Brian Stanley

The proposed changes to this scheme are greatly concerning. I believe they will cause havoc. This is a scheme broadly welcomed across the House. It is one that has seemed to be working. Does it need to be improved? Everything, of course, can be improved and I would have no objections to that. However, the proposed restrictions the Government is going to put on this scheme could render it redundant…

76. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Health if she will examine the threshold for full medical card entitlement for those over 66 years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8791/25]

I welcome the opportunity to put this question. I congratulate the Minister and the Minister of State beside her, Deputy Murnane O'Connor, on their appointments. It is the first time I have had an opportunity to raise an issue with the Minister in the Dáil, so I wish her the best of luck in her position. She has a big job ahead of her. I want to raise with her the income threshold for medical car…

I thank the Minister for her reply. I have another question about people of working age, or people under 66, as they are referred to in the question. This question refers to people over 66 years of age. I have deliberately phrased the questions that way because for people who are under 66, the income thresholds are €184 for a person who is single and €201.50 if you are over 66. The basic rate of s…

I thank the Minister for the reply. That is helpful because the GP visit card is welcome. We acknowledge that it is there. The figures she gave mean that, I think, about one in 12 people who are entitled to it have applied for it and got it, or one in 11 or something like that. Obviously, there is a big piece of work there for the Government and all of us to try to get the word out there on that. …

I raise the issue of staffing of children's disability network teams across the country. I have replies here from the HSE that say between 22% and 29% of posts are vacant. In Laois, I can tell the Minister that there are posts where there is 100% vacancy and 67% vacancy. In Laois, there is a chronic situation regarding staffing. The figures for network 12, which covers most of the county, are abs…

I thank the Minister for his reply. While there are moves afoot, it needs to be at a scale and a pace to match the demand that is there. The HSE states in one of its replies to me that there is an apprenticeship programme for social workers. Can there be apprenticeship programmes for other disciplines? Maybe that cannot be done but that is possibly one area that could be used. We agree that the …

This debate is welcome. However, the motion has a whiff of populism about it. As somebody who comes from a left, republican position, I believe in good public services, but I also believe in spending public money very well. We need to stop waste. Although those of us on the left advocate spending public money and creating good public services, it does not mean that we support wasting public money.…

The programme for Government sets out to improve mental health services. The SOSAD, Save our Sons and Daughters, organisation provides vital services and is running out of cash. It has made representations to try to move forward. It provides counselling, support and mental health services. It only has enough money to keep going for a number of weeks. In 2024, it provided services for 1,114 clients…

It has had to cut some services.

We know our mental health services have gaps and deficiencies.

SOSAD is filling the gaps.

Will the Taoiseach prioritise it and commit to providing the money-----

-----and service level agreement that the SOSAD organisation needs?

Time and money are running out.

I wish to raise the issue of the relief road for Mountmellick, which is long-promised. It has been promised for years. Traffic volumes have increased. More than 8,500 vehicles go through the centre of the town every day. A lot of that traffic is HGVs going from the west of Ireland and the midlands to the port of Rosslare. A feasibility study has been carried out at a cost of more than €100,000 and…

Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Aire agus an Aire Stáit. Go n-eirí libh. I hope they do well in the posts. They have a lot of responsibility to take on. It is important the Government take a firm position on the Mercosur deal. There is the weight of the Germans, the German car industry and other more industrialised countries on the other side. It is important the Irish representatives at European m…

Comhghairdeas to the Minister and Minister of State on their appointments. They have a big job ahead of them and I wish them well in it. The right of every child to access an education system is a fundamental one and the children in Laois and those attending St. Francis School in Portlaoise are no different from those anywhere else in the country. The school has 119 children with complex needs att…

The proposed sale of Bord na Móna's recycling and waste management businesses, including the facility at Kyletalesha, Portlaoise, to a private company must be halted. If it goes ahead, it will mean the transfer of a large recycling and waste recovery business, which will go from public ownership into the hands of a private investor. That will create a whole new situation for the workforce and cust…

In County Laois, too.

New speed limits were introduced on 7 February. We all hope this will be a significant step in the right direction, particularly in introducing improvements in road safety and, most important, reducing road fatalities and serious injuries, most of which can be life-changing. All one has to do is take a look at the number of people being sent to the National Rehabilitation Centre in Dún Laoghaire f…

I welcome this very important motion from the Labour Party. What we have had is the Government hoodwinking and misleading the people during the election campaign on a number of issues but spectacularly on housing. People were told that 40,000 homes would be delivered in 2024 when in fact the number was going to be 30,000. The facts were there to prove that. We have to increase supply. It must be d…

The programme for Government commits to a review of the school transport scheme. The biggest obstacle within that scheme at the moment is the ban on drivers over 70. We have the ludicrous situation where such drivers cannot drive a minibus bringing ten pupils to school under the school transport scheme but later in the day they can drive a 72-seater bus full of children to the local swimming pool …

I will focus on health in the short time I have. I read the programme for Government document with interest. As the area of health is obviously extremely important, I want to focus on that. The programme for Government references a universal healthcare mission but from reading the pages attached to that, it is anything but universal healthcare. It cannot be delivered based on what is on those page…

The effects of the storm in County Laois were severe, with hundreds of roads blocked and trees down. I acknowledge the work of the ESB staff, the outdoor staff of Laois County Council, the volunteers in Laois Civil Defence and all the others who played a role in dealing with the emergency situation. Lessons must be learned. The grid needs to be upgraded but some parties in this House are talking o…