I welcome today's motion regarding our Defence Forces, which has been proposed by Senators Wilson and Gallagher, my two constituency colleagues, and I recognise the urgent need for investment and reform to improve the quality of life of personnel and the overall strength and readiness of our Defence Forces. A crisis has been allowed to develop within the Defence Forces due to long-standing neglect by a series of Governments. The State has completely failed to plan for the future and to ensure that Ireland has a def…

I move amendment No. 5: After “calls for:”, to insert the following paragraph: “- the creation of a health outcomes assessment for Air Corps Medical Personnel similar to the Study of Health Outcomes in Aircraft Maintenance Personnel process in Australia, in order to identify potential adverse health outcomes for said personnel, and to ensure that Air Corps Maintenance personnel are supported with healthcare costs for such potential outcomes using an appropriate mechanism;”

I wish to raise an anomaly to do with the age at which pupils in special education schools complete their education. Special schools are classified as primary schools. It is intended to provide an education to children and young people with special educational needs from the age of four years until the end of the school year in which they reach their 18th year. I was contacted by the parents of a young man who is 17. He was in a mainstream primary school but was then diagnosed with moderate to severe autism and it …

Every week, I am contacted by people either coming to see me or through emails and phone calls who are worried about their child because they have identified an additional need but no services are available for that child in the foreseeable future. I will give an example of one set of parents who contacted me last week about their son James, who is five years old and has just started school. He was referred for occupational therapy, OT, at a four-year check-up by his public health nurse because both the public heal…

I thank the Minister of State. The two examples I have raised relate to primary care, but there are waiting lists for both primary care and CDNT. There is actually a lot of frustration and confusion even when children are referred from one team to the other. I know these matters fall to two different Departments, but they are all matters for the HSE, or the HSE with Enable Ireland. Regarding the CDNT, the staffing levels have improved but there is considerable frustration from parents still around the lack of asses…

I want to raise the issue of domestic violence. Last week saw the end of the 16 days of activism around the issue. While that is important in order to raise awareness, we need to be aware of it 365 days of the year. It is an issue that occurs more frequently around Christmastime when a lot more drink is consumed. While prevention needs to be concentrated on, we also need refuges for women who have to escape for their safety. County Cavan is one of nine counties that still do not have a refuge. In fact, several of t…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 2 of National Training Fund Act 2000 1. Section 2 of the National Training Fund Act 2000 is amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (14): “(14) (a) Accounts of the Fund shall be prepared on an annual basis, in such form and (subject to paragraph (b)) in such manner as the Minister for Finance may direct, and the Comptroller and Auditor General shall examine, evaluate and certify e…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 3, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: “(2) Section 7 of the National Training Fund Act 2000 is amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (5): “(5) (a) With respect to the performance generally by the Minister of his or her functions under this section, the Minister shall, on an annual basis, consult with such representatives of employees and such representatives of employers as he or she considers appropriate. (b) Where the Minister propose…

I commend Senator Cosgrove on introducing this Bill, and her colleagues. It is worthwhile. Sinn Féin supports the Bill because it does a basic thing, provides for equal pay for equal work. Anything other than that is discriminatory, exploitative and amounts to cheap labour. It is open to abuse by some employers. Young people, whether they are 17 or 21 years old, pay the same rate of tax, PRSI and USC. They are entitled to be paid the same rate for the same work. The whole concept of a reduced rate minimum wage is o…

It is important that the NTF, which was established in 2000 for the purpose of supporting the training and upskilling of those in or seeking employment, be maintained. I recognise that the fund has accumulated significantly. It needs to be unlocked. However, we must not lose sight of the intention behind it. It is not like there are no gaps in skills and training. There are gaps. It was pointed out to me that in 2014, 82% of the fund was used on training programmes. Last year, the proportion was only 55%, represent…

Yesterday I attended a protest outside the gates of Leinster House by disabled people and their advocates and carers. They were there to highlight the desperate situation they are facing due to the lack of support in budget 2026 on the cost of disability. They have been advocating for a cost-of-disability payment for years. It was promised before the last election. They really feel the issue of disability was used during the election to get votes based on false promises of a cost-of-disability payment being introdu…

Cavan is a largely rural county. It is divided into three LEAs, which correspond to the three engineering areas. Speaking to the engineers in these areas, they tell me there are approximately 1,000 km of local road in each area. Based on the funding they have received, when we take out the cost of repairing regional roads in the area and town centres, they have approximately enough to repair 1% to 1.5% of the local road network per year. One engineer told me he had enough to repair 15 km of local road out of almost…

The Minister of State pointed out that the funding had increased by 25% since 2021, but so have the costs, so the increase is probably negligible. The council does prioritise roads, but it has to spend money on other aspects as well. It cannot put everything into roads. Repairing 1% to 1.5% of the rural road network per year is just not sufficient. It has to be addressed or we will not be able to travel on the roads if this continues on. The Minister of State says that Exchequer funding disincentivises councils fro…

Sepsis is the biggest killer in the world, with more people dying from it than from heart attacks, AIDS, lung cancer, breast cancer, Covid-19 and car crashes combined. One in five people who contract sepsis will die from it, of whom 20% are children. It affects people of all ages. Death from the disease is totally preventable if people know what the symptoms are and can request treatment. Two women from Cavan, Caitriona Flanagan and Hannah Tormey, have established North East Sepsis Awareness. The campaign covers co…

I am sharing with Senators McCormack and Collins.

I welcome the Minister of State. I grew up in County Cavan, which is a Border county. I grew up long enough ago to know and remember what a hard border was like. It was a Border imposed over 100 years ago without any consultation, purely for political reasons, by a British Government. It created two conservative states, one on each side of the Border. It did not just partition our country. This Border partitioned our people as well. It divided people and created a partitionist outlook. I know while things have move…

I want to raise the income criteria relating to people being accepted for the social housing list. At the moment, in Cavan and seven other counties, someone can earn €30,000 as a single person, with marginal increases for another adult or for children in the household. It is €35,000 in 12 other counties and €40,000 in our cities and in areas within the commuter belt. What is happening is that people are applying for social housing and they are accepted onto the list, but it is refused the following year or a year l…

First, well done to Senator Clonan. It is an excellent Bill. It was co-signed by the former Senators Warfield and Gavan from my party and we fully support this Bill. I sat with Senator Clonan and the Minister of State. I congratulate the Minister of State on her appointment to take on responsibility for disability. She has a good understanding of the issues facing disabled people from her time on the disability committee. The Disability Act is 20 years old this year and it is time it was renewed, updated and review…

This matter relates to Cavan No. 1 National School on Farnham Street in Cavan. The school has an enrolment of 106 pupils - the number is increasing - and its ethos is Church of Ireland. It is an excellent school that has a very caring attitude. The school is in crisis, however, because a number of students who require special needs assistants, SNAs, do not have them. Two students have just joined junior infants. One has been diagnosed as autistic and is non-verbal. The other has quite complex needs and is awaiting …

I am aware the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, visited the school about six months ago. There is a specific issue now regarding the SNAs. The allocation has been appealed. Hopefully, the result of that appeal will go the way of the school. There is also the issue of the additional classroom. It makes sense in one way to prioritise larger schools because they will probably have a larger proportion of students with additional needs, but we should not forget about the smaller schools that parents have their childr…