Jennifer Whitmore

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business in relation to statements on LNG. It was reported today that An Coimisiún Pleanála has written to the Minister seeking a clear position from Government on commercial LNG. It is time for the Government to stop talking out of both sides of its mouth with regard to LNG. We need clarity on that.

And the LNG issue.

I raise with the Minister the issue of a special school in Bray, County Wicklow. It is Marino special school, which caters for children with complex needs. It is critically overstretched when it comes to its SNA allocation. An exceptional care review was to be conducted on 18 June. That was cancelled on the evening of 16 June by the NCSE and the school was told that care review would happen in the…

How would you know? You were not listening.

90. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Transport if he is aware of ongoing issues with the provision of bus services by a company (details supplied) and the fact that its contract is up for renewal shortly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34357/25]

Is the Minister aware of the ongoing issues with the provision of Go-Ahead Ireland's bus service in County Wicklow and the fact that its contract is up for renewal? I extend an invitation to him to come to Wicklow and stand at a bus stop down there with me and wait for the bus to come, seeing as invitations are being thrown out this evening.

The roll-out started in January, and there were major problems when it started. It has got better. Unfortunately, there are still problems on many routes, including the L2, L1, L3 and L15. The reality is that people who go to get a bus need to know that it will show up. They need more than to think that it might show up or that it will show up most of the time. A bus needs to show up every single …

I thank the Minister for that. I acknowledge that there have been improvements, but some routes have been particularly hit. I believe they are those routes in Wicklow. This is one of the problems. When a bus does not show up, it requires the person left standing there to email the NTA, Go-Ahead Ireland or a TD. They usually come to a public representative and say there are problems. When we see th…

GP services around the country are at breaking point. They are oversubscribed and understaffed. It can often take two or three weeks before people get to see their doctors. I spoke to a 90-year-old woman recently. She has to wait three weeks when she needs an appointment. She has a history of dizziness and falls. Oftentimes, she ends up in accident and emergency, which sends her back to her GP. We…

The name of the programme in question was GP Care for All. Unfortunately, last year they had to come to the Dáil to campaign to be kept open. Clearly, that small proportion of GP services that follow the model we want, and that was agreed under Sláintecare, have to fight to stay open because the Government has not been supporting them sufficiently. I will give the Tánaiste some statistics in resp…

The building of 106 social homes in Blessington was halted recently, which makes no sense to me during a housing crisis, where money is apparently not an issue in this case and the homes had planning permission. Will the Tánaiste explain exactly what happened with these homes and when building will start? There is no clarity as to whether or when building will start.

When it comes to housing, can the Government get anything right? It has been planning these rental reforms for months and yet it made an absolute hames of them last week. Even the Taoiseach's Cabinet colleagues could not make sense of them. They were quoted in the media talking about not understanding the rules. For the avoidance of any doubt, there was one simple thing these reforms were to do, a…

That is because driving record rents even higher, according to the Government, is somehow going to bring rents down. Make that make sense. No wonder the Taoiseach's Cabinet colleagues are utterly bewildered. The Taoiseach has claimed repeatedly that housing is the Government's biggest priority. Yet, when it comes to policy announcements, they are chaotic and sloppy. Even today, the Minister conce…

We offered the State savings scheme that would free up €160 billion, potentially, on deposit in Irish bank accounts.

I ask the Taoiseach to please take those suggestions on board.

Yes, the Government is taking decisions, but it is taking all the wrong decisions. That is the problem and that is what we are saying to it. It needs to completely rethink its policy and needs to start prioritising people who want to be homeowners, people who want to be able to afford the rent rather than the investors. That is the crux of the problem. The Government's policies are being directed …

That is because successive governments did nothing for 20 years.

There are record house prices and record homelessness.

We had a very interesting conversation this morning at the fisheries committee. I welcomed this morning, and I welcome here, the fact that not only do we have a Minister of State with responsibility for fisheries and the marine but also a committee that is dedicated to it. I think it will make a big difference and, hopefully, we can work closely with the Minister of State to progress the many issu…

I am sure the Minister of State is aware of the Department's plan to redesignate special schools so they no longer cater for children and students with mild learning disabilities. This will apply to approximately 30 schools across the country. I understand, in part, the rationale behind it. The Minister wants an inclusive model of education where children with mild learning disabilities can go to …

My understanding is that children with mild learning disabilities will not be able to enrol in any special schools under this programme because they will not have the sign-off, approval or letter of eligibility from the NCSE. The plan is for all of those children to go to their local mainstream school. I absolutely agree that no child should have to travel for two hours to get to their special sch…

Week after week, for 20 months, we come into this Chamber and talk about the most recent act of depravity that we have seen rained down on the people of Gaza by Israel. We talk in this Chamber about children who have been shot in the head, children who have been shot in the chest by snipers, children who have had to battle their way out of fires while their siblings and parents burned behind them,…

That is not true.

Will the Taoiseach answer the Social Democrats' question?

I welcome the Minister of State's indication that he is open to reviewing the Arterial Drainage Act. We have heard a lot this afternoon about the financial, emotional and social cost of flooding. When flooding hits people's homes, businesses or land, it is very difficult. Aside from climate change and a changing weather regime, one of the reasons we experience such large and problematic flood even…