Catherine Connolly
Galway West · Ireland
“We must zone in on the smaller businesses because that was the problem; the smaller companies and businesses could never avail of the research and development tax credit. This morning, I had the privilege of listening to the organisation, ALONE. It pointed out that older people living alone are €300 worse off compared to last year.”
“Those patients are human beings and they are being left on trolleys. There are some good things in this budget, which I welcome. I welcome the increase in social welfare, but when it is matched with the increase in the cost of living, it is worth absolutely nothing. I welcome that the money for artists has been extended.”
“Maybe the hint for what has happened with this budget is captured in the words of the Minister, Paschal Donohoe, who said, "Our schools, our hospitals and our public services are responsible for so much good in society." They certainly are, but that is not their function.”
“We have given a reduction in VAT down to 9% for developers with absolutely no evidence that this will help in any way and no context given. Today I attended a presentation in Buswells in relation to derelict properties all done on a voluntary basis.”
“There is 2% less funding at a time when we need balanced rural and regional development more than ever. I welcome the commitment to diversifying our economy. It should have happened years ago. Again, it is lacking in detail.”
“I preface my remarks by using a few seconds to talk about the four people who are outside here on the 18th day of their hunger strike. We have passed a budget in one of the richest economies in the world and we have four people who have been 18 days on hunger strike outside. They have survived the industrial schools.”
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“We lack a human rights plan for corporate development. I have been following up on this issue for ages. The plan, which set out a human rights approach to business, ran out nearly ten years ago, or certainly five years ago. We now have a vacuum with no plan whatsoever.”
“We must zone in on the smaller businesses because that was the problem; the smaller companies and businesses could never avail of the research and development tax credit. This morning, I had the privilege of listening to the organisation, ALONE. It pointed out that older people living alone are €300 worse off compared to last year. A total of 46.6% of older people would have been at risk of poverty without last year’s once-off measures. While I agree that once-off measures are not the solution, they are needed for a period of time until we get a more comprehensive approach to lifting people out of poverty. There is no task force regarding older people and we have language that is very ageist. We are still waiting on a strategy because the most recent one is out of date and no other strategy has been put in its place.”
“There is 2% less funding at a time when we need balanced rural and regional development more than ever. I welcome the commitment to diversifying our economy. It should have happened years ago. Again, it is lacking in detail. Since the day I came into the Dáil, I have championed the indigenous seaweed and wool industries and the six-mile limit so that we can help fishermen and fisherwomen in our coastal areas. That policy has taken from 2018 to present to be implemented. The diversifying of our economy is absolutely essential, but it has not happened quickly enough and there is no clear pathway set out. Research and development have come up repeatedly at different IBEC annual meetings. I welcome that the Government is finally looking at this area.”
“Those patients are human beings and they are being left on trolleys. There are some good things in this budget, which I welcome. I welcome the increase in social welfare, but when it is matched with the increase in the cost of living, it is worth absolutely nothing. I welcome that the money for artists has been extended. There are absolutely no details whether the existing €2,000 will be included with the extension, however. There are absolutely no details in that regard. With regard to rural development, all of the TDs in this Dáil have stood up and championed balanced rural and regional development. However, when I look at page 205 of the budget, funding for rural development and regional affairs has actually gone down by 2%. The Minister of State might check that figure and come back to me.”
“We have given a reduction in VAT down to 9% for developers with absolutely no evidence that this will help in any way and no context given. Today I attended a presentation in Buswells in relation to derelict properties all done on a voluntary basis. The two people presenting and a small team told us there are 163,433 empty properties not counting 66,956 holiday homes. That gives us an indication of the extent of the crisis as we play around with extra pieces for a jigsaw without an overall vision. Of those houses, a total of 23,205 have been empty for ten years, while in excess of 65,000 have been empty for more than two years. The other context is that we had 64 people on hospital trolleys in Galway yesterday. Today, there are 46 people on trolleys. Those figures go up and down.”
“Maybe the hint for what has happened with this budget is captured in the words of the Minister, Paschal Donohoe, who said, "Our schools, our hospitals and our public services are responsible for so much good in society." They certainly are, but that is not their function. Of course it is their function but is not identified as basic rights in a republic. We are talking about access to public health and access to a home. We are talking about so much good in terms of being like a charity when they are fundamental human rights. Maybe that best encapsulates what is lacking in this budget which is context. I said yesterday there is no context in terms of climate change. There is also no context in terms of the housing crisis that is being created as a direct consequence of Government policies.”
“I preface my remarks by using a few seconds to talk about the four people who are outside here on the 18th day of their hunger strike. We have passed a budget in one of the richest economies in the world and we have four people who have been 18 days on hunger strike outside. They have survived the industrial schools. They are survivors and they are now surviving a hunger strike because they are taking liquids. I appeal to the Minister of State and his Government colleagues to meet with the four and listen to them. Their demands are very basic, including access to a contributory pension and a HAA card. I spoke about the budget yesterday and I am just going to pick out a few things again.”
“They need to do that and not have to pay a second mortgage. Regarding the Irish language, there is an utter failure to recognise there is a housing crisis in the Gaeltacht. Tá an Ghaeilge agus cúrsaí tithíochta fite fuaite lena chéile. Tá méadú suarach ó thaobh airgid d’Údarás na Gaeltachta. Níl ach breis is €2 milliún i gceist.”
“There is an increase of some €11 million in it. It is a drop in the ocean compared with the figures. Despite our third strategy for zero violence against women, the figures keep rising. It is a crisis and, at a conservative estimate, costs €2.5 billion to the economy every year. Every year since 2016, I stand up here and point this out. Perhaps the economists could put a specific value on it. I am told it is €2.5 billion. We could save money for the economy by stopping it. There is not one single line about or commitment to public childcare, which is the solution to the problem of people paying two mortgages for years, one for a house and one for childcare. The previous Government with the Green Party went some way to reducing the cost, and I always praised it for that, but the answer is public childcare. Otherwise, people cannot work.”
“We play around with numbers all the time and talk about the billions of euro going into health but ignore the fact we have failed to train enough people to work in our hospitals and are reliant on agency staff, which cost much more. The Minister of State is putting his head down and I do not blame him, in a sense. These problems come up year after year and we need to put out the message they are not inevitable. A republic worth its name has to recognise that the neoliberal ideology to date has created these problems. We cannot keep going on. The latest EU report on climate change pointed out we are failing to recognise we cannot continue with the same unsustainable growth approach and also do something about climate change. It is not possible. Violence against women was mentioned by Deputy Coppinger.”
“One of the major solutions to the housing crisis is to make a commitment to build public housing on public land. It will not sort out the problem but it will go a long way towards a solution and will also send a strong message that the Government is in the middle - i lár an aonaigh - as regards the solution. The prices, ultimately, will have to come down. Instead of that, we are allowing public land to be used for a mixture of housing and there is no analysis of that solution to the amount of people on a waiting list. In Galway city, the wait is between 15 and 20 years. In Galway, as we speak, 64 patients are on trolleys. There are 40 in the accident and emergency department and 14 in wards.”
“The number of people in unpaid positions just increases. Between 2016 and 2022, the number of people providing regular unpaid care increased by more than 50%, up to nearly 300,000 in 2022 and rising all of the time. I will not go into the other figures. We have not abolished that. The opportunity was not taken. I know the Minister of State's, Deputy Moran's, heart and soul are behind abolishing that and I do not know why it is not happening. I do not know how we can go with economists telling us we have a growth economy when we are not valuing the number of carers doing unpaid leave. Then we were promised a cost-of-disability payment. I could go back over all the reports that set out the need for that. It is not even mentioned in the budget.”
“Such a twist of language leads to a huge problem of trust for people on the ground regarding what is being said. If a person is in receipt of HAP, he or she is not adequately housed in social housing. The Government is twisting language on its head. The most fundamental human right is the provision of a home for our people in a so-called Republic. In respect of this plan, I will pick out some aspects. While there are some good points, colleagues will forgive me if I highlight the amount that is missing. The Government made a solemn promise to do away with the means test for carers, but that has been utterly reneged on. I will read out some of the figures for carers. They relate predominately to females, which might go a long way to explaining why we and economists continue to ignore them.”
“I also expect the budget to be put in the context of public health infrastructure so that we are prepared for the next pandemic. It is very worrying that I see a continuation of the business-as-usual model when transformative action is needed. More than 16,300 people are homeless and there is no recognition or framework put in here with regard to how that crisis was caused. The Housing Commission said that we need a radical reset of policy, yet we are fiddling around adding more pieces to a jigsaw with no overall picture. Indeed, the figure in this budget is €2 billion for HAP and one or two other schemes. Not only should HAP be phased out – not overnight because people are utterly dependent on it now – but the Government is still using the language that people are being adequately housed in social housing.”
“While it is absolutely not an election issue, I promised at every opportunity to repeat what they asked me to repeat when I met them in a private capacity in Donegal. They said that they feel abandoned, both nationally and locally. I just want to put that on record. With regard to the budget, I cannot believe that we have utterly failed to learn from the pandemic and the declaration of the climate and biodiversity emergency in 2019. Over the years, the Government has acknowledged the planet is burning. I searched in vain in the two speeches to see whether there was a recognition of not alone the emergencies we have declared, but the necessary transformative action. While I do not expect any budget to sort out those crises, I expect a budget to be put in the context of the challenges and the existential treat posed by climate change.”
“I welcome the opportunity to say a few words. I absolutely agree with the contribution of Deputy Charles Ward. Nothing would have prepared me for the extent of, and the damage done by, the defective blocks issue in Donegal. I thought I knew it from listening to colleagues speak on the issue, including my previous colleague, Thomas Pringle, as well as members of Sinn Féin. Nothing prepared me for the extent of the disaster and what people have gone through and continue to go through. I fully support Deputy Charles Ward in that regard. Not only are there defective blocks and concrete, there is also defective understanding and a defective compensation scheme. They are all defective. Today is the anniversary of the Creeslough explosion.”
“In my opinion, a brand new hospital should have been built in Merlin Park but that did not happen. That was actually the options appraisal that was carried out and it said we should build a brand new one. The Government did not give permission for that so we went back to a congested site with many plans going in lots of directions. That is what we have now. At this stage, all I can do is keep the pressure on to get delivery.”
“I agree with the Minister. I know the hospital very well and I know about the very good services that are provided there. When people get a service, it is absolutely brilliant and I have no problem saying that. I am a committed believer in the public health system. My difficulty is that as we speak, there are 35 people on trolleys, or there was that number yesterday. It has been under enormous pressure for a very long time. I spared the Minister the reading-out of the various comments and all the timelines that were given for different plans to be completed, none of which have been completed. They came forward to the Department of Health, they went back down and they came back up. We then got an oversight management team and many other objectives that were never delivered.”
“The Minister has given details on the enabling works. When will the plan be implemented? Is there any overall date for when the master plan will be implemented?”
“I thank the Minister for her comprehensive reply. I will look at it in detail. When I look back at the history of this, the language keeps changing. There is now a strategic plan, a preliminary business case and the strategic assessment report. I welcome what the Minister has given me and the face we will make progress but in 2014, the then Minister, Leo Varadkar, said a new hospital and a new building was the only solution. I will not go through all of this but the questions and answers over the last five years do not give hope this will be completed. The Minister says the two things I have asked for are with her Department and will be going back to the HSE in the next few weeks. I take it that will happen in the next few weeks. A preliminary business case is under way. Who will carry that out and when will that be completed?”
“I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for exercising his discretion. It is back to the matter of University Hospital Galway. I know the Minister is familiar with it now. I am asking very specific questions in relation to her Department's review of the development control plan and the strategic assessment report for the University Hospital Galway campus. Has it been completed? What is its status, if it has not been completed? When will it be completed? What are the details of the enabling works under way at the moment? What further enabling works are necessary?”
“I have mentioned all of the other processes that were set up, the special advocate, Patricia Carey, the Justice for Magdalenes group and the Department's own report back in 2019. We cannot continue with this mean-spirited approach. There is a finite number of people involved. It is time we made our apologies mean something. We have had 26 years of apologies and different redress schemes, all of which have been unjust, exclusionary and unfair. Let us finally learn.”
“I appreciate the Minister's concern but four people have had to take this action. I have asked them to stop. It is very difficult to watch four people on hunger strike. The Minister talked about consistency. All of the governments have been consistent in their mean-spirited approach to this. They have been saving pennies while spending other money foolishly, as was outlined earlier on. The requests are basic. These people want access to a contributory pension and to a special medical card, the HAA card. I know the background to that card and the specific Act it related to. I also know why it was brought in. I will go back to Mr. Justice Quirke, who specifically asked for a HAA medical card for Magdalen survivors.”
“The Department of Education and Youth's consultation with residential survivors under Barbara Walshe and Catherine O'Connell said that this is the most basic request and should be satisfied. I ask the Minister to take action, to meet those four brave and courageous people who feel they have no choice, to look at this and to resolve the issue as soon as possible.”
“On every occasion, each government has been held to account but there have been no consequences. To go back, the special advocate for survivors, Patricia Carey, has said that the Supports for Survivors of Residential Institutional Abuse Act is not fit for purpose. The Justice for Magdalenes group has said "the denial to institutional abuse survivors of the HAA medical card is an intolerable injustice". To go back further, Mr. Justice John Quirke's primary recommendation for the Magdalen survivors back in 2013 was exactly that, but this was ignored. Coming forward to the mother and baby home report and the various processes that were set up following that, the OAK consultation said clearly that a HAA card should be provided.”
“Nobody from the Minister's Government met them until Monday. They are standing there and I am ashamed, as I would say most of my colleagues are, that those four people feel they have no choice but do to this to achieve something as basic as that. There has been a mean-spirited approach from this Government and previous governments in relation to redress for people who have been in institutions. We saw this in the mother and baby home redress scheme, where babies under six months, those who were boarded out and those who suffered because of their mixed-race background were excluded. These four people have been in institutions and suffered intergenerational trauma. They have also worked in those institutions. What they are asking for is very reasonable.”
“Le 11 lá anois, tá ceathrar - triúr ban agus fear amháin - i mbun stailc taobh amuigh den Dáil agus éilimh thar a bheith bunúsach acu. Tá siad ag iarraidh rochtain a bheith acu ar phinsean ranníocach agus ar chárta leighis speisialta, an cárta HAA. Ceapann siad nach bhfuil an dara rogha acu ach leanúint ar aghaidh lena stailc ocrais. Is mór an náire é go bhfuil orthu é sin a dhéanamh agus muidne inár suí anseo gan tada a dhéanamh. For 11 days now, four people have felt they have no choice but to go on hunger strike. They are drinking but they are not eating. I am extremely worried about those three women and one man who feel they have no choice but to go on hunger strike to have the most basic requests met. They are asking for a HAA medical card and access to a contributory pension.”
“The practical solutions have never been taken. I am asking the Minister how he can stand over a city that has failed to roll out the most basic solution to traffic congestion - park and ride - on the western side of the city and progress light rail?”
“It took us too long to do the feasibility study and now the Minister is telling me the feasibility study has gone into the future depending on a decision by An Coimisiún Pleanála. I do not think that is a transformative action. I think that is the same old thinking. I understand the Minister’s dilemma and what he is saying but that same dilemma has been put forward for 25 solid years where we are told we have to wait for the road. In the meantime, we let the traffic build up out of all proportion. The Department’s own report is telling us that it will be choked with traffic in the future again. A wise government would ask what transformative action is and how to lift the traffic off the road. The An Coimisiún Pleanála process could go on for years more. This issue has been ongoing since I became a councillor in 1999.”
“I think it is a false argument about the need for an outer bypass or not. This is about sustainable solutions and transformative action. Let us go back to why the An Bord Pleanála decision was quashed. There was an agreement to quash the decision because it had failed to consider the climate action plan. Imagine that it had failed to do that. What I am trying to get at here is because we put all our eggs in one basket, regardless of one’s view, let An Coimisiún Pleanála make its decision and let that go into operation one way or another. My difficulty is that this beautiful city has failed to roll out park-and-ride facilities 20 solid years after we put them in the development plan. We have failed to maximise school transport to lift the traffic off the road. We have failed to act on a feasibility study.”
“An Bord Pleanála failed to look at the climate legislation. That is why its decision was quashed by agreement. It failed to look at the climate plan and it had to go back to basics, which is where the matter is now. I have great concerns that when it looks at the climate implications, there will be serious problems. We need a plan that is sustainable. One of the simplest ways of that part is to roll out light rail on the western side of the city.”
“I have my own views about that and have taken a decision in relation to that but I have always put forward other solutions. It was 1999 when I was elected. It is now 2025 and there is not a sign of the outer bypass. Of increased transport demand, the study by the Department of Transport tells us: ... will eventually result in the bypass becoming congested without further intervention. While traffic flows will become lighter [… it] will remain a challenge … while the overall level of congestion in the city will rise given the higher volume ... That is the Department of Transport study telling us that even with another road, we are going to be in trouble. Transformative action is needed. That is what we need since declaring a climate emergency. We are not getting transformative action. What we are getting is delays.”
“I thank the Minister for the comprehensive answer. Unfortunately, there is no park-and-ride facility in Galway even though it went into the plan 20 years ago on 1 February 2005. It has simply never been rolled out. On a feasibility study for light rail, we collected 24,000 signatures. I forget which year it was, it is so long ago now, but it was 2017 or 2018. It took until last year to get the feasibility study - I want to thank the previous Minister for that - but now the Minister is telling me nothing will happen in that regard except we are going to wait for the plan that cannot be done until we get a decision from An Bord Pleanála. It is since 1999, when I became a councillor, that I have been listening about an outer bypass.”
“I am not sure whether the Minister or Minister of State will answer this question. Galway is a beautiful city. Is cathair dhátheangach í ar thairseach na Gaeltachta is mó sa tír ach is fadhb ollmhór é an tranglam tráchta. Baineann mo cheist leis na réitigh. I am asking for a status update on the development of the Galway metropolitan area transport strategy, which has been in place since 2016. It was dated then and we are still waiting for the review. Will the Minister also give an update on the progress to date of the roll-out of light rail? It has been almost a year since the report was published on the feasibility of light rail for Galway.”
“Over two weeks ago, I raised the very positive proposal by Government, which is a policy directive to ban vessels over 18 m from fishing within the 6 mile limit. The Taoiseach promised to get back to me and I realise he is very busy, however, two weeks have lapsed and the policy directive is to become effective from 1 October. I can see no sign of the policy directive. I very much welcome it but given the last time this was discussed was 2018, and because of various court cases, it was not implemented, we have a new policy following an extensive consultation. Where can I find the directive? Is it to become operative from 1 October this week?”
“The cost of domestic violence to the Exchequer has never been valued. At a conservative estimate, it is €2.5 billion. One might rightly ask what that has to do with social enterprise. It has everything to do with this male-dominated economic view - I apologise; some males - of valuing certain aspects of an economy and ignoring the really important aspects that are never given an economic value.”
“We put an emphasis on narrow criteria and do not value what social enterprises do for the environment in relation to the sustainable goals, which were laid out by the UN, which we all treasure and must comply with. They have to be mentioned at every opportunity. I praise the opening statement but I would like to see a hands-on approach. I would also like to see the annual report or a date for it and the published oversight minutes. There have been so many strategies and plans in so many areas without any accountability or constant review. Most of all, I would like to see economists, who treasure their role as economists, put a value on the matters they have put no value on, social enterprise being top of the list. An economy cannot thrive without carers being paid properly. Again, it is dominated by females.”
“We also have the SCCUL Sanctuary in Clarinbridge - I cannot read them all out - An Mheitheal Rothar and the Galway Community Circus. There is the Green Bean Café in Athenry. All over the islands, there are examples of co-operatives working together for energy or to organise the various schemes that keep the islands going. The previous speaker said it better than me: my worry is that this is simply looked on as a sideline or an addition. Labour activation schemes are talked about in such narrow terms. Private companies are brought in that should have nothing to do with social enterprises or labour activation schemes. We have seen what happened in England.”
“One might ask what that has to do with social enterprise but if there is no sewage treatment plant to allow houses to be built and for small enterprises to develop, we are in serious trouble. Social enterprises can only come along with basic infrastructure. We have wonderful examples of social enterprises in Galway such as the Galway Artisan Workshop and Bounce Back Recycling in Ballybrit, which does mattress and furniture recycling. Twenty-five years ago, there were presentations in relation to recycling mattresses and many other materials that were never put into action. I welcome that this is happening but the people were way ahead of us in Galway city. We have Galway Online Community Radio, which is really important as a social enterprise. It aims to give ethnic minorities a voice in Irish media.”
“The social enterprise expansion and development, SEED, allocation needs to be looked at and worked on as well. Most staff are employed under community employment schemes or Tús. There have been repeated efforts to reduce the money and importance paid to Tús community employment schemes and rural schemes, which work with very little money and struggle from year to year. I would like to see a transformative change under the Minister of State's watch. He made a good attempt with a very good opening statement. I would like to see it mean something. Transformative action is required so that our rural communities can survive. A point was made earlier by my colleague in Galway West, Deputy Farrell, about Carraroe having no infrastructure.”
“Women make up the vast majority, at almost 70% of the total workforce in social enterprises, with 68% concentrated in four sectors: child care, which is dominated by women; community infrastructure and local development; health, youth services and social care; and heritage, festivals, arts and creative industry. All of these areas are vital to a thriving economy. Some 75% of social enterprises focus on a local market. In rural areas, 84% focus on a local market. Last week or the week before - I am losing track of time and dates - I was with the Talamh Beo group, which grows sustainably. Its members pointed out to me that there is no policy for sustainable growth in that manner where they supply the local community, local areas and local businesses. That is a gap.”
“The social enterprise and the strategy that the Minister of State has outlined here are not just a small part of that; they have to be a fundamental part of it. It is interesting that we had no figures until 2023, when his Department rightly commissioned a report on the data. It took until 2023 to get that. That gives an indication of how little value we put on social enterprise. That research told us that there were 4,335 social enterprises nationally. The total income of social enterprises in 2021 was €2.34 billion. Almost 85,000 people are employed by social enterprises. That is 3.7% of the Irish workforce. There is huge scope for an increase in the number of people employed. There are also the volunteers who work alongside them, nearly 75,000, without whom social enterprises could not succeed.”
“Has that stakeholder engagement group met? If so, how many times has it met? Are minutes available? It is stated that an annual report will be published on the implementation. Has an annual report been published? It is over a year since the strategy was published. Where is the annual report? Picking up on the previous speaker's contribution, we were promised transformative action, and that transformative action really has not come. I am very positive about this strategy but I am worried about its implementation and about it being sidelined to the main growth economy that results in business as usual. We know from Covid and from the climate emergency that we cannot continue with the same model, with endless growth for growth's sake. There is a complete difference between a growth economy and a thriving economy.”
“I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive statement and for setting it out. I welcome that. I also welcome the policy, which is just the second policy on this in the history of the State. The first policy started in 2019. Significantly, that was the year we promised transformative action and declared a climate and a biodiversity emergency. We never really got that transformative action. I will look at this first and ask maybe some practical questions and then go back to pick up on some of the themes the last speaker spoke about. The policy was launched a year ago and it has taken us almost longer, a year, to discuss it, which is significant in itself. It is 58 pages long and contains five key objectives and 57 actions. I welcome that there is a stakeholder engagement group to provide oversight.”
“Other criteria include the internal situation in the country of final destination with respect to tensions or armed conflicts, risks posed to the territory of neighbouring countries and risk of diversion of goods for undesirable uses. They are four of the eight criteria laid down under the EU policy. Can the Minister of State tell me more specifically who carried out the analysis of the licences given and where I can see that analysis?”
“I respect the Minister of State's bona fides and I know she will get back to me. In 2023, our exports of dual-use goods to Israel spiked by seven times, at a time when, in my opinion, genocide was happening and has continued to unfold before our eyes. Back in February 2024, the then Minister, Simon Coveney, said the Department of trade and the Department of Foreign Affairs "review all dual-use export licence applications against the eight assessments set out in [the relevant] EU Council Common Position". These include respect for human rights and international humanitarian law, and the risk of internal repression, in the country of final destination. Certainly, Israel does not comply with that.”
“Respect for human rights and international humanitarian law in the destination country is one of the criteria - I will come back to the others - that were spelled out by the former Minister, Simon Coveney.”
“I thank the Minister of State for her good wishes. Exports of dual-use goods have increased phenomenally, which might be good or bad depending on the oversight arrangements we have. In 2023, the value of dual-use exports to Israel spiked to nearly seven times what it was in the previous year. It came down slightly but remained high in 2024. The value of dual-use goods exported in 2022 was €10.7 million. In 2023, as I indicated, it was €70.4 million, and, in 2024, it was €64.3 million. On the figures the Minister of State gave - I do not have the reply in front of me - there seems to be a significant reduction in that figure, which is welcome in a sense. I will look at the figures carefully. The Minister of State said one application was refused. Will she clarify, as I did not quite catch it, the basis on which it was refused?”
“I have a specific question on the external review into spinal care in Temple Street hospital which began in September 2023, nearly two years. I understand it is still at phase 1. That report was on top of all the reports we know about, such as the Boston review on spinal surgery for patients with spina bifida; the HIQA review on the use of surgical implants in September 2023; and the Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip published in 2025. This is the fourth report, not to mention all the internal reports. Where is this report at? The Minister knows the disquiet on the ground and that people are asking for an independent inquiry. We know what inquiries lead to. Can we have a date for the report? Has part of it gone to the Minister and has part of it gone relevant Minister? Where are we with the status of that report?”
“The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, stated that "Viewed on its own, the Strategy also does not include enough concrete actions and targeted measures to allow effective monitoring of implementation." It went on to state that it does not adequately address key issues central to the full implementation of the UN convention on rights, and that it does not include "access to justice, inclusive education and the need to urgently address institutional safeguarding issues." AHEAD, the NGO, stated that the strategy commitments are often aspirational and in many areas, there is little detail with concrete evidence - I am losing my words here I am going so quickly - and that disabled persons organisations are highlighted but they are under-resourced and understaffed.”