Micheál Martin

That is the fundamental point I would make. By the way, the city council did not pull funding-----

-----from Oliver Bond flats. That will be sorted out very quickly.

I thank the Deputy very much for raising this very important issue. We probably need to situate this in a European and global context rather than just in a narrow national context, although I take the Deputy's point that there are vulnerabilities in terms of the importation of a range of foodstuffs and that we need a plan regarding food security on the island. Our dairy and meat industries are pro…

That is fair. I will engage with the Minister for agriculture on the Deputy's overall point regarding a national food security plan. There is merit in that. In recent years, the former Minister of State, Pippa Hackett, and the then Minister, Deputy McConalogue, were very involved in supporting organic farmers. In that context, €256 million was allocated to support organic farmers. That resulted in…

I thank Deputy Smith for raising what is a fair and important point. I know this is something he has worked tirelessly to improve. The current threshold of six pupils for a special class at primary level with one teacher and two SNAs was introduced in 1998, when I happened to be Minister for Education and Science. We introduced a model of this kind for the first time and brought SNAs into mainstre…

-----that may provide some opportunities into the future.

I thank the Deputy again for his question on the Church of Ireland school in Cavan town and the special class issue. I am conscious the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, is in the Chamber as well. I take it he will have taken on board what the Deputy said. On the emergency works application, there were some issues with the current proposal because it was well in excess of the minimum scope unde…

The Deputy is wrong in her presentation. The budget for specialist disability services has increased 50% since 2023. We increased a range of payments in the most recent budget that will positively impact on people with disabilities. We did not proceed with once-off measures across the board. The Deputy has mischaracterised that, of course, in her usual fashion.

The bottom line is people want permanent and sustainable action. Consultation is not a distraction. I am appalled at the Deputy’s presentation. Organisations representing people with disabilities want to be consulted and insist on consultation. It is regrettable that the Deputy would describe consultation as a distraction.

I do not run the Department of education. The Minister and the Department have to make assessments as to what is needed in any given locality, and they have clearly made an assessment in this case. That said, the money realised from the sale of this property should be ring-fenced and put into a fund for redress.

That is what should happen here. The Department, as the Deputy knows, is examining all of that in great detail.

If you go back over the past two to three years, you will see that there has been exponential growth in various payments right across the board, including the disability allowance. That growth was higher than anything in the preceding years. That is the reality. In terms of the cost-of-disability payment, it has to be defined and worked through. There is a lot of detail is involved in this; it is …

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue, which is clearly of huge concern to the people of Tipperary town. I do not quite understand what he means when he says there is an information blackout. I am sure that could not be the case.

I will communicate to Uisce Éireann that it needs to provide comprehensive information to the public so that they understand fully the challenges, difficulties, and the pathway to the resolution of those challenges and difficulties, no matter how challenging the required works are, which wells have to be drilled, or whatever else has to happen. Full information should be available to the public an…

I appreciate that the Deputy is praising Local Link. I remember that it is the Deputy's bête noire, former Minister, Eamon Ryan, who introduced Local Link. Deputy Collins rather shamelessly at the time hopped on the bus and presented it as his own initiative in west Cork. He is always adept at local politics. Local Link has turned out to be very effective and very impactful. I pay tribute to our f…

I thank the Deputy for raising this and for his strong advocacy for the fastest-growing town in Kildare and the country. Kildare is growing apace. I will talk to the Minister about the 115 bus service and the role for Dublin Bus more broadly with regard to extending its remit, and of course the NTA, which oversees the whole route development programme.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The Planning and Development Act 2024 replaces the ministerial guidelines with national planning statements. The existing section 28 guidelines, including the 2006 wind energy guidelines, remain in force until replaced. The Department of Climate, Communications and the Environment, as the lead policy Department for renewable energy, supports the developmen…

I do not accept the Deputy's proposition at all but the key point is that people who are looking for housing is the top priority of this Government and indeed the previous one. It is interesting that our supports for first-time buyers are having an impact. The percentage of first-time buyers has been steadily increasing from 26% of all household buyers in 2015 to 40% in 2026.

That is a huge increase. That is because of the help to buy scheme, the first home scheme, and the derelict and vacant housing grant schemes, which are helping first-time buyers. The costs are too high but the only answer is supply. We need more and more supply. We need fewer people and political parties objecting to housing to make sure that we have sufficient housing to provide for the younger p…

I thank the Deputy, but just before I respond, I want to welcome the group from Laois, Mountmellick and Portarlington who are in the Public Gallery, accompanied by Deputy Fleming. They are very welcome to Leinster House. In terms of the train service from Athenry and the budgetary situation, Deputy Dolan has spoken to me about that as well. We are engaging with the Minister for Transport. That se…

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue, and I appreciate his genuine commitment to this. I saw him there yesterday and I know the Ministers of State, Deputies Butler and Cummins, and all the public representatives in Waterford are obviously shocked at the impact of this fire, which has been terrible. The dislocation of so many groups and people has equally been very profound. It is very serious.…

First, I have not read that article in The Currency. I will read it before commenting. Second, it does not justify a full trade boycott with Israel because we need to work out what the implications of that would be for Irish jobs and workers in particular. The Government favours a suspension of the European Union-Israel trade association agreement, which at the moment gives preferential tariffs to…

I join with the Deputy in condemning those racists attacks on the Dublin Rose who has been selected. It is absolutely appalling and there should be no tolerance of such racist abuse of any person in Ireland, or anywhere for that matter. Again, all of us in the House need to reflect on this. I recall in the last Dáil that there was legislation on hate speech, which eventually ran into a roadblock p…

I thank the Deputy again for raising this. On the last occasion, I said to him that sometimes we have to be patient but I accept that 24 years is a long time. Often, it depends. The IDA will bring people to various sites. Ultimately, it is up to companies to decide the location of any particular site. I will engage with the IDA to see whether it has any different plans for the site. It would be a …

I agree with what the Deputy has said. The use of that language is deliberately demeaning to undermine what is an important initiative. It is not a silver bullet in and of itself but we have many different people looking for different types of accommodation in the country. This provides a further option. As the Deputy said, we are looking at buildings and modular units that are quite modern in ter…