Charles Ward

During the fuel protests, the public came out and told the Government what needed to be done. It knew this was coming, it did not listen and it left it to the eleventh hour, and here we are. The Government will have been in place for two years this November. What it has achieved is that we have record levels of homelessness, food inflation and the highest energy prices in Europe. The homelessness …

I thank Deputy Kenny for bringing forward this motion. As a parent, I have seen the costs relating to sending children to school skyrocket over the past ten years. The situation is absolutely out of control. The recent back-to-school survey carried out by the Irish League Of Credit Unions shows that 59% of parents find covering back-to-school costs a major financial burden, with more than one in f…

I welcome Jennie's law. The publicly available register of judgments will be a life-saving resource, as people in relationships or considering relationships will be able to see whether people have histories of domestic violence convictions. I thank Jennie Poole's family, particularly Jason, for the work they have done on this in recent years. I have no doubt that, without them, we would not be wh…

4. Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine whether he will consider introducing supports for farm buildings or agricultural buildings impacted by defective concrete; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52560/26]

Will the Minister consider supporting farm agricultural buildings impacted by defective concrete? We are seeing a rise in the number of these buildings. Defective concrete has no discriminating factors. It is in tanks, slurry tanks and farm buildings. That is often overlooked as part of the defective concrete crisis. The impact on these buildings, particularly the environmental impacts on slurry t…

When we talk about defective concrete the national conversation quite rightly centres on family homes, but across rural Ireland the same materials were used in farm sheds, milking parlours, storage units, boundary walls and, critically, slurry tanks. They are not minor structures but central to functioning farms, animal welfare and environmental protection. The environmental impact is serious. The…

During the Celtic tiger construction boom, Ireland experienced unprecedented building activity. Rural development schemes, farm modernisation grants and many co-funded EU agricultural and rural development programmes supported investment in farm infrastructure. The funding itself was legitimate and well-intentioned but the materials used in these construction projects on farms were defective concr…

I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward this very important motion. It calls for the Government to publish a five-year national strategic community living strategy for adults with intellectual disabilities. We are in desperate need of a strategic outline project for regional planning and annual targets to reduce waiting lists. Inappropriate placements for those with intellectual disabili…

Last week, I asked the Taoiseach when homeowners could expect the review of the remediation of dwellings Act, following the publication of IS 465, to be completed. His response was that it could take approximately three months to report to the committee and that the homeowners already know this. Will the Tánaiste provide a clear timeline as to when the necessary amending legislation will be publis…

I thank Sinn Féin and Deputy Kerrane for bringing forward this motion on childcare, which I will be supporting. Ireland is in the grip of a serious childcare crisis which has been allowed to continue for far too long. Parents are not only struggling to afford childcare but they are also struggling to access it at all. Finding a crèche in places has become an enormous challenge for families across …

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — thousands of homeowners affected by defective concrete have spent years living with uncertainty regarding the safety of their homes, the adequacy of available remediation options and the long-term security of their families; — many affected families have experienced repeated changes in engineering advice, evolving scientific understanding and revisions …

I thank my colleagues who stood with me today and those who took the time to go beyond the briefing material and the political framing and had the empathy to understand what families are living through on the ground. Before we vote, I want to speak plainly, not in a language of schemes, standards or reassurance, but in a language that explains what is happening to people on the ground. I have sat …

When IS 465:2026 was introduced, I welcomed the intent behind it but had reservations about how it might be interpreted by engineers. Reading several reports tells me I was correct. I reference one report where a house was given a group 4 classification, indicating the worst possible level of structural damage, with widespread deterioration and a clear finding of evidence of chemical damage. There…

The reason I raised this issue is that right now, as we speak, there will be people going in with foundations with levels of ISA in them. They will potentially be building on top of a foundation that may fail in the future. I am talking about being fiscally responsible. As the revised IS 465 has been published, there is now a trigger. Can the Taoiseach give me dates for this? I do not want people …

I am asking for a timeframe for when this decision will be implemented. The trigger is off now with the revision of IS 465. When will the Minister for housing review and adapt to these changes?

Concerns have been raised by a local charity, Lifeline, about being able to access family law under the legal aid scheme in Donegal. I understand there are significant delays in processing legal aid applications at the moment. During this period, organisations supporting vulnerable individuals and families often need to identify solicitors who may be able to assist in urgent family law matters. Ho…

I have raised this multiple times over the past few months. I welcome that the Minister of Health has signed off on the end-to-end review for funding of new drugs in Ireland but we have said on many occasions that for children suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, DMD, time is muscle and children with DMD face a blatant inequality under the current system. I am sure the Taoiseach will be aw…

I share the disappointment of my colleagues with what has been produced before us today. This Bill falls far short of what was promised and what is required, despite delays repeatedly over the years and despite Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael promising in the last election that this would be a priority. As far as I am concerned, the Government parties' election promises were nothing more than a box-tick…

I thank Deputy Joanna Byrne for bringing forward this motion from Sinn Féin. I am proud to stand with my constituents in Donegal and countless people across the country and wholeheartedly support the Stop The Game campaign. After more than two years of watching Israel commit genocide against the Palestinian people in real time, we cannot allow Israel to use sport to normalise its crimes. This autu…

The State recommended an external wall remediation only in a home where an internal wall was already cracking and carrying specialist hoist equipment used every day to lift and move a paralysed woman. The family were then refused access to see the full technical report so as to understand whether it was a safe decision to only give an outer leaf remediation. My constituent's home was adapted in 20…

I want to raise the matter of how the State is communicating life-changing decisions to people in the defective concrete blocks scheme. A constituent of mine applied in 2022. Her home was assessed by an IS 465 engineer on the Housing Agency's list. The conclusion was clear: scientific and engineering principles dictated that full demolition and rebuilding was the only safe option to restore this u…

I thank the Taoiseach for that. I have another issue regarding IS 465. We were told the revised IS 465 was due in April or May but now we are heading towards June. The scheme is meant to be the biggest in the history of the State. It has been delayed and delayed. Will the revised version of IS 465 be published in June? The Tánaiste could tell me on the last occasion that publication would be withi…

I thank Deputy O'Reilly and Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion on the cost of disability. I reiterate what Deputy Doherty said about the situation that Aaron Langan and Diarmuid O'Sullivan are in. The situation is that a year ago we were in the audiovisual room along with Diarmuid and his parents. Diarmuid's story is that he has DMD. His brother also has it and is on a trial which means th…

I thank Deputy Stanley and his staff for bringing forward this motion in defence of neutrality. Maintaining our neutrality has never been more important. From Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan to the escalating tensions in Iran and the wider Middle East conflict, we are facing an era of overlapping conflict, instability, displacement and humanitarian crisis. Millions of people are being affected by war, fam…

The fact that 7,000 households across the country have been given an eviction notice in the first three months of this year is terrifying, and we do not know where they are going to go. Behind every eviction is a person or a family who is seriously at risk of homelessness because there are simply not enough houses out there for them. There is already a severe shortage and the more pressure that i…