Peter Roche

15. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Education and Youth the steps her Department is taking to address the growing financial pressures facing schools, particularly in relation to the rising costs of heating, electricity, and day-to-day operational expenses; if increased funding will be made available to ensure schools can continue to function effectively and safely through the winter mont…

What steps are the Department taking to address the growing financial anomalies, difficulties or pressures facing many schools, particularly in relation to the rising costs of heating, electricity, and day-to-day operational expenses that any school would incur? Will increased funding will be made available in those circumstances for schools that want to continue to function effectively and safely…

I welcome this discussion. I commend the Minister of State on bringing this to the House. It is astonishing when you read that males represented 72% of premature deaths, which is most stark. In 2022, 79% of all deaths by suicide were among males and young men suffering from depression are diagnosed at half the rate of women, which is another stark figure. It is fair to say that men's health is a n…

12. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the steps being taken to expand apprenticeship and skills training opportunities in rural areas such as County Galway, where access to approved training centres remains limited; if consideration will be given to establishing mobile or satellite training hubs in partnership with ETBs to redu…

I welcome the debate here this morning. I ask the Minister to set out the steps being taken to expand apprenticeship and skills training opportunities right across areas such as County Galway, where access to approved training centres remains limited in some instances; if consideration will be given to establishing mobile or satellite training hubs in partnership with ETBs to reduce travel and dro…

I thank the Minister of State for the comprehensive response. We all need to promote and support apprenticeships and to encourage apprentices to follow through to qualification, because there is a much-needed requirement and demand, particularly to service industry. If we think about construction, that is the core heart of people we will need in the future. We need them now, but the more encourage…

I welcome that. The more remote or rural the training courses are, the easier it is, at times, to find accommodation. We almost always hear that in urban settings, accommodation is nigh impossible to secure. In instances where courses could be rolled out in more rural or satellite towns, out of the cities and bigger towns, accommodation is sometimes that bit more accessible. I am interested in the…

89. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht if he will provide an update on his Department’s plans to streamline and accelerate the approval process for local improvement scheme and outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme applications, particularly in areas such as Galway east, where shovel-ready projects with local match funding are awaiting sa…

I welcome both Ministers to the House for this worthwhile debate that we are having. Will the Minister for Rural and Community Development and Gaeltacht provide an update on his Department's plans to streamline and accelerate the approval process for local improvement schemes and outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme applications, particularly in areas such as east Galway where some shovel-read…

I thank the Minister. First, I am a great advocate, as I am sure many others are, for investment in the infrastructure developments he mentioned such as walkways, greenways and cycleways. We are living in an area where the population, thankfully, is increasing. I am also mindful that people are craving those kind of recreational opportunities, particularly people who want to seek outdoor recreatio…

I can certainly attest to the fact that any moneys that Galway County Council get will be spent very wisely and very prudently. It has quite a comprehensive list of infrastructure that it wishes to develop under these schemes. One of the things I ask about passionately is that the Department continues to invest in these schemes, particularly in outdoor recreation. It is a game-changer for many com…

I commend and thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for all she has done in this regard. I thank her for her constant support and engagement with me in my role as the Fine Gael spokesperson on mental health. I welcome our visitors to the Public Gallery. As we mark World Mental Health Day 2025, the message could not be clearer. It is access saves lives. This year's global theme is access to …

The issue that I want to shine a light on here today is in relation to wind and solar energy in east Galway. I know that it is outside of the Minister's area of responsibility. In east Galway, particularly in the Tuam-Athenry area, we are being bombarded with proposed developments for wind turbines towering 185 m high, a solar farm that is planning to take up 800 acres and a gas plant in Athenry …

96. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will review the assessment criteria for social protection payments in cases where applicants and-or part-time farming applicants are not in paid employment outside the home but provide essential unpaid care and support within the household; and if he will consider allowing greater flexibility in recognising minimal or subsistenc…

Will the Minister consider reviewing the assessment criteria for social protection payments, especially in cases where applicants, including part-time farmers, are not in paid employment outside of the home but are providing unpaid care within the household? Could there be more flexibility in recognising minimal or subsistence-level farming activity, given the concerns that the current rigid rules…

I think all of us would have specific cases. Obviously, it would not be an avalanche by any manner of means, but we have people come to our constituency offices with those circumstances where they would be engaged full time in caring and their farm would be more of a financial burden than financially rewarding. They are doing the State a great service by providing care for their loved one. The ca…

I fully accept that cases have to be assessed and the criteria are strict. The cases that I mentioned, as I said, involve only a small of people who have come to my constituency office who would fall into that category where they are full time. In fact, in order to come to the constituency office, they would sometimes have to get somebody to stand in and do the caring while they were absent from …

I thank the Minister for his statement. Like others, I welcome the scheme, which is going to give greater security to people entering into retirement. It is an important and necessary ambition. Too many people, particularly those in the private sector, risk reaching retirement age with only the State pension to rely on. In principle, I think the concept is good. However, in my engagement with bus…

I thank the Minister of State for bringing this debate to the Chamber. It is a very significant and important topic that we need to be honest about. If I remember the Minister of State's remarks, she mentioned vaping was both "lethal" and "addictive". Regrettably, many users of vaping products have no concept of those two words. I think they see it as cool and trendy to be using these very colourf…

Who is subsiding that? Who is policing all of that? What is coming out of this?

I, too, have been listening to this debate for a number of hours. I will acknowledge that the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, have only been in office since last January. From engaging with both of them on these issues, I know of the gallant efforts being made to resolve them. As I said, I listened to the debate. Like most others, the problems are repeated in…

I welcome the publication of the strategy and give credit to the Minister for bringing it to the Chamber. For too many families in Ireland, strategies and promises have come and gone, so to speak. Sometimes what remains is a very real sense of letdown. I do not speak today in abstract as a member of my staff is the mother of a lovely ten-year-old girl with Down's syndrome. For those ten years, her…

My question is on carers. I acknowledge, as most of us do from time to time, the outstanding work Family Carers Ireland and carers in general do in our communities. I also acknowledge the increase in the income threshold in the assessment. As part of the programme for Government, there is a commitment to abolish the means test. I am anxious to know the timelines in this respect.

I support the Second Reading of the Health (Amendment) Bill 2025. The Bill is timely and necessary and fundamentally about one thing: accountability in how we plan, manage and deliver healthcare in Ireland. The central purpose of the legislation is to ensure the Health Service Executive operates under the highest standards of prudent and effective financial management. It replaces the old service …

I thank the Minister and Minister of State for progressing the commission of investigation. It matters to me, as it matters to all previous speakers. This is a very solemn day, not because we are beginning something new but because we are acknowledging something that was hidden for many years. The commission is being established because survivors of childhood sexual abuse, both men and women, had…