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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“There is a win-win for all parties. I know the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is well aware but I urge the Minister of State, summer recess or not, to please take action on all of this. That is even without taking into account the regional opportunities. I made a submission to that effect to the national planning framework review some months ago. There are solutions here and we collectively must have a sense of urgency and action on this. I can understand the statutory review, the seven-year process and the September end, but when there are solutions there to provide a win-win for all parties I ask that we at least look at an earlier opportunity here. Regarding the noise monitoring, as it currently stands there are margins for error in the existing process. Residents, if they are impacted, monitor their complaints.”
“There is also another health impact that has come to light since Tuesday and that is the bird strike to an Aer Lingus aircraft that was headed for New York. There is a bird-rich compensatory habitat that Dublin Airport Authority owns in the area of Kilsallaghan. If we take that highly significant and potential, but thankfully averted, catastrophe, and include that in the mix, the whole issue of the flight paths that are deviating from the 2007 permission that was granted would add to the urgency and the need to take all of this in the round. As I said at the outset, the North Runway Technical Group, comprising commercial and private pilots, has provided a solution that will allow the growth in capacity, safeguard the residents and lessen - if not knock out altogether - the noise impact that is currently experienced.”
“In or around September 2026 is what the Minister of State said was the time. However, we know more from a presentation from residents of St. Margaret's The Ward and of Meath East, including Ashbourne, Ratoath and the Wotton areas. They had a launch in Buswell's Hotel of a health impact study by Dr. Pat McCloughan. With a healthcare background, it is something to sit there, listen and see the figures. Some €800,000 per year is the estimated health impact cost on approximately 30,000 residents who are impacted. I can appreciate the attempt to get the balance between advancing the Bill and the pending statutory review after seven years in September 2026 but I would implore, based on the health impacts and the significant cost, a revision of that.”
“As the Minister of State stated, from the correspondence of the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, the EPA was designated in 2006 as the national authority to include Fingal County Council, liaise with it and Dublin Airport Authority for noise mapping etc., and the EPA would give guidance to those bodies. Yet, I have email correspondence to a member of the North Runway Technical Group in the form of two replies from the EPA from August and September 2024 where the EPA states categorically that it has not been assigned any functions in relation to noise from aircraft and cannot assume responsibility for a particular area unless required by statute or by decision of the Government. That is pretty much repeated then in the correspondence of 14 August 2024. I would be one to say "Yes, absolutely" if there is a review coming.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit and I thank Deputy Smith as well for affording us the opportunity to discuss this issue. I acknowledge and put on record the willingness of the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to meet resident groups and the North Runway Technical Group as recently as 18 June this year. Those meetings - any that I have been able to sit in at - have taken the thrust of always being solution-focused. I will try not to duplicate what colleagues have said already and I will edit my comments. Regarding the Bill specifically and the possibility of the transfer of functions from Fingal County Council and the Aircraft Noise Competent Authority to the EPA, I am a bit confused.”
“In particular, she says, if people can form a sentence coherently and stand up for themselves, they are on their own. The children are unheard and the Tusla reports go to the abuser, risking child safety. We must do better. I trust that the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, will do better, that he has empathy and that he wants to help victims.”
“They have a lack of money or maintenance to get back on track. Hotline numbers tend to pass them from pillar to post, forcing children back to the very environment that they have escaped from. Blocked from access to her own files, she has been called "dysregulated" for pushing back. She asks when are people going to wake up to the flaws in the system. She said that, having watched and lived the experience for five years, she is an expert. Had she spent the time in college, she would have a degree in law now. She cites the following system failings: the Garda not having the power or resources to prosecute in a timely manner to protect the vulnerable from the court system; the costs of legal support and supportive therapies; and no supports in respect of starting over after abuse.”
“She was brought in and threatened with six weeks in Mountjoy if the children were not handed over to their father. Custody arrangements were changed because the mother refused to force the children to go to the father. The mother was stopped from seeing the children because access time was owed to their father. A complaint was made against the judge but the Judicial Council cannot act. She has had a refusal to release files, and the woman has been forced to represent herself in court. Another report has been ordered in the Circuit Court. This week marks year five of her court experience and she wishes to give this feedback thus far: women leaving domestic and gender-based violence or abusive control face a bigger challenge once they leave. They are dealing with a lack of structure and cross-communication between organisations.”
“There have been threats by the court to the mother because the children refused to attend access visits. Garda liaison for the children did begin to read between the lines of concern and a coercive control complaint began. First off, her file was pronounced missing. Since then, she has been refused access to her files. Members of the free legal aid team have not complied with the needs of the client, in her opinion, and have been afraid to push back against the system as it is their employer. A second report was thrown out. A new one, the third one, was implemented for overnight access despite the wishes of the children and the mother. In December 2023, the mother was issued with a warrant to attend court but it was the last day of school for the children and she advised the court she had no childcare.”
“The refuge, the local authority and legal aid were advised incorrectly of the circumstances and she was ordered to hand over the children without seeing a judge. She acquired a safety order. She persisted with multiple visits to the Garda station, and one garda listened. Reports were ordered but her concerns were passed off by Tusla as parenting issues. A recommendation for parenting courses and children's support therapies ensued. There was a criminal case against her partner with video evidence but as it was a first offence, there was a slap on the wrist. Unfortunately, no appeal was lodged within the ten-day period. There were repeated breaches of the safety order but they were repeatedly dismissed. The children have been terrified. All agencies were notified but there was no response.”
“I am going to share with the Minister a Meath East constituent's lived experience of domestic violence. I have her permission and I have anonymised everything. She is a 42-year-old and has been 19 years in an engaged relationship with three children. She was mortgage-approved and she had a wedding booked. During that time, she achieved two third level degrees. Her final assault was in 2020, when she was slammed through a shower door and she fled with her children to a refuge. She had been recorded and controlled for ten years. She was summoned to court by her abuser days after the final assault. Gardaí and Tusla were called in as she was a safety risk, with no mention of the assaults.”
“The gap in the middle is a serious issue and one that must be dealt with in terms of our sustainability going forward and the viability of farming but also, ultimately, the delivery of a quality, fair-priced product to the consumer.”
“We absolutely have to look at a list of essential nourishing foodstuffs for price consideration and perhaps look at establishing, with an independent dietician, that essential list of dietary staples. The reasons for that are twofold: the health benefits but also to ensure a fair price for the farmer or the grower. The knock-on benefit of that will be national resilience. It will also help to secure local rural economies and to ensure the quality and the health benefits of the food product. I will give the House an example from the Irish Grain Growers group. Imagine this: the price of grain today, be it wheat, barley or oats, is no more than the price 40 years ago. Yet, all the contributions in this Chamber relate to the current cost to the consumer.”
“I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward this important subject for discussion. At the risk of being pedantic, I have said it before but I will say it again and continue to say it: there is a very important saying, let food be your medicine. It is the foundation of health. The health basis and the knock-on health effects of this issue are yet to play out. I totally understand the role of the competition authority and the need for the role of the Agri-Food Regulator to be strengthened. That is an area where, as it stands, interference is limited. However, it should not limit us in our suggestions. I will make two suggestions this morning.”
“Regarding commencement notices, there is the issue of the extension of duration after two years. As for the process of flipping, one entity gets planning permission and does not build but sells on, and there is a margin. Those are a few more areas for possible future consideration.”
“There is the potential for the use of farm buildings for conversion to housing for rural residents who are not necessarily ready, physically, mentally or otherwise, for the transition to urban ageing. There is also potential from an agricultural perspective. The land cost would absolutely be lower than the urban land cost. With regard to homelessness, I can give an example from Meath County Council. The primary cause of people seeking emergency accommodation in Meath is marital breakdown. Straightaway, there is a need to move from one family home to two properties. However, I am not aware of anything happening in that space in terms of mediation, support and so on. With regard to infrastructure, the town centre first approach has been ignored by many local authorities. This needs to be revisited.”
“There is one glaringly obvious area, which is zero VAT on new homes in the North of Ireland. Again, it is something that could be examined. I look forward to the Minister's dereliction plan. There is great potential there, similar to what the Danes do with their andelsbolig model and, closer to us, Leeds has the LILAC co-operative housing model. As the Minister said at the committee meeting, the infrastructure is there and the price of land may be lower in some cases, but it will allow that opportunity for rightsizing and for age-friendly housing. It is definitely something that can be worked on. There is another area I would like to flag with him. I am effectively in the commuter belt. I am in a little urban pocket between Ratoath and Dunshaughlin that has many older people who have lived all their lives in the country.”
“A good actuary, taking into account the loss of CAP income, the possible loss of solar farm income, the age to retirement of a farmer and the need to build in a margin could come to a fair price that would allow the affordability piece to be worked out in the future. Another example is from Ashbourne, County Meath, where councillors voted against the total provision of social housing. There is a huge need for affordable housing in that area but, again, the purchase price will never deliver affordable social or, indeed, affordable private purchase there. It is another serious area that has to be watched. Another area is that of VAT. We take an all-Ireland approach to some issues, such as cardiovascular health, and we have the Dublin-Belfast economic corridor, so we are moving in the direction of more and more processes being all-Ireland.”
“The developer paid £220,000, so there was a gap. This was unzoned agricultural land in 1998. Similarly, NAMA had a parcel of land on the outskirts of Ratoath. It was put on the market in 2015 with an asking price of €2.7 million. In 2018, it was withdrawn. In 2019, it was put back on again with a guide price of €7.5 million. At the time, I was poking and prodding Meath County Council and making a serious effort to get it to engage with NAMA and to get NAMA to engage with it, but nothing was happening. Lo and behold, the 27.6 acres were sold for €16.8 million, which works out at €625,000 per acre for a mix of zoned and agricultural land. We are starting from a very high base. I know that, given our history, the issue of the price of the land is very sensitive.”
“I thank the Minister for the briefing and for the time he has put into committee meetings, which were very informative. I welcome elements of this amendment Bill, in particular with regard to judicial reviews and what I would call the disassociated objectors from one end of the country to the other. With the developer-led model, we cannot lose sight of serving the common good in tandem with the delivery of infrastructure, particularly social infrastructure. I want to flag that. With regard to the area of viability and affordability, while I am probably being a bit cheeky, I will speak to possible future amendments in areas that will directly underpin the affordability piece. I will give an example of an area close to me in Ratoath, County Meath. The price of an acre in 1994 was £30,000. In 1998, the farmer was paid £120,000 an acre.”
“Failure to do so would be ignorant, inconsiderate and reckless abandonment of prospective host communities and those who are in genuine need of international protection. At this point in time, there is a high risk of a fracture in community relations among people who are fearful for their safety. Can Ireland avail of the crisis and force majeure regulation derogations from the EU pact on migration and asylum given the crisis in provision in the areas I have covered? I note that this regulation only comes into effect in July 2026 but time is necessary.”
“However, in raising the issue, I was trying to establish the truth of the matter and to differentiate between those with a legitimate need for protection and who were fleeing danger and those who were economic migrants or those attracted by social welfare benefits. In this instance, I am going to share the very hushed concerns of constituents in my area. In the profound interest of social cohesion, Ireland's ability to cope with inward migration must be assessed across all of the pressurised sectors. I refer to housing, healthcare, elder care, education, special education, transport and community infrastructure. To be blunt, we need to solve Ireland's key areas of inflammation and to plan ahead for future generations in clearly defined timelines.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as a bheith anseo inniu. I take on board the opening remarks of the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and his comprehensive explanation of the procedures involved in these three out of the four motions we were expecting today. I understand the need for a common approach to procedures for international protection within the European Union. I will keep my remarks quite simple and, I hope, honest. I believe it is fair to say that everyone wants a fair, efficient and humane asylum policy for those seeking asylum and those prospectively hosting people seeking international protection. I first raised the issue of inward migration with Meath County Council in September 2023. At that time, I was accused of being far-right and was called all sorts of other names.”
“The suggestion is that the GPO may be used as an Irish academy and house of fine art similar to Stockholm and the École des Beaux-Arts en Paris. Something like this would be an appropriate use when we think of the poets' rebellion of 1916. It would revolutionise art education in Ireland. It would give us an institution that would rally our national pride and our identity and it would be a catalyst for regeneration of the north inner city. If we think of the connection to stained glass, the Harry Clarke studio that was founded on North Frederick Street and that mini-studio incorporated into the Hugh Lane Gallery, perhaps that is a fitting suggestion for a hybrid that would encompass the objectives of all Members of the Dáil.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas Cheann-Comhairle, an Aire agus an Teachtá Ó Snodaigh as ucht an díospóireacht seo anocht. I have read through the report of the interdepartmental group on Dublin city and the task force recommendation. Pardon me if I am beginning to wonder if I am getting mixed up here. I see a reference to OPW management and a transfer. I do not see a mention of privatisation so if there is another document, can somebody please send it to me? I see a reference to Government offices and public services. In the spirit of, or in reference to, culture and a possible use, the following is a suggestion that has been put to me by Mr. Evan Connon, a neighbour who is a master craftsman in the area of stained glass.”
“I have given details of local projects in County Meath to the clerk to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Disability Matters. Supporting successful local initiatives that can be funded in the short to medium term must be a priority. I look forward to working with the Minister and the Minister of State to expedite that.”
“Twenty-one years passed between the Act being passed and the report being published. We need timelines and they need to be speeded up. We need the use of data for proper forward planning and multi-annual funding to ensure services reach the children who need them most. I welcome the publication of the report. I suggest a review period of two or three years in future to keep on top of the complexities and the urgency. Student support plans are very welcome. Full inclusion and the change in language will bring out the best in all children. I draw particular attention to sections 7 and 9 of the report, on the importance of transitions from primary to secondary and so on, and the importance of well-being supports and mental health services. These are areas that could be delivered in the short term, including, for example, nurture rooms.”
“They can afford to invest in their people and facilities. HIQA must be adequately resourced and whistleblowers must be listened to. Forward planning for ageing well is critical. Life is precious and the later lives of those who built this country must be planned for, safeguarded and valued.”
“Twenty years ago, the Leas Cross scandal had a significant impact, leading to the setting up of HIQA. Standards of care improved and robust inspection systems were established for a time. In August 2020, the report of the Covid-19 nursing homes expert panel made 86 recommendations, including a framework for safe staffing and skills mix. Whistleblowing GPs voiced their concerns. Marcus de Brún and others, now awaiting fitness-to-practice hearings at a time when we need GPs in communities, had their concerns ignored and were vilified. As of now, the framework is still in development and remains to be implemented. Interdepartmental collaboration on this issue is most welcome. The forthcoming safeguarding legislation is to be commended. Private operators must uphold the highest standards of care.”
“Everybody here is ageing. We are here to represent older people and it is incumbent on us to act with a focus on solutions and a sense of urgency. Most people will, hopefully, age well at home with the necessary community and healthcare supports initiated by older person's councils through the Age Friendly Ireland initiatives. I think of Ita Healy and Barbara McCool in Meath, who are tireless champions for older people. Some people, for a multitude of reasons, will require nursing home support. There are many excellent places in Meath East where caring, competent and empathetic teams look after residents. However, so much is based on trust. The questions that must be asked are whether residents are safe, if the care is excellent and how care can be improved and provided as close to home as possible.”
“The transparency of the sponsor must be to the forefront of our consciousness. We get the best outcome for the patient, but we should be fully conversant with all parties involved in achieving that outcome.”
“There is an absolute need in that regard. It is beyond our scope, but on 19 May, we signed up to the WHO pandemic treaty, so there will be a connection between our national system and the WHO system. That is something that we also have to have on our radar in the context of Deputy O'Rourke's Bill. At the end of the day, this is about getting the maximum benefit in a transparent fashion for the patient, first and foremost, and for us. We are moving towards a State-funded drug reimbursement scheme, which is to name only one of the devices used in the public and the private sectors. We are using the National Treatment Purchase Fund to avail of the private hospital system to help clear waiting lists. There is that inextricable link now between the public and private health services.”
“We are now in a space in this country where, because of shortages of product, there is the sourcing of many unlicensed or exempt medicinal products from companies that may not actually be members of IPHA. There may be gaps in information, but I am saying this purely to put it into context. I will go through the information after this debate. Another example is that of the World Health Organization, WHO, and the World Health Assembly, WHA. The WHA is effectively the executive of the WHO. It was initially set up to be 100% funded by the member states. According to information from the WHA website, though, the funding is 84% from philanthropy and 16% from the member states currently. The philanthropic section has undeniable links to industry funding. There are different pathways. It has been that way for many years.”
“Difficult and all as they are to navigate, econometric models suggest - the evidence is there - that marketing has more influence on drug usage patterns than the publication of new evidence. Therefore, an in-depth exploration of the proposal is required. There has been a lot of information gathered over the past 30 years from the United Kingdom. It is quite weighty research. I wish to mention the matter of voluntary self-regulation codes of practice. The very word "voluntary" must have a red ring around it. Disclosures can be made on the IPHA website. Even a simple review of the current processes, and possibly changing the description to "must" rather than "can", will instil confidence and contribute to transparency. I note that this method of voluntary disclosure is only mandatory for IPHA members.”
“The patient and the State must know that there is no bias in the system. I have a couple of suggestions that may be helpful for today and for whatever the outcome or decision by Deputy O'Rourke is. If companies want to help to inform patients about health, they could perhaps pay into a central independent body, that could then give grants to people with a track record of giving evidence-based information to the public. As a pharmacist who no longer practises, I believe that any company running a disease awareness campaign should declare in its advertising that it is doing so because it is developing or marketing a product to treat that ailment. Similarly, all educational materials should bear the same declaration. I will not go too deep into this because I struggle with it, despite having had to study some of it for a time.”
“If we look back to the foundation of medicine, which underpins all of our endeavours through health services and those working to deliver them, the Hippocratic oath is founded on the principle "First, do no harm". That persistent balance of risk and benefit has to be paramount in all decisions that we take. Everything must be patient focused from the outset. If we take a business analogy, which is probably linked to our national focus on economics, economic development and GDP, as has been said on many previous occasions, if we consider the well-being of our citizens, then as important as value for money and risk-benefit analysis are for fiscal prudence, they are of paramount importance for both the patient and the entity responsible for reimbursement - in this case, the State.”
“Gabhaim buíochás leis an gCeann Comhairle, an Aire Stáit agus an Teachta Uí Ruairc. I thank Deputy O'Rourke for raising this most important issue. I thank the Minister of State for providing the Minister for Health's quite comprehensive briefing notes. I have only skimmed through them, but I will refer to them. I have to state the obvious. We have an ageing and increasing population, with a rise in chronic diseases, new diseases and increasing reliance on health services, drug interventions and surgeries. All of this will come at a significant cost to the individual patient and, of equal importance, the State, from the perspective of reimbursement.”
“I have several questions on the National Treatment Purchase Fund and the treatment abroad scheme. These are symptoms of system failure. If the costs ploughed into these schemes went into the public system, would we have little or any need for them? With regard to action, the recruitment of leaders should mean finding the best and most competent person for the job. It may not be necessary to revert CHI back to the HSE. Nine years ago CHI came from the HSE. The best person for the job should be given the job and not just the longest-serving people.”
“We must refer to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. We must have a safe work environment where people are valued and where there is esteem, a sense of belonging and self-actualisation. Every team member has to be valued. Teams should be asked for their ideas before external consultants are brought in. We will get better buy-in and a stronger commitment. In terms of culture, high-performance team members can question one another to get the best level of participation from each member and strive to give the best performance possible, whether in the workplace, a healthcare environment, the judicial system or here on the floor of the House. All of this is to rebuild and encourage truthfulness and honesty. Another area is governance. With responsibility must come accountability and openness.”
“In this instance, I am not going to duplicate all of the statistics and summaries of the review to date that Members have discussed. I will approach this from the point of view of what may happen next and the human impact. There must be a compassionate approach to supporting the children and families through the review process without sterile communications and an impersonal review process. Having worked in healthcare, the burning question I have is what happened to "first, do no harm", the very foundation of the Hippocratic oath, throughout all of this? We always say "system failures" and bandy it around here, but in this instance, and very much in healthcare, the system is people. They are the most valuable asset. How do we move forward from here in terms of rebuilding trust and bringing a culture of truthfulness?”
“The children are benefiting immensely and that progression of the child from primary school to junior to senior cycle is self-evident. The school is only a short journey from this House. That might provide some food for thought for an expanded education journey.”
“There is the process of story massage, drama therapy and art therapy that we are aware of, and there are the important nurture rooms in the school environment for any child who feels a little out of sorts, maybe even including a child who is classified as dysregulated from time to time. Those resources are as important as the members of the teaching community and the bricks and mortar that huge efforts are being made to deliver. One school that is within the city boundary, which might be a useful reference for a visit as an example of best practice, is St. James's in Dublin 8, both the primary and secondary. Melissa - whose surname escapes me but I can get the details for the Minister of State's office - and her colleagues are actually walking the walk and gathering the data.”
“The support of the teaching professionals is absolutely essential to ensure our young people will have that person of significance and that encouragement. One area that overlaps with my background in health is emotional and sensory well-being as well as the academic side of our endeavour to be world leaders in education. On that emotional and sensory well-being piece - the Minister of State has heard me mention this at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Autism - it is so important to support and enable every child to learn. Fantastic pilot projects and local initiatives are being played out and implemented, and I am aware of data having been gathered over the last five years and possibly even as far back as eight years.”
“As the very proud daughter, niece, granddaughter and friend of primary, secondary and tertiary educators, I very much welcome this opportunity for statements today. I will not repeat what I have heard from other contributors. The book Poor by Dr. Kathriona O'Sullivan of Maynooth University points to the importance of education as a freedom, as a gateway and as being life changing. The importance of the one special teacher and the influence they can have on a young child or even a teenager and the later path in life that they may take is never to be underestimated. It was most welcome to hear from the Minister, Deputy McEntee, about the engagement with the different teaching unions over recent weeks and the spirit of collegiality.”
“meaningful consultation with local communities and plan more effectively." A simple let-down in that process, which is what is playing out, is causing tensions in the area. I would see that as a priority area for inter- and intra-departmental communication.”
“I welcome the infrastructure cross-departmental committee, the housing activation office and the child poverty unit - tús maith leath na hoibre. I think we can do better and can aim higher. We owe that to the people of this country after their endurance and forbearance over the last five years. Several times at the Business Committee, I have raised the topic of migration, something that merits urgent positioning on the agenda. We can take County Meath, for example and crosscheck what has been happening versus what is in the programme for Government. That programme commits to "Give greater lead-in time to the opening of new facilities, allowing for enhanced and effective local communication...”
“We have that old Irish seanfhocal, doras feasa fiafraí, the door to knowledge is questions, but asking questions has been a negative in recent times. I have been branded far right on occasion for asking questions. I am "far fairness", just for the record. I put the question that I submitted in advance. What plans are being compiled, have been worked out, in accordance with the programme for Government to improve the intra-departmental communication, inter-departmental communication, collaboration, cost-benefit analysis and planning of all Departments for the benefit of citizens, present and future?”
“The third area of change has been migration. Travel broadens the mind and the emigration of our talented young people has always been encouraged through mixed circumstances and emotions. We know we have serious shortages in areas of critical skills and active recruitment is ongoing. We are now at a point, though, where waiting lists for healthcare, schools and housing are causing tensions to run high. Let us be honest. Local authorities, for example in County Meath, are only now carrying out settlement capacity audits for social infrastructure and the other areas. Immigration, therefore, must be a fair and just system, taking account of a community's capacity to cope. The programme for Government states clearly that the Government will address these areas and will consult with communities, which is to be welcomed.”
“We have extreme healthcare waiting lists impacting children's developmental checks, assessments of needs, anxiety in teenagers, absenteeism from schools and anxiety, loneliness and isolation in older people. All these factors are known contributors to chronic disease now and in later life. There are elevated presentations of cardiac and oncology issues. What will the impact of long Covid be on future healthcare policies and costs? The second crisis was the energy and cost-of-living crisis. The damage to the pipeline caused energy costs to skyrocket and exposed our energy deficiencies. While renewable sources of energy are welcome, they are charging ahead in the absence of clear guidelines and balanced regional distribution. This is impacting our tillage farmers and calling into question our future food security.”
“Go raibh maith agat. The Irish people have endured an incredible amount in the last five years. Every virtue has been tested in some extremely positive ways and, sadly, some negative ways. Lives have been changed irrevocably. To advance, we must reflect, review and learn. We must rethink our duty to future generations. First, we had two intense years of SARS-CoV-2, Covid-19. It is worrying that the Covid evaluation committee has not yet met to carry out a most important and urgent review of practices to inform all our Ministers. WHO delegates voted to accept the WHA pandemic treaty on Monday last, giving, in my opinion, worrying powers to the organisation over and above individual EU member states.”