Mark Ward

159. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport his plans for Government investment into the League of Ireland; the efforts of his Department to promote the league; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16771/26]

I will start with some good news for a change. However, it is good news that is tainted by bureaucracy getting in the way of progress. The Government needs to look at the process for having new GP services take on medical card patients. The bureaucratic red tape within the HSE makes this really difficult. I have had this experience over the last couple of years in trying to help a new GP service i…

I spoke last week about this legislation and how a vacuum leaves a space for bad actors, racists and misinformation to come in. Such a vacuum is caused by the lack of information going into our communities. In my area, Clondalkin, we have what is probably one of the longest running direct provision centres in the country. It has been there for over 20 years. The fact that we have a direct provisi…

14. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on health will next meet. [10030/26]

We know that early intervention is key in a child's development. There is no earlier intervention than a newborn child receiving a developmental assessment from a public health nurse. According to the HSE, a child should receive a developmental assessment at the first visit, at three months, at nine to 11 months, at 21 to 24 months and at 46 to 48 months. In Dublin Mid-West, we have a postcode lot…

Ten out of 12 healthcare centres are not delivering them.

I begin by congratulating the parents of children with additional needs, the school communities and the special needs assistants themselves. Many of them are here tonight. I have been contacted by parents, principals and SNAs in Clondalkin, Lucan and across Dublin Mid-West over the past couple of weeks in relation to this. I was at an event on Thursday in Collinstown Community College, where peopl…

-----when the responsibility lies with the Government.

The Government needs to take responsibility. In her ten-minute speech, I did not hear an apology to the people in the Gallery - not once, not one apology.

Deputy Kelly can work away and speak now.

I have said before that rushed legislation makes for poor legislation. I was on the justice committee when it was agreed unanimously right across the committee that we would give as much time as possible to debate the EU asylum and migration pact and the legislation we are talking about today. It was agreed on a cross-party basis by members of the Minister's party, of his colleague's party and all…

Listening to the debate, there seems to be one rule for the Government and another rule for the Opposition, with the Minister pushing his own legislation and not giving the Opposition the chance to undertake the proper scrutiny it needs to. I will give an example of why I am saying this, and the Minister will know where I am coming from. Last month, the Government delayed legislation I had before …

I will speak first about amendment No. 2. This amendment simply reaffirms that decisions on immigration and international protection remain the sole responsibility of the State. I have said before that Ireland is an independent sovereign state and should not be beholden to Europe on matters we can resolve ourselves. It has been the attitude of successive governments that we want to be the best in …

Give it a go.

This amendment seeks to provide a clear definition of "legal counselling". We were asked many questions about legal counselling during the justice committee's hearings on this legislation, such as how it is to be defined, what it means and who will provide it. There will be a lack of clarity if legal counsel is provided by non-legal professionals. Is it to be individual counselling? Is it to be gr…

The Minister has said he will bring forward a definition of "legal counselling". This doubles down on the point we were making earlier that this is rushed legislation. We are on Committee Stage and we still do not have a definition in front of us to be able to discuss what "legal counselling" is. Its absence is why these amendments are being put forward today. We would not have to discuss these am…

I reiterate what my colleagues have said about the meeting we had yesterday at the justice committee. The Minister does not have to believe us when we say there is a crisis in legal aid. The Bar Council of Ireland, the Law Society, FLAC, the Legal Aid Board and Women's Aid were all unanimously in agreement with that. They said the system is ready to collapse and is deteriorating in front of their …

We are talking about definitions of "last resort" for people going into custody but we would not need to be talking about detentions if we had a rules-based system that worked and would enable people to be processed quickly and fairly. I have some questions about the detention of children in particular. Where are these children going to be held? Will this fall under Tusla or what body is going to …

The Minister of State and I do not share a constituency but we do share the local authority area of South Dublin County Council. It houses the largest number of international protection applicants in the country with 4,200 in total. I have to say that some have settled in better than others but one thing they all have in common is that they are all with private operators who are making vast money …

I thank my constituency colleague, Deputy Ó Broin, for the work he has done on this legislation. The Social Housing Passport Bill is a really important piece of legislation. It provides a person with the ability to move from one local authority list to another without losing their time on the housing list. I first raised this issue back in 2019 when I got elected in a by-election. It was in the 20…

Neither have you.

Look at the housing crisis that-----

There are 16,000 people living in homelessness-----

Sinn Féin will be supporting the Minister's amendments from the Seanad, which are largely technical, as well as the amendment that explicitly clarifies the defence of live broadcasts. We will, however, be opposing the Bill itself. While the Bill contains important provisions with regard to strategic lawsuits against public participation, SLAPPs, for example, and Sinn Féin remains willing to engag…

39. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on children and education will next meet. [10029/26]