Pat Buckley

I welcome the Minister of State back. I always shoot straight from the hip. I thank him for all the engagement. I am grateful for the engagement of Cork County Council and the municipal district council. He knows what I am going to bring up. It is Midleton again. The last time we were here, when he was Minister of State previously, I raised the Midleton northern relief road bridge final study, the…

More than 15,000 children are overdue their assessment of needs. Approximately 1,000 of these are in my county, Cork. To make matters worse, parents in Cork are waiting up to 30 months for these assessments for their children. This is a far cry from the six months' waiting time required by law. In fact, more than 90% of assessments of need are completed outside of the legal time limit. It is absol…

I thank the Minister of State for being here at this ungodly hour. I have recently been in contact with a number of dedicated school secretaries across my constituency of east Cork who are campaigning for their rightful access to public service pensions. Public service pensions are not just a benefit but a vital safeguard for workers' futures and provide security and dignity in later years. Publi…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I got the same response, probably word for word, less than two hours ago in a reply to a parliamentary question. I cannot stress enough how much these issues need to be resolved. The last line in the response from the Minister for Education was: For those reasons, any proposals must be considered in detail by my own officials and those in the Depart…

The lack of a proper road in Cobh has stifled plans for more than 1,300 council houses in the area. This is one of the reasons An Bord Pleanála gave for refusing an application by a company to move into the former IFI plant in Marino Point. We also have a massive tourism industry in Cobh, but our only bridge is the Belvelly Bridge. Under the current plans, we have heard it will be this way for at …

I wish the Minister well in her position. We all get involved in politics because we want to do the right thing. I, too, acknowledge the wonderful staff in the health system, but this is about accountability and responsibility, both of which are lacking within CHI. I sometimes shudder when I listen to the words of CHI, and I will tell the Minister why. Katie Burke, who is now a young woman, has be…

We are back again. It is not easy to come in here and say what Deputy Brennan said, and I admire him for that. I think we all have our personal stories. Going back to age 16, I can remember my personal story. It was not easy either. It just goes to show that we are all normal in this House and we all have feelings. This motion is about not having confidence in CHI. It is as simple as that. I susp…

I want to raise the issue of communication between Irish Water and elected representatives. I will read a statement outlining the situation of a constituent who contacted me last week. I was contacted by a resident of Ballyhooly in east Cork. This resident has a serious autoimmune disease called ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease that makes proper hygiene essential for her. H…

All Members in the House today are very passionate about this issue. They all have their own personal stories of people who have lost loved ones. I thank my Sinn Féin colleagues for some very good contributions. We talking about a Bill that is not perfect - we have Second Stage debates to try to tweak legislation - but it is not merely a Bill; it is a lifeline for thousands of families. We often c…

I wish the Minister well in his new role. The tenant in situ scheme has been hugely successful in preventing hundreds of families in Cork from becoming homeless. This scheme has allowed Cork County Council to buy up properties for tenants who face a no-fault eviction notice allowing the family to remain in the property as council tenants. This scheme is working and should be expanded to ensure the…

Prior to last year's election, I attended a briefing at Carrigtwohill Family Resource Centre where I was humbled to hear about the invaluable work it does on a shoestring budget for people in need in this community. I had a positive engagement with the staff there and I commend them on their fantastic work in supporting the local community in Carrigtwohill and the surrounding areas of east Cork. T…

I thank the Minister of State. He said the Department's work in this area is administered by Tusla. There are other trains of funding but the centres do not have the resources to try to pull money from each and every angle. I cannot stress strongly enough that the core funding must be increased. It is as simple as that. That will give the resource centres the ability to fully function. The Ministe…

I wish the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Foley, the best in their new roles. I listened to the Minister's opening speech a while ago and to many of the Deputies. I will cut straight to the chase, hoping that one of them might be able to assist me. I have been working with someone who is now a young woman, but was a child when we started this. Her mother wrote to me and said: I am a…

I congratulate the Minister of State. We have been at this a while now-----

-----and unfortunately it is still going at a very slow pace. In Cork city and county, 336 adults and 921 children and teenagers are currently waiting for mental health services. Some are waiting for 12 months, while some are waiting as much as four or five years. The Minister of State mentioned A Vision for Change. We definitely need to refresh that strategy. There is a recruitment crisis. We hav…

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle. I notice she saved the best for last. I thank everybody in east Cork, in my constituency, for putting their faith in me and putting me back here for a third term. I thank my family and my supporters on the ground who canvassed for me. I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Calleary. I hope we will have plenty of good banter and battles here, but most importan…

I apologise to the Ceann Comhairle, as I never congratulated her on her official status. I welcome the Minister's response and the fact that the Bill is being finalised. I read the report of the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands. In fairness to its recommendations, I was a bit worried when the Minister said there might be some complications. How…