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1832. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide an update on his Department’s plans to relocate families living in defective concrete block homes (details supplied) away from this dangerous flood plain; with clear timelines; and how those affected homeowners are to be included in the drafting of the plans. [27242/26]

1833. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the way in which the State can assist homeowners living in thatched cottages to continue to live in and sustain these heritage properties, considering the escalating cost of insurance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27243/26]

1837. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to ensure additional funding is provided for group water schemes under measure A4 water conservation, leakage reduction and prevention in view of the fact this is the key issue facing rural water schemes throughout the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27297/26]

1838. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to list any inspections made on protected wrecks within the last ten years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27766/26]

1932. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Social Protection whether consideration is being given to compensatory cost-of-living supports for families with children, particularly school-age children, in light of the continuing pressure of childcare, housing and household costs. [26574/26]

1938. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will provide a schedule of all studies and reports commissioned by his Department in each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026, that were composed and delivered by third parties (details supplied); the title and final cost of same; and whether the report is published and or laid in the Houses of the Oireachtas.…

1939. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will provide a schedule of all studies and reports commissioned by him in each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026, that were composed and delivered by his officials; the title and final cost of same, if applicable; to provide a breakdown of where costs were incurred; and whether the report is published and or…

2027. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if consideration will be given to repurposing an accommodation centre (details supplied), previously used for Ukrainian temporary protection accommodation, for alternative urgent housing needs, specifically for the provision of temporary accommodation for persons experiencing homelessness and for essential key …

2097. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of people housed at the IPAS Centre at a hotel (details supplied) each month since April 2024 to date, in tabular form [25575/26]

2145. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of people that applied, those granted and any individuals that were subsequently refused access to free legal aid over the past six years, broken down by court house across Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26400/26]

2166. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he will provide a schedule of all studies and reports commissioned by his Department in each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026, that were composed and delivered by third parties (details supplied); the title and final cost of same; and whether the report is published and or laid in the Houses …

2167. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he will provide a schedule of all studies and reports commissioned by him in each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026, that were composed and delivered by his officials; the title and final cost of same, if applicable; to provide a breakdown of where costs were incurred; and whether the report i…

2240. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent of coordination between his Department, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on land-use planning to prioritise food security and family farm viability over other competing uses; and if he will make a statement on the matt…

2297. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide a schedule of all studies and reports commissioned by his Department in each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026, that were composed and delivered by third parties (details supplied); the title and final cost of same; and whether the report is published and or laid in the Houses of …

2298. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide a schedule of all studies and reports commissioned by him in each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026, that were composed and delivered by his officials; the title and final cost of same, if applicable; to provide a breakdown of where costs were incurred; and whether the report is p…

2355. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of housing units that exist for long-term residential care for persons with a disability/intellectual disability in County Roscommon and County Galway. [23754/26]

2379. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the current number of supported housing units available for adults with learning disabilities in Longford-Westmeath and per RHA. [23985/26]

2380. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of additional supported housing units planned or in development for adults with learning disabilities in Longford and Westmeath, along with expected delivery timelines. [23986/26]

2386. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if statistics are available to identify the number of retired parents who are caring for adult children with learning difficulties in County Kildare; the number of these families that have applied for supported housing units; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24062/26]

2388. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of supported housing units for people with ID that are planned to be delivered in County Kildare; the timelines involved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24064/26]

2392. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide ringfenced funding, that is, dedicated capital for small scale community based supported housing; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24068/26]

2416. Deputy Catherine Ardagh asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide details of the total number of supported housing units for people with disabilities currently available in Dublin south central; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24419/26]

2417. Deputy Catherine Ardagh asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of supported housing units for people with disabilities that are planned or in development in Dublin south central; the expected timelines for delivery; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24420/26]

2424. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of supported housing units for residential care of those with intellectual disabilities are currently operational in Cork; if all of the named service providers in Cork have submitted Disability Support Management Advisory Team forms to the HSE; the plans that are in place to expand the number of these re…

2427. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of supported housing units currently available for adults with learning disabilities in North Dublin. [24597/26]

This is a very important moment for this House. It is not every day we see all Opposition parties co-sign a motion and I thank Sinn Féin for using its time tonight to bring this forward. It is such an important conversation we will have here tonight. I am pleased to speak to this motion on behalf of the Labour Party. It is a motion which calls out Government failure to get to grips with the assess…

Imagine trying to convince a government that it has to uphold the laws that it rules over. It is like the plot of an eery psychological thriller. Imagine being the parents of a child with additional needs who is trying to access these supports for their child but they are met with blockage after blockage. Parents have enough to be doing to support and parent their child without having to be activi…

For years now, the Irish State has in effect been abusing disabled children because State neglect has been continual. We all know assessments of need are essential. Imagine that children are regressing and that when they should be learning to speak properly, integrating and getting an education, they are being prevented from accessing services. We all know that practically all parents who can affo…

On one of the worst nights of the year, 15-year-old Cara Darmody is sleeping outside the gates of Leinster House. She is putting everyone in here to shame. She is calling on this Government to address the backlog of assessments of need for children with special requirements as the national emergency it truly is. Cara rightly reminds us that under the Disability Act 2005, every child is entitled to…

I want to say hello to Cara Darmody and her family. I begin by sending my solidarity to families waiting for an assessment for their child or children. At the start of October, there were more than 8,000 children waiting on assessments of need in the CHO 7 area. Almost 1,600 of those children have been waiting more than two years to be seen. There are almost twice as many children waiting in one a…

The information the Minister is giving me is outdated, obviously. As he mentioned, it goes back to September. Since then the letters have gone out, the evaluations have been done and the returns have been filed. I assume going from his answer that he does not have information as to what percentage of people actually went up a band. I raise this issue because the Government introduced legislation t…

Inflation has risen sharply in recent years. Nowhere is this more evident than in urban areas, particularly in Dublin. The median house price in the capital now stands well above the €400,000 group A CAT threshold, yet there has been no recent adjustment to this threshold to reflect this mismatch between asset value and tax policy. This discrepancy often results in a difficult outcome where an ind…

I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach for allowing me in. The Tánaiste would be surprised if I heard about the liveable cities and towns and potential economic benefits going to other areas and I did not take the opportunity to mention north Kildare and the need for regeneration of the towns in the context of the liveable cities. I am talking about liveable towns and how we can widen the scope of th…

Deputy Neville is right. We have to be willing to look at every possible way to help tackle vacancy and dereliction but also to bring back vibrancy in towns, including towns that are not classified as older towns but are vibrant and growing and often have other challenges such as the population growing so fast and keeping up in terms of the infrastructure. The Deputy regularly keeps me on my toes …

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 Sean Fleming - The transfer of patients from Erkina House in Rathdowney, County Laois and the future of this facility. Deputy Rory Hearne - To discuss changes to bus networks in Dublin north west. Deputy Jen Cummins - To discuss pu…

I understand the strength of the Deputy's feelings. As I said, he has been advocating for Erkina House for many years and also for the residents who live there and who called it their forever home. I understand how difficult it is for residents who have lived in a facility that they will have to move away from for several reasons. The Deputy has accepted that the building is no longer fit for pur…

There were 255. I raise this issue because it appears that this has become an acceptable norm in Naas General Hospital. Year after year, the same number of patients receiving care on trolleys. The numbers may fall or rise slightly, but it has become something of a predictable crisis. In the same way that young families have to plan early for basics like crèche and school places in Kildare, I ask …

Why was this hidden for seven years? That is a real question. Second, other candidates were not aware of this accommodation scenario. Was it, therefore, a fair competition? This is not the first time that I have submitted questions to the Minister’s Department that have not been answered. When the Minister commenced in his role, I asked questions regarding holsters. The Minister wrote to me in tha…

I fully appreciate the great work the Minister of State is doing. I commend him and the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, on the steps taken. They are very much facing up to the reality because to date in this country the political classes have been out of sync with the views of ordinary decent Irish people. We need to be transparent in how we are dealing with the housing of people who are exiting the…

Do you know who builds houses? Workers build houses, not developers.

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 Marie Sherlock - To discuss the parents notify system. Deputy Sean Fleming - To discuss the transfer of patients from Erkina House in Rathdowney, County Laois, and the future of this facility. Deputy James Geoghegan - To discuss th…

I thank the Deputy and fully agree it is a very complex area. We need to make sure we are getting this right. There is a long-standing process around age verification of unaccompanied minors seeking international protection in place. That process will continue to be the practice until the new International Protection Bill is enacted and all of the relevant measures behind it come into force. On b…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. I welcome the Deputy's remarks at the start of his contribution that he is not against renewable energy measures. As he will be aware, the Programme for Government 2025 - Securing Ireland’s Future has reaffirmed Ireland's targets of 80% of electricity demand to be met …

I thank the Deputy for bringing this to the House and raising such an important matter. It gives me the opportunity to acknowledge the extraordinary role our healthcare workers played during the pandemic. They went far beyond the call of duty, working on the front line, treating Covid-positive patients and doing so in those early days when the protections we now take for granted were not yet in pl…

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. As of yesterday, my information is it was down to two residents. We have known for three years that the building will not meet standards. The HSE, the Government and the Department know it. In the meantime, HSE management was clear it needed four centres and the ideal size of those centres was to cater for between ten and 15 people because that provides…

I thank the Deputy again for bringing this important issue up. I assure the House that I understand, as the Deputy said, how important it is for all persons with mental health difficulties to have the relevant mental health services in place from the HSE in the location that best suits their needs. The Deputy mentioned the four centres and that they should be based in different areas. I will check…

I would like to discuss the need for schools in the Kilternan area of my constituency of Dublin-Rathdown. Kilternan is one of the most beautiful areas in my constituency. It is in the Dublin Mountains on the Wicklow border. We have a very diverse community with more suburban areas like Dundrum and Stillorgan but as one moves up towards Belarmine, Carrickmines, Stepaside and Kilternan, they are qui…

I am delighted that we are able to bring this motion to the House today. As the Labour Party health spokesperson in the last Dáil, I was privileged to receive a number of briefings and to speak to members of the trans community, a community that is so often talked about but never listened to and a community that is attacked by presidents, authors, writers and other privileged people in this world.…

I was struck by Kathy Sheridan's piece in The Irish Times last week because it summed up my feelings perfectly. She spoke about the absence of kindness in debates around trans people. I hate to use the word "debate" when speaking about the rights of people. This is a group of people - less than 1% of our population - that amounts to an absolutely tiny cohort of marginalised and often vulnerable p…

I am delighted to speak on this motion. It is timely in that it has been only a matter of weeks since we had homophobic attacks on the streets of my home city of Cork. This behaviour is repulsive and should be roundly condemned by all in this House. No one should walk our streets in fear, no matter who they are. One of the best things this Government could do to address issues of homophobia and t…