Claire Kerrane

I ask the Minister for a timeframe for the implementation of the recent recommendations that have been published by the national review panel. Given the Kyran Durnin case, which the NRPl examined, it is really important that we have a very clear timeframe for when each of these recommendations must be implemented.

With a number of Departments and agencies involved, it is really important that one person has oversight for ensuring that each of the recommendations is implemented as quickly as possible. I imagine that recommendations such as guidance, reviewing the protocol between the Garda and Tusla, and reviews of GDPR should all be initiated very quickly and some of them will be able to be implemented very…

I appreciate all of that and I thank the Minister for those updates. It would be really helpful for her to provide to the Departments and agencies involved a time frame to ensure that each of the recommendations made by the national review panel is met. As I said, we will get further recommendations and more work is needed in these areas. That is why it is so important to have a clear and specific…

I acknowledge the men, women and children with disabilities who came to Leinster House earlier today in the midst of a storm. They came here to send a clear message to the Government that they are now choosing between eating and heating their homes. We heard from people who are deciding how many bars of gas they could turn on and how many more trips they can make to the food bank in a week. What a…

90. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he will seek greater supports for counties where there are difficulties in acquiring domestic violence refuges; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67257/25]

I raised with the Minister previously the situation in County Roscommon where they are having major difficulties in sourcing a building that meets the requirements to become a refuge. Will the Minister look at areas such as County Roscommon that, despite best efforts, are struggling to find such a building?

I acknowledge Cuan, the agency, and the work it is doing and the efforts that are being made to increase capacity when it comes to refuge spaces and safe houses for those who are fleeing domestic violence or violence typically in their own home. A number of sites had been identified by Roscommon Safe Link but, because of the criteria being so rigid, none of those sites was found to meet the crite…

I hope we will see that development of a refuge in County Roscommon because, as I said, the need is there. I hope the site that has been identified will be successful. The Minister is correct that in most of these cases, it is the woman who flees the home. That should not be the case. We should be looking at turning that around, where the abuser is the one who has to lose his home, typically, as …

Nine weeks ago, on the return of the Dáil, I wrote to the Minister for Health in relation to a decision made to remove hundreds of births from the maternity service in Portiuncula in Ballinasloe. I looked for a meeting for all Oireachtas Members and all parties, not just myself, with the Minister for Health. We have had mixed messages. We have had the 2018 Walker report on maternity services in Po…

What the Minister calls agricultural sensitivities, we see as a real threat to Irish agriculture and Irish farm families the length and breadth of our State. It is a real kick in the teeth to farmers who have to bend over backwards and work so hard to meet regulation after regulation. They have to meet a bar that is set so high, and they meet it, high as it is, yet they then see the real possibili…

81. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she is aware of concerns raised by childminders as to the future of their childminding service, and the impact that childminders leaving the sector would have given the already severe lack of childcare capacity; if she will meet with an organisation (details supplied) which represents childminders; and if she wil…

I hope the Minister will hear us about the issues that childminders are bringing to our attention and the need for that review to take place as quickly as possible. The regulations have been in place for just over one year. It is the perfect time for that review now to commence. When does the Minister expect that review to begin? Childminders are telling parents that they are already leaving. We n…

I urge the Minister to ensure that the review takes place early next year. I was on the radio today. There was someone on with me who has been a childminder for 17 years. She is leaving. She has told the parents of the children that she will not be able to look after them at the end of the school year next June. She is one of many. I do not see any reason that a review of the regulations would be …

Respectfully, the problem is that some of those childminders at that point will be gone. If we are waiting for them to register with Tulsa and we then engage with them at that point, is it under 200 of the 13,000 or 14,000 childminders in the State who have registered with Tusla to date? It is happening at a snail’s pace. If that is what we are waiting for, then the review will be almost a waste o…

That was the first year. It is over; it is gone.

83. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to outline the measures announced in budget 2026 for the early years sector, including the 2,300 places to be created via extensions to schools and community centres; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61736/25]

I want to ask the Minister to outline the measures for the early years sector that were announced in budget 2026, particularly the measure to provide 2,300 places via extensions to schools and community centres. Perhaps she will be able to enlighten us as to where that measure came from and how long she expects planning permission to take for these extensions to take place.

I welcome all of those measures and any measure announced for the early years sector that will make a difference. One of the biggest issues we have in the early years sector right now is capacity. We have serious issues in terms of capacity, whether it is capacity in baby rooms or capacity in childcare places at every level right across the State. As far as I am concerned, when we need 40,000 to 5…

In terms of building capacity, where has the idea of extensions to schools and community centres to create 2,300 places come from? I think of a school in Ballinasloe that has waited almost 30 years for a new build. Schools cannot build and develop what they need to and we are talking about extensions. We need childcare places tomorrow. Extensions to schools, if there is permission from schools in …

This Bill will allow the ESB to access more funding and do more in terms of investment in improving infrastructure. As the majority shareholder in the ESB, there is a real onus on the Government to ensure people feel the benefit of that extra funding and investment. This is especially important for areas like mine across Roscommon and Galway that were hammered by Storm Éowyn earlier this year. Pr…

To the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and the Minister of State, I have to say I was in disbelief at what was announced on childcare in the budget yesterday. In the last two weeks it has been reported that between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil there has been a wrestle between reducing costs for parents or building childcare capacity. This budget does neither. We are all well aware that there are three big issues…

We have no ring-fenced funding for our early years educators and school-age practitioners at a time when the staff turnover rate in some counties is upwards of 50%. We have 50% of early years educators in some counties leaving the sector, yet we have no ring-fenced funding for an additional pay increase next year. They are still waiting on the pay increase that was announced in June. We are almost…

I have asked repeatedly for the most perfect system - I credit the Government for it because it got to it eventually - for family carers in terms of the State pension. It is excellent, and family carers have got the State pension they deserve, especially those who were short the 520 credits. The Government should do the same thing for foster carers where they are short and not allow them to get to…

Family carers deserve an income support that recognises their care. The current system does not do that because if you are living with someone or are married to somebody, no matter how much care you provide and whether it is 24-7 or whatever it may be, it does not matter. The care does not matter because your partner, your husband and the person you are living with has an income. I always recall a…

County Roscommon is one of a number of counties with no domestic violence refuge. I met with Roscommon Safe Link over the summer. I must commend them on the great work that they do. For a number of years, they have been struggling to find a location for a refuge, which they are anxious to establish for the county. They are struggling to find one that meets the standards that are being applied by …