, in particular, the fact that disabled people were consulted and that their views shaped the document. A number of DPOs claim not to have been consulted. A promise was made some years ago to draw up a register of DPOs. This has not been done. That is a pity. I would like to see it done in order that we can identify the DPOs made up of disabled persons. They should be consulted by Departments and public bodies, and properly resourced. A stra…

Over two years ago a pilot programme called Retrofit Ready was launched. It covered the counties of Cavan, Monaghan, Sligo and Leitrim. The aim of the initiative was to bridge the knowledge gap among homeowners and communities who want to retrofit their homes. Two community retrofit champions were appointed, namely, Owen McConnon for Cavan and Monaghan and Luke Tarmey for Sligo and Leitrim. They became the faces of the project. They built up trust with communities and individuals to work with them through community…

Our young people are among the most highly qualified in all of the EU. We have the highest number when it comes to young people between the ages of 25 and 34. That is something to be commended. Unfortunately, our system is not without its challenges. I will address a number of the issues. First, with regard to fees, we have free fees in name only. It is a student contribution charge. It was introduced a number of years ago at €3,000. While it is being permanently reduced to €2,500, for parents who had children in t…

I move: That Seanad Éireann: condemns: - Budget 2026, which breaks the pre-election promises of the Government parties to deliver childcare to parents for €200 a month; acknowledges: - the high costs of childcare that continue to exist with some parents paying over €1,000 per month; - that access to high quality early learning and care is fundamental to children’s wellbeing and development; - the vital role played by Early Years Educators in delivering quality care and learning experiences; - that quality provision…

I am sharing time my Senator Ryan. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I thank her for making sure she was here. I know we delayed it for a week so that she could. I appreciate that she is here for the motion. It is a short motion with a number of asks. I want to deal with the first one on the cost of childcare. Many families are still paying very high costs. As a result of those high costs, some are choosing not to return to work because it is not worth their while. That primarily affects women - not always, but primaril…

First, I thank the Minister and Minister of State for their attendance, and everybody else who contributed to this debate. Our motion called for two things. The first concerned the cost and the other was to do with capacity within the system. Many people have made the point that the costs have reduced significantly. They have reduced for some, but not for all. There are still parents paying huge fees. Senator Harmon spoke about somebody paying €2,000. It is outrageous that any parent would have to do that. As it is…

Thar cheann Shinn Féin, tá fáilte roimh an Taoiseach chuig an Seanad. As the Taoiseach is aware and as he referred to, the Seanad has a reputation for being an open-minded Chamber where ideas are canvassed on all manner of topics. Some of these would struggle to get onto the floor of the Dáil and most are generally debated here in a much more congenial manner than they might there. In recent years, the Seanad has supported motions on a number of issues and one of those concerned extending the vote in presidential e…

I welcome the all-island strategic rail review. It makes sense to plan our rail system on an all-island basis. The fact that it will be reviewed on a regular basis is also welcome to ensure that we are meeting the different targets set out, including the short-, medium- and long-term targets. I live in County Cavan where there are currently no rail services. Monaghan, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Donegal and north Leitrim do not have any rail services either. That leaves the whole of the north-west region without a rail serv…

There is a woman in County Cavan whom I know quite well and whose dream for some time has been to join the Garda. She applied a number of years ago, but due to a bad car accident, she did not pass her fitness and medical examinations. However, she completed the vetting process a number of years ago. She has now passed the medical and fitness examinations but there have been months of delay, with her not being called up to Templemore. She cannot understand this. She has been vetted on a number of occasions, both whe…

I want to raise the issue of a pilot project run in Cavan-Monaghan and Sligo-Leitrim that recently came to an end, called Retrofit Ready. It was a programme under the Department of the environment's Climate Action Fund. Cavan County Local Development and Monaghan Integrated Development and the equivalent development groups in Sligo- Leitrim, employed a person in Cavan-Monaghan and a person in Sligo-Leitrim to talk to individuals and groups about trying to retrofit their homes. They advised them about the warmer hom…

I want to raise the hunger strike being undertaken outside the Dáil by five people who are survivors of industrial schools. It has been going on since 21 September. I know many other Senators have raised their concerns in this House. I am very concerned about their health and the ongoing health issues they may endure later as a result of this hunger strike. I acknowledge there has been some engagement with the Minister for education, Deputy McEntee, and higher up in government. That door has been left open for enga…

I want to raise a number of issues concerning yesterday's budget and the first issue concerns childcare. We know we have more then 40,000 children in need of a childcare place now. I regularly have parents on the phone to me or they come into my office crying because they cannot find a childcare place, particularly for young babies and children up to the age of two, which means they cannot return to work. The situation affects people across the board. The Government has proposed that there will be extensions to sch…

I raise a transport issue, which I have raised a number of times both here and in the Dáil. I have written to the NTA on the issue but it still has not been resolved. It relates to the 109X bus from Cavan to Dublin. It is an hourly bus service going through Kells and on to Dublin. I am hearing from passengers and bus drivers that there are regularly people left stranded because buses are full to capacity at certain times of the day. This particularly happens when the bus is leaving Dublin in the evening and heading…

I thank the Minister of State for being here. It is important that we have these statements today to discuss what happened to the occupants of the Global Sumud Flotilla last night and this morning, and to call it out as a crime against international law. I want to start by commending all of those who were on the Global Sumud Flotilla. I send solidarity and greetings to them and hope they are safe and okay. I want to particularly send them to the Irish citizens aboard, including my comrade and friend, Senator Chris …