Brian Stanley
Laois · Independent · Ireland
“We are going through an epidemic of domestic abuse and violence. In 2025, the Garda had over 67,000 calls in relation to domestic abuse. Seven women were murdered last year, and in many of those cases, it was by a family member, a partner or somebody known closely to the victim.”
“Those fundamentals cannot be ignored. Are supporters of partition really saying that we can continue on this small island with 14 different departments in each jurisdiction working back to back, often in competition with each other? Are they saying that having Twenty-six Counties in the EU and Six Counties out of it makes economic sense?”
“Those who still argue for partition ignore the fact that in a reunified 32-county state, the pension liabilities of those workers in the Six Counties who accrued pension entitlements by paying into the British national insurance system and the British exchequer or employment pensions would receive that portion of their pension liability.”
“Unfortunately, I do not get any sense of urgency from the Minister of State that we are going to have laws introduced in September or October, and that is the crucial issue. Yes, we have rules now, and she listed them out in relation to the signs. However, they are being ignored.”
“The cost is €2.6 billion for the diplomatic mission alone. There is also MI6 and the massive military machine and capacity, including the army, the navy and the Royal Air Force. I saw a figure of €60.2 billion for 2025 and 2026. That amount is due to rise sharply to meet its increased military capabilities.”
“The issue I am raising with the Minister of State is the increase in the number of injuries, including those involving young children, relating to e-scooters and e-bikes. Ten have been killed.”
The complete record
Every one of 996 lines we hold for Brian Stanley, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 13 of 20.
“That was a solemn national declaration by the State, by the people of this State, put together by his Government. Is he going to betray the electorate of that State and what they voted for in those two solemn declarations? Is Fianna Fáil going to reject the democratic wishes of the majority of Irish people, who want to protect military neutrality?”
“In 2013, the Taoiseach rounded on Fine Gael in this House over the proposal to change the triple lock. He said that it would damage neutrality and "would contribute nothing to international peace". When the Nice referendum was rejected in 2001 and Lisbon in 2008, his Government - Fianna Fáil was in power - gave a guarantee to the electorate in the form of a solemn national declaration on neutrality and retaining the triple lock in order to get both referendums through. One line in the declaration says, "In line with its traditional policy of military neutrality, Ireland is not bound by any mutual defence commitment." I have the two declarations in my hand. Has the Taoiseach forgotten what he stated here in 2013? Is he going to betray the electorate?”
“Householders, particularly the lower paid, the disabled and other groups, need help. I appeal to the Minister of State not to pass over them in the budget. The Government does not have to buy an election this year. I ask that it not forget those people.”
“Most middle- and low-income workers cannot come up with €25,000, €30,000 or €35,000 to pay for their part of the work. They cannot take out an extra loan on top of their mortgage because it is just not possible for them to do so. We need to examine that matter. I would appeal to the Minister of State to do something about it in the budget. We also need to ensure that windows and doors are included in the retrofitting programme. A great deal of heat is being lost through windows and doors and is not being contained within houses. Many low-income households that are not in the social housing category, namely people who live in private houses but who are cash poor, may own their houses but they do not have the money to retrofit them. We are facing into the dark, cold winter evenings.”
“If energy prices are allowed to continue to rise before the budget, what will it be like after the budget when the Government heaps on its extra costs? People tell me they are really struggling with supermarket prices and all of the other matters I outlined. The Government is leading people into debt and leaving it to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the Salvation Army and other charities to sort the matter out. The Government is loading it onto the charities and thanking them for their work. That is not good enough. We need a more sustainable way of dealing with this. I welcome the fact that retrofitting is happening, but it needs to happen quicker. Some of the schemes need to be changed because the upfront costs for people are just too high.”
“The Government might give out about Trump, but it is copying what he is doing economically and handing over key industries to large companies that are leading us on a merry dance and absolutely ripping off the taxpayer. A number of decades ago, people were reasonably well off if they had a car and could afford to take one holiday a year. People now cannot put bread on the table. I outlined seven or eight increases that are being introduced. The fuel allowance kicks in this week, and I welcome that. However, it needs to be expanded and targeted better. We must make sure that we help those who most need it in the upcoming budget. There must be an energy credit of at least €400 this year to assist people.”
“The Government is also providing them with support to set up their operations. In the meantime, the cost of energy, which we were promised would go down with the advent of wind energy, is skyrocketing. The Government needs to explain that. A previous speaker referred to a very important matter in the context of who owns this energy. If I heard the previous speaker correctly, he quoted that over 90% used to be owned by the public. That has been flipped on its head, and 75% is owned by large corporations over which we have no control. The Government has no control over them and has allowed this to happen deliberately on foot of laissez-faire policies and liberal economics. It is real Trumpian stuff.”
“The PSO levy, at €3.23 per month plus VAT, needs to be restructured. It will change again at the end of September, and it is time for it to be reformed. I am a supporter of wind energy and of solar, biogas, hydrogen and hydro energy. We need to use all the renewable sources we have. According to the answer to a parliamentary question I tabled, over the past five years €549 million has been given to private companies developing wind farms. In some years, there was a negative. However, the balance works out at a positive of €549 million. The companies involved are highly profitable. We were told that when we had wind energy and renewable energy, particularly wind energy, it would be a lot cheaper. That has not turned out to be the case. It has turned out to be very expensive. Those companies are being allowed to price gouge.”
“It is the Government's job to try to protect people. Energy companies are price gouging. We know that because of the huge profits they are making. We have among the highest electricity prices in the European Union. Wholesale prices for electricity have dropped by over 70% in the past three years, but costs continue to increase. it is pure profiteering. Over 300,000 households are unable to pay their bills. The Government has also committed to increasing carbon tax, thereby heaping more costs on people. The PSO levy must be restructured. At the moment, the public are subsidising large companies and data centres when it comes to energy costs. Data centres must start paying their fair share and carry the burden for their responsibilities, rather than having domestic customers do it for them.”
“Many of them do not have the additional money needed to meet these increases. We already have a record number of people in arrears. It is only in September, and they are still getting bills for the summer months. This is the important issue. The Government has decided to withdraw energy credits and supports in the upcoming budget, yet it had no problem giving these last year. Millionaires got them. All of us in this House got them. That was absolute insanity. I cannot but reach the conclusion that the Government was trying to buy the election. Helicopter money was falling out of the sky and into households. This year, however, families like that mentioned by my colleague Deputy Healy, disabled people, the elderly and low-paid workers who do not have access to the free fuel scheme or whatever need help.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue. We are facing into the dark, cold months of winter in circumstances where families, households and workers are going to be hit with increases in the local property tax, fuel costs for transport, student fees, insurance, rent and food. The list goes on. In the past week, four energy companies announced that they are hiking their prices. Energy prices used to go up by 1%, 2% or 3%. Most of us remember that. Now it is 9%, 11%, 12%, 13% and so on. That is the way it goes. Energia is going to increase its prices by 12%, Bord Gáis's prices will go up by 13% and Pinergy is putting up its prices by 9%. We have some of the highest electricity prices in Europe. More than 500,000 customers are going to be hit with these increases in the next couple of weeks.”
“The Government can put it on paper that it will expand the scheme, but it will never be able to because it will not have the operators and drivers. I am saying this to be helpful.”
“I do not want to misrepresent him, but he indicated to me that there was a problem with Bus Éireann. Bus Éireann is putting the brakes on this. This needs to be resolved. This is a State contractor getting taxpayers' money. I know it needs safe drivers, but we do not have the drivers to cover the scheme. Bus operators are telling me - I am sure it is happening across the country - that they cannot get the drivers. We need to sort this out and have a strict medical test for over-70s. If they pass the test, they are fit to drive. We cannot continue to ignore this problem. I implore the Minister of State, as someone in the Department of education, and the officials here today to come back with an answer on this. This cannot be put off on the never-never.”
“It is right that I should do that in order to keep the HGV licence. We have a situation where over-70s cannot drive a child in a taxi as part of the scheme for Bus Éireann or have ten children in a minibus, yet many of them are driving coaches. I know them. Friends of mine are driving coaches with 50, 60 or 70 passengers on board during the day but they cannot drive the school bus. They are 71 or 72 years of age. The limit needs to be extended to 75. I would make that proposal to the Minister of State. I have raised this with the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for Transport and now I am raising it with the Minister of State. They all seem to agree that this needs to change. I spoke to the Minister of State, Seán Canney, about it outside the Dáil just before recess.”
“I understand that there can only be so much flexibility - I am not arguing for absolute flexibility - but this needs to be addressed. The other issue I want to raise is in the context of the programme for Government. I read the review and it shows there will be an expansion of about 100,000 pupils. I welcome that but there will not be the drivers. I have raised this over and over again. There are over-70s who are sitting at home today but who could be driving buses. It is generally not economically viable for under-65s to do it because it is a three-hour a day job. However, it suits somebody on a pension. We cannot have people driving buses who have a dicky heart or dodgy eyesight. I understand all of that; that is no problem. I have a HGV licence and I must have a medical test every so many years for that.”
“Some of the problems that arise regard routes being changed, and people having to go two miles before they actually get to the pick-up point. We had this in the Jamestown-Ballybrittas area. There needs to be human contact. Other problems that arise with the scheme are in relation to the catchment areas. I understand there has to be a catchment area. However, the village of Borris-in-Ossory is split into two halves. It is a small village of 500 or 600 people. The main street is split in half. There is a gap of 50 yd where the children in one household go to St. Fergal's in Rathdowney while the children in a house 50 yards up the road go to Roscrea, despite the fact that they originally went to the same school. There is no logic to that. There needs to be a level of flexibility.”
“It is a cyclical problem at this time of year. From about July onwards, TDs' offices are bombarded with problems regarding school transport. I am sure my situation is no different from the situations of the rest of the Members in this House. There are a number of problems arising with the schemes. One of the main problems is that you cannot get talking to a human being in Bus Éireann. There is an automated system and that is fine. When that works, it generally works well. The problem is that, when there is an issue that arises, the computer cannot make a change and sometimes you need to talk to a person. While it may be an Oireachtas email, that does not do it; the same reply keeps bouncing back the whole time.”
“When are we going to see the wind turbine guidelines? They are long-promised. Draft ones were brought in in 2019 but they never went any further than that.”
“I raise the issue of wind turbine regulations and guidelines. Where are they? I am raising this in the House for the past 14 years. We need to utilise wind energy. It is very important that we do that as part of the move towards green energy. However, we do not have up-to-date guidelines, never mind regulations, for large turbines. Every Minister for planning and energy has promised them over the past 14 years. Communities are highlighting this throughout the country. In Laois, large turbines are planned to be erected right across the south of the county. These are massive turbines without up-to-date guidelines or regulations. We need to protect communities when putting in turbines where they are zoned in the county development plan to ensure proper set-back distances and that people are protected from noise and shadow flicker.”
“We have to help these people integrate and live here with training, work and other supports to ensure those who are genuinely fleeing war, persecution or famine are assisted in every way possible. Racism must be countered and that has to start in the schools. Parents have an obligation here as well. The Day report recommendations need to be implemented so we have a smaller number of large reception centres and people are transitioned quickly. Instead, we have applicants living in old pubs, converted shops and substandard accommodation. This is becoming big business and we must move away from it.”
“When I was Chair of the public accounts committee I was told by the Secretary General that a person was in it for 15 years. What is that about? If a person’s application and appeals fail, they have to leave the State. Their departure must be verified, but that is not happening. When I asked the question at the public accounts committee the Secretary General told me the person gets a letter to their last known address. That is it. He told me that last year. It is on the record of the public accounts committee. If that is the system, it is not a system that is working. Those who are granted international protection must be assisted in every way possible. This is key.”
“That means changes are required to the system. It also means the 20% who pass the first assessment are not getting the assistance they need because the resources are not there for that. It is clear the list of so-called safe countries needs to be expanded. I mean this is in a fair way because there are more than 11 safe countries in the world. Those who are coming from safe countries are, as we know, less likely to be granted international protection. Assessments need to be quicker to be fairer to the applicants. They need to be done in three or four months, not three or four years, and appeals in cases that fail need to be done in a shorter timeframe. In any case, there needs to be a shorter timeframe. People should not languish for years in direct provision centres.”
“I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue. On the attacks on the Indian community, I have many Indian neighbours in the housing estate I live in. Most of them are working in the health services and they are doing great work and are very good people. We need to counter these racist attacks on them. We need a fair, efficient and rules-based immigration system. The current system is chaotic and inadequate. Those who are genuinely fleeing war, persecution or famine must be granted protection. Racism directed against them must be rejected. Those who do not meet the criteria for international protection, as the Minister said, have to leave. According to figures he gave, four out of five applicants in the first part of this year were failing their first assessment.”
“If that is the case, perhaps the Minister of State would clarify that, but if that is not the case then we should pause the process, take it easy and make sure that the money goes to good projects. In particular, I want to highlight that, according to the reply to the parliamentary question, only €3.6 million has gone to specific projects in County Laois out of €185 million. That is a very small amount for a county that was badly affected. I refer to towns like Mountrath, Mountmellick and Borris-in-Ossory and the Abbeyleix area where there are a lot of former Bord na Móna workers. I worked with a lot of them. Mountrath was very badly hit.”
“I thank the Minister of State. My concern is that of the total available fund of €185 million, a reply to a previous parliamentary question shows that approximately €93 million has been spent. The reply to the question was received about a month ago. We are about 50% of the way through the funding. The feeling I get from people who have been showing an interest in the fund is that it is being rushed a bit. If we are halfway through spending the money, which is a lot of money, we must be careful about where the remaining €92 million or so is spent. I ask the Minister of State to take an interest in the matter. If need be, we should slow down the process. Perhaps there are deadlines from the EU that have to be met.”
“One project was funded in Mountmellick, but no funding has gone into projects in Borris-in-Ossory or the Abbeyleix area. Former Bord na Móna workers and families are asking me where the benefit is from the total funding of €185 million. That is the question being asked of me as a public representative and I do not have a good answer for them.”
“I have a record of the projects that got funding. My concern is that the worst affected areas did not get funding. It was not targeted at them. Money was allocated by Laois County Council for tourism, which is good, for example to Emo Court. It is located in the middle of the county. I also welcome funding for The Forum in Mountmellick. It is good news that the Junction 17 business park was allocated €1 million. The Poet's Cottage community cafe in Camross also benefited, as well as the business park in Portarlington, which was allocated €1 million. That is all good. However, some of the funding went to derelict pubs in areas with no connection to Bord na Móna workers. I am talking about towns like Mountrath, Mountmellick and Borris-in-Ossory.”
“The issue I am raising with the Ministers of State relates to the distribution of the just transition funding that came from the European Union and the €16 million that came from the State. I have concerns in this regard. It is supposed to be for the former peat harvesting areas. Under EU funding, they are designated as coal regions. The State made the case successfully for funding for the former peat harvesting areas, like the midlands, that are affected. County Laois is one of those areas. I am delighted that there are two Ministers of State in the Chamber to address this because I have questions around it.”
“What is the IDA doing about developing the 50-acre site that it owns on the edge of Portlaoise? Nothing has happened there yet. What is the IDA doing, along with Enterprise Ireland, to get a replacement industry into the Leprino factory? It is a new plant and was only in production for four years. We had great hopes for it. There needs to be support from the Department for the workers in terms of transitioning. Overall, I am giving the Minister of State and the Government a message because it is the Government that funds these bodies. I do not have a problem with that, but we need jobs. I agree with that but the IDA and Enterprise Ireland need to up their game. We need to see that, the same as everybody else, taxpayers' money from people in County Laois gives people bang for their buck.”
“I thank the Minister of State for her reply. If 145 people are employed in IDA-backed companies in Laois, that is actually a decline of nine from the last figures. It is very disappointing. As question has to be asked about why Laois is being ignored time and again. I know everybody will back his or her own corner but I think if one looks at the map of the 26 counties and at the number of IDA-backed jobs in various counties, Laois is way down at the bottom despite the fact that it has that excellent infrastructure and a huge workforce that is commuting out of the county. The location is the best I can see outside of Dublin and other people remarked on that as well. I want the Minister of State to bring this to the senior Minister, Deputy Burke's attention. Why is Laois being ignored time and again?”
“We have the Togher business park developed by the council and there are 50 acres owned by IDA Ireland less than 1 km away from the council's site. The Minister of State will tell me she cannot direct the IDA to do this, that or the other, but questions need to be asked of IDA Ireland about Laois.”
“Last year or the year before it got in excess of €80 million. I think it is approximately €90 million at the moment. I am open to contradiction on that. It has well-paid senior staff. In the past, we heard all the excuses. The location was the problem. Now the motorways are there. The N80 is being upgraded by the county council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland. As I said, the Togher business park is at the crossroads of Ireland. Lack of infrastructure was another excuse. Now, in the centre of Laois we have first-class infrastructure, including roads. This is less than 1 km from the junction of the N7, N8 and N80. A lack of serviced land used to be cited as a problem. We do not have that now.”
“It has created a business park and lots of jobs and new industry are being created in that business park, including Alpha Drives where the Laois Rose of Tralee works as an apprentice electrician. She started there. It is great to have those jobs. Laois County Council has been supporting start-ups and, as I said, it developed the Togher business park, which is at the crossroads of Ireland. It is on the junction of the N7, N8 and N80. As Minister of State, Deputy Higgins will understand the importance of that. In contrast, IDA Ireland has not performed. It has hardly been seen around the place. Other Deputies and I have met IDA Ireland over the years. Councillors have also met it and put it to the organisation, but I do not see any improvement. IDA Ireland is getting a substantial amount of taxpayers' money from the Minister's Department.”
“Some of those 132 people who will lose their jobs are couples and the Minister of State can imagine the impact of that if they have mortgages or such commitments. For IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, the record regarding Laois is awful. There are only 154 jobs in IDA Ireland-backed companies in the county. It is the lowest number in the State. IDA Ireland made two visits to Laois in the past 12 months. Some of its visits are e-visits; they are not physical visits. In 2021, it made three visits; in 2022 two visits and last year, two visits. It is the worst record of IDA Ireland performance I can see in the charts I have. Westmeath had 20 visits and I do not take that from it. That is well and good for Westmeath. Laois County Council has pulled out all the stops.”
“I raise this important issue because 132 workers at Leprino Foods in Portlaoise received the news on 18 and 19 August that the plant will close and will be wound down over this year and next year. This is an important facility. When it opened there were great hopes and I certainly had great hope because at last we had a large, substantial manufacturing plant in the constituency. The record of IDA Ireland has not been good, but more than 100 jobs were being created in the new business park. It was very important and it was happening at last. It is estimated that over 12,000 people commute out of County Laois to work every day, many of them to this city. We need to change that. We need to create more jobs in the constituency.”
“The site where the new school is to be built has bushes and weeds growing up around it. I ask the Minister of State and his officials to come back to me on this matter. In the context of an issue I raised regarding St. Francis school, I acknowledge that the two modular classrooms are being provided. I acknowledge the Minister of State's work on that. I know I raised it with the Minister of State before and I acknowledge that, but the Saplings school, at the other end of county, needs help and I ask him to come back to me on it.”
“That programme is now closed, but the Saplings school is only half built. The project needs to be got up and running again. The application was made in the pre-Covid years, so the building costs have escalated massively. That is the reality. As I understand it, €4 million was allocated by the Department of Justice. We have a big problem with funding, but the Department of Justice cannot fund it because the programme to which I refer is closed. It cannot be done through private donations because there is a gap of between €2.6 million and €3 million. The school, which has 30 special, high-dependency students, cannot raise in the region of €3 million. Those are the facts. Currently, the school is located in Killeshin village in prefabs. The principal's office is in an adjacent cloakroom in the local community hall.”
“In the short time I have, I want to raise the issue of special school places in County Laois. The Saplings school in Graiguecullen had to move out of the building it was in. It is now located in the village of Killeshin in prefabs. The construction work started on a new school in March 2023, However, after ground works were carried out and the walls were built on the greenfield site at Fruithill, provided by Laois County Council, work stopped in late 2023. The school was told that work would resume but no details were given. Two years have passed. I am aware that funding for this project is not provided by the Department of Education, but it needs to be progressed. The funding was provided by the immigrant investor programme handled by the Department of Justice. This must be sorted out.”
“The fact people have to pre-book 24 hours in advance at minimum to get onto public transport needs to change. Is my time up?”
“What is happening is that the assessments are either delayed and the therapies are further delayed or are not available at all. Some progress has been made in the area of transport. At one time people did not have access on to a bus or anything like that. Progress has been made and I can see that when I use public transport. However, we have a lot more to do there, particularly in rural Ireland. I commend the work of the Irish Wheelchair Association, which has particularly highlighted this. When I was first elected as a councillor a number of decades ago, one thing I did was go around with the late Margaret McRee who has since passed on to her eternal reward. She was in a wheelchair. I was amazed to see the difficulties there were trying to navigate through towns, on footpaths and everything else. That must be improved.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue. The State has ratified the UNCRPD and the Government now has a strategy. I welcome all of that but let us see how we are doing on it. The diagnosis of autism has increased. That is obviously because there are more diagnoses being done. That is good, but it is too slow. There is a 16-month waiting list for a lot of families. That is simply too long and must be improved. The convention asked that we promote and protect people with disabilities, so they have equal rights such as inclusive learning. I will address the issue of children with autism or other special needs, who need access to a children's disability network team. There is a chronic shortage of staff on those teams in County Laois.”
“-----when properties become vacant, they are faced with a free-for-all. The Government's 2% rent increase cap is irrelevant. It is on paper. Landlords will completely ignore. They can because the legislation says they can ignore it.”
“Regarding supply, there was an increase of 45,000 tenancies in the six years leading up to 2023 but the Taoiseach will have noted from the report yesterday that, despite the Government's strategy, the number of planning permissions granted have fallen. Does he recognise that workers and families are under enormous pressure?”
“The concern I have is what is going to happen in towns like Mountmellick, Abbeyleix, Mountrath and Portlaoise. In terms of increasing supply, the Taoiseach was in government in 2004, 2005 and 2006 when supply increased. In fact, 96,000 housing units were built in 2006. He will recall in those years that rents skyrocketed. There is not necessarily a correlation with increasing the supply of housing. The evidence is there to show that. The Taoiseach will remember that, as do I. In relation to vacant possessions and evictions, there will not be a need for evictions and no-fault evictions as they are banned. However, there will be fault evictions because people will not be able to pay the rent. That is what I am being told. The Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, report shows that.”
“Vacant possession and evictions are easy because the grounds in the legislation allow for that - if the landlord is facing hardship, if they require a property for a family member or, God forbid, if they are going to renovate the place. A coat of magnolia paint would even ensure vacant possession. Does the Taoiseach recognise that workers and families who rent are under enormous pressure? We are coming up to budget time and I want the Taoiseach to address this. It is way beyond what people can afford. Will the Taoiseach halt his plans for the introduction of a complete free-for-all in March for new tenancies?”
“Their income is less than €40,000 a year. They have no way forward. Alan is 49 years of age. They have no access to social housing because they are over the limit for social housing. They have no access to cost rentals because they do not yet exist in Laois. There are no affordables, and in any case he will not get an affordable housing loan. In the case of Darren, a single man with one child, he has moved from one rent pressure zone to another. He is on €460 a week. He needs a car for work. He pays maintenance. He has a child. He is paying €77 in HAP rent and he is paying €120 a week rent to a landlord. Some workers are paying more than half their income in rent. I do not know if the Taoiseach knows that or not.”
“There are increasing numbers of them from rack-renting landlords who are seeking vacant possession because they are getting ready for next March when there will be effectively no rent controls on new tenancies and new builds. Some landlords are telling tenants that regardless of whether there is a new tenancy or not, rents will go up. It is a free-for-all. As an example of that, I raise the case of Alan and Denise. They are just over the limit for social housing and they have children. He is a retained firefighter. They have been in private rented accommodation for nine years. Four months ago, the landlord told them the rent was increasing by 50% - a 50% increase in south Laois. He did that in the first week of June. Of course, he knew what he was doing because on 20 June, the 2% cap came in, so a lot of landlords got in early.”
“I join in welcoming Deputy Holly Cairns back to the Dáil and congratulating her. I also congratulate Deputy Emer Higgins. Life will never be the same again. I wish many years of happiness and joy to them and their partners in the years to come. I raise the situation regarding renters with the Taoiseach and the out of control so-called "rental market" we have. In a lot of areas now, average rents are more than €2,000. Recent reports have shown how they are skyrocketing. The recent Residential Tenancies Board rent index showed an average annual rent increase of 5.5%. In County Laois, it is more than 10%. In eight successive quarters, there have been significant increases in the county. Families and workers are under significant pressure. Notices to quit are on the increase.”
“The Minister is taking a very hands-on approach to it. We may differ sometimes on ideology or other things, but what is really important is that we shorten the distance between budget and delivery and that we can see that it is a straight line. We must remove the diversions that allow people to talk around issues, sidestep and get around this. In big organisations, we need to shorten the distance between the money going in and the top of the organisation and the service delivery on the ground. We must remove all places for people to hide and keep this in a straight line. Let us make sure we get value for taxpayers' money and improve public services at the same time.”
“Portlaoise ambulances should be able to go into south Kildare, west Carlow, north Tipperary or east Offaly. Of course, there has to be flexibility there, but we cannot have them chasing literally to Cork, which is happening. That needs to change. I welcome the start of the midlands hospice. This has been going around since I came here 15 years ago, and I would say before that. I welcome wholeheartedly the fact that that will now be done. It is located in Tullamore and not in Laois, but people will live with that. This is a service in the midlands, a really important end-of-life care facility, and I welcome that. I started by saying there is a big shift this year as regards the health system. I understand that. Bernard Gloster has done a good job. I know of some changes he has made. He has made some good changes to this.”