Marie Sherlock

What I am hearing from the Taoiseach is that Housing for All was a success, yet we have over 16,000 people registered as homeless. By any measure, the Government's housing policies have been an abject failure. There are unprecedented amounts going into housing, but where are they going? They are going to developers on foot of the policy of this Government in respect of turnkey acquisitions as oppo…

-----with regard to workers and how to secure apprentices and bring them into the system. The Government has failed in that regard.

Absolutely not.

That is not true. It is factually incorrect.

Primary care psychology waiting lists are now up to a staggering 28,000. The figure for those waiting over a year is up to 16,000. In some parts of Dublin, children are waiting 13 years to be seen. That is not a waiting list; it is a non-existent service. My question is on recruitment. When we raise this issue, the Government throws its hands in the air and says the health service cannot get staff…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: recalls: — the Labour Party Motion re Drugs Policy and Decriminalisation of the User, agreed by Dáil Éireann on 30th November, 2022; — the report of the Citizens' Assembly on Drug Use, published in January 2024; — the interim report of the Oireachtas Special Joint Committee on Drugs Use, published in October 2024; and — the commitment in the Programme for Governmen…

-----often when it was not popular to be talking about it. As a proud TD for Dublin Central and the communities of Dublin Central, it is unconscionable to me that we have people dying in our streets and in our communities from drugs overdoses and that Ireland has one of the highest number of drug-induced deaths when compared with every other country across the European Union. To me, it is the ant…

I want to raise the publication of the national framework for the management of endometriosis in Ireland. This was an eagerly awaited report, with a huge weight of expectation, given the enormous failing of thousands of women with this desperately debilitating condition. There are welcome aspects to the report in terms of the greater commitment to investment and training, but endometriosis suffere…

They will not.

I welcome that we are having statements on men's health. I also acknowledge and pay tribute to Deputies Mark Ward and Seán Crowe for talking about their personal experiences. Leadership is important in terms of a lot of the things we are talking about, namely, breaking down the stigma that exists and helping people to overcome the inability to talk about their experiences. That inability is closel…

I want to start by expressing my deep shock and sadness at the passing of the young person and injury to others in an apartment in north Dublin yesterday. Obviously there is a criminal investigation and we are limited in what we can say, but there is an additional layer of sadness that this is an unaccompanied minor thousands of miles away from his family and community. As we understand it, this h…

There is a serious credibility issue here. We see it with regard to the underdelivery of the social housing targets and, indeed, what we are seeing now with regard to childcare places. This is an issue that was raised with the Department during the summer. I raised it last week, and we have seen no response, frankly, from the Department on these issues. It is deadly serious for parents. Mothers a…

The arts and culture budget received an actual cut in budget 2026. It went from just above €300 million to under €300 million. There was a lot of fanfare about the basic income for the arts and that expansion is welcome. However, that fanfare has masked what is happening to arts and cultural funding, which is that there will be less next year than this year. Arts Council funding is crucial to supp…

My Topical Issue relates to Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire and its new school building on Dominick Street in Dublin 1. I stood with Government Ministers and representatives from the school two and a half years ago when the sod was turned in June 2023. The school was supposed to be open in June 2025, but instead we have an empty building site. The Department of education terminated the contract for bui…

I thank the Minister of State for conveying the written response from the Department. A lot of it is a copy-and-paste job of what was circulated in June of this year. To be very clear, there is no update in this response from the Department, that is zero update as to what is happening the new school building. There is no plan B apparent in the Minister of State's response here. For a school to hav…

But the Minister of State is not conveying the information here.

I express my concern about and thoughts for the individuals and staff in the care home in Donaghmede where a very serious incident happened earlier this afternoon. It is a dangerous business in politics when you get people’s hopes up and overpromise and underdeliver. The reason we are here today is because of those commitments that the Tánaiste made when he was the Minister for Health back in 201…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, to the Chamber. I note that we have mental health campaigners in the Gallery. They are all very welcome.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on World Mental Health Day. Enormous work is being done across the country by many groups, both informal and formal. Progress has been made on breaking the stigma in our communities in recent years. However, it is important to say that stigma is alive and well in workplaces and in the medical profession when people present with a long history of mental health con…

My question for the Minister for education relates to Presentation Primary School in George's Hill. Before I get to the problems about the school, I want to say that this is a great school in the heart of the north inner city in Dublin 7. It is a DEIS band 1 school. It probably has one of the most diverse populations of all schools in the country and has a significant amount of need, both social a…

I thank the Minister of State for that reply on behalf of the Minister for education. I have to ask him directly. Is he comfortable with children walking on asbestos tiles every day of the week? The tiles were broken by works undertaken three years ago. We know that there is no safe level of asbestos. I have to ask him that direct question. The Minister of State said the project was completed in …

They cannot submit it because they cannot get a quote.

There is a new school principal.

Beidh daoine ag féachaint ar an mbuiséad seo inniu agus á gceistiú féin cá bhfuil na gealltanais ó thoghchán 2024. Cá bhfuil an laghdú do theaghlaigh ar chúram leanaí nó na cúirteanna saor in aisce chuig an GP? Cá bhfuil na leabaí ospidéil bhreise agus na gealltanais eile? Beidh daoine ag rá leo féin conas gur féidir buiséad a fhoilsiú agus méid chomh beag sin a chur ar fháil do na daoine atá i mb…

Some 750,000 people are waiting on outpatient waiting lists. Time and again children are being failed because of the huge shortage of therapies and supports to those with additional needs in this country. It is not clear to me that the health budget of €1.5 billion announced today is in any way sufficient to cover existing services, growing demand, a rising population and higher prices. The realit…