Mark Wall

I start by thanking my colleague, Deputy Sherlock, for bringing forward this important motion on transgender healthcare. Over the last number of months, I have met with a number of transgender groups that are focused on highlighting the issues they are facing in the community regarding access to safe and effective healthcare in Ireland. I thank these groups for their input into the Labour Party m…

We now have statements on Sudan. I call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy McEntee, to make her statement under Standing Order 56.

I want to talk about the village of Allenwood, which is in my constituency in County Kildare. It is a beautiful village, not far from Naas, Clane and Rathangan. It is right in the middle of the county. It is a country village, or perhaps I should say that it was a village in 1991, when 303 people were living in it. The latest census, taken in 2022, showed 1,685 people living in the village of Alle…

I thank the Minister of State for the reply, with which I do not agree and with which the school management will not agree. I have talked in the Chamber previously about schools in south Kildare. As we know, it is one of the fastest growing areas in the whole country. Sometimes, I wonder what statistics and census the Department is looking at. I have just told the Minister of State what has happen…

I thank the Minister of State.

I thank Deputy Stanley for bringing forward this Bill and giving us the chance and opportunity tonight to discuss the wind turbine regulations. There is obviously an urgent need to update these regulations. At present, as has been said numerous times tonight, we are operating off guidelines set in 2006, and things have definitely moved on considerably since then. There have been significant advan…

Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle agus go raibh maith agaibh go léir.

I tried.

Go raibh maith agat arís, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I raise the car parks the motorways into Dublin have become, especially the M7 and N7.

I am clear in my support for increased public transport for Kildare South, but we know this extra capacity will take years. Commuters on the M7 and N7 cannot wait that long. Since I first raised this, I have been inundated with messages from commuters across Leinster and north Munster. Thousands of people are spending their lives stuck in daily traffic for up to three hours as they try to get to w…

The Tánaiste said my comment was clever and deliberate but it is the reality. The commuters who are coming to me are asking for remote work and flexible working. There is a public consultation. I believe the closing date is 9 December. We need that discussion and we need new legislation. However, I am today asking the Tánaiste for a new Operation Freeflow for the M7 and the N7 because that is wha…

Almost 50,000 people in this country suffer from Crohn's disease or colitis; I am one of them. Will the Government support my Bill for a no-wait statutory card for those people? I am working with a Kildare woman, Maria Crowe, in relation to this. The Tánaiste and other Members will be familiar with the need for a statutory card. Many organisations have a non-statutory card but people are refused t…

Before I call on Deputy McGuinness, I welcome 25 students from Gaza who are with us in the Public Gallery. They are currently studying in UCD. They are very welcome and I hope they enjoy their day. They are guests of Senator Harmon.

72. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will consider granting a fuel allowance to those that have had an application refused or revoked due to an adult child or family member moving back home. [62019/25]

This is a case of déjà vu in that we mentioned this yesterday, but I want to ask the Minister of State once again if he will consider granting a fuel allowance to those who have had an application refused or revoked due to another child or family member moving back home.

I am nodding. The Minister mentioned household composition tests and people working, but the problem I have is where a person who returns to a house is not working and is getting a social welfare payment. These are low-income households and these are the people who must be targeted. I mentioned last night that I have come across three or four cases of this in the past two weeks alone. I asked last…

I take the Minister’s reply. I acknowledge the fact that the fuel allowance has been extended to working family payment recipients, because they are in low-income families who need all the help they can get in what are housing and cost-of-living crises. I hope that if I can give the Minister three or four examples of what has been happening over the past two weeks in Kildare South, he will examine…

In our discussions last night on the social welfare Bill, I asked the Minister about increasing the eligibility of the DCA from the age of 16 to 18. I also mentioned difficulties a lot of families were having with this particular application. In his reply today, the Minister mentioned the criteria of "care and attention required by the child compared to another child of the same age". This is so h…

I welcome the Minister to the House this evening and I welcome the opportunity to discuss, once again, social protection and the recent budget. In responding to budget 2026 previously in this House, I described it as a punch in the stomach for many working families and unfortunately, I must repeat that here in this debate today. Budget 2026 needed to deliver real and radical policy changes towards…

80. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if she will comment on the survey findings by a representative organisation (details supplied) which showed that 80% of childminder services will close; and the actions her Department is taking to address the issue. [61743/25]

Will the Minister comment on the recent survey by Childminding Ireland which showed that 80% of childminding services will close, and will she make a statement to the House on the matter?

I need not put on the record of the House how important childminders are to the childcare sector in this country. It has been the subject of many conversations we have had here. The Minister is right to say there are concerns among childminders right across the country as to what this new regulation will mean for them. Many of them are minding two or three children in their own homes and have done…

I would welcome if the Minister could mention that because it has become a serious concern for a lot of childminders, who, as she said, are so important to rural life, where it is often a neighbour who is minding two or three children and who has done so for years. If that falls, rural life is really going to be affected for so many people in my area and, I am sure, the Minister's area. The Minis…

89. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department has addressed the IT issue whereby historical fee data was unavailable on the national childcare scheme website; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61745/25]

It may be a historical question at this stage but I want to ask the Minister if she or the Department have addressed the IT issue whereby historical fee data was unavailable on the national childcare system website.