2026-02-11

Children with scoliosis and spina bifida and their parents have been failed once again. They found out from a Sunday newspaper that phase one of the Nayagam review, which looked at the spinal surgeries carried out on 91 children, had been sitting on the Minister's desk. This is a report the HSE has had since September. Yet, families heard nothing from the HSE, Children's Health Ireland or the Minister. They heard the news through the media. Only today will letters land through the doors of those families. The Government has learned absolutely nothing about how to treat these families and children with respect and dignity. The Minister now refuses to publish this report. I want the Taoiseach to guarantee the report will be published, not left on a shelf with families left in the dark.

It is a serious report. I regret the propagandistic politicking the Deputy has just engaged in on what is a serious issue for families and children. No report was sitting on the Minister's desk. The Deputy knows well there were legal injunctions on how this report would be handled. She knows well it was not sitting on the Minister's desk. Why did she say it was in that throwaway phrase, as though the Minister is callous and does not care? Why does she do that? Is there any sincerity in her position? I regard this report as serious.

Is it serious enough to publish?

It is very serious. I spoke to the Attorney General about this yesterday. Up to 62 cases have to be looked at. We were only briefed on Monday evening, again due to legal constraints in terms of how it can be shared. We will have to deal with that, yes, but the Deputy should please not trot out reprehensible comments about people's motivations. That is just wrong.

Listen to the families.

I call Deputy Gannon.

It is too serious for that.

Time is up, Taoiseach.

Shocking.

The Government's behaviour is shocking all right.

I call Deputy Gannon.

The opposite of restorative justice is the retraumatising of victims and yesterday survivors of the Stardust tragedy expressed feelings of shock and retraumatisation following the Government's announcement. Survivors were told clearly that this would not be a one-size-fits-all scheme. The Taoiseach confirmed in a memo to the Government that exceptionality would be recognised. The Minister stood up in the Dáil and repeated that commitment. What was announced yesterday was a flat payment, finalised without the promised engagement and without a structure to address individual injury or trauma. People who suffered burns and lifelong physical damage and deep psychological harm are being treated identically. They feel dehumanised all over again. That €20,000 amounts to less than €400 for each year of the campaign.

The Taoiseach to respond.

Will the Taoiseach's Department meet survivors and their legal representatives?

The Stardust fire was a national tragedy that has left an enduring legacy of pain for the country, particularly the people of north Dublin and the families of the 48 young people who were tragically killed. They suffered a terrible loss, and there has been a lasting impact on the survivors who were injured in the fire. Following the State apology and engagement with the legal representatives of the families, the Government approved a two-phased approach to redress arrangements. Phase 1 involved the establishment of a €24 million ex gratia redress scheme for the families of the 48 victims of the fire. That was developed in consultation and agreement with the families' legal representatives and provided for a single, non-scaled ex gratia payment of €500,000 to be made to the families concerned in respect of each of the 48 victims. Phase 2 concerns survivors injured in the fire.

I call Deputy Seamus Healy.

I will revert to Deputy Gannon.

Retired An Post and Eir workers, some in wheelchairs, protested outside the Dáil yesterday to have agreed increases in their pensions approved by the Government. Those increases have been agreed by the company board, the scheme's trustees, the Communications Workers' Union and actuaries. Some of them were due from 1 June 2025 but cannot be paid until they are approved by the Ministers for communications and public expenditure and reform, respectively. The increases in question will give pensioners little more than the State pension and are capped at about 2% for years despite high inflation rates. The delay in payment is causing real hardship. Pensioners have been waiting for months for these increases. Both the cost of living and bills are going up all the time. When will the Minister, Deputy Chambers, sign off on these increases?

Is this in relation to-----

The pensions of An Post and Eir retirees. People who retired from those companies-----

I am familiar with the issue. I will engage with the Minister for public expenditure on this in order to see where we are. The issue of CIÉ pensions needs to be sorted as well. My understanding is that we are close to getting that one resolved. I will see where we are in respect of the An Post and Eir pensions.

I ask the Taoiseach to intervene personally, because they have been waiting months.

The Deputy can correspond directly.

The Taoiseach is probably aware of the Mosquito - an ultrasonic, high-frequency device that is designed to deter loitering teenagers. It emits a kind of buzzing sound that can only be heard by people under the age of 25. Use of this device seems to be increasing again. My understanding is that noise can be considered an assault under section 2 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, so businesses should be careful about using it, although I am not sure if there have ever been any prosecutions. I would have been instinctively against the use of the Mosquito in the past from a human rights perspective, but there may be specific instances of ongoing antisocial behaviour where they could possibly be used. In that context, will the Taoiseach explore the use of these devices in circumstances where a business could notify the gardaí of antisocial behaviour and indicate that it is switching one on but stop them from being used to prevent innocent teenagers from hanging around and enjoying time with their friends?

I will engage more with the Deputy on this matter. I will certainly see what potentially can be done in respect of the utilisation of these devices, particularly to prevent antisocial behaviour.

The Taoiseach appreciates challenging and informed questions from this side of the House. I appreciate the recent rise in Garda numbers - 168 new gardaí last week were attested last week - and the work of the current and former Ministers for justice on this issue. Blanchardstown got six new gardaí last week, our largest allocation in this Dáil term, but we need more. In the K district, which is my constituency plus Finglas, we have roughly garda per 529 people. This compares, despite our higher levels of recorded crime, with one per 394 people in a neighbouring district. Last year, Pearse Street recorded more than 11,000 crimes while Blanchardstown recorded more than 7,000. They are both really busy stations. In this Dáil term, the entire K district has been allocated just 31 new gardaí. The Dublin Bay South constituency has been allocated 103. I realise that the latter has higher levels of crime, but it does not have two thirds more. I ask that the Taoiseach continue his work with the Minister for justice to ensure that all constituencies, not just mine, have adequate resources.

In the budget, about €2.74 billion was allocated to the Garda in the recent budget. Within that is enough money for about 1,000 new gardaí, 200 more Garda staff and a doubling of the Garda Reserve to more than 600 this year. A total of 223 trainees entered Templemore in November. That is the largest intake to Templemore since 2014. That brought the total number of trainees to enter Templemore to 794 in 2025, which is the largest yearly total since 2018. In other words, we have to get more recruits through Templemore. That is happening. A total of 215 went in on 9 February. This is the third intake in a row where the numbers have exceeded 200. We are making real progress. The Commissioner has decided to allocate large numbers to certain locations. This has had a huge impact. We will get there, but people are going to have to be patient. How we deploy to the maximum optimum levels is important. Ultimately, this is an operational matter for the Commissioner but more coming gardaí coming through will mean greater allocations.

Deputy McDonald raised the issue I am about to raise with the Taoiseach earlier. We have campaigners from Donegal with us who made the journey. The long and the short of it is that the Government entered a contract with Emerald Airlines yesterday. That contract will end afternoon flights to Donegal and Dublin. The Government did that despite that Donegal Airport asked it not to because it was seeking legal opinion. The cancer campaign group asked the Government not to do it. Some 15,000 people across Donegal asked the Government not to do it. I made pleas on the floor of the Chamber and privately to Ministers involved asking that it not be done. However, the Government signed a contract that will diminish the service to Donegal. The people who are here today are not here for the good of their health. They represent not only the 500 cancer patients who, at any given time, see this service as a lifeline but also 15,000 people who signed this petition in the past couple of days alone and who knew that this is going to be a devastating blow. The Taoiseach said he would do everything within legal limits. Will he take the opportunity to set out what can be done?

Since Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher raised this with me, I met with the Minister. The challenge is that if the contract had not been signed yesterday, we would have no service at all.

The Government knew about it in October.

Let us try to share the problem now. If it had not been signed yesterday, there would be no service. We have to try to work within that constraint. There was one tenderer to my knowledge. The Minister does not get involved in the tendering negotiations. He cannot. I presume the Deputy approves of that in the sense that we do not get involved with companies, tendering processes and all of that. The fact that there was one tenderer was a problem. We are not satisfied with the outcome . We would have preferred the retention of the afternoon flight and the plane remaining overnight in Donegal. Substantial money is being allocated to the public service obligation, PSO. My understanding is that it is the only PSO.

What is the Government going to do about it?

We are looking to review this within three months and to engage with the successful bidder for this contract.

Is the Taoiseach aware of the requirement that will come into place from 25 February whereby Irish nationals arriving by boat, plane or otherwise into the UK will be obliged to present a valid Irish passport? Heretofore, all that was necessary was an ID card. This may not be a matter for the Government of the UK; I think it is Aer Lingus that is involved. It is sharp practice to introduce this on 25 February, which is only days away, when many of our people do not have passports but go to the UK frequently. Could the Taoiseach make some representation to Aer Lingus?

I certainly will. I will engage with the Deputy in the aftermath of this. Is he saying that any Irish citizen entering the UK? Does it include Northern Ireland?

No. It relates to those travelling to mainland Britain with Aer Lingus.

The Taoiseach and Deputy might need to engage further

We will pursue this with Aer Lingus and more generally. I will talk to Deputy Gallagher too.

I have concerns regarding the deployment of Garda resources in rural towns in County Offaly, including Banagher and many other smaller towns. It is not the remit of the Minister for justice to say where gardaí are deployed. That is the responsibility of the Garda Commissioner. Following approximately ten recent break-ins in Banagher and the surrounding areas, we know that the slow response time is due to gardaí having to be dispatched from Birr. While operational police decisions, as I said, are down to the Garda Commissioner, does the Taoiseach acknowledge the concern locally that Offaly received no members of An Garda Síochána in the past two Templemore allocation tranches? Will the Taoiseach ask that resourcing and deployment arrangements for the area be examined to help ensure timely responses and maintain community confidence in policing across rural Offaly?

I accept the issues that have been raised by the Deputy. Ten recent break-ins seems to be a fairly high number. I will engage with the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration and the Garda Commissioner in respect of maybe specific actions to stem the tide there and to get to the bottom of what is going on in terms of that level of that particular type of crime. We will also make representations in terms of the allocation of gardaí. As I said earlier, the Commissioner prioritised city centres in Dublin in particular, Cork, Limerick and Waterford and while it is no consolation to the Deputy, the impact has been quite significant in terms of public perception of safety and security. Clearly, we want to get around the entire country and I hear what the Deputy is saying. If Offaly has received nothing, its turn must come. I will talk to the Commissioner about that because, as I said earlier, record numbers are coming through Templemore - the highest number in a long time this year alone. Hopefully, we can continue that and get them out.

I want to address flood insurance or should I say the lack of flood insurance. It is estimated at over one in 20 homes and businesses is unable to access insurance. Over the past few weeks, I have met residents from Aughrim, Enniscorthy, Arklow and Bunclody and have seen at first hand the devastation caused by flooding. Moving forward, their biggest concern is simply that they are unable to access insurance. This problem has been replicated right across Ireland. Properties that are protected by multimillion euro flood defences still cannot get insurance. The Government must stand up here as these homes and businesses were approved by the authorities, so we simply cannot walk away. We need to implement a Government-backed scheme in conjunction with Insurance Ireland that is fit for purpose and will address the gap that currently exists and not leave thousands of homes and businesses without insurance.

I thank the Deputy for raising a very important issue. There was a meeting this morning of the Cabinet subcommittee on evaluating Storm Chandra. We will deal further with the issue of insurance but there needs to be a balanced, combined approach between the insurance industry and the State. It involves the investment the State is making in a quite significant number of flood relief programmes and the degree to which those flood relief programmes should also impact future insurance, which sometimes can be problematic in the aftermath of the completion of such flood review schemes. Work is under way. We are not walking away from the issue but, equally, it cannot all fall on Government either and the industry has obligations too, so we will engage with the industry and endeavour to see whether we can land this in a zone that both can live with. More importantly, it is about ensuring that the people who are suffering can have some security around their homes and businesses.

Did the Taoiseach watch the "RTÉ Investigates" programmes last night and the night before on the psychiatric care scandal? At the moment, I am dealing with families who are at their wits' end trying to access mental health services for their adult children. In some of these cases, the person involved is a danger to themselves, their families and their neighbours. Instead of them being turned away from services when help is sought or sent to jail, help needs to be given to these people. Prison is not the answer. Prison is the opposite of rehabilitation for people with mental illness. They need access to community-based treatment. Next Thursday night, I am holding a public meeting in the Newgrange Hotel in Navan for parents who cannot access mental health services for their adult children. What message can I give these parents from the Taoiseach about accessing help for their children? These parents are at breaking point.

In my view, institutionalisation was the great stain historically on Irish mental healthcare. Without question, we over-institutionalised in the past. Over the past 40 years, we have substantially deinstitutionalised mental healthcare from the old-type buildings and have put more emphasis on primary care and community-based mental healthcare. I accept we have a lot more progress to make and a lot more to do but a lot of progress has been made, particularly forensic medicine in terms of the new investment in Portrane. That is a very high-quality centre - of that there is no doubt. Further funding is going to that centre to increase its capacity in terms of its intensive care. In addition to that, a lot of work has been done in CAMHS and community health in a whole range of strands. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, can elaborate on this in more detail but, fundamentally, we are not where we want to be in terms of mental health. I accept that but we have made a lot of progress over the past couple of years.

I am back to the Garda numbers as well. The situation in Tipperary is appalling. The numbers are just so bad. We got four in the second last tranche but six experienced gardaí left Clonmel Garda station. We got four in Clonmel. One of those new recruits has since sadly left the force. We got one in this allocation. The superintendents tell me that they struggle to put out a patrol car. People are not getting replies to phone calls and are being told by superintendents now to dial 999 but they are still not getting answered and people are left waiting for hours never to receive a call back. I support the gardaí who are there and doing their best but it is just not fair to or safe for those gardaí. A number of them have been injured when they were on their own with no back up. The situation in Clonmel. Carrick-on-Suir, Cahir, Tipperary town and all the rural areas is chronic. It is lovely to see them all going to Dublin and we support that but we want a fair share in the countryside. The people of rural Ireland are good people and deserve protection but the gardaí they have cannot give it to them. It is a sad situation.

As I have outlined, we have given a huge funding allocation to An Garda Síochána and record numbers are going through Templemore. A total of 223 trainees entered in November, which was the largest intake since 2014. The total number of trainees to enter Templemore in 2025 was 794, which was the largest yearly total since 2018. A total of 215 trainees entered on Monday, 9 February. That is the third intake in a row where the numbers have exceeded 200. These candidates were all from the 2024 and 2025 recruitment campaigns, so we will diaidh ar ndiaidh, gradually, allocate more gardaí around the country as they come through Templemore. A lot of progress has been made and we will continue to make progress. Offaly has been mentioned and the Deputy mentioned Tipperary. We will get around to the country in terms of the further allocations.

On Monday, nurses began a work-to-rule in Naas General Hospital over what they say are unacceptable and unsafe staffing deficits. These include a failure to comply with the agreed safe staffing frameworks, a failure to increase staffing to meet a 25% increase in attendance at accident and emergency and maternity leave posts not being filled. Will the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health reach out to the HSE to get it to come to the table meaningfully to bring this to a resolution?

There is established industrial relations machinery to deal with disputes, be they local disputes in particular hospitals or national disputes, and I encourage all involved to refer this to the industrial relations process so that these issues can be addressed.

At budget time, I welcomed the additional SNA posts. I was concerned as to whether these were new or existing roles but I did welcome them. All of us in this House have received numerous emails over the past day or so following SNA reviews and information that has filtered down to schools. I have been contacted by numerous teachers, principals, parents and SNAs, particularly from Bweeng National School. Many schools that have been notified that they will have their SNA resources reduced for the coming school year have informed me that this does not reflect the reality on the ground. When they tell me resources are not only needed but need to be increased, I take that very seriously. The NCSE has created a rigid system in the allocation of SNAs that does not take into account the majority of learning difficulties faced by children in our schools. SNAs have contacted me with very legitimate and genuine concerns for their work. They are concerned about whether they will have a role in their school next year and whether they will have to move for work. They now feel that they are in limbo. We should not treat any worker in such a manner. Will the Taoiseach ask the Department of Education and Youth and the Minister to intervene immediately to alleviate these concerns and provide some clarity to these SNAs?

We need to stand back a bit in terms of the situation regarding SNAs. There has been an incremental exponential increase in the number of SNAs. We now have about 25,000 SNAs - 24,925.

I welcome that.

I know. I am making the point about whether the view is that we keep on increasing, that we have no reviews or that we do not evaluate the system. We do need to stand back a bit. I spoke to a principal recently who said we need other forms of provision as well. We are bringing in school therapy for special schools through the national therapy service. In some continental schools, they have behavioural therapists which can facilitate integration in mainstream schools. Obviously, I cannot get into every individual school, but I hear what the Deputy is saying and will relate it back to the Department of Education and Youth. However, the numbers have gone up substantially again this year as a result of the allocation. There are individual school allocations then pertaining to the criteria of the NCSE too.

I speak on behalf of the small convenience store, often the only store now in every village in rural Ireland. I want to raise serious concerns about the new tobacco and vaping licence fee due this month. What was a once-off fee of €50 is now a combined annual fee of €1,800. That is a 3,500% increase and 36 times higher than what it previously was. I understand the public health issue at the heart of this, but the fact that the small convenience store must pay the same as the big players in the market - the Tesco and Dunnes Stores of this world - is very unfair. The average licence fee across the US, the southern hemisphere and the European Union is €250. I ask the Taoiseach to urgently review this fee as it applies to the small retailer and to apply the SME test.

I thank the Deputy and I understand where he is coming from to a degree, but the requirement for a licence to sell tobacco and nicotine inhaling products was enacted in December 2023 and it came into effect earlier this month. It follows on from a recommendation for a national tobacco control policy from Tobacco Free Ireland and it is designed to give an enforcement authority to the HSE's national environmental health service. We know tobacco kills one out of every two smokers and is responsible for about 4,500 deaths a year. We want to end tobacco consumption. Vapes, on other factors, are worse in terms of other impacts on public health. I know the Deputy is asking if there can be a differentiation between larger and smaller retailers. I will talk to the Minister about that, but I do not think we can resile from a fundamental issue facing us a society. The vapes, to me, are big tobacco's revenge after we substantively dealt with the tobacco issue. It came back around the corner with the vapes, which are doing real damage. I met Dr. Fauci a year ago and he outlined the damage to me in no uncertain terms.

The Taoiseach is a Cork man like myself. He knows The Glen area well. He should remember that back in 2013 the people of The Glen objected and were against the building of a new prison in The Glen. They were given commitments at that time that the old prison would not be used as another prison and that it would be used for education, the community and historical purposes because Thomas Kent was executed there and buried there for years. The Government now plans to knock the old prison, reneging on promises that were given to the people of The Glen and surrounding areas of St. Luke's, Dillon's Cross and the Old Youghal Road. The Government will not give the northside a hospital, a ring road, an accident and emergency department for children, clean water or a regional park, but it will give the northside a second prison. We are sick and tired of being treated like second-class citizens. We do not want a second prison. Build it somewhere else. We have one prison in The Glen. How can the Government justify building a second prison in the middle of a residential area? It is wrong and a betrayal of the people of The Glen and the promises that were made.

There has been huge investment in the northside of Cork by this Government and the previous Government. There has been huge investment and regeneration in the Deputy's area, which he has ignored. We are progressing the elective hospital in Glanmire.

When?

It is progressing. We have now worked out the road issues with the city council that had-----

No, I was at a meeting last Friday with the chief executive. That is not true.

I spoke to the chief executive on the issue three weeks ago. I did not interrupt the Deputy. He has created a vision of doom and more doom. There has been huge investment and the northern distributor-----

The planning has not even gone in for the road for the new hospital.

The Deputy needs to go back and forth on the topic. He should not ask a question on policy and legislation if he is going to engage like that. Every Member understands the structure of the debate. The time is up.

I just want to make a point about the northern distributor road. One of the most important companies in the country and in Europe, Apple, has 6,000 people employed in the northside. We are going to facilitate the people of the northside.

What about the prison in The Glen?

The Deputy kept interrupting me. I could not get a word in.

I asked a question and it was never answered.

The Deputy kept talking.

In 2024, 37 new bus shelters were built across Dublin city. In 2023, the figure was 30 and even in 2022, post Covid-19, 23 new bus shelters were built. In 2025, three new bus shelters were built across Dublin. We can understand why people are a bit sceptical about the housing targets with a construction record like that. Will the Taoiseach ask the Minister for Transport why the Government's ability to deliver new bus shelters has collapsed in the last year?

I will talk to the Minister for Transport, but I presume, as the Deputy knows, that the statutory agencies have a significant role in terms of bus shelters.

They need money.

There is no shortage of money in the bloody system. Come on. Dáil Éireann should not have to discuss the provision of bus shelters.

That concludes Leaders' Questions. Before I move to the next business, I welcome the former CEO of PepsiCo Ireland, Mr. Frank O'Mahony, who is in the Gallery. That is from Deputy O'Sullivan. Mr. O'Mahony is very welcome. This is a very important time for a new Deputy, Deputy Eoghan Kenny, who will introduce his very first Private Members' Bill.