Mark Wall

Will the Minister provide an update on recruitment numbers for the Defence Forces as of this month?

The Minister is 100% correct that we all want to see recruitment to our Defence Forces continue. However the figures she has given far from the 11,500 sought by the Commission on the Defence Forces by 2028. The Minister mentioned 850 a year. Is that the height of the ambition? It is not going to take us near 11,500. I will mention a couple of issues. The first is the single public service pension…

There is no single issue here. This is about housing, pensions, pay and conditions. Has the Minister dealt though with the representative organisations on the single public service pension scheme? She might confirm that and let us know whether there is any update. The Minister mentioned all the other barracks, and that is very welcome and everyone who supports the Defence Forces will welcome that…

I thank the Minister.

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for saying that. I extend our condolences on behalf of the Labour Party.

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to entitle certain persons caring for others to be entered in the register of postal voters, for that purpose to amend the Electoral Act 1992, and to provide for related matters. I am very happy to introduce the Electoral (Postal Voting) (Carers) Bill 2026 for family carers throughout this country. For too long, family carers have…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

I thank my Labour Party colleague, Deputy Kenny, for tabling this important motion which highlights a massive issue for many families across the country. The cost of education report by Zurich shows the annual cost of sending a child to primary school is €1,794. Sending a child to secondary school is even more expensive at €2,928. This means parents could be paying anything up to €32,000 just to p…

Today is No Wait Card Ireland Awareness Day. It is supported by Crohn's and Colitis Ireland, Spinal Injuries Ireland, the Irish Cancer Society and the Continence Foundation of Ireland. I thank Kildare woman Maria Crowe once again for raising the importance of this card. The Minister will know that, with the support of the Labour Part, I have a Bill on Second Stage to make this card widely availabl…

I wish to start by thanking Deputy Quaide and the Social Democrats for bringing forward this motion. It is very important for so many people in this country. It is an issue that comes up very regularly in my own office. As has been said, over 2,000 adults with an intellectual disability in Ireland live with a family carer over the age of 70 and 450 of these adults are cared for by parents over th…

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber for this very important debate. I thank Deputy Kerrane and Sinn Féin for bringing forward the motion on childcare. We are all agreed on the importance of this issue, albeit it is somewhat ironic that we are discussing it after midnight. While it is positive to have this debate, it is the view of my party that the Government must go further to ensure there trul…

The point we have reached today, with Members proudly speaking on LGBT Pride, does not just happen. It comes after decades of work, bravery, courage and consistent fighting by advocates. We can never forget this. We must always remember this fact and remember the many people who broke down the closed doors and made Ireland a much more welcoming place for our LGBT comrades. They did so because it w…

Hear, hear.

4. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her attention has been drawn to the fact that no childcare facility has been built within the new national children’s hospital, and if she has raised this with the Minister for Health. [47221/26]

I wish Deputy Ennis the very best in his new role and look forward to working with him on childcare.

That is a very comprehensive reply. I have a couple of questions arising from it. The Minister sent my question to the Minister for Health. Has the Minister for Health come back to the Minister on this? Does the Minister, Deputy Foley, agree with us all that it beggars belief that, when we are spending so much money on the children's hospital, we are not spending any money within that hospital on …

I will take up the Minister's second point, or maybe the other point that she made, about planning guidelines. Is she telling the House that she will now be consulted on all planning applications and that this is a first for the Department of Children, Disability and Equality? Has the Department never been consulted on projects such as this because if that is the case, it is worrying? It is an opp…

13. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of early learning and school-age childcare facilities that have been found to be non-complainant on staffing ratios, staffing qualifications, Garda vetting, and basic needs, broken down by private or community service, service size, full day care, part-time, sessional, school-age childcare and county, in 2025 …

I will yield to the Minister in order to allow her to conclude.

I tabled this question in order to find out what is going on with all of our childcare facilities and to ensure that best practice obtains right across the country. I am very happy to hear that after 3,500 inspections and in the context of the figures the Minister provided, we have a very low level of non-compliance. I am sure the Minister will agree, however, that even one instance of non-complia…

That is why we need more childcare in Kildare.

Absolutely.

The Minister of State is very welcome here tonight. I have often described the Curragh Plains in County Kildare as the jewel in the crown of the whole county. It is 4,870 acres of historic and, in the main, undeveloped land. It is home to our Defence Forces, the racing industry and a large number of sheep farmers, along with a number of magnificent sports clubs. As well as being home to those orga…

I thank the Minister of State for that comprehensive reply. He is 100% right. All the public representatives of County Kildare, particularly those of south Kildare, have continued to raise the importance of the Curragh Plains to everybody in County Kildare. I welcome the fact that a positive meeting took place on 17 June at the Curragh, because when anybody visits the Curragh - we will have thousa…

I want to start by thanking my colleague, Deputy Ciarán Ahern, for bringing forward this very important motion and for all of the work he is doing on this issue. Ireland has one of the highest electricity costs in Europe. Eurostat recently reported that prices in Ireland were nearly 40% above the EU average. It seems that every other week an energy provider is upping its prices once again. The Go…