David Cullinane

They see bankers' bonuses increase, bumper profits for these companies, and a Government that will throw all of these families under a bus.

Speak to the people.

You have not answered any of the questions.

Bluff and bluster.

What are you going to do about it?

You are throwing families under the bus.

Pure guff is what we are listening to.

We have bluff and bluster by a Minister. That is what we have.

103. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Transport his position on funding for transport infrastructure upgrades in County Waterford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8754/25]

My question relates to the Minister's plans to fund public transport infrastructure upgrades across Waterford city and county.

I agree with the Minister on the transformative nature of the north quays project, which we all want to see progressed as quickly as possible. I will raise the issue of upgrading the N24, which is the Waterford to Limerick road. I spoke to the Minister privately on this a number of weeks ago. I know he received a letter from the three CEOs of the local authorities in Carlow-Kilkenny, Waterford an…

This is important from a road safety perspective. Approximately 60% of the improvements that will be carried out are improvements to the existing road network. The three bypasses form approximately 40% of the project, as the Minister will know. That is in line with the Department's guidelines. This is very important economically because it concerns the connectivity of two major cities, namely, Wat…

Hear, hear.

I start by wishing the Minister well. I think is the first chance we have had in the Dáil to formally do that. I also acknowledge the contribution that the former Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly made as well. It is important to put that on record. We had many exchanges but there are areas of healthcare, particularly women's healthcare, where the former Minister made a lot of positive …

I do not want to see children with disabilities waiting for dental treatment. These are not the types of cases we want to bring to the floor of the Dáil, but, unfortunately, we have to because of the many challenges we have in the healthcare system.

I cannot speak again.

I want to raise with Minister two cases of two autistic boys from Waterford, one is six years of age and one is five years of age. Tiernan Power Murphy is a six-year-old boy from Waterford who urgently needs dental surgery. Tiernan is autistic, has been experiencing severe pain and needs three teeth removed. Given Tiernan's specific needs, the procedure must be carried out under general anaestheti…

Some 72,000 learner drivers are languishing on waiting lists, of whom 10,000 have come on to the waiting lists in the last three months alone. I do not think we can blame anybody but the Government for that one. The Minister said the maximum ten-week waiting time is not a statutory target; maybe it should be. There is a possibility that the Opposition will bring forward a Bill to rectify that. If …

It is, because there are many people who do not have the tests within the target timeframes they should. The Minister may get a chance to respond again later. I want to refer to one example of a young man from Waterford who contacted me. He is not interested in glib responses from the Minister. He is interested in the Minister coming up with solutions and actually dealing with the problem. He nee…

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

Managers not consultants.

I will talk to the Minister of State about dual diagnosis and dual-diagnosis teams. As she will know, this is where a person has a mental health condition and an addiction. As has often been said in this Chamber, A Vision for Change and Sharing the Vision were very good on vision and on setting out what needs to be done. However, the implementation of both plans has unfortunately not been as good.…

I firstly welcome to the Public Gallery many of the parents from County Waterford who have travelled and who are doing everything possible to ensure their children will get the appropriate education they deserve. The facts are that they should not have to lobby, travel or protest because they have enough to do to look after their children. We met many of them and they talked about the strains that…

Is it three minutes, a Cheann Comhairle?