Brian Stanley

The staff of the ambulance services are currently balloting for industrial action. The ballot will take place over the next four weeks. Should this develop into strike action, the impact will be catastrophic. The reason for this ballot is that changes have been implemented unilaterally by the HSE and the management of the National Ambulance Service. One of the changes will mean that trainee parame…

It is four weeks.

I thank People Before Profit for taking the initiative and bringing this important Bill forward. Is it necessary? Of course, it is necessary. I saw the repeat of “Prime Time” last night, which dealt with the experience of a young woman, Caitlyn, in UCD. She is roughly the same age as my granddaughter, who is also attending UCD. It stopped me in my tracks to see that people could have such attitude…

I welcome these timely proposals from the Social Democrats. We must accept that the bedrock of any health system is having good primary care in place, and to have good primary care we need GPs. The ratio of GPs in this country is completely out of kilter with what it should be. The World Health Organization says there should be one GP per 1,000 of population. In County Laois, we have one GP per 1,…

The programme for Government commits to the timely delivery of school projects. St. Fintan's National School in Mountrath, which is my former national school, has been waiting for a badly needed ASD classroom, sensory room and general purpose hall. The school and the staff are doing everything possible to utilise the existing space, for example, sub-dividing rooms, etc. The 123 pupils and the two…

The proposed cuts and review, as it was called, which were really cutbacks, were a total disaster and have generated a massive amount of concern. There has been a huge backlash to it from parents, SNAs, teachers, unions and families. In County Laois, two schools were going to have their SNAs, vital supports, cut. It has created all those concerns and uncertainties and fear in those schools and in …

96. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to consider whether Laois will be given one of the first directly State-led, publicly-owned childcare facilities she announced on 21 January 2026 as Laois is one of the fastest growing counties in terms of population; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13846/26]

I ask the Minister to give full consideration for Laois to be given one of the first directly State-led, publicly owned childcare facilities. I say that in welcoming the new scheme that was announced on 21 January. Laois is one of the fastest growing counties in terms of population outside of Dublin, and there is real pressure on childcare places.

As outlined, there is a chronic shortage of spaces in the county, including for one- to three-year-olds. We have the private model, but we are over-reliant on that. It has weaknesses in the context of having to have separate leases or ownership of buildings, separate insurance, separate administration and payrolls, etc. While many are providing a good service, there are weaknesses. There are also …

According to the childcare committee in the county, Portlaoise needs four full-day facilities. Portarlington needs one, as do Mountmellick, Mountrath, Graiguecullen, Rathdowney, Abbeyleix, Durrow and the Cullahill area. The pilot of eight to nine is obviously welcome. It is a small start. We could put all eight or nine in Laois, but I urge the Minister to put at least one or two there. The current…

I want to ask about the review of SNAs, which some have described as cuts. I understand reviews have to happen and that two thirds of schools will not be affected but one third will be and Rath National School and Timahoe National School in Laois have been notified of cuts. No account has been taken of the children being enrolled for September and their special needs. Circular 32/25 will mean some…

What about the guidelines?

There are some good things in the Bill, and there are some things that need to be changed. The speeding-up of the processing time is welcome, as is the speeding-up of the appeal times. Obviously, we want to help successful applicants to get through the process and allow them to integrate into Irish society and communities. That needs to be assisted in every way possible for people who are genuinel…

That is grand, I will keep to it now. Amendment No. 1, on staffing the centres, is very positive in ensuring that the systems are working, that the resources are there and that the administration and staff are there. I welcome the change in the Sinn Féin position because that was not always the position held - one, two, three or four years ago. I welcome that this change is happening now, because…

I welcome this proposal and support it. The fact apartments are not included for higher tax and within the maximum of nine needs to change. The Central Bank estimates 47,000 homes are owned in the State by investment institutions or vulture funds, with 500 of those in Laois. This distorts the housing market. It drives up house prices and means these investors are competing with first-time buyers.…

Climate change is here, and we are seeing what it looks like. This is the beginning of it, unfortunately, with the changing weather patterns that we have been seeing in the past few years. Flood relief schemes are taking from 13 to 20 years, which is too long, to put in place. The Mountmellick and Portarlington schemes have been planned since 2017. People in the two towns are on high alert the who…

The Government has proposed to scrap the triple lock. In 2013, when the Taoiseach was on this side of House, he said "triple lock ... is at the core of our neutrality". I agree with what he said then. As a member of the defence committee, we have looked at this very carefully, and I am fully convinced that what he said is true. He will try to justify the abandonment of the triple lock because we l…

We might as well be.

I would remind the Taoiseach of two things. One is that I know the UN is not perfect and the veto may be exercised, but I also told him of the 264 resolutions that were passed in a four-year period without a veto being exercised by any of the five, including the US. None of what I am saying goes against strengthening our Defence Forces capacity and having a level of co-operation in terms of sharin…

You said the triple lock is the core of neutrality.

That is one-----

I support amendments Nos. 2, 7 and 8 in relation to reviews and reports. The Minister and the Minister of State know what is going to happen here because we can see it already. We could see it from the moment they announced this in autumn last year. We can see what is happening – notices to quit are increasing, rents are increasing and pressure on tenants to move out is increasing. This is because…

I am here to speak on behalf of tenants and renters in towns in Laois like Portlaoise, Mountmellick, Portarlington, Mountrath, Rathdowney, Graiguecullen, Stradbally and so on. I am meeting people regularly, daily sometimes, who are struggling because of the situation with housing and the high rents they are paying. The Government is bringing in a measure. We have heard the RTB projections in the d…

59. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if the Government will finally honour its commitment to bring forward the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (prohibition of importation of goods) Bill 2025; to give a timeframe for its passage into law through the Oireachtas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8644/26]

Traffic volumes are up, speeds are up, and mobile phone use is up. I want to highlight the N80 that goes through Laois. Safety measures are needed in the village of Arles, which local councillors and local people have been years looking for. I handed in petitions to Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and Laois County Council demanding that traffic calming measure be put at each end of the vill…