Charlie McConalogue
Donegal · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“There are indications that the opt-out mechanism for the text and data mining exception is not working well in practice. Evidence gathered by the Danish Presidency showed that some activity is taking place on the licensing of works for AI, but that it is uneven across member states and subsectors of the creative sector.”
“The proposal involved the development of grass pitches, an Astroturf facility, flood-lighting and dressing rooms. The Football Association of Ireland wrote to my Department in 2023 stating that it no longer intended to proceed with the LSSIF-funded centre of excellence in Glanmire.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The programme for Government commits to maintaining sports funding to get more people participating in all levels of sport, particularly targeting cohorts in society where there are lower than average participation levels.”
“This is Ireland's first national strategy for diabetes and it sets out recommendations for action in relation to type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, diabetes in pregnancy and paediatric diabetes. The strategy marks a major milestone in diabetes care in Ireland and represents the development of a unified approach to its delivery.”
“It is anticipated that the final business case will be submitted shortly to my Department. In relation to the site in Glanmire, my Department has been informed that the property has now been leased to Riverstown Football Club by Cork County Council.”
“The structure of that payment, which was agreed between An Post and the postmasters, is designed to maintain and strengthen our post office network and to keep it sustainable, taking into account the number of post offices in an area, the distance to the next nearest post office and the rural nature versus the population base that it migh…”
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“I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As he is aware, the matter in question is the subject of an ongoing Garda investigation and we must remain mindful of that fact during our discussions this evening. It is the view of my Department and that of Sport Ireland that the FAI has engaged appropriately with these allegations. From the newspaper article which the Deputy mentioned, it seems that no complaint was made to nor any evidence of inappropriate behaviour received by the FAI in 2023.”
“In the meantime, we will continue to work with the national sporting bodies through Sport Ireland, which does exceptional work in supporting clubs across the country as regards improving participation. We are seeing that particularly in terms of increased female participation across all sports. We look forward to continuing to work with Deputy Geoghegan and all other Deputies on the significant progress we have been making.”
“I thank Deputy Geoghegan for raising this issue. I was delighted to attend the Federation of Irish Sport annual awards last week and see the great progress that so many of our national governing bodies were doing. The Government is committed to continuing the pathway we have been on, which is significantly increasing funding for sports to the national governing bodies but particularly to our clubs across the country to develop their facilities further. We saw a significant allocation of €270 million last year in terms of the sports facilities fund. That is something we are now delivering and looking towards building on by opening that up again next spring.”
“I will ensure the full content of the points the Senator is making, which are very fairly made, is considered, and I will also ask that the officials in the Department revert to the Senator directly, taking on board the matters she has raised today and giving her the clarification she is seeking in respect of any consideration of future amendments. I thank the Senator again.”
“I thank the Senator. As I have set out, the Broadcasting and Other Media Regulation Acts 2009 and 2022 set out the regulatory framework for implementation by Coimisiún na Meán in respect of broadcasters and providers of audiovisual on-demand media services, as well as online safety in respect of user-generated content. While there are important statutory duties and code-making powers under this legislation relating to the reporting of news and current affairs, these do not extend to online publications. Therefore, this is a matter for the Department of Justice as well as for the Press Council of Ireland and, in that regard, I will ensure the matters raised here today are communicated to that Department.”
“The legislation provides that, subject to the precise circumstances, an coimisiún may dismiss the complaint, refer it to the relevant broadcaster or provider for resolution, or further investigate the complaint in accordance with its statutory powers. I also mentioned that certain relevant online services are regulated by Coimisiún na Meán. In this regard, Part 8A of the Act provides for a regulatory framework for online safety. Crucially, this is focused on protecting children in particular from forms of harmful user-generated online content.”
“Moreover, Part 4 of the legislation provides for redress, which requires the relevant broadcasters and providers to give due and adequate consideration to complaints, including about any potential failure to comply with any duty or media service code, including in news and current affairs coverage. To ensure such complaints are handled effectively, the broadcasters and providers must prepare, publish and implement a code of practice at least setting out appropriate contact points, time periods for responses, and the procedures to be followed in seeking to resolve complaints. These complaints may also be directed to Coimisiún na Meán.”
“Among other things, this Part details the specific requirements for those parties to ensure news and current affairs are reported and presented in an impartial manner and without any expression of their own views. In addition, an coimisiún may make media service codes governing the standards and practices which will ensure compliance with this duty by the relevant broadcasters and providers. In this regard, in November 2024, Coimisiún na Meán published its updated Code of Fairness, Objectivity & Impartiality in News and Current Affairs, applying to television and radio broadcasters.”
“For clarification, the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan has legislative responsibility for the Broadcasting and Other Media Regulation Acts 2009 and 2022, and I understand that Senator Ruane made a number of important contributions to amending legislation under the Act as it progressed through the Seanad in recent years. The Broadcasting and Other Media Regulation Acts 2009 and 2022 have enabled the establishment of Coimisiún na Meán as our independent online safety and media regulator. They also provide for the regulatory frameworks under which an coimisiún can effectively regulate broadcasters, providers of audiovisual on-demand media services, and specific relevant online services. Part 3B of the Act provides for the regulatory framework in respect of broadcasters and providers of audiovisual on-demand media services.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. At the outset, I wish to make clear that online news media, as the Senator knows, is not regulated by Coimisiún na Meán but rather falls under the remit of the Press Council, whose membership includes a number of online-only news publications, which subjects these publications to the Press Council’s code of practice. Complaints about such members, including about possible breaches of the code of practice, may be directed to the Office of the Press Ombudsman under the council. The Defamation Act 2009, which is the legislative responsibility of the Minister for Justice, sets out the role of the Press Council, including that it is independent in the performance of its functions.”
“Follow-up care is available at Cavan Monaghan Hospital, but the initial appointments and the consultant-led insulin pump appointments take place in Drogheda, in the main, and Temple Street.”
“All other clinics, including a dedicated paediatric nurse clinic and a diabetic clinic, are conducted at Cavan Monaghan Hospital. Prior to this pathway of care being introduced in quarter 4 of 2023, patients requiring insulin pump therapy would have been referred to Drogheda or Temple Street for the entirety of their care and would have had to attend all clinics as opposed to just the insulin pump clinics in Drogheda and Temple Street. The Government is aware of the needs of members of the diabetes community and the challenges they face. In recent years, there has been increased demand for paediatric diabetic services. That is the position regarding Cavan and Monaghan.”
“I will try to be brief in that case. I thank the Senator for raising this matter. We are trying to improve services in Letterkenny General Hospital as well, so I understand what she is trying to achieve and the importance of insulin pump therapy. I will cut to the chase and speak to the situation with regard to Cavan and Monaghan hospital. As we know, the provision of insulin pump therapy is a highly specialised subspecialty of paediatric medicine and must be led by a consultant endocrinologist. Cavan and Monaghan Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda have a shared care model with clear clinical pathways relating to children accessing paediatric insulin pump therapy. The initial set-up and subsequent clinics, which require consultant involvement, are carried out at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda.”
“I understand, therefore, the importance of seeing this process expedited and moved on. I will take his views on behalf of his constituents regarding the importance of moving on with this process and having a consultation commence as quickly possible and relay them strongly to the Minister and the Department.”
“This process has been informed at all stages by expert legal and environmental advice with a view to ensuring the process is sufficiently robust in the event of any future challenges that may brought. I encourage all those within the locality who have views on the environmental impacts of this scheme to participate in the public consultation process when it is opened by the Department. I will relay to the Minister and the Department Deputy Burke's call for an urgent move forward in terms of getting to that consultation and beyond. I know the stress that can be associated with past flooding experiences, the dread that comes with what might happen in the future and the sense of urgency in terms of being able to put mitigation measures in place that can protect communities against that.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising the matter again here this evening and for his continued advocacy on progressing the scheme. While the delays in the delivery of the scheme are a source of frustration for the Deputy's constituents and all in Blackpool, as he is aware it is imperative that the consent process progresses in a manner that is compliant with the relevant regulations. In the period since the original consent decision was overturned following the judicial review challenge, the Department has undertaken a number of measures to ensure the process is in compliance with the regulatory environment. This has necessitated the requesting of supplementary information from the OPW in order to ensure that the Minister can reach a reasoned conclusion regarding the anticipated environmental impacts of the proposed scheme.”
“The OPW submitted the supplementary information to him on 17 April 2025. All supplementary information received by him will be made available for public consultation and details of this consultation will be made available on the Department's website.”
“The Department has since sought legal advice and taken measures to ensure the consent process complies with relevant national and EU environment law in order to account for the issues raised during the judicial review process. On foot of legal advice received by the Department and the recommendations of its retained environmental consultants, the Minister sought supplementary information from the Office of Public Works on the environmental impacts of the scheme. This request was made in February 2022, with the OPW supplying this information to the Minister in October of that year. Following an examination of the environmental reports and supplementary information provided, and acting on the advice of independent environmental experts, the Minister sought further supplementary information from the OPW in November 2023.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. It is something he has been relentlessly pursuing to ensure it progresses. I confirm that the Department has received supplementary information from the OPW following a request made under section 7B(4) of the European Union (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Arterial Drainage) Regulations 2019. The Department is making arrangements for a public consultation to be held on the supplementary information received to date. Details of this consultation will be made available in due course on the Department's website. The Deputy will also be aware that ministerial consent for this scheme was provided in early 2021 but was subsequently overturned by a judicial review challenge taken by a local community group.”
“It will be a matter of further engagement with the Department of Education and also across government because of its implications for other similar categories. I thank the Deputy. I will pass on his advocacy in the Dáil this evening on behalf of school secretaries to the Minister.”
“Any review of changes to the employment of school caretakers or other pay mechanisms can occur only under those processes and any such proposals would need to be considered in detail by the Department of public expenditure, as I said. The reply also refers to the work being undertaken by the Department of, and Minister for, Social Protection on the development of an auto-enrolment pension scheme, which the Deputy will be aware of. The substance of the Deputy matter relates to the request for public service status for school secretaries and access to a pension. That is not in place at the moment but there have been significant advances on other matters of importance to school secretaries. The matter on which the Deputy advocates is an outstanding ask on which the Department is engaging.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this matter on the floor of the House. I will pass on the argument and case he has made to the Minister for Education. As I said, there have been significant advancements, as I think we would all recognise. I laid them out in my earlier reply as well. The implementation of revised salary and annual leave entitlements for school secretaries in the February 2022 agreement is now fully operational and lessons learned from that process are now playing a key role in the drafting and implementation of a similar deal to be offered to grant-funded school caretakers. The Minister's officials are also continuing to engage with Fórsa and remain committed to the ongoing process. In the normal course, there are ongoing discussions with the public service unions on any and all matters relating to pay agreements.”
“I acknowledge that Fórsa is looking to future improvements to terms and conditions for secretaries and recognise that for them public service status and access to a public service pension is understandably an important objective. The issue of public service status is complex and needs to have regard to the state of the public finances and the repercussive effects of any such proposals for other grant-funded groups of non-public servants. For those reasons, any proposals must be considered in detail by the Department of Education's officials and those in the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform as the granting or otherwise of public servant status is not within the scope of the Department of Education alone.”
“As the Deputy knows, school secretaries now benefit from an alignment with the clerical officer grade III pay scale within education and training boards on a pro rata basis. In addition, it was agreed pay increases under future national agreements will be passed on to secretaries and this has happened with each pay increase since the implementation of the agreement. My Department has also improved the conditions for school secretaries with regard to sick leave, annual leave and maternity provisions for this category of staff. For example, where only 51% of grant-funded secretaries had paid sick leave previously, all those who have onboarded to the Department's payroll now have access to paid sick leave entitlements.”
“Where a school employed a staff member to support those functions those staff are not public servants but employees of individual schools and responsibility for terms of employment rests with the school. Since September 2023, the Department has been providing a payroll service for former grant-funded school secretaries. I am glad to be able to say that currently 85% of school secretaries have opted for the new package and are on the Department administered payroll. This happened on foot of an agreement reached in 2022 under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission that secretaries would move to a centralised payroll managed by the Department and receive new terms and conditions of employment.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and allowing me to clarify the current position in relation to pay and conditions for school secretaries. As we know from our engagement with schools in our respective constituencies, the school secretary is very much at the heart of the school and is the key interface between students, parents, school leaders and other staff. Without them, our schools would be unsustainable. In supporting these vital school staff members we also support the school community as a whole. The majority of primary and voluntary secondary schools traditionally received assistance to provide for secretarial, caretaking and cleaning services under grant schemes.”
“I will certainly relay the argument the Deputy has made to the Department and the Minister. I will ask them to take on board what he said.”
“One-off housing, particularly in rural areas like Roscommon, no more than my own area, is a really important part of housing output. It is important to the vibrancy of rural communities as well. I understand the argument the Deputy is making in respect of how you tie the contribution people are paying directly to a service that is being delivered in return. I have outlined the position of the Department and the Minister that there will not be any extension to the waiver. Obviously, that benefited one-off housing and multi-unit developments. I thank Deputy Dolan for raising this matter and for putting the argument forward strongly on behalf of his constituents, particularly those young people who are looking to build and do one-off developments, in the context of the impact that development charges have on them.”
“A total of 69,060 homes were commenced in 2024 as against 26,957 in 2022, representing an increase of 156% in comparison with 2022. This is the highest number of commencements on record since the compilation of data on annual residential commencements began to be recorded in 2015. It is likely that the waiver schemes contributed to the increasing level of housing starts post April 2023 in light of the timing of the introduction of those schemes. A certain proportion of planning permissions for housing development that were not being activated have now largely commenced due to this scheme. The time-limited nature of the waiver scheme provided a clear and urgent incentive for developers to act quickly. As already stated, there are no plans to extend the scheme any further.”
“On 23 April 2024, the Government approved an extension for the waiving of local authority section 48 development contributions in respect of residential developments commenced not later than 31 December 2024 and the refunding of Uisce Éireann water and wastewater connection charges in respect of residential development commenced not later than 30 September 2024. In April 2024, the final date for the completion of development works on qualifying houses under the schemes was extended from 31 December 2025 to 31 December 2026. There are no plans to extend or reintroduce the waiver scheme. The waiver of local authority development contributions and the refund of Uisce Éireann connection charges directly reduce the upfront cost of construction. These savings, depending on location, represent a meaningful portion of soft costs in budgets.”
“The Government recognised that further measures needed to be put in place to help address cost and viability with a view to incentivising the activation of a pipeline of new housing commencements and assisting the delivery of supply as quickly as possible. The waiver scheme applied to all permitted residential development including multi-unit developments, self-build houses and one-off houses, as well as student accommodation and sheltered housing. The scheme initially applied for one year to all permitted residential development that commenced on site between 25 April 2023, which was the date of the Government decision approving the measure, and 24 April 2024, and that are completed no later than 31 December 2025.”
“I thank the Deputy. I am happy to take this matter on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy James Browne. The Deputy made a valid point, and I thank him for raising this matter. On 25 April 2023, the Government approved additional measures under the Housing for All action plan to incentivise the activation of increased housing supply and to help reduce housing construction costs, including the introduction of temporary time-limited arrangements for the waiving of local authority section 48 development contributions and the refunding of Uisce Éireann water and wastewater connection charges.”
“The focus for now is making sure that those who receive funding move forward and in the short term, assessing the potential for additional funding or, in relation to those that were not successful in the most recent round, additional capacity.”
“It will be very much dependent on funding. That is something on which we will have engagement in the budgetary process to see what the potential is. The opening and announcement of new funding under the sports capital grant and the regional grants under the sports capital facilities fund have generally been every two years. I expect in the first part of next year to open up the sports facilities fund. On the large-scale funding, there have only been two rounds so far, in 2019 and 2014. The funding requirement for that is heavy. It will certainly be our objective to try to do it within a shorter timeframe in terms of a new round but that will be entirely dependent on the budget as well.”
“I know the benefit it would be to County Louth. It is great to see the stadium progressing and Louth GAA moving forward with it. Certainly, we will consider it in the context of future funding opportunities as well in phase 2.”
“The LSSIF was first announced with a funding round in 2019. It is a relatively new fund in that regard, with the objective of trying to ensure that the Government can work to support the development of large-scale sporting facilities across the country. So far, we have had two rounds, in 2019 and 2024. Between both of those, €297 million has been invested, which is making a significant impact on the development of really good facilities across the country. We had 96 applications in the most recent round, 35 of which benefited from funding. The demand was much higher than the level of funding. The potential for additional funding is something we have to consider. That is very much subject to the budgetary capacity for that and, alongside that, the capacity for a reserve list as well for those applicants not successful previously.”
“The large-scale sports infrastructure fund application was for the second part, or phase 2, of the stadium, with phase 1 commencing with the potential for a 4,000-seater stand. We had approximately €680 million of applications to the large-scale infrastructure fund last year, with €167 million awarded to 37 projects throughout the country. We are now assessing whether additional funding can become available and how a reserve list could potentially operate for those who were not successful in getting funding last year, and Louth GAA will be considered in this context. It is certainly welcome to see the recent announcement on Louth GAA being able to commence and having the finances to develop the new stadium, which I know will be of great benefit to it.”
“I thank Deputy Ó Murchú. I know of the great excitement in the county this week in the run-up to the Leinster final this weekend. It has been added to by the under-age success, which has been wonderful to see and is a great reflection on the great work done by Louth GAA at all levels. I look forward to seeing the game this weekend. If it is half as dramatic as the previous one, I am sure it will grip the entire country. With regard to Deputy Ó Murchú's query on the large-scale sports infrastructure fund application made by Louth GAA last year for a new stadium in Dundalk, he knows the background to this with regard to the fact there was no funding in this particular round. I welcome and note the recent announcement by Louth GAA that it has agreed a funding package to commence development of a new stadium in Dundalk.”
“It is about taking a strategic approach, continuing to back the wonderful work that clubs are doing and making sure the investment they are making, and the State is making to support them, is delivering the best possible return on participation in local communities and giving opportunities for people across all ages and capabilities to participate in sporting activity.”
“I would certainly be delighted to visit because it sounds like one of the prime examples of what is possible and how, by collaborating, we can maximise the impact of this investment. That is something we want to see more of across the country and, anywhere there is an opportunity to do that, to back it. We are also looking at how we can work in as strong a way as possible through integrating and working with schools and school settings so those facilities that might not otherwise be used often during the day, where possible, can be available close to the schools.”
“We also want to make sure different clubs are coming together as much as possible at municipal facilities, for example, so we make the maximum use of the facilities that are being built to benefit as many people as possible in the local community. We have seen significant progress in Cork, and the Deputy mentioned Glanmire as somewhere he would like to see further funding go in. We will be looking at all of those and offering future opportunities to see how we can continue the work that is under way and the significant progress that has been made to date.”
“It has been wonderful in recent years to see the strong increase in participation across many sports and how that has been driven forward and facilitated by the wonderful volunteer ethos at local level in terms of organising and facilitating so much sports activity through clubs on an ongoing basis. There is also great work in terms of leveraging sports capital grants and developing those facilities. That is something we want to continue to back, as a Government, and I know it is something the Deputy wants to see continue in Cork. We will be reviewing the criteria for how we do future sports capital funding grant applications to make sure we are leveraging those funds as much as possible.”
“One of the largest projects funded to date under the first large-scale sport infrastructure fund was the Athletics Ireland and Munster Technological University, formerly CIT, community sport project on the Bishopstown campus of the university. The project was awarded large-scale sport infrastructure fund funding of €9.2 million in January 2020 and additional funding in December 2023 of just over €5 million, bringing the total for the project to €14.3 million for all three phases. To date, we have seen €4.1 million of that drawn down. That is significant support for Cork, as well as across the country. We look forward to continuing to support clubs to develop their sporting facilities through future rounds.”
“We had a round of that last year with significant investment and more than 3,000 community sports clubs and facilities received record funding under that. Under the large-scale sport infrastructure fund, significant funding of €173 million was announced in November last year, supporting 35 projects. Cork is the particular focus of Deputy Burke's question. We saw €7.3 million paid to 130 sporting organisations, and allocations of €32.5 million were made to 367 Cork sporting organisations across the large-scale sport infrastructure fund and community sport facilities fund. That is €32 million in total for Cork. Since 2018, that figure is €77 million.”
“I propose to take Questions Nos. 100, 105, 108 and 137 together. I thank the Deputies for their questions. The programme for Government commits to supporting the sporting community across the country to ensure more people participate, reap the benefits of sport and fulfil their potential from grassroots right up to high-performance level. We are achieving this and will continue to achieve it through a number of measures, including maintaining sports funding to get more people participating at all levels of sport, particularly targeting cohorts in society where there are lower than average participation levels. This includes people with disabilities and older people. The community sport facilities fund is the primary vehicle for Government support for the development of sports and recreation facilities.”
“I thank Deputy Ó Muirí for his representations and support for the club. The challenge at a national level is the number of asks. If we look at the large scale infrastructure fund most recently, we can see that there were 96 applications nationally and, of these, 35 projects were successful. This meant that €173 million in total was allocated out of an ask in terms of the numbers that came in of €665 million. This is always the challenge but we have seen significant progress in backing the wonderful clubs across all our sports nationally. They all want to do more, we want to back them in doing more and we will be considering how we can do that in terms of additional funding. I look forward to seeing Deputies Heneghan, Ó Muirí and Brabazon with the club when I visit in the coming days.”
“Under the large scale sports infrastructure fund, six projects were backed by Athletics Ireland and were awarded €25 million.”
“I know the club has done wonderful work there historically but also in terms of seeking to develop the club in recent years. It was supported in 2018 and 2020 through sports capital grants. I know it purchased a new building in Raheny and is considering how it can develop it having purchased the old Catholic church in Raheny village. I look forward to seeing how we can work with it in the time ahead. We will open sports capital grants next year. The large scale sports infrastructure grants first opened in 2019, with the second round in 2024. We will look at how that evolves over the next period. Of the €297 million allocated in the past year for sports generally, €79 million was allocated to athletics initiatives on a national scale.”
“In 2024, the second round of the LSSIF was launched and received an unprecedented demand for funding of €665 million. Out of the 96 clubs that applied, 35 were successful, with €173 million allocated. Raheny Shamrocks submitted an application to that fund which was not successful. Should additional funding become available, we are assessing how that can be dealt with in terms of a reserve list. I very much look forward to meeting Raheny Shamrock Athletic Club during my visit, seeing the proposals and meeting Deputies Heneghan and Brabazon and committee members on 20 May.”
“The club is also very well known nationally for hosting the Raheny five mile road race which raises very significant funds for the local hospice and is one of the most anticipated five mile runs in the racing calendar. As the Deputy knows, the Department runs two capital funding programmes for sport, namely, the community sports facilities fund, CSFF, formerly the sports capital and equipment fund, and the large-scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF. Over a quarter of a billion euro was allocated to over 3,000 community sports clubs and facilities in 2024 from the 2023 round of the CSFF. That represented the largest ever investment in sports facilities in communities across Ireland. Raheny Shamrock Athletic Club previously received funding under CSFF in 2018 and again in 2020.”