Seamus Healy

The Government's response and amendment, while not unexpected, are nonetheless hugely disappointing, and even shocking, because there is absolutely no acceptance of the depth and breadth of what is an intolerable housing emergency. This emergency started with the privatisation of the local authority house building programme by a Fianna Fáil Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, back in the early 2000s. Many of…

The key to addressing the diversion of young people from criminality is the provision of services right across the whole spectrum including education, health, community, and recreation services and, of course, employment. Those services must be properly funded and staffed. As others have said, this is not cheap but society gets back in spades what it gives in funding for these services. These serv…

The role of the Ceann Comhairle is to be the impartial Chairperson of the Dáil and to carry out that role with the confidence and trust of both Government and Opposition Deputies. The independence of the office was further emphasised in 2016 when a decision was made that the post would be filled by a secret ballot of TDs. However, in 2024, the independence and impartiality of the Office of Ceann C…

When is the Government going to stop failing children with additional needs? Over 14,000 children are waiting for a needs assessment and 41,000 children are waiting for therapies, including speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy. Hundreds of children have no school place for next September. Day and residential services for children transitioning to adulthood are almost…

That is a live horse and you will get grass answer. It is an all talk and not enough action answer. The Minister has not answered the two questions I asked. When will these children get school places? When will the Government stop breaking the law? On Monday last the Minister for Education said she would use legislation to force schools to open special classes, which gave the clear impression that…

The Minister did not answer the questions.

No, he did not answer the questions and he is being glib.

I ask that the Leas-Cheann Comhairle would ensure that Ministers answer the questions.

No, I did not. I asked when they will get a school place -----

-----and when the Government will stop breaking the law.

On a point of order-----

-----that school engaged with the SENO, the Minister and the Department.

The Minister and the Department know all about the school. They know all about it.

The right to housing is a human right, enshrined in Article 25 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UN rapporteur on the right to housing reiterated that position, saying that although increasingly viewed as a commodity, housing is, most importantly, a human right. The Housing Commission report seeks to vindicate that human right. It says that housing must be a unique, national pri…

I thank the Minister for Rural and Community Development for coming to the Chamber to respond to this issue, which concerns men's sheds. I have been contacted by 17 different men's sheds in County Tipperary, including those in Ballagh, Ballina, Borrisokane, Cahir, Carrick-on-Suir, Cashel, Clogheen, Clonmel, Fethard, Glengoole, Moycarky, Mullinahone, Nenagh, Roscrea, Silvermines, Thurles and Tippe…

As the Minister has said, the continued existence and sustainability of men's sheds is vital for a number of reasons and he mentioned some of them there. They provide support for members by tackling a range of physical and mental health conditions and helping to provide inherent health benefits to a quarter of the population who are disproportionately affected by health issues. They also provide s…

Jigsaw is a youth mental health charity that provides free, non-judgmental and confidential therapy to young people between the ages of 12 and 15. It also gives families, educators and those who support young people's mental health ways to cope and the skills to be there for young people. Thankfully, after pressure from public representatives, this service was established successfully in County Ti…

The prevention of crime and antisocial behaviour requires a wide range of social, economic and community actions including education, employment, training, income, social inclusion, community facilities and community policing. I will say a few words on community policing. Over the past few years, community policing has effectively been dismantled, particularly since the introduction of the new Gar…

Molaim an rún seo, agus gabhaim buíochas le Sinn Féin as ucht an rún a chur faoi bhráid na Dála. Ba mhaith liom labhairt ar bhuncheist thábhachtach maidir leis an nGaeilge. Tháinig laghdú suntasach ar líon na ndaltaí atá ag freastal ar scoileanna lán-Ghaeilge le linn an Rialtais dheireanaigh. Níl iarbhunscoil lán-Ghaeilge ach ag 11 contae. Eleven counties have Irish-language second level schools.…

86. Deputy Seamus Healy asked the Minister for Social Protection the detail of how and when he intends to implement the Programme for Government commitment to abolish the income limit for the carer’s allowance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8927/25]

I congratulate the Minister on his appointment and wish him well in the Department. Both Government parties in their election manifestos committed to the abolition of the means test for the carer’s allowance. The public believed when those parties formed a Government that the means test would be abolished, if not immediately then certainly in the 2026 budget in October. There seems to be no clari…

I thank the Minister for the reply, but we still have no clarity on when this means test will be abolished. As I said, the public believed the means test was going to be abolished either immediately on the formation of the Government or, at the very least, in budget 2026 in October of this year. From what the Minister said, there is absolutely no clarity on that. I acknowledge there have been incr…

In 2024, the Parliamentary Budget Office estimated the cost of abolishing the means test as €375.3 million, which is very similar to the figure Family Carers Ireland gave, of about €389 million. That is very small money in the scheme of things. The work of family carers ensures that people with disabilities can remain at home and do not have to take up expensive beds in hospitals or nursing homes.…

The increased grants under the housing adaptation for older persons scheme that came into effect from 1 December have considerably improved that scheme. However, another change in the scheme, which went under the radar until recently, is very unhelpful. That change is the abolition, for whatever reason, of the new boiler grant for older people. This decision makes absolutely no sense and is, in fa…

Proper heating also ensures savings to the State in respect of nursing home and hospital costs.