Maurice Quinlivan

The programme for Government states the Government will "Conduct a review of National Aviation Policy to maximise use of our airports". When can we expect this review to take place and conclude? Some 86% of people who fly from this State do so from Dublin Airport and for transport flights it might be even higher than that. Several weeks ago the management of Shannon Airport called for the re-exami…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. While there will be further statements on tariffs this evening, it is positive that we are holding this debate now regarding how the economies on this island, both North and South, can be protected against the impact of tariffs announced on 2 April by the President of the United States of America. The announcements on 2 April by the US are a form …

The Minister is clearly rattled judging by his response to the first part of the debate. We have seen what the Department suggested. The problem is that the Government has to gain the trust of the people on this issue, not ours, and it certainly does not have the public’s trust on it.

Gabh mo leithscéal, Minister, it is my time. I did not interrupt the Minister in fairness, even though he was talking utter shite. Gabh mo leithscéal. I should not have said that. People do not trust Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael on this issue. They have good reason for that. The Minister spoke about Sinn Féin losing votes in the election. The Minister’s party, Fianna Fáil, and Fine Gael had the lowe…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I thank Deputy Seamus Healy and his colleagues for bringing forward this motion. I have been in the Dáil for nine years and have been listening to speeches from housing Ministers in that time. I listened to the Minister’s speech today and, unfortunately, I do not think he was even interested in delivering it. He did not seem to believe in what he was…

I welcome the opportunity strategies we urgently need to use to divert young people from criminal activity. Children who are lured into criminal activity should still be afforded the opportunity to reach their full potential. Our young people are our future and we must invest in them. Unfortunately, some have been lured into criminality. I have seen that happen in my own city. They look around the…

I welcome the debate on this Bill, which provides for a very important and significant change to social welfare payments. It is an overdue change and one that is most welcome. I commend Mr. John O'Meara on the ruling on his case at the Supreme Court following the death of his long-term partner to whom he was not married. Ireland has changed dramatically in recent decades and mostly for the good. …

This is stroke politics.

8. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the plans he has to increase the funding per unit for refurbishing vacant and derelict local authority houses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12669/25]

My question is about local authority vacant homes, known as voids. Are there any plans for Government to increase the money allowed to each local authority per unit? It is an issue that causes concern across the State, particularly when people live next door to a local authority house that is boarded up, which can be the case for a number of years. Is the Minister of State increasing the funding p…

I thank the Minister of State. I am not sure I heard him correctly in respect of a limit of €11,000. Limerick council gets €11,000 per unit for each house it does up. The average cost per unit to the council is €48,000. The cost of refurbishment is a major problem, which the council cannot afford itself. We need to look at the issue clearly. Local authorities such as Limerick cannot refurbish thes…

Limerick council has done a very good job when it can, when it has the money. The process is cumbersome. They have to go through bundles; they cannot just do one but have to do a couple. It takes quite a while to come back. Many of the houses that are boarded up have only minor works to be done. While waiting for authorisation from the Department, they end up being boarded up, which costs €3,000 t…

I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this motion regarding young carers. Sixty-seven thousand children - let us call them what they are - provide regular care for adults. They do so in an unpaid capacity. It is a burden young people should not have to face that impacts their development and, often, their mental health. One in four of them goes to school hungry and without food because the…

First, I thank the Minister for the opportunity to speak on this debate which is long overdue. Sinn Féin has been looking for this debate for a long time and we are finally here. It is only a few short weeks into the term of this Government and already it appears that the Government's housing plan has failed. We have a continuation of the previous Government of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and their…

The changes the Minister announced to the tenant in situ scheme will make more people in Limerick homeless. The changes announced by the Minister are a mistake and should be rowed back as a matter of urgency. The scheme as it stood was working and stopped thousands from becoming homeless. It should have been expanded. It should have been further funded. It is one of the simplest ways to deliver ho…

I am delighted to speak on statements on policing and community safety, but if we are to be serious about this the outcome has to be that people actually feel safe in their own local communities. Unfortunately, a lot of them do not. In 2007 John Fitzgerald produced a report that led to the Limerick regeneration programme. In that report he stated that we needed a minimum of 100 extra gardaí for th…

I raise the issue of vacant local authority homes, of which there are always thousands across the State. There are 200 of them in Limerick at the moment, and 200 is always the number of vacant houses there. These are local authority homes that, for whatever reason, are not in use. The process of local authorities applying for funding from central government needs to be changed and simplified, so t…

We need a commitment from the Government that the system will be changed whereby funding is given to local authorities to speed up the restoration of voids.

In a Dáil debate on 13 December 1977, the late Mick Lipper, a Deputy from Limerick, raised the issue of wandering horses in Limerick and asked what actions the then Minister for Justice would take regarding serious problems created by them. Here we are, 47 years later, talking about the same problems. At least 1,431 wandering or stray horses have been collected in Limerick city since 2015. Unfort…

I thank the Minister of State for his response and understanding of the issue. He did not get to it in his speech, but I am glad he mentioned the ongoing project in Moyross, which does good work in that area. However, it is only a drop in the ocean in dealing with the issue. Wandering, unkept and uncared-for horses have been a plague on working-class areas of Limerick for decades, as I said. I me…

That is not true.

It will come as no surprise to the Taoiseach that I wish to raise the ongoing crisis in University Hospital Limerick. As we sit here, 113 people are on trolleys there. These are people who were assessed as in need of a bed but no bed was available for them. The trolley crisis at University Hospital Limerick continues to impact patient safety and well-being, as the Minister is well aware. Already …

I wish the Minister of State the best in her new role. I hope she and the Government will treat mental health as a priority. I think all of us in this Chamber are agreed that a lot of work needs to be done. A person’s mental health is as important as their physical health. If a person is disabled in one aspect of their health, then it will have an impact on the other aspects unless the condition c…

I thank the Labour Party for tabling this important Private Members' motion. Housing is the number one issue that we all deal with every day. Any of us who has a constituency office knows the stress, trauma and disaster that has been forced on the people of our country. It has been an absolute nightmare. When I was first elected in 2016, along with University Hospital Limerick, housing was the nu…

As this is my first time speaking in this new Dáil, I want to thank the people in Limerick who elected me for a third time. I thank my family and friends and those who campaigned and supported me in that, whether they gave me their first preference or a different preference. "Go raibh maith agat" to everybody for sending me back here for a third time. On health, the programme for Government is th…