I am sitting here kind of amused though I probably should not be. There is obviously a regional disparity in the investment in rail services. I listened to the contributions of the Social Democrats and there is obviously a Cork bias because the Cork representatives, even within my own party, seem reasonably happy with the level of investment we are receiving. Things in the west are starkly different from what is happening in Cork, where it is predominantly a good news story. We are getting massive investment not ju…

I welcome the review. We have been waiting for it for a while. I do not want the House to be in this position again of debating legislation from 2004 and 2005. I do not want to pass legislation that we cannot live up to, as we have done with the assessment of need process. There are timelines in the Act that the State is consistently failing to deliver. Whatever we do with this review, we need to ensure that people can avail of the resources and supports required in the area of special education, schools can delive…

Will the Minister outline the efforts he and his Department have made to encourage new technologies in the construction sector, and the role he believes modular housing can play?

The Minister referenced the fact that the Department has made a good deal of progress on MMC. Will he quantify that for me if he has the figures available? How many units have been built since 2023 or whatever date he referenced? I understand a target of 1,500 was mentioned, but will he quantify the number of units that have been delivered via this method? A much-maligned project took place in Mahon in Cork two years ago that turned out to be more expensive and took longer than a conventional build. It is very easy…

I am someone who is about to embark on a journey with my family to build our first home. If there was a genuine modular offering for us as a family, we would look at it but, unfortunately, it is just not there for us as one-off house builders. I am lucky to be in that position. Still, there are significant barriers there. I was at a lunch today with the Estonian ambassador and she spoke to me about a conference she attended, which I believe a number of colleagues attended as well as part of a trade mission in the p…

I ask the Minister about funding for elite athletes in Ireland ahead of the next Olympic cycle.

It must be recognised initially that, as the Minister of State outlined, since the previous Olympic cycle funding has dramatically improved, which is very welcome, but he will be aware that there are probably more challenges facing our elite athletes than ever before. I speak specifically about aspects of social media and the pressures that brings. Many athletes are having to try to find alternative streams to support them in taking time off work or, in some cases, giving up their jobs and dedicating themselves to …

I do not think I need to recite them all but I will give a few examples. Paul O'Donovan, who we all know from the rowing world, is practising as a surgeon. Sophie Becker was working in a full-time job in a pharma company until recently. Phil Healy was working as a software engineer. They are all doing this while competing at the top level in their sport. The dedication those people demonstrate is immense. I do not think anyone in this Chamber could give the commitment and dedication they do to their respective trad…

It will not come as a surprise to the Tánaiste that I am going to use this question to again raise the issue of the rare disease drug reimbursement process we have. I have lost count of the number of times I have been in here with the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach over the last five or six years since I became a TD. I can quote league tables until the cows come home showing how we languish as laggards in a European context. The most recent report ranks us 28th out of 36 European countries with regard to providing drug…

The Tánaiste referenced the number of staff that the State has put in, as one example. Despite the number of staff increasing from four to 30-odd at this stage, the length of time it takes to assess a drug is actually lengthening, not shortening, despite the additional staff. That is one point of clarity. The Tánaiste also referenced the heel prick test. The decision to add those two extra conditions was made in 2022, as he said. That was largely down to Les Martin in Wicklow, a constituent of the Tánaiste's, who w…

The Mazars report stated that the HSE has not been implementing the legal timelines for the reimbursement of medicines. I can refer to at least four studies commissioned in the past year that show legal timelines are not being adhered to. In February last year, the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association published a paper showing that 86% of all reimbursements did not adhere to the 180-day timeline as outlined in the legislation. The Taoiseach knows I am a long-term advocate for reform in this regard. I am aski…

I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case: Deputy Catherine Ardagh - To discuss the need for all special schools to accept children at different levels on the autism spectrum. Deputy Duncan Smith - To discuss a lack of primary school places in Portmarnock. Deputy Paul Murphy - To discuss the merging of classes in St. Kevin's school in Kilnamanagh. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore - To discuss the funding prom…

I am sorry. We have to move on.

We have to move on, sorry.

On 8 June, Sunday Independent journalist Mark Tighe wrote an article with the headline, "FAI ‘too slow’ to act over allegations of former national team manager’s behaviour towards female footballers". The article alleged a number of things. The first was that the FAI agreed a financial settlement with its former director of public relations to keep details of his complaints from becoming public. The second was that despite the FAI stating publicly that it only learned of the allegations in early 2024, its former di…

Back in February, Deputy McGrath and I raised the issue of the city task force with the Taoiseach, who confirmed that proposals were being developed and, once finalised, would be submitted to the Government for consideration. As yet, no formal announcement has been made regarding the establishment of a task force in Cork city. We are well into the term of this Government at this stage. I listened to Mr. Sean O'Driscoll this morning on my way up to Dublin. He spoke about many things the Taoiseach and I have spoken a…

I appreciate the Minister coming in this evening to take this Topical Issue matter. He will be aware that earlier during the Order of Business, I raised this issue with the Taoiseach, but such is my concern about this matter that I believe it needs further deliberation. On 8 June, the Sunday Independent's Mark Tighe wrote an article entitled "FAI 'too slow' to act over allegations of former national team manager's behaviour towards female footballers". As I mentioned earlier, the article alleged a number of things,…

I start by thanking the Minister of State for coming in to address this matter himself. It was remiss of me not to preface my comments by saying that if anybody has been affected by these issues, they should follow the formal complaints procedure that the FAI has encouraged people to come forward with, details of which the Minister of State has outlined. I do not raise this matter lightly. Many of us here have children. I quoted extensively from a series of correspondence that I obtained through an individual. The …

Yesterday there were protests outside the gates of Leinster House to raise awareness about Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Thankfully, the Minister of Health is here today. To be fair to the new Minister, since she assumed her role she has been very supportive in the area of rare diseases and I thank her for that. Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a very degenerative disease that affects boys predominantly. They deteriorate rapidly and many are lucky to survive beyond 20 years of age. A drug, Givinostat, that is availabl…

This week, patients with spinal muscular atrophy, SMA, came to the audiovisual room to highlight their case for equal access to treatments and drugs. As Minister for Health in 2017, the Tánaiste once described the reimbursement system we have as being in serious jeopardy. He may actually have inferred that it was broken. Every paper published since then continues to show HSE non-adherence to timelines as outlined in the Health Act. The Mazars report says the HSE was not adhering to the spirit of the legislation. Su…