Conor D McGuinness
Waterford · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“Vincent de Paul, both of whom, to be fair, are stepping up but that is not the way it should be. I have also spoken to principals who are told to stretch their ICT budgets, and, in fact, that is the response I got from the Minister of State’s colleague, the Minister, Deputy Naughton, when I queried this. Those budgets have been cut.”
“Every July and August, families steel themselves for the cost of children going back to school, including uniforms, books, and shoes, and, as the Minister of State well knows, school transport. Now, for thousands of parents, there is another bill waiting on the kitchen table. It is one for hundreds of euro for a digital device.”
“It is simply passing responsibility on to families and calling it policy. A child's education should never depend on his or her parents' ability to buy a digital device, and no student should be disadvantaged because they cannot afford the device his or her school requires.”
“I dtaobh chúrsaí Gaeltachta, ní aontaím leis an Aire in aon chor go bhfuil dearcadh nó aighneachtaí na ndreamanna éagsúla atá ag obair sa spás seo iniata leis an gcáipéis seo. Is léir go ndearna an Roinn agus an bheirt Airí sa Roinn tithíochta neamhaird air sin.”
“Today is a very important day because the State has finally and formally apologised to the survivors of Bill Kenneally's abuse. Those who should have been protected were instead failed in the most profound and devastating way. No apology can undo the harm that was done.”
“It is a recognition of the persistence and bravery of you men who are here in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery and those who are not here today. Those of you who refused to give up in your pursuit of truth and justice, I thank you for what you have done. I thank you for your courage and for your power.”
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“I have to say I am deeply disappointed, bemused and bewildered at the Minister of State's response. I got a copy-and-paste, generic response for half the time he was speaking and for the rest, I got a potted history of what I and others involved in the school and community know has happened. I did not get a straight answer. I do not know how the Minister of State's response tallies with the correspondence I have seen from the Department of education. Approval was granted in January. Correspondence, an email to the principal of the school, stated that the technical team would be in touch within six weeks. That was in February this year. I do not know if we are talking about the same school. This land was purchased. The purchase was completed. I was a councillor at the time and facilitated it.”
“My question relates to Scoil Garbháin, an Irish-medium school in Dungarvan, County Waterford. I am seeking an update on plans for the extension. The school got word in January this year that the long-awaited and much-needed extension had been approved. It was told in February that it would hear within six weeks from the technical team in the Department. Over nine months later, it has yet to hear despite frequent correspondence from me. I have also raised the matter with the Taoiseach. The school has raised it repeatedly with officials in the Department but its representatives are still none the wiser. The school is at capacity. It proves the point made earlier by Deputy Barry Ward about the need for Irish-medium education and the huge demand. The school is having to turn children away.”
“It would ensure schools adopt uniform policies that are affordable and accessible, policies that treat parents with fairness and respect. Families in Waterford and across the State do not need a Government press release about free education. What they need are decisions that actually lower costs, take the pressure off the kitchen table and make schooling genuinely affordable for all families. The Minister of State indicated the Government will not be supporting this Bill, but supporting it would be a really good place to start.”
“People are working hard and doing their best but are struggling to stay afloat. Schools are feeling that same pressure. They are being asked to do more with less, to fundraise for basic materials, to rely on voluntary contributions to keep the lights on, to keep toilet paper in the toilets because the so-called increases in capitation funding announced in budget 2026 will not take effect until January. Teachers and principals have been very clear. They have been clear with us, and I have no doubt they have been clear with the Government. They need proper funding now, not next year. Tonight's Bill is a modest but meaningful step. It will not solve every problem, but it will make a real difference to families and parents who are struggling.”
“Others are paying for fuel or taxis because they are excluded from the school transport scheme - a scheme that is supposed to ensure equal access to education but instead leaves rural families in particular footing the bill for long commutes. For families of children with disabilities or additional educational needs, these costs are multiplied. Between therapy appointments, sensory equipment and specialist materials, they are already carrying a heavier load. School costs should never add to that burden. All of this is happening against the backdrop of a deepening cost-of-living crisis. Groceries, rent, energy, fuel - everything is going up, while wages and supports fail to keep pace. Families are being pushed to the limit and the Government's response has been piecemeal and reactive. It is the same story in every part of the State.”
“The Bill will place an obligation on the Minister for education to make regulations ensuring every school has an affordable uniform policy, one that recognises the financial pressures facing families. It is about fairness, choice and common sense. The Irish League of Credit Unions has found that the total back-to-school spend this year rose by €360 for primary, and €170 for secondary students. More than half of parents have gone into debt to meet these costs. It is not just uniforms; it is books, digital devices, transport and the voluntary contributions that are anything but voluntary. I have spoken to parents in my constituency clinics this year who are paying hundreds of euro for a single digital device because their child's school has moved away from textbooks. Families with two or three children simply cannot keep up.”
“Every year, families across the State face a financial cliff when the school term begins. Parents are being forced into debt. They are dipping into savings and turning to credit unions just to send their children to school. As we have just heard, they are going to money lenders, unscrupulous ones at that, and getting themselves into huge unsustainable debts. One of the biggest drivers of these costs is school uniforms. In Waterford, parents are telling me the same story each August and September. They are stretched to breaking point. In many schools, families have no real choice when it comes to uniforms. Branded or crested clothing is required, extended even to PE wear and jackets. That includes primary school, driving costs up year after year. This Bill is about tackling that head on.”
“That same drive is needed again today. If we applied the same vision and determination that our grandparents’ or great-grandparents’ generations once did, we could end the housing crisis that is hollowing out the social fabric of our towns and villages and driving young families from rural communities. The investment must be about connecting homes before data centres, building fairness into the system and ensuring that no community is locked out because the grid cannot cope. It must be about energy independence, affordable electricity and balanced regional development and growth. The grid we build now will shape the kind of country we become. It must be built for homes and the communities they sustain, and for the future we hope to deliver for our children.”
“Ramming a Bill through without proper safeguards, accountability and a clear focus on the public good will only repeat the mistakes of the past. Sinn Féin wants to see a grid that serves people, not corporate interests. We have submitted amendments to guarantee proper parliamentary oversight of ESB borrowing, to ring-fence investment for housing and community needs, to protect consumers from higher prices and to ensure independent auditing of how this public money is spent. We also need to think about this moment in a broader and historical sense. In the 1950s, the State undertook the rural electrification project, which was a national effort that transformed every parish and townland in Ireland. It was driven by determination, ambition and a simple principle, namely, that no community should be left behind.”
“This failure to plan and invest properly has become a brake on the entire economy and especially on our ability as a society to tackle the housing crisis. The Bill before us provides for €1.5 billion in investment in ESB Networks between 2026 and 2030. While that level of investment is very welcome and very necessary, we wait to see if it turns out to be more than pie in the sky and if the delivery on the ground will be felt, because we have heard it all before. Government press releases have never been in short supply but they have been like confetti in the past few months. What is missing in all of this is consistent delivery, transparency and fairness. We do support investment in the grid. We see it as essential but we have concerns about the way the Government is going about this.”
“Ireland's electricity grid is not fit for purpose. It is holding back housing delivery across the State. It is stalling renewable energy projects and limiting development in towns, villages and rural areas. It did not just happen by accident and it did not happen overnight. It is the result of years of underinvestment, poor planning and mismanagement by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments. For too long, they have treated the national grid as something to be managed around rather than something to be built up for the future, and now we are paying the price. Builders cannot build homes. Families cannot move in. Businesses and communities cannot grow. The grid simply does not have the capacity.”
“Fishing communities have endured decades of neglect and now they need delivery. Ireland's fishing heritage, our economic potential, thousands of livelihoods and hundreds of millions of euro of economic growth are at stake here. The time for caution and niceties has passed. What we need, and what Sinn Féin will continue to demand, is action that is firm, co-ordinated and in the national interest.”
“A failure to deliver on the reasonable demands of the Irish fishing industry would be a collective failure for the Government to assert Ireland's sovereignty in Europe. For decades, fishers have correctly believed that Irish fisheries were sacrificed to secure wins elsewhere and that must stop. The balance has to be reset. We need the Minister of State to secure a fair share of quota allocations reflecting the scale of waters, along with concrete EU actions to sanction overfishing by third countries and European corporations which operate in vessels under the flag of third countries. We need to see funding for harbour infrastructure and fleet modernisation, and we need to see a renewed commitment to Ireland's coastal communities. Our fishing industry is not asking for favours. It is simply demanding fairness.”
“The mackerel issue is a test of whether Ireland has any real influence in Europe and we cannot afford another year of hand-wringing. In a few weeks, the Minister of State will be in Brussels with the Council of Ministers to set the 2026 quotas. Expectations in the industry are not high or buoyant at the moment because of the crisis, but there is a weight of expectation on his shoulders as he goes there because of the great urgency involved. The Minister of State must go to Brussels with a clear mandate not simply to manage, but to fight for Ireland's corner. It cannot be on his shoulders alone; it has to be on the shoulders of the Taoiseach, as Head of Government, and the Tánaiste, in his role as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade.”
“This has plunged Ireland's pelagic sector into crisis, in particular Donegal, but across the coast. Our entire seafood economy is looking at losses that could exceed €200 million next year. We need an emergency survival fund now. As has been noted by the Minister of State and my colleague, Deputy Mac Lochlainn, fishers do not want handouts or a bailout, but they need that as this crisis will affect them. The EU must act decisively to end this reckless overfishing. The Government must demand sanctions and compensation and show leadership. It is indefensible that Irish fishers follow the rules and face ruin while others profit with the consent of their governments and the silence and acquiescence, if we are being honest, of Brussels.”
“They are a result of rampant overfishing by third countries, in particular Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, which are, of course, under Danish sovereignty and, therefore, I thought would have been part of the European Union. This activity has often been aided by EU-based companies using those flags. That is not to let the Russian Federation and Britain off the hook for their gross overfishing in the North Atlantic. The European Commission has known about this for years. We and others, including industry and environmental groups, have raised this. More than a million tonnes of mackerel have been caught above scientific advice in the past five years. Instead of sanctioning offenders, the EU has rewarded them with access to western waters, or is certainly proposing to do so.”
“We need to ensure access to finance for vessel modernisation and keep value-added processing in Ireland. The Common Fisheries Policy has failed our coastal communities. It rewards those who overfish and punishes those who act responsibly. Sinn Féin will press for reform that puts sustainability, fairness and Ireland's national interest at its core. Nowhere is that failure clearer than in the mackerel and wider pelagic fishery. Scientific advice for 2026 recommends a 70% cut to the EU mackerel quota and a 41% cut to blue whiting, not to forget boarfish. These drastic reductions are not caused by Irish mismanagement, as my colleagues have said.”
“This is about protecting lives, jobs and the long-term viability of one of Ireland's major fisheries ports. Ireland's offshore fleet in ports like Dunmore East, Castletownbere and Howth are central to our seafood economy, supporting hundreds of jobs in fishing, processing, engineering and exports, yet our fleets are allowed to catch less fish in our own waters than ever before. Under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, Ireland has been a soft touch in quota talks. Time and again, our share has been traded away in favour of stronger member states who negotiate harder in their own countries' interests. That must end. We must demand fair and equitable access to fish stocks in Irish waters. We need to rebuild pelagic and demersal fleets. We need to secure a fair quota of prawns in the Irish Sea.”
“We acknowledge and accept that they belong to the local authority, but that does not give the Government, Department or Minister of State for fisheries the ability to say that it is not part of the responsibility of the State. In Dunmore East, one of the State's six designated fishery harbour centres and the most important fishing port in the south east, serving the east coast, north and south, critical safety works remain underfunded. Fishers have raised real concerns about berthing safety, quay conditions and overcrowding in the harbour. The promised capital works have yet to materialise and we need immediate approval and funding for the Dunmore East capital programme. That would include dredging, quay realignment and safety upgrades. It is not just a Waterford issue, as I said.”
“Harbour infrastructure, a topic the Minister of State and I have discussed at length, is the backbone of our fishing economy, yet across the country, in particular Waterford, it is crying out for investment. In the quay in Heilbhic, dredging has been identified as a dire need by local fishers, the local authority and, indeed, those who volunteer to save lives at sea. Progress has stalled for want of State funding. The local authority harbours programme is dysfunctional. I do not think it is fit for purpose. It is inadequate. I said this yesterday at a committee meeting and I will continue to say it. It will not fund the engineering or environmental studies needed to reach a shovel-ready stage. That is its intrinsic failure and must change. The quay at Heilbhic and other local authority harbours are vital infrastructure.”
“Most are confined to shellfish like crab, lobster and shrimp and young people face major barriers, limited licences, tiny quotas and high costs. The next generation is being driven out. They do not want to take over the boats and they do not want to enter the industry. We need a fairer allocation of a national quota to support small-scale sustainable fisheries. We need targeted investment in coastal infrastructure processing capacity and proper implementation of the Irish inshore fishery sector strategy, backed by real funding and continuity grants to keep small operators afloat. If we value our coastal communities, we must value our fishers and inshore sector not as an afterthought, but as the cornerstone of our rural and regional economy.”
“As Chair, I want the committee to be active and assertive, give voice to coastal communities, hold the Government to account, propose policy innovations, where appropriate, and demand delivery for the Irish fishing industry. Our inshore fisheries have been mentioned. They are the beating heart of Ireland's coastal communities. Small family-owned vessels sustain employment and tradition in areas with few alternatives, yet they are too often forgotten about. When they are at the forefront of the minds of the State, it often seems that it is with a view to criminalising or penalising them for simply carrying out their work. With almost 2,000 vessels, the inshore fleet provides over half of all seafood employment but receives only a fraction of supports and quota access.”
“We need a fundamental reset and radical new approach that recognises the strategic, economic and cultural importance of fisheries to our coastal regions. That means pressing the European Commission and Council for an urgent review of quota allocations, building the Department's capacity to fight our corner, including through the office mentioned by Deputy Mac Lochlainn in Brussels, and reforming the Department of the marine and Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM. It would be great if we had someone with a background in the fishing industry appointed as the new chief executive of BIM. I ask the Minister of State to reflect on that and consider it as he looks towards the appointment of a chief executive. We now have a Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs.”
“Éilíonn Sinn Féin go gcuirfear straitéis náisiúnta láidir le chéile a chosnóidh ár gcuid acmhainní, a neartóidh calafoirt agus a thabharfaidh tacaíocht cheart d’iascairí cladaigh. Caithfidh Éire seasamh suas ar son a cuid pobal cósta san Aontas Eorpach. For decades, successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments have gone to Brussels to manage, not to lead, and to accommodate, not to assert. The results of that failure speak for themselves. Ireland controls 12% of EU waters, yet receives less than 6% of total EU quotas. Since Brexit, that imbalance has worsened, with about 40% of the quota value transferred from Britain coming from stocks historically caught by Irish vessels. The Brexit deal was catastrophic. The decision earlier this year to extend it to 2038 brought certainty, but it is the certainty of collapse and catastrophe.”
“Some 98% do not believe the Government is protecting the industry or has its back. The survey also found that 91% believed that, without a radical change in direction, it would not survive the next three to five years. While this debate is welcome and I commend Deputy Mac Lochlainn on seeking it, it is long overdue. The collapse in mackerel stocks has simply exposed a decline that was already well under way. We now need to move beyond tea and sympathy and towards a national strategy that is ambitious, assertive and unapologetic in its defence of Ireland's national interests. Tá earnáil iascaireachta na hÉireann i ngéarchéim. Tá iascairí agus pobal cósta faoi bhrú de bharr laghduithe ar chuótaí, costais arda agus ró-iascaireacht ó thíortha eile, an Iorua, an Íoslainn agus na hOileáin Fharó san áireamh.”
“Ireland is an island nation with a proud maritime tradition. Our coastal communities, fishing harbours and seafaring people have long sustained the life of this country in hard times and in a good. For too long, the fishing and seafood industry has been treated as an afterthought, a bargaining chip in European negotiations and a casualty of short-termism at home. Across every coastal county from Louth to Donegal, down to Waterford and Cork, fishers and processors now face the perfect storm of quota cuts, rising costs, loss of traditional fishing grounds and continued overfishing by external states. The result is a crisis or, more accurately, an emergency. Earlier this year, Deputy Mac Lochlainn and I published a survey of Irish fishers. Its findings were stark.”
“Guím gach rath ar an saothar ach fós féin níl na treoirlínte pleanála Gaeltachta ann. Cé go bhfuil sé casta, is rud bunúsach é atá á dhéanamh le blianta anois agus tá éileamh mór ag teacht ón bpobal faoi sin. Níl sé i mo nádúr a bheith soiniciúil ach tá sé an-deacair gan a bheith.”
“Chun mo cheart a thabhairt dom féin, níl sé i mo nádúr a bheith soiniciúil ach tá sé deacair gan a bheith i bhfianaise an méid nár thit amach thar na blianta. Mar is eol don Aire, tá géarchéim tithíochta sna ceantair Ghaeltachta agus níor sholáthar an buiséad, in ainneoin an méid atá ráite ag an Aire anseo, an maoiniú breise nó na cumhachtaí breise atá riachtanach chun dul i ngleic leis an bhfadhb. Feictear dúinn nach bhfuil na cumhachtaí ná na hacmhainní ag an údarás chun tithe sóisialta, tithe inacmhainne, tithe i suíomhanna seirbhíse inacmhainne nó tithe príobháideacha a thógáil inár gceantair Ghaeltachta nó ar fud fad tuath na hÉireann. In ainneoin an mhéid a fógraíodh an tseachtain seo caite, ní fheictear dúinn go bhfuil na hacmhainní cuí, na cumhachtaí cuí nó an toil pholaitiúil ann chun dul i ngleic leis. Beidh le feiscint.”
“It is really important that those two plans would, at the very least, be conversant with each other and would have joint sets of objectives, key metrics and key actions that have very specific timelines to them. This would ensure that the two Ministers and their officials can keep tabs on it and that those of us on this side of the House can ensure progress is happening. These are existential issues both for na ceantair Gaeltachta and for so many rural communities across this country.”
“Is iontach é sin a cloisteáil, i ndáiríre, mar bhí an bhuairt ann nach raibh cainteanna ag dul ar aghaidh. Mar sin, cuirim fáilte roimh sin, ar a laghad. It is great that those engagements have taken place and I thank the Minister of State for his answer and for detailing the level of engagement and the issues that have been discussed by the Minister with the Department of housing. There are two big pieces of work under way in the Minister's Department in the successor to Our Rural Future and the Government's housing plan. Forgive me for being cynical, but I think most people would have a fairly sceptical approach to these plans, particularly on the housing side, given the failure to action any of the proposals contained in them.”
“Will the Minister update the House on that engagement, confirm whether a cross-departmental working group on rural housing has been established and outline what formal engagements he has had with the Minister for housing in a formal sense about the issue of rural housing?”
“The rural housing crisis is the biggest single issue impacting rural communities and the long-term sustainability of rural Ireland. Previously, I asked the Minister about his engagement with the Minister for housing on this issue. To be fair, it was a number of months ago, and at that point the Minister had not been in the job all that long. Meetings had not taken place, although he indicated that engagement would follow. We also discussed the need for housing to be the cornerstone of the new rural development policy, the successor to the Our Rural Future scheme, which had very little to say about housing.”
“Farmers in Waterford and throughout rural Ireland deserve fairness, respect and a Government that values the family farm and family farming. Sinn Féin will continue to stand with tillage farmers, listen to them and do our best to secure a sustainable and home-grown future for Irish agriculture.”
“Will the Minister develop that proposal, discuss it with his officials, take it very seriously and give it the consideration it is due? We in Sinn Féin believe the tillage and horticultural sectors need targeted investment. We would expand domestic grain production, ensure fair market access for Irish grain and back farmers who have delivered on climate and biodiversity goals. The crisis in the tillage sector reflects a wider failure across agriculture. There is no new funding for TAMS, no support for young farmers or generational renewal, nothing for the beef or suckler sectors and continued underfunding of the TB eradication and ACRE schemes. Farmers are being failed across the board no matter what way you cut it up, despite the announcements.”
“The industry cannot sustain losses of that nature for a second year. Despite the rhetoric, this Government's budget offered no real help. The much touted €50 million for tillage is not new money; it simply recycles last year's funding. The Minister claims to be developing a new scheme, but farmers in Waterford and throughout the country know the truth that there is nothing new in it. They were bitterly disappointed last week with the budget announcement and they do not believe the figures being spun. They are now calling for an inclusion rate for Irish millers, which I support. This is a practical, fair proposal where a defined percentage of grain milled in Ireland must be of Irish origin. That would create a secure market for home-grown grain, reward sustainability and reduce dependence on imports.”
“They are competing against imported grain, often from third countries outside the EU where environmental and production standards are far lower. Some of that grain is genetically modified, grown using chemical agents that are banned here and with fertiliser subject to carbon taxes when used in Ireland. Those imports are cheaper, not because they are more efficient or they are better, but because they are less environmentally sustainable. They are a lower grade product in many cases. That is long before we factor in the carbon cost of the long-distance sea shipping for that grain. Meanwhile, Irish tillage farmers operating to world-leading standards are losing money. Many who lease land made significant losses on their crops last year and are likely to do so again next year. It cannot be sustained.”
“I have been engaging with tillage farmers across Waterford over recent months. I spoke with the tillage chairman of Waterford IFA. The message from those farmers could not be clearer. They feel unheard, undervalued and let down. They believe the Government is doing absolutely nothing to address the crisis in their sector. Tillage farming is one of the most efficient, low-carbon and environmentally friendly forms of agriculture we have. It should be at the centre of any serious climate and food strategy yet it is being allowed to wither. One farmer put it to me like this last week: "The Government says it wants to increase tillage, but the way things are going, there will be none left in Ireland very soon." In Waterford, as elsewhere, farmers are facing rising input costs, poor returns and a complete absence of a level playing field.”
“It is an insult. It follows the insult we saw in the general election campaign last year with the then Taoiseach, now Tánaiste. We see that carried forward a year and it is as if nothing has been learned in that time. Our motion calls for justice, an immediate lump-sum payment this winter and the development of a permanent cost-of-disability payment and. It calls on the Government to reverse course, to stop ignoring those who are suffering most and to recognise the basic truth that poverty and the maintenance of poverty is a political choice and it is the wrong one.”
“The Government cut the cost-of-living supports that people depended on and refused to introduce a permanent cost-of-disability payment, a measure that has been repeatedly called for by advocacy groups, Sinn Féin and people with disabilities themselves. Our alternative budget set out a different path. It called for a €20 increase in the disability allowance, a €300 lump-sum payment to all core welfare reciptients, a €25 increase in the domiciliary care allowance and a €450 energy credit. These are real and practical measures to help people to live with dignity. Instead of fairness and decency, the Government has chosen indifference and neglect. It is utterly detached from the reality of life for people with disabilities to suggest that a cost-of-disability payment might be considered next year, as if poverty can be put on hold.”
“Food prices, rents and energy bills are all rising and the response of the Minister's Government is a slap in the face to those who already face the highest cost of living in the State. The Government's own research has shown that the additional cost of disability is between €9,000 and €11,000 every single year. We heard the Taoiseach dismissing the ESRI earlier today, but it tells us that households with a disabled member are at a very high risk of poverty and that two in five children in such households grow up at a risk of poverty after housing costs are removed from the equation, yet Fine Gael, with the support and leadership of Fianna Fáil it would seem, looks the other way.”
“The Minister will know from the statistics in his Department that people with disabilities and their families are among those most at risk of poverty in the State. They have been abandoned in budget 2026. That is not me as a member of the Opposition saying it. It is what they are telling us. They feel abandoned because they have been abandoned. This is a budget that bears the fingerprints of Fine Gael and the austerity era in every single line. This Government has pulled the rug from under people with disabilities. It has taken away the supports that were keeping their households afloat and replaced them with a pitiful €10 increase in the disability allowance. This is an increase that does not even keep pace with real inflation.”
“Ní féidir le teaghlaigh óga, a bhfuil fonn orthu a gcuid páistí a thógáil trí mheán na Gaelainne, a gcuid tithe féin a cheannach nó a thógáil. Idir an dá linn, diúltaíonn an Rialtas cumhachtaí ná acmhainní breise a thabhairt d’Údarás na Gaeltachta agus níl na treoirlínte pleanála Gaeltachta foilsithe ach an oiread. We need a step change, real and sustained political will and a meaningful upturn in public investment. Anything else is hollow and doomed to fail.”
“Local housing for local families is being held back by the Government's failure to invest in basic water and wastewater infrastructure. Apartments in Lismore, for example, have been refused planning permission in the last couple of months because of inadequate water supply. In Bunmahon, planning permission was refused because a lack of investment means its ancient sewage system is simply not fit for purpose. In Cappoquin, Portlaw, Kilmacthomas and Tallow, young people are leaving in their droves. The rural housing crisis is being neglected and ignored by this Government. Sa Ghaeltacht, tá an ghéarchéim thithíochta chomh dona céanna. Is géarchéim eiseach í. Our Gaeltacht is facing an existential crisis.”
“Families and individuals have been on the housing list for ten years or more in some cases and there has been zero delivery of affordable or cost-rental homes in Dungarvan. In Ardmore, not a million miles away from Dungarvan, a beautiful seaside town, a demographic cliff edge is emerging. Young people who want to live and work there cannot afford to buy or build. More than half of the homes in the area are holiday lets or second homes, many of them owned by investment funds. A community-led plan for affordable homes was sidelined a couple of years ago because the Department knows best. Now, because of the so-called competitive dialogue approach, that project remains stuck in limbo while young people move away to begin their lives elsewhere. Similar stories can be told in Dunmore East, Stradbally and right along Waterford's coastline.”
“Across Waterford city and county, the housing crisis is worsening by the day. We see it on the ground and in the statistics and the figures. We are witnessing the inevitable result of years of Government failure and a lack of political will to deliver homes for ordinary people. I met again in recent days with housing officials in Waterford City and County Council. To be fair, they are working hard within the constraints set by central government. The message is clear: we need a massive upturn in the delivery of social and affordable housing. Without that upturn, the crisis will continue to deepen. Taking Dungarvan as an example, the rental market there is broken and has been for many years. There is almost no supply, rents are unaffordable and the Government continues to rely on HAP as a substitute for building real social homes.”
“It is three months since I last raised this with the Taoiseach in the Dáil. Tá an halla spóirt anois mar sheomra ranga sealadach agus tá ar thuismitheoirí a bpáistí a chuir chuig scoileanna Béarla mar gheall ar an easpa spáis sa scoil seo. This, coupled with last week's budget-----”
“I must highlight once again to the Taoiseach across this Chamber the way in which the Minister for education, the Department and the Government as a whole are treating Scoil Gharbháin i nDún na Mainistreach, i gContae Phort Láirge, and other schools, particularly Gaelscoileanna, across the State. Dúirt an Roinn gur ceadaíodh dhá sheomra ranga riachtanais speisialta, ceithre sheomra ranga príomhshrutha agus trí sheomra teagaisc oideachais speisialta trí mheán na Gaeilge i mí Eanáir na bliana seo. The school received a departmental update in February, stating its application was with the Department’s professional and technical division that would produce the project briefing costings. They were told this team would be in contact with the school within six weeks. Eight months later, there is still no word.”
“Tá sé i gcruachás. It cannot fit any more children in there. The classes and the school are suffering as a result. I urge that we would-----”
“This budget has ignored them and continues the long policy of neglect when it comes to rural Ireland. The overall rural development budget has been cut by almost €5 million on last year's budget, and this is not taking into account the really pernicious attacks on rural life and rural dwellers. I refer, for example, to the impact the carbon tax will have on families and on individuals who are trying to access training, get to work and get the kids to school. These things really need to be counted. My colleague, Deputy O'Rourke, outlined the education aspect quite well in his contribution. We see a situation where schools are left reeling. Yes, there has been some progress on the capitation grant but schools are at capacity. There is crumbling infrastructure. In my town of Dungarvan there is the local Gaelscoil, Scoil Garbháin.”
“Regarding community development, this budget is another missed opportunity to strengthen community life. Funding for the community and voluntary sector has flat-lined in real terms, despite rising costs and a pay crisis for staff delivering essential services. The Government gave no increase to women's and men's sheds, while our alternative budget sought to value their contributions. Similarly, this Government missed the mark by allocating just €3 million to the community centre investment fund, while Sinn Féin would have invested €20 million. Sinn Féin would have increased funding for the community services programme, delivered fair pay across the voluntary and charitable sector, and invested in local development companies, which are the very backbone of our towns, villages and communities across County Waterford.”