Grace Boland

I thank the Social Democrats for affording us the opportunity to speak on this important issue. It is one I have raised several times with the Minister of State. I know she is, as I am, committed to delivering homes for adults with intellectual disabilities in their own communities. I thank her for coming to Balbriggan to meet the amazing Remember Us, which is a parent-led organisation that suppor…

6. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation the progress being made on the adoption of artificial intelligence across the public service to improve efficiency, reduce administrative burdens and enhance public services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51518/26]

AI has enormous potential to reduce administrative burdens, improve productivity and free up public servants to focus on delivery. Will the Minister outline what measurable progress has been made to date in adopting AI across Departments and Government agencies, what gains have already been achieved and when we will see further gains?

While I heard about a framework and a lot of training, I did not quite hear that we are actually measuring what cost savings, efficiencies and benefits there are, not only for the public service and Civil Service but to the people, our constituents and the public at large. Will the Minister confirm he will be measuring the real gains made in those terms?

I am more encouraged by the Minister's most recent response. It is important that the public, as well as people working in the Civil Service and public service, sees the benefits of AI. It is important the Minister's Department makes sure there are measurable key performance indicators, KPIs, measurable deliverables and that the benefits and gains are clearly articulated to people. One of my conc…

90. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of training and education places available across further and higher education, apprenticeships and upskilling programmes aimed at developing the workforce required to deliver energy-efficient homes, including retrofitting, construction and related trades; and if he will make a …

117. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the measures being taken or planned by his Department to increase the number of training places and pathways for individuals to gain the skills necessary to deliver energy-efficient homes, including in areas such as retrofitting, heat pump installation and sustainable construction; and if…

We know we have environmental targets. We know we want families to live in warm, fully insulated homes. That has never been more important, when we look at the geopolitical climate we are living in. However, there are real concerns as to whether we have the workforce to deliver warm, insulated homes - both new builds and retrofittings. How many do we currently have in training in the industry? Wha…

It is good to hear that work is under way. What I did not hear is whether we know the numbers we need to get to. As the Minister said, a broad range of skill sets are required to deliver these homes. Is there co-ordination between the Minister's Department and the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment? We know the targets we want to get to for 2030. Do we know the numbers of skilled wo…

I thank the Minister. This is a point I made to the Secretary General of the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment at the public accounts committee. There is money there and we absolutely need to invest in ensuring that we have retrofitting, and do everything we can to meet our climate targets, not just because of the financial consequences that might arise but because it is the right …

Before we move to the next question, I welcome the service users from St. Aidan's Services in Gorey and in particular Nicole, Ian, Donnchadh and Caroline, who are here with Deputy Brian Brennan. They are all very welcome.

Dublin is buzzing with headline gigs, from Katy Perry and Calvin Harris to CMAT and many more, as well as many sporting events. However, what we do not have is a national major event transport planning framework. We really need this. It is impacting on people's decisions on where to go. People from Skerries and Balbriggan simply will not go to Marlay Park any more because getting home is too diffi…

99. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the steps being taken to support the development of age-friendly housing within existing communities, allowing older people to remain close to family and services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47608/26]

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this debate and to mark Pride. Pride is at the heart about people. It is about recognising the dignity, worth and equality of every person in our society. It is about ensuring that people can live their lives openly, safely and authentically without fear of discrimination, intimidation or abuse. Ireland has come a long way. Many people in this House will reme…

As trains have been mentioned, I might take the opportunity to ask the Minister to engage with Irish Rail to make sure the 5.48 p.m. train from Drogheda Pearse to Malahide on Saturday evenings is a full eight-carriage train as the last two Saturdays with the gigs on-----

-----in Malahide Castle have been half trains. They have left people behind in Donabate. I am sure the Minister will be concerned about that. I welcome the steps being taken to remove the passenger cap at Dublin Airport. We are an island nation. We depend on connectivity. A cap on our capital city's airport, as the Minister said himself, is a cap on our growth. Dublin Airport is not only an emplo…

6. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if staffing levels for speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and psychologists in the children’s disability network teams, CDNTs, in Balbriggan and Swords have increased in the past two years; the current number of vacancies; the additional posts or resources being allocated in response to population …

As the Minister of State knows, the Fingal area is one of the youngest areas in the country and Balbriggan is the youngest large town. However, our CDNTs are creaking. Will she give an update on whether the vacancies that have been persistent for the past couple of years have been addressed and where we are in terms of staffing levels for the CDNTs in both Balbriggan and Swords?

I very much welcome the investment in disability services, funding for additional posts and the allocation for behavioural supports and speech and language therapy. However, when I look at the raw figures, I see that every single post for Balbriggan is underfunded. We are supposed to have six occupational therapists but there are only five; instead of five speech and language therapists, we only h…

I welcome the reductions. I really do not profess to know the science behind this but there is movement of children from CDNT lists to primary care and there is movement of children on CDNT lists from Balbriggan to Swords. I am not really sure why all of that happens, but I want to make sure that the children and families who need the therapies are getting them. While numbers look like they are re…

11. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the extent of engagement her Department has had with the autism community, including autistic individuals, advocacy organisations and representative groups, in the development of the recently announced new autism assessment and intervention pathway protocol; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43029/26]

I welcome the new autism assessment and intervention pathway protocol. It is an effort to bring greater consistency as to how autism is assessed across services. The success of this reform will depend on whether autistic people and their families feel that it reflects their lived experience. The Minister of State might please advise us as to what engagement took place with the autism community in …

I thank the Minister of State. In regard to going forward and making sure that the lived experience of autistic people and their families included and that we learn from the experience they go through in this new process, can she confirm that there will be that ongoing structured engagement around any reforms, changes or tweaks made to the protocol, as may be required from the process?

I know the Minister of State touched on it earlier but my area has one of the longest waiting lists for assessments of need. What parents at home want to know is whether this protocol will help them get assessments and therapies? Will it make a difference to them? She might please help me give some comfort to families at home.

117. Deputy Grace Boland asked the Minister for Transport the number of electric buses currently in storage; the total cost of their storage and maintenance over the past three years; the projected cost of continued storage and maintenance until deployment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46183/26]