Natasha Newsome Drennan

Three cent off the price of green diesel is not support; it is a slap in the face to farmers and fishermen across Ireland. The Government may as well have just told them to shut up and get on with it. These are the people who go out day in, day out to produce top-quality Irish food and to ensure we have food security and our shelves do not go empty. While the reduction will be welcomed by those in…

I strongly welcome this motion and commend Deputy Cullinane and his team on their latest health document, Enabling a New Cancer Strategy. It confirms what many of us have long suspected, that cancer services across Ireland have been slipping. The document sets out 42 recommendations for a new strategy, recommendations that would make a difference. We all know someone who has endured a cancer diagn…

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak here today to mark International Women's Day. It is one of the greatest honours of my life to be elected as a TD, a position that was in the past, and even today remains, a male dominated one. To stand here among such brilliant republican women who represent their communities with such strength and integrity is something I am immensely proud of. However,…

I welcome the opportunity-----

I will just plough on so.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the role and importance of post offices in Irish life. We need to be frank. The post offices across Ireland, particularly in rural Ireland, are facing death by a thousand cuts. Some 257 post offices closed in the past decade. The vast majority of these closures, 78%, have been in rural areas. Anyone in this Chamber who comes from a rural community knows exactl…

There is not adequate bus services for these people.

To take something out of the community when there are no other services there is just not good enough.

No money will get that back.

It is an utter shame and disgrace that statements on homelessness are becoming so frequent in the Dáil. The fact that the Minister is not here either is also shameful. Every single time this issue comes before us, the numbers of people, including children and the elderly, who have been failed by this Government and have ended up homeless have risen. The number has risen drastically and it is risi…

I strongly welcome that time has been allocated to speak on the changes to the fishing quota, which will simply decimate our coastal communities. I come from a farming background, not a fishing one, but to me the parallels between these communities are clear. There is the same resilience, the same connection to the land and the sea, and the same feeling of being taken for granted. The recurring tr…

I thank my colleagues in Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. I especially thank them for bringing together over 1,100 SNAs, teachers and parents last night. They shared with us some of the most beautiful, moving and powerful accounts of the difference that SNAs make in our schools. Most importantly, they spoke of the profound impact SNAs have on the development and well-being of tens of th…

I welcome the time that has been set aside to discuss bluetongue. Our farming communities have been contending with challenge after challenge over the past few months, with the detection of bluetongue being one of the latest. We need to be frank. The full extent of bluetongue across Ireland is unknown. More than likely these animals were infected last summer. The first case was detected in County …

In County Kilkenny, communities like Inistioge, Thomastown, Callan and Graiguenamanagh endured severe flooding during the recent extreme weather. It will take weeks to clear the damage and who knows how long to repair the destruction inflicted on local roads. This flooding has hit local families and businesses the hardest. It is very hard to tell how many of these businesses and restaurants will b…

Since my election, I have constantly raised the dangerous conditions and layout of roads across my constituency. Nowhere is this crisis more severe than in south Kilkenny along the N25. The stretch past the Rhu Glenn can be described as a deadly accident black spot. The statistics are not just numbers. They are families and communities left devastated. Over the past 40 years, more than 80 people h…

Last week, the much anticipated first tranche of the national development plan’s funding for school building projects was announced. To the devastation of their communities, both Coláiste Pobail Osraí and Kilkenny City Vocational School discovered they had been dropped from the priority list for building projects. Coláiste Pobail Osraí is the only Irish-medium secondary school in Kilkenny and Kilk…

If the Minister wants to understand the crisis, he does not need to go far. He can go upstairs and talk to them up there. He can go and meet the farmers who have protested every day outside Bord Bia's office, and listen to them. They will tell the Minister in clear terms that their confidence in Bord Bia and the Government is shattered. The controversy surrounding Larry Murrin and Bord Bia is not…

I do know what it is like to be up at 3 o'clock in the morning with calving.

I do know what it is like to be subject to Bord Bia reports. I do.

We are not all-----

I do know what it is like.

That was a great performance. I thank the Minister of State.

As someone who has spent a significant portion of my adult life working with adults with disabilities, I strongly welcome this motion. I witnessed on a daily basis the financial cost of living with a disability, the relentless extra expenses and the hidden burdens that add up to a reality of constant pressure. Reading this motion reminds me of our first Private Members' business in the Dáil after…

Last week I outlined how several contractors being used by Irish Water are operating in a cartel-like fashion to drive up the cost of public works. This is being done to ensure that every possible cent of public funds ends up in their pockets. While local media have been covering this scandal there has still been no comment from the Department or Irish Water. How much longer will they bury their …

A fundamental issue facing us is how we care for older people in society and for those in need of care due to a disability. The welfare and treatment of the most vulnerable people is a mark of the society in which we want to live. What we are being told by advocacy groups and by the people themselves is that they want support to stay in their own homes and live with as much as dignity as possible.…