Charles Ward

I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — chartered engineers employed or contracted by the Housing Agency act as agents of the State, exercising statutory functions that determine the rights of homeowners, and that the Government remains legally and constitutionally accountable for their decisions, including unlawful downgrades from full to partial remediation; — appeals against such downgrade…

I wish to address the remarks of the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, about how he has got this "to where it is today". I will clarify where it is today. We have a scheme right now that has 74 houses that are completed. Another 70 have received outer-leaf remediation work only and still retain the blockwork. This amounts to approximately 140 houses, half of which will have to be redone at gr…

I am glad Charlie McConalogue is here in the Chamber because he is the man I want to talk to. Today across the country, particularly in Donegal, we have got a budget that is an absolute insult to working people - a nothing budget for people. What kind of message does it send out to working people when we have given them absolutely nothing? There are no measures to prevent homelessness in this budg…

When the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, presented this budget, he said we were "making the best possible use of the resources available to invest in our future and to strengthen our foundations." I did not know whether to laugh or cry at that. As the House can imagine, coming from Donegal, we are living with foundations and houses that are crumbling down around us. We are totally abandoned. How can the…

The Government must abolish the concrete levy for families rebuilding their homes. This is a priority. Homeowners cannot be punished because it is not their fault. The level of injustice cannot be ignored, especially when we are faced with so many examples of Government overspend. The Government has handled this crisis in a completely fiscally irresponsible way. Despite overwhelming scientific evi…

Over 10,000 unpaid carers in Donegal are awaiting next week’s budget in the hope they will finally receive long overdue recognition for the difficult and important work they do every single day. The lack of respect for people who provide an essential service and save the State over €20 billion a year is staggering. Most of us, in our lifetime, will either become carers or be cared for. This is a r…

It is a disgrace that we now face into October and legislation regarding retrospective payments for homeowners under the defective concrete scheme still has not been published despite the Taoiseach's housing Minister in June saying it would be. I expect the funds will be made available in the Government's budget next week, and if the Government fails to properly address this crisis yet again it wi…

They just need a date.

93. Deputy Charles Ward asked the Minister for Transport whether he intends to develop or reinstate railway services in Donegal; whether any progress has been made in the north west since the publication of the all-island strategic rail review last year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52139/25]

It is shocking that in this day and age that there is still no significant investment in regional rail in the north west. People in Inishowen who travel to Letterkenny or Donegal town must travel by bus. I know an 82-year-old man who travels on a bus to Donegal town to see a relative. He is on the bus for the guts of two hours. Many of my constituents do this and are travelling long distances. It …

Donegal is the only county in the whole of Ireland in which the rail network was removed. We are so far behind that it will take billions of euro to get us up to date. When the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, was Minister for housing, he turned his back to us. I ask him, as Minister for Transport, not to turn his back on Donegal again.

Will the lack of infrastructure investment in Donegal be addressed in any way in the budget next week?

I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this motion today. I fully support it, particularly its call for budget 2026 to commit €630 million towards measures to relieve child poverty and homelessness, as well as its call on the Government to introduce a total ban on evictions of children into homelessness, and the legislation to prioritise housing needs of homeless families. As a member of th…

I have written to the Minister, Deputy Heydon, regarding the closure of the ISPCA's animal centre in Donegal, a devastating decision that has detrimental animal welfare effects in the north-west region. Just over a week ago in Donegal, we saw 14 dogs rescued from horrific conditions but these dogs have nowhere to go. They will travel a considerable distance to reach the nearest facility, which mea…

I am not going to mince my words. The defective concrete scandal is a national emergency the Minister's Government wilfully mismanaged for over a decade. The Government has worked hard to fool the public and portray that we are being looked after, but the truth is we are now in the second failed scheme. My staff see suicidal ideation every week in our office. The uncertainty and the feeling of aba…

We have unethical engineering going on in this scheme. That cannot be denied. A number of people were downgraded. They were granted full demolition. An engineer came out, did their job, examined it and then it was passed over to the Housing Agency. Someone in the agency looked at that fellow engineer's work and then downgraded it. This is unethical. It is unethical engineering. What is going on ha…

September is a very exciting and important month for many children as they return to school. For some, however, the excitement has been unfairly and cruelly stripped away as their parents struggle to find appropriate school places for them in their localities. As a parent, I cannot imagine the heartbreak facing parents who are unable to secure such places for their children. The Minister for Educa…

I thank my colleague, Deputy Stanley, for tabling this motion, which I fully support. Dental care is completely inaccessible, especially for people in rural areas. In Donegal, children are lucky if they have seen a dentist once by the time they are finished school. Many of them have not seen one at all. I know this from experience, as I have four children. Maybe one has seen a dentist but the rest…

I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward this very important motion, which I fully support. There is no doubt skyrocketing grocery prices coupled with huge increases in other household costs, like energy and rent, are putting huge strain on families across the country. Right now families in Donegal find themselves caught in a pincer movement between the cost-of-living crisis and the defe…

I was horrified by the "Journal Investigates" report that stated just 12% of cancer patients in Letterkenny University Hospital receive treatment within the recommended 15-day timeframe. Cancer patients in Letterkenny have to wait 50% longer than those in any other hospital in the HSE West and North-West region. This is not just delay; this is life-altering. Research by the British Medical Journal…

Since becoming a TD, I have raised the defective concrete crisis every single week in this Chamber. I have stood here 23 times outlining the many issues with the Government's scheme, and have highlighted the lived experience of the impacted homeowners. My message has been consistent. The scheme is not working for the families. They are struggling. Every week I am standing here pleading with the Go…

I want to mention Elm Park, given the fact that this is a time-sensitive issue. Houses in Elm Park in Buncrana face immediate danger as they have been built on a floodplain and are affected by defective concrete. The only safe option for these residents is relocation. The home of one family home is in such a bad structural state that the family sees no alternative but to move ahead with the defect…

When? Can we get a date?

I thank the Labour Party for putting forward this very important motion on nursing homes. I support it and its calls to prioritise equality and safety in the care of older people. Overhauling nursing homes is what we need to look at. As someone who has worked on the ground and worked for the company involved in the documentary, I am not surprised. To say that 80% of nursing homes are now in privat…

I welcome the review of the EPSEN Act and many of its findings. Ensuring every child's educational needs are met is imperative. Education should be inclusive and responsive to the needs of all children, but this is not the case in many areas where children with special educational needs are unable to secure school places. I understand the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, is doing what he can to…