Gillian Toole
Meath East · Independent · Ireland
“It made a significant contribution to discussions around the introduction of mandatory digital devices in post-primary education. It highlighted parental concerns regarding the cost and compulsory purchase. The roll-out was halted in 2020 with the Covid-19 pandemic and remote learning and having one's own device become an essential.”
“I am thankful for the opportunity to discuss this important matter. I acknowledge the massive improvements that have been made. The national broadband plan is almost complete. Massive inroads have been made in my home county of Meath, including in the roll-out and the access it provides.”
“I apologise if I am repeating what other Members have gone through. The information is there. The plan and suggestions are effectively worked out for us. What we need now is to expand on the policy.”
“Like it or not, it may mean pulling back from the commercial one-to-one contract between the family and the provider and centralising it. That will encompass centralised State procurement, standardised device specifications and collective purchasing arrangements, having guidelines, and having additional targeted financial supports for sch…”
“I raise intergenerational music sessions, and we spoke about young people and their involvement earlier. These are also pivotal. It could be listening only, listening and singing, singing along or watching a choir. These will all help improve the multiple memory systems from episodic, semantic to implicit memory.”
“The reduction is significant - around 30% for developing cognitive impairment, 23% for all-cause dementia and 34% for Alzheimer's disease. Arts are linked to demonstrable neurological changes in the brain, lower deposits of amyloid beta, and lower numbers of lesions in the white matter of the brain.”
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“Like it or not, it may mean pulling back from the commercial one-to-one contract between the family and the provider and centralising it. That will encompass centralised State procurement, standardised device specifications and collective purchasing arrangements, having guidelines, and having additional targeted financial supports for schools serving socio-economically disadvantaged communities. Other factor can be looked at such as VAT relief, hardware refurbishment schemes and buyback programmes. That is the approach Austria and Malta take. We are rapidly moving to the point where we have to have a centrally led approach to this subject.”
“I apologise if I am repeating what other Members have gone through. The information is there. The plan and suggestions are effectively worked out for us. What we need now is to expand on the policy. The key finding in all three reports, which span the last seven years if we take into account 2019 when we began that exercise in Ratoath College, is that we risk reproducing and intensifying existing educational inequalities. Family income is the primary determinant, followed by school resources and institutional capacity. Even within that, there is variation between school sectors and governance structures. In terms of taking the learnings and recommendations from France, Estonia, Malta and Austria, there is a roadmap.”
“It made a significant contribution to discussions around the introduction of mandatory digital devices in post-primary education. It highlighted parental concerns regarding the cost and compulsory purchase. The roll-out was halted in 2020 with the Covid-19 pandemic and remote learning and having one's own device become an essential. Other than that, the long-term implications of mandated devices was largely paused rather than fully developed. In 2024, there was another report. Then, there was an OECD report in 2025, which highlighted that Ireland could benefit from a more structured and equity-driven digital education system. The models in France and Estonia provide stronger mechanisms for ensuring universal and consistent access, but they focus on the cost. Most recently, there was the July 2026 ESRI report, working paper No. 836.”
“I am thankful for the opportunity to discuss this important matter. I acknowledge the massive improvements that have been made. The national broadband plan is almost complete. Massive inroads have been made in my home county of Meath, including in the roll-out and the access it provides. That is most welcome, particularly in the area of assistive technologies for young people and older people with intellectual disabilities. It is the connectivity piece. The cost, however, is paramount. One part of me is slightly incredulous that we are having the discussing in 2026 because my experience goes back to 2018, 2019 and 2020 in Ratoath, County Meath. A Ratoath report was carried out by Ms Cora Dunne and Dr. Ann Marcus-Quinn.”
“It is a combination of approaches that I believe are required, as well as cross-community involvement, which has been so ably demonstrated by Cian and Jordan and their phenomenal support team, no doubt inspired by their dear mum looking on from above them as many have referenced. I thank colleagues for their contributions as well. It is seldom that we share moments of shared learning and empathy in the cut and thrust of politics.”
“I raise intergenerational music sessions, and we spoke about young people and their involvement earlier. These are also pivotal. It could be listening only, listening and singing, singing along or watching a choir. These will all help improve the multiple memory systems from episodic, semantic to implicit memory. There is a US health study - I cannot put my finger on the exact journal reference - that has shown that for every $1 invested in music therapy, $2.4 is saved in support costs. I will happily refer the Minister of State to an excellent book called Art cure . I have referenced it in this House previously. I have no commercial interest or otherwise in it but it is an excellent reference source. It is the science of how the arts transform our health by professor of psychobiology at University College London, Daisy Fancourt.”
“The reduction is significant - around 30% for developing cognitive impairment, 23% for all-cause dementia and 34% for Alzheimer's disease. Arts are linked to demonstrable neurological changes in the brain, lower deposits of amyloid beta, and lower numbers of lesions in the white matter of the brain. A total of 85% of people want to live at home for as long as possible if they are diagnosed with dementia. There are simple interventions for temporal orientation. Using colour, matt finishes on floor surfaces, playing birdsong in the morning and calming music in the evening can all reduce confusion related to spatial orientation, falls, aggression and violence, and can perhaps reduce the need for antipsychotic medication. These can all be incorporated into the design of age-friendly homes.”
“I commend the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, and his predecessor, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, on their actions to date and their plans going forward. They are highly commendable. I will try to be proactive and hopeful. I will share with the House the fifth and lesser known pillar of health. The results of decades of scientific studies explain why the arts, alongside diet, sleep, exercise and nature are the forgotten fifth pillar of health. In the past 20 years, dozens of studies on cognitive leisure activities, including doing crafts, learning musical instruments and engaging in cultural pursuits, including listening to music and singing, have shown a relationship with better preservation of cognition and reduced risk of cognitive problems, as manifest in dementia.”
“I thank Deputy Carrigy for instigating this session this afternoon. I also welcome our visitors in the Gallery. The contribution of family carers, home support workers, volunteers, community cafés such as Dunshaughlin Pastoral Centre, Yvonne here in the restaurant and Friday club, while not specifically an Alzheimer's service, does fantastic work along with Ratoath Community Centre and advocacy groups such as ASI. They are crucial supports to people living with dementia. I must not forget Whistlemount Day Centre in Navan for the phenomenal support it provides. However, it is worrying that the number of people living with dementia is projected to approximately double in the next 20 years. There is a deficit of health data. The services and supports must be planned and budgeted for.”
“I know this cannot be achieved without a very fluid and strong economy, but we have to look at the human economy in this instance and in future. There is an excellent opportunity in Ratoath in County Meath, where there is an urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, project with planning approved for 14 age-friendly bungalows. We also have a very active and enriching rehab and Prosper group between Ratoath and Ashbourne that would benefit hugely. The amendments to the disability Act should include the right to services and the right to housing. The Planning and Development Act 2024 should perhaps be amended to include a minimum percentage of housing.”
“First, we require a case management system that would be between the local authorities, the HSE and section 38 and section 39 organisations. The welcome transition funding for those changing from primary school to secondary school could be expanded to include transition in the area of residential planning too. There is also a need for financial supports, personalised budgets and personal assistants. We have to trust parents and advocates, and we have to allow them to control the future for their young person. Accessible transport is important in rural and urban areas. We have to value the role of the people who actually work in the area of personal assistant. We are human beings first and foremost and human doings secondly.”
“I thank Deputy Quaide and his team for bringing this motion forward. Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities refers to the equal right of disabled persons to live independently in their communities - not miles away and not in another county - to choose their residence, to have access to personal assistants and community services and to use public facilities on an equal basis, aiming to prevent isolation. All of that should be within a safeguarded environment as well, yet we have a situation where there has been a failure to plan, and that is planning to fail. What is required? There are some simple steps that can be taken, which involve inter-agency co-operation and collaboration.”
“I welcome those tentative updates. Could we firm up timelines for the publication of the land use study and particularly the timelines for the issuing of solar farm guidelines? Land use in general is particularly important because a lot of local authorities are currently preparing county development plans or variations on county development plans. If we are to really have a macro-consideration of all the elements of sovereignty and of security - yes, we are part of the greater Union - we have to begin from our home standpoint. There is great value to be achieved in transportation costs, with a shorter route from farm to fork, and in terms of the reduction in additives to food if it is produced as close as possible to home.”
“There is then the point of defending ourselves and biosecurity and the food that we eat, whether it is imported or we produce it ourselves. With the balance of land availability to produce the food we need but also to produce renewable energy, we have possibly a defence situation. My condensed question stems from Canadian Prime Minister Carney's presentation last week at Trinity College. It is something he also said, I think, at the World Economic Forum, and that is the question about sovereignty. There is much debate and discourse on social media and in the media on the interpretation of sovereignty vis-à-vis borders, migration etc. However, I am going to link sovereignty to our ability to feed ourselves, fuel ourselves and defend ourselves along the lines of the remarks from the Prime Minister of Canada.”
“The second issue concerns a family of seven brothers - seven sons and three generations of succession farming in action. They are all tillage farmers and acknowledge the excellent support of the tillage support payment that was made. However, grain from 2025 is still in storage and we have imports from other markets with genetically modified components to them. The third issue is a land-use plan, which we are still waiting on, and the implications for renewable fuel and solar production. The tillage farmers are having difficulty accessing land to lease or purchase to produce the native grains and legumes that we require. We know we have the cost-of-living crisis and the issues around the cost of fuel. They are all linked.”
“I hope I have the correct question because I submitted two. There are four issues that are separate and significant but share a common thread. Last November in Kells, County Meath, there was an important Samhain festival and food symposium. It was an excellent symposium attended by Darina Allen, where a lot of topics around food security, food safety, biosecurity, health and soil health were discussed, including the school meals programme, the possibility of sourcing these meals as locally as possible and integrating local suppliers, chefs, shops such as SuperValu and Centra, etc. There were excellent books on the issues of ultra-processed food and the production of food. All of that was linked in to chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, which are on the increase. That is the first issue.”
“In the spirit of being the good neighbour as per the Dublin Airport Authority's website, a good neighbour in this instance is about reducing the health impacts, recognising the benefits of the airport and recognising our island status but trying to factor in, plan and implement for a win-win situation for our residents.”
“This is a reduction in the total impact, not a redistribution of it, which I can understand is a fear. I am somebody who would be living in the affected swathe where the straight-ahead mode be complied with. In the spirit of being solution focused, I seriously ask for this consideration to be acted on. However, first of all, I wish for it to be analysed. I have requested the safety reports that relate to the current 30-degree departure, and the subsequent 56-degree turn on departure from 28R. I await those. This is something that can be implemented within a very short timeframe.”
“The North Runway Technical Group has published geographic information system, GIS, analysis. It has been measured on the published departure centre lines against the convention of an overflown swathe within 1.5 km based on the UK's department of transport track keeping norms and an affected swathe within 3 km of the track flown. It gives the total population within each corridor. Regarding the statistics in relation to Fingal and east Meath and the routes flown since February 2023, 13,923 residents have been overflown, and 30,540 residents are in the affected swathe. On the straight-ahead design based on the 2004 to 2005 environmental impact statement, EIS, for the 2007 application, the figures here are stark. This is where the solution focus is. A total of 2,888 residents are overflown and 17,481 residents are in the affected area.”
“Operating in dependent mode and releasing the north runway departures straight ahead on the omnidirectional procedure changes nothing except the direction of the turn. I repeat that it does not reduce the capacity that Dublin already operates. I hate to sound repetitious but the solution is here in reversing a change and the impact on the 30,000 people. Without referring directly to challenges that exist, we are aware that there are legal challenges take place. In the spirit of offering a solution, it is to reinforce this. I apologise for my repetition but there is a solution to this, which then it allows moving forward without opposition. Reversing the change reduces both the overflown and the affected population. The interim arrangement will deliver that reduction immediately.”
“Again, this reverses a change rather than making a change. I wish to raise the overflight of Meath. The current situation that we have is the 30-degree separation from the missed approach path of the parallel runway, 28L. That separation is a requirement of independent, segregated, parallel operations. It does not apply when the two runways operate in dependent mode. Dublin already operates in a dependent mode in this respect. The north runway already holds whenever there is a missed approach on the south runaway. The dependent operation is not something that AirNav would have to create. It is already there. It operates in constrained conditions, such as strong winds. It is the co-ordination process.”
“In this instance, the Government can commission a qualified procedure designer independent of AirNav and DAA with a proper published brief to design the durable solution, turning the 28L missed approach - the south runaway missed approach - rather than the departure and run it through a full four pillar balanced approach. Everyone wins - the DAA keeps its capacity and growth, the residents come out from under the routes and AirNav and the IAA get a defensible design. We are solving the problem ourselves and then moving forward with the Bill in the intended mode. However, the affected residents are my primary concern. The Minister knows from the committee that there have been presentations on the health impacts to residents in the area, which is estimated at a cost of €800 million per annum.”
“We currently have DAA and AirNav flying 28R departures straight ahead on the omnidirectional departure route DAA already publishes, operated using the dependent mode. That is the mode Dublin Airport already operates whenever there is a missed approach on the parallel runway. Given that the straight-ahead path follows the corridor the original assessment reserved for departures, every population count falls under this approach. The number directly overflown drops by nearly 80% and the number in the wider affected swathe falls by more than 40%. This fix reduces the impact rather than moving it onto anyone else. That has been cited repeatedly. It stops the steep low-altitude turn and only needs procedures and a mode that already exist. It is a permanent and independently designed solution.”
“This is a solution to the issues facing the St. Margaret's residents and the Meath East residents. It is provided by the North Runway Technical Group, a voluntary group comprising residents and pilots with technical expertise. There is a way out. It reverses a change rather than making a change. The 28R departure routes flown since 2023 have turned aircraft off the straight-ahead procedures for air navigation services-aircraft operations, PANS-OPS, default without the safety assessment that change required. Returning these routes to the default removes the unassessed change. Most of it can start this month with no loss to the capacity Dublin Airport operates today. Indeed, there is a possible opportunity for increased capacity.”
“I am not a member of that committee. I am grateful to Deputy Michael Murphy for his indulgence in letting me speak there. As we know, there are many affected residents in Meath East. There are people who bought homes in the constituency who never anticipated being overflown. The impact of the noise preferential route on these communities was never measured. Consultation with Meath County Council was never considered. Consultation was not extended to that council. I welcome the consideration within the Bill regarding public consultation in respect of environmental impact assessments being extended to Meath County Council. I will read something into the record. I hope it will come in under time. Parts of it have previously been read into the record. As I have said before, I am a solutions-focused person.”
“I had not expected to speak yet but I will take the opportunity. Things have moved very quickly. The benefit of Dublin Airport to Meath East is unquestionable. The opportunities for employment, the increase in the number of residents or constituents in the area and the opportunities for travel are all to our advantage. However, in recent times, the residents of Meath East have, without consultation, been affected by the increased number of flights to and from Dublin Airport. I will speak in particular about the north runway. My comments will be no surprise to the Minister, his officials or the Taoiseach as I have raised these issues previously. As I have said before, I try to focus on solutions. In that vein, I will read solutions into the Dáil record, some of which were conveyed to the Committee on Transport.”
“We refer to the area of personalised budgets and personal assistants minimally in the report but that is an area for future development. It underlies all our work on the committee. I will finish with a quotation from Dr. Margaret Mead, the famous American anthropologist. She had fantastic observations of the social norms of her day but they are very relevant at this point in time. The Minister of State made a similar comment this afternoon. Dr. Mead said, "The solution to adult problems tomorrow depends in large measure upon the way our children grow up today."”
“There is indeed and there is an excellent book called Art Cure: the Science of How the Arts Transform our Health . It is also very beneficial to elder care. I just wanted to flag that. In the area of recruitment, I commend the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Lawless, and the Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, on the move towards the increased college places for occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and students of psychology, and for the reforms that are coming in the area of education. These are most welcome. I will give a particular mention to Dunboyne College of Further Education, which is now linking in with Enable Ireland and with the HSE primary care teams. To conclude, I would highly recommend all Members to please read the report.”
“We had the team from St. James's primary school in to visit us. I have been to St. Bernadette's. We also have St. Mary's in County Meath. This is not to take away for one minute from the work that is being done in special classes. I would also like to commend the library services through the local authorities, in particular Meath County Council. Through the healthy Meath programme, it has have embraced well-being classes and story massage through Una Curran, who has also done this online with other local authorities. If colleagues would like information to that effect, I can pass on her details. There is a whole area referenced in the report on art and music therapy. I will bring one book to the attention of Members. The question arises of the evidence base and whether there is there an evidence base for all these integrated therapies.”
“I appreciate that officials are looking for an evidence base but I would like to flag something with the Minister of State that I noticed on social media, which is the Department of agriculture funded equine therapy and programmes that are available around the country for the children of farming communities who have additional needs. If the Department of agriculture can do it, perhaps we could see more of that provided through the Minister of State's Department. I am very happy to work with him on that. Well-being supports are well proven to help sustain inclusion for students with complex needs. As referred to on page 25 of the report, there is a requirement for holistic, multidisciplinary, social and emotional supports. We had a fantastic visit to the Corpus Christi school in Limerick where we met with the team there.”
“The key starting point is that children's ability to learn and engage meaningfully in school is linked to emotional regulation, psychological safety, and access to timely therapeutic supports. The Minister of State referred to the Liskennett centre and the fantastic work being done there through the medium of equine assisted therapy. This is the type of approach that helps with regulation and helps with the release of oxytocin, which biochemically helps bring about calmness. When we have calmness and regulation, the channels open up for learning. The good work at Liskennett is being replicated at Clonalvy in County Meath with Joy Murray and at Stewarts Care in Kilcloon through Terri Brosnan and her team there. We wish to see more of that.”
“That is essential. There is a task force within the Department of the Taoiseach. There is the Minister of State's Department of Education and Youth. We have the Department of Children, Equality and Disability. It is about more of those links. I am being cheeky now but the Cathaoirleach of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters is here. I am jumping ahead but I would like to see more attendances at our committee meetings, either in public or in private session, so we are very much aware of what the different groups are doing and that we are all on the same page, so we can deliver outcomes for children as quickly as possible. I will refer to some of the points that witnesses have emphasised.”
“When the bell rang, as kids all we wanted to do was get out, get into the car and go home. We did not quite understand why mam might have been the extra hour or even the extra hour and a half or two hours after school. What she was actually doing at that time was ad hoc support and assistance to children in her care who needed it. Cross check that with the current situation with the EPSEN Act, the review thereof and the recommendations, and things are moving in the right direction. Again I refer to my impatience. What I would like to see, and I think the signs are good, is that the education, health and disability supports that are currently fragmented across regions and perhaps across schools and between individual children, will all move to a point where we have inter-agency co-ordination and we have joined-up working.”
“Haran, the principal there, welcomed the recent funding for that transition piece from primary to secondary, and secondary to tertiary or to service provision. That is most welcome. The Minister of State is hitting the ground running so more would be most welcome. The objective of Article 24 and the right that underpins all this is that all learners with disabilities can access an inclusive, high-quality education system with the appropriate supports, with reasonable accommodation, and without discrimination. The results in the report will address all that in succession. It is fair to say at this stage that national policy has evolved considerably. I cast my mind back to the time when I was a child and my mother was a primary school teacher in County Meath.”
“What has become evident, and it is manifest in Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD, is that the focus now has to be needs based and on the needs of the child, and not necessarily set in concrete in a diagnostic process. We are moving towards a change in that area. I am quite an impatient person so I suppose I am always thinking of what actions can we actually implement. We are part of a five-year cycle and I hope the recommendations in the report do not take the full term to achieve implementation. I will give an example of where action has come about quite quickly, and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, referred to it. I visited St. Bernadette's in Letterkenny on Monday. My niece is on the staff there. Mr.”
“I appreciate that whole school communities have had quite a lot of turmoil and policy change to grapple with in recent years. They have risen to the challenge wholeheartedly and are producing fantastic results for our children and for our future, while trying to manage change in policy with finite resource and oft times very scarce resources. That places immense stress on the system. They are then trying to co-ordinate communication with parents, linking in with the health sector, and linking in with all the different service providers that may be appropriate along the way.”
“I thank Deputy Quinlivan for chairing our committee so ably and for tolerating a lot of toing and froing and time overruns, but the purpose and spirit committee members brought to the task at hand is manifest in the report. I urge all Members of both Houses and officials in all Departments to pay special attention to it. The report runs to 42 pages. Pages 9 to 11 are the key pages because they contain the 33 recommendations. None of our work would have been possible without the submissions, in-person attendance and work of the secretariat in the background, keeping us on the straight and narrow and providing research and guidance. We had contributions from special needs assistants, personal assistants, teachers, allied healthcare professionals, service providers at the coalface and the National Council of Special Education.”
“That is not really feasible if they have to give 24 hours of advanced notice to order their seat on the bus. A bus may come along that does not have the dropped floor or the bus stop - which I know is the remit of the local authority - is not sufficient to equalise the levels for them to alight the bus. There are simple solutions on offer in this regard. For active and sustainable travel, funding is required for Ratoath and Dunshaughlin to ensure pedestrian safety and to slow vehicles. Walkability audits were carried out two or three years ago. Funding for that would be very welcome. I implore the Ministers of State, Deputies Buttimer and Canney, and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to ensure that Meath's public transport options are expanded and optimised before the remit of the NTA is expanded.”
“If there was a QR code at the bus stop and on the buses, that would seriously improve the real time situation and feed into the app we all use. On tap on, tap off, are we seriously talking about tit being three years away? If you visit the UK or France and do not have an Oyster card or a Lignes d'Azur card, you can take out your bank card and tap on. I know there are limitations to importing Leap information but all of these simple things will encourage customer buy-in. As a member of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters, it would be completely remiss of me not to flag the most serious issue. I refer here, and I stand to be corrected, to the breach of Article 9 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to live well within their communities.”
“The delays are caused by traffic congestion. It is a chicken-and-egg situation. If the service is provided to and from Meath, commuters will use it. It will take more vehicles off the road and the congestion, air quality and all of the other issues will be alleviated. In the area of complaints and customer feedback, Liz who works with me suggested to the NTA something which we see in other jurisdictions, namely a simple QR code at a bus stop that can be scanned. Otherwise, people have to log on to the TFI website, which is cumbersome. People are worried at that point as to whether they should run for the train at the M3 Parkway or hitch a lift. I have often gone with two or three people when we have been left behind, put them into my car and told them to text their parents to say they were with me and that we were heading for the train.”
“A great deal of work is being done in that regard, but I caution as to whether we could have park-and-ride facilities to the north of Ashbourne, Ratoath and Dunshaughlin in particular, because the traffic through Meath is funnelled from Cavan, south Monaghan and parts of Louth. It is no longer the spoke effect of travel directly to the city centre. We have travel east and west to workplaces in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and Fingal. Transport options need to reflect that movement of people. The 109A service to Dublin Airport and, very importantly, Dublin City University has been seriously curtailed. Students under pressure to make exams or lectures are having to get off buses in Phibsborough and switch over if the 109 or the 103 are running late, as they invariably are through no fault of the drivers involved.”
“The reason is the traffic jams and the fact that certain buses do not show up. A simple example is USB faults on some buses, some of which were off the road for two days as a result of the turnaround time and the knock-on effects. My concerns are well founded. Before going out to the other urban conurbations, can we please get County Meath up to scratch? About three years ago, I carried out a survey. We are looking for a link bus to the M3 Parkway. We received 1,200 signatures of known persons within 36 hours, so there is massive need for that service. Park-and-ride facilities fall under the remit of the NTA.”
“I have to say that I seriously envy this city in the context of the fleet of very young vehicles that traverse it. I might get on to a groaning, creaking 171 or 161 to get back home to County Meath. There is definitely room for improvement in that regard. We welcome the extension of the bus corridor to the M3 Parkway and the announcement of the increase in rail services. That will be a game-changer. On the bus in the morning, I might take a photo of the traffic backed up along by Kepak. At that stage, I am usually sitting on the bridge in Clonee wondering if I will make the disability matters committee meeting at 9.30 a.m. on a Wednesday morning. I might frantically send a text ahead, run a bit and walk a bit along O'Connell Street in order to get in here on time.”
“Even on social media as it stands, we have residents raising their concerns about their commute and whether they will relocate. I try to be solution-focused. Since 2016, I started the process of meetings with Bus Éireann. In 2018, we added the NTA to those meetings. Everybody was courteous, lots of solutions were put forward and there was listening and hearing to some degree, but what need now in County Meath is action. We are very aware of Bus Éireann and the recruitment issues that beleaguered the organisation up to quite recently. It informed me a couple of months ago that drivers and mechanics have been recruited but that a fleet is now required. I am concerned that the NTA focus tends to be myopic. I get off the bus on O'Connell Street and walk up to Leinster House at the beginning of the day and do the reverse in the evening.”
“I know, having met some of the currently impacted landowners, that there will be some constructive solutions coming forward in that regard. We absolutely have to aim for the best offering to reach the widest number of residents in the county, particularly for those who commute out of the county and, more importantly, for that increasing number of people commuting into our relatively new FDI companies that have located in the county. I will provide some context as to where I am going with this. Primarily, I have a major concern about the expansion of the remit of the NTA because we have some legacy issues where the public transport offering is not keeping pace with the growth of the county and the needs of residents.”
“I do not have the exact figures for 2026 but we know that the county’s growth was 13%. In my municipal district of Ratoath, coupled with Ashbourne, the population growth has been closer to 30%, hence why I said the area is under strong urban influence. If we also take into account decarbonisation zones, of which there are nine in Meath, the top contributor to carbon emissions across the board is transport. It would, therefore, strike one as being a no-brainer to optimise our public transport offering in County Meath, particularly in the areas of increasing population and those closest to the city. I welcome the announcement last week of the preferred option route for the Navan rail line. There are plenty of opportunities in that regard, even through the public consultation.”
“I preface my remarks about public transport in Meath East and my reservations about the extension of the remit of the National Transport Authority by commending the individual staff members across all ranks within the National Transport Authority, Bus Éireann and Irish Rail, as applicable to County Meath. However, I will list off the following reservations. I could probably echo everything that Deputies Gogarty and Lahart said. As County Meath is a rural county, albeit one under strong urban influence, I will provide some rural context to the debate. Last week, Oireachtas Members received a briefing from the senior management team of Meath County Council. Our population, as per the 2022 census, stood at 220,000 people. A total of 60,834 drove to work, while 4,959 went to work by bus and a further 1,241 travelled to work by train.”
“I discovered that the primary reason for presentation is marital breakdown. I take this opportunity to link with what Deputy Gibney said in the context of the prevention, mediation and family resource centres. I acknowledge the increased funding for family resource centres, but Tusla is at the beginning, the middle and the end of all of this. Fiscal resourcing is necessary but empathy is absolutely critical. I trust the Minister to work with all stakeholders, including the recently formed cross-party committee, to ensure the child is prioritised and mothers and fathers are supported. If this does not happen, lifelong trauma will ensue, and the body bares the scars.”
“I met a mother yesterday, purely by chance, at a committee meeting being held to discuss another matter. The incident stuck all of us who heard about it. The woman in question has two daughters. Between them, they have been the subject of 32 referrals to Tusla in four years. This is linked to a domestic violence case. The referral cases have been closed because they do not meet certain criteria. There absolutely needs to be a root-and-branch reform of the system. Data, in this instance, is linked entirely to families and children. There is also a link to housing policy. Take the example of Meath County Council and those presenting for emergency housing accommodation. It took three years, but I kept asking for a breakdown of those presentations number of presentations.”
“These have come forward from parents whom I have had the privilege to meet and hear from. The first is the automatic appointment of an independent advocate or guardian ad litem in any legal process involving a non-verbal or severely disabled child. I am linking my comments specifically to the joint committee work because there is a very timely overlap. I reference Frederick Douglass, who said, "It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men." I will briefly refer to Tusla. Many Members have probably gone to that topic before me. This is relevant to an interaction with a parent as recently as yesterday. We have approximately 100,000 referrals. In the absence of accurate data regarding repetition as to the number of revolving-door incidents, this distils down to 51,000 children.”