Martin Kenny

I also welcome Francis Gorman, president of the IFA, and his colleague to the Gallery. The Common Agricultural Policy was launched way back in 1962 as a partnership between Europe and its farmers. Its aims, which have evolved since then, are to support farmers and improve agricultural productivity, ensuring a stable supply of affordable food; to safeguard EU farmers such that they would be able t…

I raise with the Taoiseach the issue of a family in Sligo, the family of Jimmy Loughlin. Jimmy was murdered in 2018. Unfortunately, the person who killed him had a long-term mental health illness. The situation evolved over a number of years. The family is now looking to get a serious incident report from the HSE. The HSE is supposed to compile such a report. It started it but never finished it. W…

It should come from the HSE but it has failed to provide one.

It would be for the Mental Health Commission.

I will write to the Taoiseach with the full details.

I wish Deputies Harkin and Lawless all the best in their ministerial roles. Something that strikes me in respect of the higher education system is that the free education scheme is free in name only for many families who do not qualify for the SUSI grant. It is an arduous task to get the grant. It is a very expensive ordeal to send children to college. I have four children within five years of eac…

Power and water are the two biggest infrastructural issues in my area and in rural parts of constituencies. The impact of the recent storms on our power infrastructure has been absolutely devastating. It has exposed the serious vulnerability that is there. However, I will mainly focus on the water issue and Uisce Éireann. In rural south Donegal, there are very serious problems with the water. The…

I tabled a similar parliamentary question a couple of weeks ago regarding Sligo-Leitrim. One thing I noticed was that, in both counties, the number of hours that were sanctioned but unmet in Leitrim had doubled in the 12 months between 2023 and 2024 and in Sligo had trebled, particularly for older people. One thing I discovered is that what normally happens is the district nurse or some profession…

121. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Health if she is aware of the issues of water leaking in the orthopaedic surgical theatre in Sligo University Hospital, causing surgeries to be cancelled; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23221/25]

Sligo University Hospital has the worst-resourced orthopaedic Department with the worst orthopaedic infrastructure in the country. This is an unfortunate reality. It is a consistent struggle for surgeons to get work done there. The current issue is that the theatre roof leaked last week during intense rain showers. Water enters what is supposed to be a sterile area and compromises sterility. This …

I appreciate the Minister's update. It is positive that the management is meeting with the surgeons to try to deal with this situation. I spoke to some of the surgeons, who are extremely frustrated. They want to do their job but they cannot do it effectively in the facilities they have. There are only eight elective orthopaedic beds in the ward, which must be shared between the patients of six con…

That is positive news but we need to put a deadline on this to ensure it happens. While the new complex may be at design stage, it is a long way from being built. As Deputy Connolly mentioned in regard to Galway, people talk about these things for years and years but nothing happens. That is the reality. We do not want that situation to occur in this case. There are other facilities can be utilis…

One of the things that strikes me about all of this is that what sets the human being apart from all other mammals is that we have the ability to communicate. That is what makes us different. One question at table quizzes is often about the first three words in the Bible, but the second three words are more important, "In the beginning was the Word". We had words and could speak and communicate. T…

Many families in every part of the country, in rural as well as urban areas, simply cannot find a childcare place. This is a real problem. If they find a place, it is excessively expensive because provision is so scarce. The Government came forward at election time and said it would provide childcare at €200 per month and also do this, that and the other. In line with what a politician famously no…

How many new houses this year?

The Taoiseach is not answering the question.

The reality of what we see across the world in the past week or so is an act of self-sabotage by the American President on his own people. That is really the centre of all of this. At the end of it, we recognise that the trade barriers or the trade tariffs being put in place are going to damage the American economy and ordinary American citizens hugely. We all hope that will rebound back and bring…

An awful lot of people, certainly in my constituency and rural areas, find it very difficult to deal with Uisce Éireann. We cannot get through to it. Nobody can get talking to it. People cannot get any reply to their queries and issues. Most of the water in many parts of the country is provided by group schemes. If the group schemes agree to be taken over, then Uisce Éireann will engage with them …

3. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department will re-examine how peatlands and mineral rich soil lands are designated for good agricultural and environmental condition 2, GAEC 2; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13671/25]

I welcome the Minister and all his colleagues here and wish them all the very best in their term in office in the Department of agriculture. My question is on GAEC 2 and how peatlands and mineral-rich soils are being designated under that scheme. As the Minister knows, the proposal sent to Europe is that if a parcel of land has 50% or more of peatlands all of the parcel will be considered as peatl…

I thank the Minister. It was pretty much the reply I had expected. To be honest, I do not agree. The parcel is well understood, everyone knows what it is and it is there for several other schemes, but in GAEC 8 and GAEC 9 relating to Natura 2000 lands, for example, one can red-line out the area. There is no reason that cannot be done when it comes to peatlands as well. There is no reason we cannot…

I understand that and I take the Minister's point but at the end of the day, there are issues, particularly in my part of the world, with people in rural areas finding it difficult to get planning permission. If their lands are designated, what will happen if they are in GAEC 2? Will that be an issue for them? There are also serious problems for farmers with ambitions to expand their lands or gro…

5. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the way his Department will address the increases in the cost of production of milk in order that these costs are not passed on to consumers in supermarkets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13672/25]

This relates to the increase in the cost of production, particularly in the milk sector. The dairy sector stated last week that it had serious issues and was going to have to pass the high cost of production on to the consumer. The dairy sector, which has been important for Ireland, especially in terms of exports, will be looking at what happens tonight across the water, given exports of Kerrygold…

I suppose it goes back to the old adage that the farmer is the one person who pays a retail price for his or her inputs and takes a wholesale price for his or her outputs. That is the crux of this issue. The cost that farmers have to pay for fertiliser, feed, diesel for the tractor or whatever is constantly climbing, yet they see their margins getting tighter and tighter. This is the issue at hand…