2026-02-17

I move: Tuesday's business shall be: - Statements on Bluetongue (not to exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes) Tuesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Ban on Investment Funds Purchasing Family Homes, selected by Sinn Féin. Wednesday's business shall be: - International Protection Bill 2026 - Financial Resolution (without debate and to be taken no earlier than 2.12 p.m. and any division claimed to be taken immediately) - International Protection Bill 2026 (Committee Stage) (to adjourn after 8 hours) - Protection of Employees (Employers' Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2025 (Report and Final Stages) (to conclude within 1 hour) Wednesday's private members' business shall be the Second Stage of the Work Life Balance (Right to Remote Work) Bill 2026, selected by the Labour Party. Thursday's business shall be: - Statements on Flooding (not to exceed 3 hours and 32 minutes) Thursday evening business shall be the Second Stage of the Commission on the Future of the Family Farm Bill 2024, sponsored by Deputy Martin Kenny. Proposed Arrangements for this week’s business: In relation to Tuesday’s business, it is proposed that: 1. notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders: (a) the time allocated to Government business shall be extended in accordance with the arrangements for that business and the Dáil may sit later than 10.48 p.m.; and (b) private members’ business shall be taken on the conclusion of the Statements on Bluetongue, with consequential effect on the commencement times for the items following in the ordinary routine of business; and 2. the Statements on Bluetongue shall not exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply: (a) the statements, not including the Ministerial response, shall be in accordance with the sequence contained in the table immediately below (to be read across); (b) following the statements, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and (c) members may share time. In relation to Wednesday's business, it is proposed that: 1. notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders: (a) the time allotted for Government Business shall be extended in accordance with the arrangements for that business and the Dáil may sit later than 9.30 p.m.; (b) the SOS pursuant to Standing Order 25(1) shall be taken on conclusion of Questions on Policy or Legislation for one hour or until 2.12 p.m. whichever is the later; and (c) the weekly division time shall be taken on the conclusion of proceedings on the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2025; 2. notwithstanding anything in Standing Order 177(2), the proceedings on Second Stage of the Work Life Balance (Right to Remote Work) Bill 2026 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 2 hours; 3. the proceedings on the Motion for a Financial Resolution for the International Protection Bill 2026 shall be taken immediately following the SOS pursuant to Standing Order 25(1), without debate and any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately; 4. the proceedings on Committee Stage of the International Protection Bill 2026 shall, if not previously concluded, be interrupted, and stand adjourned after 8 hours; and 5. the proceedings on Report and Final Stages of the Protection of Employees (Employers' Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2025 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 1 hour by one question, which shall be put from the Chair, and which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. In relation to Thursday's business, it is proposed that: 1. notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, topical issues may be taken earlier than 7.24 p.m. with consequential effect on the commencement time for Second Stage of the Commission on the Future of the Family Farm Bill 2024, and on the time for the adjournment of the Dáil; and 2. the Statements on Flooding shall not exceed 3 hours and 32 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply: (a) the statements, not including the Ministerial response, shall be in accordance with the sequence contained in the table immediately below (to be read across); (b) following the statements, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and (c) members may share time.

Not agreed.

The HSE has had phase 1 of the Nayagam review relating to children with scoliosis. It is horrific what we know already, and this is of the utmost sensitivity. The Government has committed to a statutory public inquiry. Will it appoint a facilitator to engage with the families in terms of reference? Will we have Dáil statements to give absolute clarity about how this is being handled? There are growing concerns among the families, so we need Dáil statements to clarify all this and to deal with this matter of utmost public concern.

Can I have statements in the Dáil with the Minister for Education and Youth to explain why she has now paused the SNA reviews, why her Department has caused such stress to SNAs, parents and students with additional needs and if these decisions will be reversed? How dare the Taoiseach come in here and say schools are used to appeals. It is shameful and it looks like now the NCSE is asking teachers to do the job of SNAs. The letters being received state the teachers have to "engage in training". It says the teachers have to engage in training. Is the Taoiseach trying to get rid of SNAs or what?

I did not write the letter.

Read the letter.

We brought them in.

Order, please.

Read the letter.

I did not write the letter.

A third party did.

We paused it now.

Next month will mark three years since the publication of the Shannon report into sexual abuse of children at St. John Ambulance. Despite the passage of so much time, we are still waiting for recommendations to be implemented. Now there are question marks about the independence of a national safeguarding officer. I am told that survivors have been trying to meet the Minister but they have been refused a meeting. This foot dragging and refusal to engage in such an important issue is unacceptable. We need a debate on this issue this week.

We need the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment to come to the Dáil for statements on the short-term lets legislation which will come before the Dáil. At last week's committee meeting, which was held in private, officials from the Departments of tourism and of planning would not answer in public as to what is happening. They were all over the place in relation to the planning aspect of this legislation. The Minister cannot shy away from this and let Airbnb and the short-term lets in rural communities in with this planning debacle that is going on at the moment. We need the Minister to come before the Dáil and to make a statement. It is quite simple. That is all we need to do. Do not say "No". The Taoiseach needs to say "Yes".

I would be worried if we brought clarity to Deputy Michael Collins's campaign-----

Whatever you-----

We absolutely have to have the SNA cull, or sorry review, put onto the Dáil agenda this week. Every single TD has been plagued by a deluge of representations on this. Fair play to parents, pupils and staff in the school in Dublin who yesterday called out the Government and got it to pause it. However, it has not dropped it; it has just paused it. It has to be discussed in the Dáil. What we have from the Taoiseach is that suddenly students progress. God forbid a special needs assistant, SNA, should be left in a school-----

We assess it.

-----because, of course, there would not ever be another student who would have additional needs.

We would assess it.

We all know that appeals very rarely go in favour of the parents or the student. Help with school refusal, anxiety and ADHD in mainstream schools is very important. It is very important that SNAs are maintained in schools. Shifting the focus away or on to the primary care needs of children, which is what the Minister is doing, will gut SNAs from so many schools. We need this put onto the agenda. We need to stop pitting schools, mainstream and special schools, against each other. It will not work.

I thank the various Whips for their comments. We have a request for four additional sets of statements this week but, as Members know, we are dealing with requests that came in two weeks ago, including for statements on bluetongue and on flooding. Notwithstanding they are all extremely important, I will consult with the various Ministers to see if they can be facilitated as soon as possible. The Order of Business stands.

Is the Order of Business agreed? No.

We move now to Questions on Policy or Legislation. I call Deputy McDonald.

There are unruly elements in this Chamber. Most of them are Sinn Féiners but how and ever. I return to the issue of the Rotunda Hospital, which is the busiest maternity hospital in the country. The refusal of permission for the critical care unit is undoubtedly a blow but it should be remembered that it is just the latest in a series of setbacks for the hospital. The hospital has for a long time been seeking investment and development but each and every time it has been put through the wringer by a government that kept citing the desire to relocate it to colocate it with James Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown. That plan never made sense. It did not make sense ten years ago and does not make sense today. For generations the Rotunda Hospital has been colocated with the Mater Hospital in the heart of Dublin's north inner city and that is where it must stay. The Taoiseach has been asked several times today and he has avoided giving any clarity. I want him to give clarity now for those who work in this hospital and those who use its services. Generations of northside Dubliners have been born there and people rely on its services. Will the Taoiseach give clarity that the Rotunda Hospital will remain at the heart of Dublin's north inner city?

First of all, some of the Deputy's language and the untruths she says are difficult to comprehend in respect of the Government's position in respect of the Rotunda. She said we put the hospital "through the wringer" and we denied it investment.

Yes, correct.

Is she not conscious of the Hampson House project? Some €16 million was allocated to the Rotunda. It has been a great success. The works are completed and so forth. The budget increased by 47% or €35 million since 2020. That is not putting anybody "through the wringer". The Deputy casually gets up and says stuff that is completely untrue.

It is not completely untrue.

The Deputy seems to be-----

I know that hospital well.

Deputy.

The Deputy is in a parallel universe that is governed by politics, electoral gain and nothing else.

No, no, no.

Others in the House raised this issue-----

Yes, and I am raising it now.

-----substantively during Leaders' Questions and I gave comprehensive replies to those.

No, you did not.

I made it very clear that the critical care wing is needed now-----

I have asked about colocation.

-----and that the Government is very supportive of the Rotunda's plans.

Thank you, Taoiseach.

We will continue to support them. The Minister is now engaging-----

Deputy Bacik.

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I asked about colocation, not about the critical care unit. I would like an answer, please.

Deputy McDonald, you are out of order.

I would like an answer from the Taoiseach, please.

You are out of order. The Taoiseach has given the answer.

No, he has not.

You will have to take it up then with the Taoiseach's office.

He has not answered.

Deputy Bacik.

Some 60 years on, everyone agrees there must be a resolution to the State’s scandalous handling of thalidomide. What is needed now is a fair and full resolution for the survivors, for their families and for their mothers, many of whom are now in failing health. As the Irish Thalidomide Association has warned, the clock is ticking for this small group of just 40 survivors. They have had too many false dawns. There was renewed hope in December when the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste committed to taking personal charge, which was very welcome. The Taoiseach must maintain that momentum now. Will he confirm that the February meeting he scheduled with thalidomide survivors will proceed? Survivors seek justice, the provision of a State apology and appropriate redress. They have waited six decades; they should not have to wait any longer.

Obviously the thalidomide facilitation process is under way under the chairmanship of Mr. Justice Paul Gilligan. There has been good engagement with the Irish Thalidomide Association, ITA, and the Irish Thalidomide Survivors Society. The Tánaiste and I met the ITA twice in the last quarter of 2025, in October and then before Christmas. These were constructive meetings. Several complex issues were raised. Officials are following up on these matters. I am as frustrated as anybody by the length of time this has taken. I do not think there is a need for that. I think these issues can be resolved. There is ongoing correspondence. We will meet, certainly, our objectives by the end of February. We have established, as the Deputy knows, a national thalidomide advocacy office. A wide range of health and social care supports are being provided, have been provided and will continue to be provided in terms of medical cards, annual assessments, access to allied health professionals, access to international centres of excellence when expertise is not available nationally, prophylactic MRI, unlimited access-----

I thank the Taoiseach.

-----to exercise and hydrotherapy facilities, and personal living supports. All that is in place but there are outstanding issues we want to resolve as quickly as we possibly can. We believe the Mr. Justice Gilligan process is a good process and one that should be availed of.

Thank you, Taoiseach. Deputy Quaide.

And the Taoiseach will be meeting them before the end of February.

Yes. We will come back with a date to the organisation.

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. There is growing alarm and confusion among parents, teachers and special needs assistants across the country after it was revealed that at least 194 schools had been told they would lose SNA posts from September, with further reviews ongoing. In the past hour, we have heard of a backtrack from Government as it came under ferocious public pressure. It appears that the Department was reverting to a crude and narrow interpretation of care needs, restricting SNA access largely to physical supports. As the Taoiseach knows, SNAs support children with a range of needs, such as emotional regulation, attention, communication, participation and belonging in school life. Without that support, many children simply cannot access education or reach their full potential. This chaos from the Department follows the recent astonishing decision to shift key elements of identifying special educational needs away from clinicians and towards teachers under the so-called assessment of need reforms, a move made without consultation and which gave rise to bewilderment and uncertainty across the sector. This detached and chaotic educational planning spreadsheet is messing with people's lives. Can the Taoiseach confirm that all the schools that have been told they will lose SNAs will keep them while the process is paused?

To conclude, Deputy.

How long will that take?

I have dealt with this extensively in the House. There are 4,000 schools in our system. By the start of the next school year, there will be up to 25,000 SNAs. As I said earlier, there has been a 45% increase in the number of SNAs over five years. I would caution against the breadth and the range of services the Deputy says SNAs should be obliged to provide. We need to be very targeted in our approach. The children who need SNAs the most should have them allocated to them. The danger with mission creep is that sometimes the child most in need does not get the attention that he or she requires and deserves. We are bringing in other therapies, initially into special schools. We then want to spread that into mainstream schools. That is nothing to do with the SNA situation. There should be regular reviews of SNAs to make sure the resource is targeted properly. I am sure nobody could object to that. The difficulty here as a result of the review the NCSE initiated last October - approximately 500 have been completed - is that the impact on some schools is too severe. This is in terms of the new school year, from September of this year.

How long will the review take?

The injunction taken by the Hoxton Hotel taken against one of the few late nightclub venues left in our city centre is one more example of how clubbing and any sort of late night social setting is becoming impossible in Dublin. I know the Taoiseach will not want to discuss the specifics of the legal case, and that is fine, but would he not agree that this situation demonstrates why our country's licensing laws are so outdated and why the Government needs to proceed with the changes to the Sale of Alcohol Bill 2022, create more flexibility for late night opening and introduce the concept of a night-time permit? Will the Taoiseach take steps to show that his Government truly values the night-time economy? Will he also show that the Government understands the desire of people, young and not so young, to be able to enjoy nightlife in this city and around the country?

I do understand, Deputy, that there are those, like your good self, among us who have plenty of energy and so on. The Deputy will recall that was discussed by a previous Government and Cabinet. I will engage with the Minister for justice and ask him where that legislation lies. As the Deputy knows, there have been different views across the House on how far the legislation is going. Some wanted the opening hours to go until 6 a.m., and the Deputy is nodding approvingly. There is an issue around the night-time economy. There have been different dimensions to that debate. I will speak to the Minister of justice to see where we are on that and to bring clarification to the House.

I want to talk about CHI and the enormous damage being done to children in this country. I received a reply to a parliamentary question today which states that 525 scoliosis operations were cancelled in the past four years. That figure has doubled within just three years. Half of the reasons were given as clinical but we know that Harvey Morrison Sherratt was taken off the waiting list for clinical reasons. That is a very broad brush. We also know that 20% of the cancellations are unaccounted for at the moment. We are not told in which hospitals this is happening and we are also told there has been an increase in the number of emergencies. That leads me to believe there is a capacity issue if those emergencies are knocking existing operations off the chart. The information that has been provided to parent is damagingly slow. Phase 1 of the Nayagam report is complete but parents have been refused sight of it. Why have the recommendations of the Nayagam report not even been published at this stage? Why are parents receiving redacted documents relating to their children? In terms of the statutory inquiry, we are no further along. There was a promise that terms of reference would be sorted out within 16 weeks. There are two weeks left of that deadline. The campaign group has not even been brought in to meet the Minister to discuss the terms of reference. When will the terms of reference be provided? It is likely that they will not be provided for at least another three, four or five months. Families are furious at the lack of support they are getting from Government.

In terms of cancellations, the latest information I have from CHI and the Department of Health for last year states that about 164 surgeries were cancelled, some due to clinical decisions. Some 48% were cancelled due to clinical decisions. Some 19% were due to personal or family reasons and some were due to a patient's ill-health, about 11%.

At least 20%-----

Of those, 115 cases were replaced with another spinal patient. I would like to see more follow-through on the number of patients who were cancelled. Timely information should be given to parents of children in situations like that. The Deputy must be aware why phase 1 of the Nayagam report has not been published.

The recommendations-----

There was a court injunction. The Deputy must be aware of that. My understanding is that there was a commitment given to the High Court that until phase 2 was completed, phase 1 would not be published. There is a lot of litigation around this and that is the main reason stuff is not being published. The inquiry will be focused on that.

I asked a question about the terms of reference.

I will believe there will be progress on that.

There has been no meeting with the families on the terms of reference.

I recently raised with the Taoiseach the issue of the higher rate of suspected suicide among members of the Travelling community compared to the general population - there is a suspected rate difference of between seven and ten for members of the Travelling community. In recent weeks, the Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community held a number of meetings to engage on the issue of Traveller health with various witnesses. It would appear that despite increased health provision, technology and treatment, the Travelling community is not benefiting at the same rate as the general population or settled community. The data is quite shocking. Traveller mortality rates are three times higher than the settled population. Average life expectancy for men who are members of the Travelling community is 15 years below the settled community and for women it is ten years below. Lastly, the Irish Traveller Movement advised us of data in the all-island Traveller health study suggested that half of travellers die before the age of 39, a startling statistic to hear. Senator Joe O'Reilly described it as an indictment on Irish society. There is a national Traveller health action plan that runs to 2027. I ask that the Taoiseach include the implementation of that strategy as a recurring agenda item for the Cabinet subcommittee on health.

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. Notwithstanding the fact that we have seen a reduction in suicide numbers between 2001 and 2025 by 28%, we have not seen the same reduction in suicide numbers in the Travelling community. Where once we ranked one of the worst in Europe, we now sit at about 12th. We will have a new strategy in place very soon - the connecting for life strategy. There were over 1,900 referrals into that strategy, which was really important. The Deputy is correct. Our suicide numbers are currently 9.2 for every 100,000. Unfortunately, in Northern Ireland and across the UK, the figure is 14 per 100,000. We have made progress but not enough when it comes to the Travelling community. I recently visited Exchange House in Dublin. As the Deputy knows, I put in place free counselling support for men from 1 September. Exchange House partnered with me and I was able to provide it with €100,000 to provide a 24-7 counselling line for Travellers. I continue to engage with the service. I can speak to the Deputy offline about what else he suggested.

I will undertake to put this item on the agenda for the next meeting of the Cabinet subcommittee.

I welcome the decision by the Minister for Education and Youth to pause the review and the support of the Government for that decision. A school in my constituency, Scoil Bhríde, had applied for an additional SNA and was told that not only would it not get an additional SNA, it would lose an SNA that had been with the school. That is a good example of where a school has clearly identified an additional need and the review has gotten it wrong. I acknowledge that the Taoiseach is saying now that appeals should be submitted. I just want clarity. As the matter is paused, should a school like this submit an appeal even while the pause is ongoing? Separately, I acknowledge the overall issue about ensuring we have the correct SNA allocations. Another school in my constituency, Star of the Sea Boys National School, made an application for an SNA for a child who is in a special class because the special class could not support the child without an additional SNA. An appeal on this matter is due to be heard by the NCSE on 27 February. I hope there is a positive outcome with the appeal, and I hope that those types of appeals are not paused. I want a positive outcome in this case in order that the SNA will be allocated to Star of the Sea so the child can go to a special class in a school in his own community.

I cannot get into individual allocations in specific schools without being aware of the details. That is a matter for the National Council for Special Education in the first instance. Yes, the school should appeal. The review has been paused. It was to continue until March. The Minister is going to engage with the NCSE. For those schools where decisions have been taken, there will be engagement between the NCSE and those schools, but I always recommend that schools should appeal any given decision. It strengthens its position overall.

The rural roads of County Wexford and parts of south Wicklow are deadly dangerous. They are literally disintegrating before our eyes. It is not a recent problem, as they have been at the bottom of the list in intercounty studies for the past 30 years. Recent floods have completely wrecked them. Despite this, it was announced today that County Wexford is now going to receive less funding for roads than it did last year. I want to the draw the Taoiseach's attention to the Civil Liability Act 1961, which says that there is a duty of care to maintain roads in a condition that is safe to all users. These roads are completely unsafe. As the road funding to local authorities is being finalised this week, I ask the Government to reconsider the crazy decision announced today to reduce funding to County Wexford, where roads are already disintegrating and really dangerous. I ask that the decision be reconsidered. I suggest that the funding be based on road condition rather than road length, which is the existing policy, because it is completely failing County Wexford and south Wicklow. Everybody is saying that these roads are really unsafe and horrendously dangerous. Thirty-four councillors in County Wexford and eight Oireachtas Members are saying it. There is cross-party agreement on this. Today's decision is really a kick in the teeth.

I will communicate the issue the Deputy has articulated to the Minister for Transport. In general, road funding is increasing across the board. There are significant increases this year. I do not have the specific county allocations, but I will raise the issue that the Deputy has raised with the Minister. In the context of the flooding and so forth, estimates are coming back in from local authorities in respect of that. I have told the Department of Transport to tell the local authorities to fix those roads that have been damaged by the floods.

I want to ask the Taoiseach about the Virginia bypass in County Cavan. The development of this bypass will deliver a sustainable solution for transportation problems identified along the N3 through Virginia town and its environs. It has been talked about for too many years. Significant safety and transportation issues have been identified within the area. Virginia town and its environs experience a level of both local and through traffic using the N3. Tendering was earmarked to begin this year with construction due to start in 2028 for completion by 2031. Last week's announcement followed a motion raised by my colleague in Cavan County Council, Councillor T.P. O'Reilly, seeking an update on the progression of the Virginia bypass. He was told that the planning stage will now not be lodged until the end of next year. People in the Cavan and Meath area are very frustrated. Will the Taoiseach make a statement on the matter?

I understand that funding to get the ball rolling was allocated to that project by the Minister today. It was announced at 12.45 p.m., subject to being checked. The Deputy can check that. I do not race ahead of the announcement of the news like some people do. I will leave it at that, but I acknowledge that it is an important project.

Can the Deputy announce it?

He has got a kind of half-positive response from me. My good colleague here has alerted me to the fact that the announcement today includes an allocation of funding for the commencement of that project.

I welcome the Government's record investment in special education, which now stands at €3 billion, up 58% since 2020. The additional SNAs coming into our schools and the extra capacity is making a real and positive difference for many children and their families. However, over the last few days the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has proposed significant cuts in some schools, like Our Lady of Good Counsel Boys National School in Johnstown in my constituency. The school has been notified of a reduction in its SNAs from nine to 3.83 - a cut of over 57% in a school with 387 kids, including 55 with identified additional care needs. The school has outlined the potential impact on pupil safety, medical supports and inclusive provision. There is an appeal process currently under way, but there is real anxiety in the school community, as the Taoiseach can imagine. The redeployment arrangements for affected SNAs have yet to be fully understood or set out. Will the Taoiseach engage with the Minister for Education to clarify the current status of the NCSE's decision to ensure allocations fully reflect the real care needs of those pupils, provide clarity and ensure no school suffers inappropriate cuts?

We are obviously talking about the next school year. As I said earlier in respect of Our Lady of Good Counsel, no school should lose close to six SNAs in one fell swoop or one decision. I have communicated that to the NCSE. I said it to both Ministers as well when we discussed this. Everyone acknowledges that it is too severe an impact. It is probably because there have not been regular reviews of allocations and such reviews are needed. We need to be very clear on the role of the SNA. Maybe it is not as broadly based it is now developing in some cases. There is specific training for SNAs and specific functions as per the circular in respect of supporting children with additional needs. Going from nine to 3.83 SNAs is a huge drop in a relatively small school. It has appealed. I understand that the NCSE will look at all of these cases again and will assess the appeal.

There is great anger among schools and parents in my constituency of Dublin North-West at the proposal to cut the number of special needs assistants in schools. There is already a clear imbalance between the number of SNAs available in schools and the numbers required to cater for the ever-increasing number of students who need such essential assistance. Why is the Government only pausing these cuts and not stopping them entirely? That would reassure a lot of people. We need more SNAs - not less - across Dublin North-West.

Sorry, we are increasing the number of SNAs. There will be no cuts to the number of SNAs in our school system, no SNA will lose his or her job and no SNA will be taken from any school in this school year. Those are the fundamentals. It is important that needs are reviewed and assessed on an ongoing basis. That is logical and that is the way it should be. For the next school year, we will be at 25,000 SNAs. That will be about 45% of an increase over five years. I do not know how anybody in their wildest imagination can call those cuts. It is expansion, but this review is about making sure that each school has the right level of SNAs for its needs.

We already have problems getting SNAs.

The Before We Die campaign advocates for the availability of choice and quality residential housing for adults with intellectual disabilities. The question that all parents, especially those in their 70s and 80s, ask is this: "What will happen to my son or daughter when we are no longer able to care for them?". A parent told me recently that the very thought of this keeps them awake for nights on end. There is no answer to the question. Years of underfunding and lack of planning mean that the system is in crisis. Ageing parents, who may be ill themselves, are left carrying the can. When will the Government provide the additional 900 supported residential places that are needed? When will the waiting times for adults needing this type of accommodation be reduced? When will people with intellectual disabilities and their families be included in the decision-making process for these residential places?

I met with the Before We Die campaign group and we had a very good discussion. These are very serious issues. There needs to be stronger co-ordination between local authorities, section 39 bodies and Government Departments, particularly the Department of housing and the Department of disability. I am placing it on the agenda of the next Cabinet subcommittee meeting with a view to creating a structure that will work to support families in this situation. There are a lot of issues we have to work through. I do not have the length of time to go through it all here but suffice to say it is not enough. The HSE will say it looks after moderate to severe disabilities. There has to be a continuum of care, of sheltered housing and of supported housing, depending on the needs of a given individual.

I thank the Taoiseach. I call Deputy O'Callaghan.

Between the local authorities, Government and the approved housing bodies, we should be able to create a structure that is proactively supporting families in this situation.

I asked the Taoiseach a couple of weeks ago about the unacceptable delays for An Post pensioners in relation to a pension increase that was already agreed. That was agreed back in September. The Minister was asked to approve it on 23 October. The pensioners are really upset that the increase they badly need in the cost-of-living crisis, to keep food on the table, pay bills and keep their homes heated, has not been signed off on by the Minister. All they are waiting on is for the Minister for public expenditure, Deputy Jack Chambers, to sign off on it. When I raised this matter with the Taoiseach, he undertook that he would talk to the Ministers about it and he agreed it was unacceptable for it not to be resolved quickly. Did the Taoiseach talk to the Ministers and can he tell the An Post pensioners when this is going to be signed off on?

I think the Deputy asked me about this last Wednesday.

It was two weeks ago.

I asked about it last week.

I have spoken to both Ministers. The Minister for public expenditure, Deputy Chambers, will be back to me fairly shortly on this and we will try to get it resolved. I do not have a date yet.

Similar to my colleague from Wicklow-Wexford, I would like to raise the issue of the condition of roads in County Wexford. I travelled some of the rural roads in Wexford over the weekend and, quite frankly, they are in an appalling condition. I do not have to tell the Taoiseach that Wexford suffered an enormous amount of weather damage over the past number of weeks. The roads were in a very poor condition. I recently met officials from Wexford County Council and they were quite worried about the allocation of money that will come to them given the level of damage. I ask that extra provision be provided to bring the roads up to somewhat of a good standard, in particular the rural roads. They are like lunar landscapes, such is the level of damage. We owe it to the people, particularly in rural areas, who are suffering year in, year out but who are really suffering now as a result of the condition of the roads. We really need an extra special allocation for this.

There was always contingency funding within the Department of Transport in terms of damaged roads as a result of flooding. There was a lot of damage as a result of the recent flooding, and we have made it very clear, through the Department of Transport, to say to the local authorities that they should get on with doing the roads that have been damaged, specifically by the flooding. They should not be hanging around; they should get them done and they will be covered.

Ballyhaunis is a fantastic town for commerce and trade. Despite the loss of banks and other services, it has remained a very strong town for employment. It is a wonderful town. There is a proposal, however, to move the An Post delivery service unit in Ballyhaunis. It is a fundamentally important resource for the community and local commerce. It allows businesses to trade and export their products. The liquidation of the Fastway company recently has increased the importance of the An Post delivery service unit in Ballyhaunis. I ask the Taoiseach to intervene to protect the delivery service unit in Ballyhaunis. This is a State agency that is owned by the State. This is a town that has seen the loss of services like banks and other financial institutions like the credit union going part-time in recent days. There are jobs at stake and businesses that rely on this service. Will the Taoiseach intervene and protect the An Post delivery service unit in Ballyhaunis?

I will talk to the Minister with overall responsibility for An Post. I do not have the specifics of the case here yet but I will certainly talk to the Minister to see what can be done.