Mattie McGrath

I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case: Deputy Michael Cahill - To discuss the disparity faced by school secretaries in terms of leave entitlements and pension rights. Deputies Rose Conway-Walsh, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, Pearse Doherty, Donna McGettigan - To discuss the increase i…

Before we start, I would like to express on my own behalf and that of the House good wishes to our new Pope elected this evening while we were doing the session. I wish him well. Our hearts and prayers are with him. I thank everyone who supported the cardinals for their diligent work. It was a speedy process. Go n-éirí go geal leis an bPápa nua.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this very serious issue. A number of ASD units were approved for three secondary schools in south Tipperary. Three principals and their staff, boards of management and parents of children with special needs were waiting for places and expected them to come on stream. In fact, the SENOs asked them to generate space and accommodation and all o…

I appreciate it is not the Minister of State's reply - he is reading it out - but it is not about quotas, deadlines and systems like that. It is about ordinary children with needs. It is not fair on the schools that expected to open these schools to now have to wait to see if the decision will be reversed. By the Minister of State's account, I do not think it will be. We are approaching the end of…

I, too, compliment Sinn Féin on bringing forward this very timely and important motion. Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. It is a bad state of affairs if we do not look after our young people and nurture them properly. Ar an gcéad dul síos, I salute na máithreacha go léir, the mothers who care for children in their homes, as well as the extended family - grandparents and neighbours and friends in th…

I thank the Minister of State for engaging with all of us in Tipperary. I thank him also for meeting a parent recently, Tina Barrett. Her son recently got a place in St. Michael's and I thank the Minister of State for his involvement there, albeit in Tipperary town. There are two excellent special schools in Tipperary, Scoil Aonghusa and Scoil Chormaic, but they are at capacity. They had to turn a…

The driving test situation is appalling. There are 81,000 people on a waiting list. Many of them are in my county of Tipperary. There is only one tester in the town of Clonmel, which is a large town with a huge hinterland. This is causing enormous strain for families who now have to accompany drivers with L plates. Those drivers cannot get apprenticeships. I know many young people who have got job…

I wish the Minister of State well in his new position. I welcome some of the proposed changes in the NPF review. Ultimately, the document must restore power to councils to form their own plans and address the overriding powers of Uisce Éireann, the Office of the Planning Regulator and Transport Infrastructure Ireland in dictating the development of rural constituencies. When I was a comhairleoir o…

Go raibh maith agat.

Please, Deputy.

Anois ar ais go dtí an Ríaltas, glaoim ar an Teachta Brian Brennan.

Thanks for sharing your real story. It is so sad. From the Independents, an Teachta Carol Nolan and Deputy Gillian Toole are sharing time.

I, too, am pleased to be able to speak on this matter. I wish both Ministers well in their roles. I sincerely thank Deputy Brennan for putting away his notes and talking from the heart, and my colleagues here for doing so as well. We have to have heart. Have we no heart to see what has been happening since the HSE was set up? In my honest opinion, it was set up by Mary Harney - maybe I am wrong -…

I, too, want to speak on this motion. I thank Sinn Féin for bringing it forward. Again, it is a saga concerning the HSE. As the Minister stated, she is constrained in what she can say and must wait for the report. We have so many reports and so many investigations, but they are all inside investigations. It is wrong for anybody, but a child especially, to have an invasive procedure that was not ne…

I, too, have tabled a Topical Issue matter about Dundrum House Hotel in County Tipperary. I am appalled that the Minister who is responsible for this, Deputy Foley, left this Chamber 20 minutes ago. She fled, but she cannot hide from the people. It is disgusting to treat elected representatives like this. If she was not here, I would say something, but she was here all evening in this Chamber. The…

I am extremely disappointed with the reply the Minister of State read out. I want the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister for Justice and the Minister, Deputy Foley, to halt, pause and withdraw this contract because of the company that is involved. The Minister of State gave me gobbledegook there. It is not legal to pay €20 million to a company that has not filed taxes and that is not compliant …

I ask the Deputy to please refrain from naming or referencing people when they are not here to defend themselves.

This is not the radio. This is the Dáil Chamber so please refrain from it.

Bogfaidh muid ar ais go dtí Sinn Féin leis an Teachta Martin Kenny.

Anois, we move onto the Independent and Parties Technical Group. Tá triúir Teachta Dála le labhairt, is iad sin ná Teachtaí Paul Murphy, Roderic O’Gorman agus Catherine Connolly. They are sharing time.

Go raibh maith agat.

You are taking time from your colleague.

I too am concerned about tariffs as there are more than 9,000 FDI jobs in Clonmel and thousands more of them in Dungarvan up the road from me. However, like Deputy Nolan, I too am concerned about the tariffs that our own Government has imposed on the ordinary people, such as the punitive carbon tax and the nearly 48% tax applied to anyone wanting to build a new home. I am talking about people buil…

I hope there were not too many bus drivers bringing Offaly supporters or Tipperary supporters to Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Sunday because we all came home disappointed. Fair dues to Cork and, indeed, to Port Láirge freisin. Once enacted, the Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Bill 2025 will deliver a new employment right. It will allow, but not compel, an employee to stay in employment until t…

I too am glad to be able speak on the Bill. Ar an chéad dul síos, I wish to say that my company does work for Irish Water. We used to do it for county councils and it was then transferred over to Irish Water, which is an entity I do not have any faith in. It has no understanding of the serious problems we have. As the previous speaker mentioned, water is going to be very scarce this year. We can …