Ken O'Flynn

On 12 April 2025, serious concerns were raised by people in Grenagh, County Cork regarding the demolition work on the former piggery site where asbestos was present and became airborne. I can confirm that no planning permission was granted by Cork County Council for the demolition works, no planning was granted in respect of the asbestos materials and no disposal plan was in place for these asbest…

I think we all have to admit that we stumble from disaster to disaster in this House. We had the SNA disaster last night. We have the disaster of housing with 17,000 people who are homeless in this country. Now we are talking about the disaster of GP care. There are seven GPs per 10,000 people in this country. There is a falling rate of GPs, with GPs retiring. A total of 70% of GPs cannot take on …

I want to address Mary Donovan, Mary Dunlevy Greene, Miriam Moriarty Owens and Maurice Patton O'Connell who, over 51 days, became more than just acquaintances. We almost became friends as I passed by every day on my way to my office in Agriculture House and stopped for a cup of coffee. Many times I witnessed ambulances pulling up outside to take one of them away. For 51 days, people who are 70-plu…

I welcome that the Minister went into reverse gear at the last minute last night in the wake of threats of large protests. Members of this House and councillors, certainly Independent Ireland councillors, have received emails on this issue from various parents all over the country, including those in my own constituency, from Ballincollig to Whitechurch and from north Cork to east Cork to west Cor…

To follow on from the remarks of my colleague, the Taoiseach has publicly stated further consultation should have taken place on the active travel plan for Knockfree and Knockpogue avenues in Farranree, Cork city. Elderly residents, families, community groups, local businesses and sports clubs have raised serious concerns about the removal of parking and the impact on access to five schools, the p…

I thank the Member for bringing the Bill forward. I am conflicted about it. There is great sentiment to it and the heart is certainly in the right place. The Bill proposes amending the Act of 2023 to strengthen employee entitlements, limit refusal and objection grounds and delete section 20(2). I note, however, and these are just observations I have on the Bill, that it encourages and formalises a…

I have read the Deputy's Bill, thanks, unlike other Deputies. There are also questions about the broadband infrastructure. I do very much have sympathy for the Bill but I have questions around it. It needs a little bit more tightening-up and a little bit more work. I would be quite happy to assist Deputy Lawlor in that way. The other side that I see goes back to isolation and loneliness. Many peo…

We do not do anything like that in our group.

I thank the Sinn Féin Party for bringing this motion to the House. This is not about stopping funds but about building enough homes for Irish families to be able to afford to live in their own communities. It is well worth noting that. We know that 41% of people aged 18 to 34 are still living in their parents' box rooms. That is a fact. Since 2020, house prices are up by 40%. Rents increased by 8…

I thank Aontú for tabling this motion. It is well put together, well thought out and well planned. I have mentioned these issues in the House on a number of occasions and brought them up when I was a member of Cork City Council regularly. Speaking of Cork City Council, 2009, the Minister of State may recall, is when Cork nearly drowned after the rivers burst their banks, waters in the dam had to b…

You have to allow a point of order, Chair.

How long do I have?

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this Bill to the House. It is an important, detailed and well put together Bill. The senior Minister referred quite heavily in his speech to Coco's Law. More than 12 months ago, I wrote to the Minister about expanding Coco's Law on behalf of a young gentleman who lost his life in the River Lee in Cork - he was 33 years old - Luke Hyde. I asked him to bring in an addi…

We have all seen both the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and the increase in the cost of living. When we go to the fuel tank at home or the petrol pump or when we go to Dunnes or SuperValu, we are seeing it. It is doubly affecting those people who are the most forgotten and most vulnerable in our society, namely those with a disability or an invalidity. The people who are choosing between hea…

All brands of salbutamol nebulisers currently covered under the medical card scheme are out of stock nationwide due to a manufacturing problem and issues with the supply chain. Therefore, pharmacists, through no fault of their own, have to come up with alternatives, namely the prescription of an unlicensed product that is not covered by the HSE and that is not reimbursable. That probably costs abo…

I agree.

We will see what you do now.

We will see what you get.

I read the Government's plan. I read all 140 pages, plus the 17 pages of the Minister, Deputy Chambers's speech in which he called it an accelerated infrastructure plan. I have to say that if that is accelerated, I truly would hate to see the Government in reverse because this is a backward plan. That plan does nothing and delivers nothing. The Government's 140-page document barely talks about Cor…

I welcome the comments by Deputy Geoghegan about obligations to children. I am delighted to see that someone in Fine Gael is finally realising that we have obligations to children and, in particular the 6,000 homeless children in Ireland and that our obligation should be to them. Ireland's international protection system has been exploited for far too long. The problem has never been the compassi…

Looking at this and how the Minister has explained it, it is slightly incorrect. It is not just a humanitarian support loan, which we have given generously to. This is a loan we are guaranteeing which we are somehow going to have to collect from Russia. Good luck with that and trying to collect something off the Russians if they lose. The reality here is there is no security. There is a huge prob…

The motion actually has tremendous merit, in fairness. There are ups and downs in the motion and some things about which I would be very sceptical or cautious. It gives the Government a get-out-of-jail card at times. I will talk about my own constituency. Where is the Cork Luas? It was announced three or four times. There is no shovel in the ground. Where is the northern ring road around Cork? Wh…

As every Deputy knows, if we put down a question in this House about Irish Water now, we will get a message back from the Ceann Comhairle's office telling us we are not entitled to an answer. Who, then, is responsible for Irish Water? Does the buck stop with the Minister or a State body? That is the first question that needs to be addressed in this House, and it needs to be sorted because somebody…

I have read through the Bill entirely. When we look at the opening sections of this Bill, it is about people entering the home and the quality and standard of the type of person who comes in as a home carer. I find it amazing that we are now in 2026, and we are discussing that. This Bill should have been before this House 20 years. It is totally outdated. This Bill does not push for oversight. It …

Like my other colleagues around the House and from the Government benches as well, I want to congratulate Deputy Ward on this Bill, which is well put together. I accept, as the Minister said, that a little bit of tweaking here and there and a little bit of change to X, Y and Z needs to be done. That could be achieved by leaving this Bill go forward to Committee Stage. I cannot help but think there…