Erin McGreehan

93. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the action he is taking to develop bilateral relations with Canada, especially in the context of historical and cultural links. [56953/25]

My question concerns the importance of strengthening Ireland’s bilateral relations with Canada, a country with which we share deep historical and cultural roots.

It is very positive to hear that all that work is ongoing. County Louth has a unique connection. Carlingford is the birthplace of Thomas D'Arcy McGee, one of the founding fathers of the Canadian Confederation, which leaves a legacy of democracy in the shaping of modern Canada. In more recent times, the library in DKIT was named after General John de Chastelain in honour of his vital role in the pe…

Absolutely.

It is great to hear that Prime Minister Carney is coming to Ireland. We will absolutely open the céad mile fáilte to him. A predecessor of his, Brian Mulroney, was in Carlingford to open the Thomas D’Arcy McGee memorial. We are always welcoming our Canadian and American friends in County Louth. As the Tánaiste knows, investment would honour that shared past and create new opportunities in educati…

The Deputy is scaremongering.

Areas with population growth and housing demand must be prioritised under the new national development plan and budget 2026. Dundalk and Blackrock are ready to grow but are being held back by the outdated wastewater infrastructure. Uisce Éireann has plans to expand the Dundalk treatment plant and transfer load from Blackrock. The groundwork has been done and what is missing is delivery. Every dela…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the future of the tillage sector. Recently I met representatives of Louth IFA and they made their concerns crystal clear. Tillage farmers are very proud of what they produce but they are under real pressure. Rising input costs, unpredictable weather, global market volatility and competition for land have all combined to squeeze margins, often to breaking point…

I have a very clear ask of the Taoiseach. I want further investment in our two hospitals in County Louth, namely, Louth County Hospital in Dundalk and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. As the Taoiseach knows, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda is completely overwhelmed. It was never designed to cope with the massive population growth that has been seen across County Louth, County Mea…

My ask is that the north east region be looked at in terms of the population growth. Thanks to this and the previous Governments, thousands of homes are being built, particularly in south Louth and north Drogheda. Those houses will be filled by people who will need healthcare. There will be the older demographic along with young families who are moving into the area. Forward planning is critically…

To be very straight up, Gaza is not enduring any conflict; it is enduring a genocide. More than 66,000 Palestinians have been killed or murdered, with one in three being children. Families are being wiped out. I find it hard to reconcile the number of mothers who have watched their babies die and the number of babies and children who have sat with their parents who have been murdered alongside the…

It is always great to have an opportunity to discuss the positive impact of Government investment in sport, particularly in Louth. Nobody can dispute the value of sports capital programmes, the large-scale sports infrastructure fund and the major events programme. They have transformed opportunities and outlooks across the country. In 2024, nearly €7 million was awarded to clubs and organisations…

It is good to have the Minister of State here. We pride ourselves on having a health service based on need and not on the ability to pay. Unfortunately, a two-tier system is growing around us, and growing faster than ever before. From lifesaving treatments to basic prevention and, devastatingly, in cancer care, the divide is becoming ever greater. If people can pay privately or if their insurance …

The Minister of State got an answer that was about access to consultants and doctors; it was not about treatments and therapies, which was the question I asked. The Minister of State got an answer to a different question of inequity in healthcare. I reiterate we cannot continue to allow to have two-tier access to oncology drugs and vaccines based on whether people have the ability to pay. I will …

I thank the Minister of State. It is great to have this debate in this House. I look forward to supporting the Minister of State as she brings forward the urgent legislation that has to come next. The "Vaping Nation" programme on Virgin Media One shone a stark light on what parents, teachers and health professionals have been warning us all about for some time, which is that vaping has become norm…

I thank the Minister of State for being here. School transport problems, unfortunately, are an annual event and we can rely on them happening every year. I meet frustrated parents. We all get emails and phone calls about stranded children, no certainty and a remarkably unfair lottery system. The majority of children still do not get access to any bus route. The children of Louth and every county d…

15. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will next meet. [48518/25]

The Government has done an awful lot of work on bringing the cost of education down with schemes like free meals and free books. However, another cost that has been placed on parents trying to get their kids back to secondary school is really expensive laptops for each child. Laptops cost from €500 to €700 and even more, and every child who starts secondary school - in the schools I am familiar wi…

I thank the Minister of State for being here. I will speak about medical cards specifically for cancer patients. I will ask the Department to do something really incredible for cancer patients, which is something we most definitely can fix. It is to simplify the medical card application for people with cancer. We already made adaptions to the application process, which worked well for Ukrainian re…

Absolutely. There have been huge improvements over the past couple of years. I will go back to the fact that people with cancer are recovering. We have more cancer survivors than ever before. That means they are leaving treatment, are healthy and are getting back to being economic actors who are delivering back to the State. I ask that when we look at cancer, we help patients with cancer through t…

86. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht for an update on the community centres investment fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38070/25]

I ask the Minister for an update on the community centres investment fund, and to make a statement on the matter. When will the next round be announced? It is a hugely important and successful scheme so I would like to hear an update.

I thank the Minister for the very positive response. I want to highlight communities like my own community of Mullaghbuoy. Mullaghbuoy Community Centre was built by the community, including my parents and loads of other parents and my neighbours. They went around collecting £1 a week to make sure we had a community facility. It caters for everything from the cake sales to the céilís to making sure…

In relation to bringing childcare and that community and children focus, we have a fantastic facility in Cooley Kickhams which was also a recipient of the grant. We have a preschool there. My children went to it. It works well. It is the heart of the community and it is where our children should be and where they fit best. I absolutely support that.

I welcome the Minister today. It is great to have an opportunity to speak on this matter. I stand in full solidarity with every single woman, survivor and child who has been torn apart and asunder, often physically and emotionally, by domestic, sexual or gender-based violence. Every single day of the week, we are confronted by harrowing stories, brutal killings, names of women we read in the newsp…