Joanna Byrne
Louth · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“Irish artists and writers have given their labour, blood, sweat, tears and dreams to creating something uniquely human - songs, stories, music and paintings that mean so much to many - only to see their labour being fed to AI systems without their consent and without being financially compensated for their loss.”
“A couple of days before my tenth birthday, I came home from school to once again find my mother beaten to a pulp and our home smashed to pieces. The bravery of my mother that day changed the course of our lives forever.”
“The basic income for artists scheme was only made permanent after it proved it could boost the economy. Many of our beloved cultural events are based on Irish artists having the backing to be able to hone their craft and share their art.”
“As a nine-, eight-, seven-, six- and five-year-old girl, I used to sit at the top of the stairs and pray to hear my mam scream or cry because it was the only way I knew she was surviving another beating.”
“We have the Presidency at the Council of the EU for the next six months and this is the opportune time to act. Whether by accident or design, putting protections in place has been non-existent or has been moving at a snail's pace.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion on protecting the copyright of Irish artists in the era of artificial intelligence. It is important to note this is a nuanced and targeted motion to protect Irish artists across the entire spectrum of the arts.”
The complete record
Every one of 395 lines we hold for Joanna Byrne, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 5 of 8.
“There is nothing that makes me cry quicker than to read about the poor treatment of dogs and the breeding of bitches and puppies on some of the so-called puppy farms this legislation seeks to address. Any true dog lover knows just how much attention a pup needs, never mind a litter of puppies or multiple litters. The fact that there are currently people out there keeping multiple mothers and litters in unsanitary and unsupervised premises in 2025 is just unbelievable. The Bill puts on a statutory basis the need for a staff-to-bitch ratio of 1:10. Personally, I think that should be lower but we are here to support this Bill.”
“I am delighted to speak in support of this Bill on dog welfare. I am a proud mammy of two beautiful fur babies, Benji and Frankie Byrne, and I was half tempted to hold up their pictures here today and ask how anybody could be so cruel or neglectful to little creatures like that. The Long Title of the Bill reads: "An Act to provide for animal welfare considerations in the operation of dog breeding establishments, including but not limited to a cap on the number of breeding bitches, the age of bitches allowed to breed, the age of pups when removed from their mothers, a staff-to-bitch ratio, and to prohibit the use of surgical artificial insemination [That is, apart from greyhounds].”
“Today's announcements do not action Cara's demands for an emergency response for recruiting therapists. Until the Government starts listening to the strongest and bravest 15-year-old girl I know, it will continue to damage and fail the tens of thousands of children around this country waiting for assessments of need.”
“Staff are overloaded with work, parents are up the walls with stress trying to get their children assessed to ensure they can at least apply for the supports they require and behind each and every one of these damning statistics is another child with disabilities suffering further permanent damage as a result of the Government continuing to break its own laws. The response of the Government to this and every other issue seems to be to say it is spending more on the problem, but it is obviously not investing wisely given that waiting lists are getting longer year on year. I have to mention the teenage wonder girl Cara Darmody for all of her campaigning to highlight this issue. Once again, she has to embarrass and shame the Government to act and, once again, it cannot even get that right.”
“It also stated that it is currently not possible to guarantee statutory timeframes for when completions of assessments of need will be met, that limited staff resources and an unprecedented increase in applications and workload had significantly impacted wait times and that it is out of the control of current assessment-of-need staff to meet statutory timeframes. A 20-year-old Act is in place, yet statutory timeframes cannot be met because the Government cannot plan properly or provide the essential staff required. The waiting lists are getting longer year on year and are not decreasing, even with the Louth assessment-of-need team outsourcing the vast majority of assessments to HSE-approved private providers.”
“The Disability Act 2005 states an assessment of need must take place within six months. The Government cannot get its act together on a 20-year-old Act. The response to my most recent parliamentary question on this matter stated that of the 1,200 or more children in Louth waiting for assessments, 250 have been waiting for over 12 months and 350 have waited between six and 12 months. The HSE stated the statutory timeframes are not being met in Louth due to limited staff resources and an unprecedented increase in the number of applications and the workload, which have significantly affected wait times.”
“I am proud that Sinn Féin is standing shoulder to shoulder with the people who provide this vital service, who risk their lives for hours every time they go out. Can the Minister of State hold his head up and say he is doing the same? I am not sure he can. He needs to accept this Private Members' motion as it is. It is time for action from him and from the Irish Aviation Authority to ensure safe and fair working conditions for our brave search and rescue personnel.”
“If the Minister of State needs further reminding of what he is in control of, I refer him to finding 30 on page 336 of the final report on the Rescue 116 crash, which clearly states that the Minister for Transport has the authority to rule on matters pertaining to the IAA. The Government's amendment to this motion is, therefore, absolutely nonsense. I commend our search and rescue personnel on their input and on the information they provided ahead of this Private Members' motion. They provided details of EU law labour laws, data and statistics, all of which the Government, the IAA and Bristow Ireland have been ignoring. The Minister of State can bury his head in the sand all he likes, but this is not going away.”
“Under new rules, these shifts are being recorded as only 16.5 hours through a factoring mechanism. I am saying that this Government has allowed Bristow Ireland to rewrite the rules to suit itself because no other on-duty emergency service crews factor their hours while on shift in Ireland. Would the Government try to introduce this factoring mechanism on other branches of the rescue services? It would not, because there are thousands of personnel in those services combined. I suggest that because the very skilled and very dedicated men and women in the search and rescue crews are small in number, the Government thinks it can bully them and hide behind the contract with Bristow Ireland to accept lesser terms and conditions.”
“In a recent response to one of my queries to the IAA on the search and rescue crews' pay and conditions, it said it was aware that the new operation does not allow crew members to be on standby from their home, which was allowed previously and which many crews utilised. Instead, they are provided with suitable accommodation at or very near the base airport. It has acknowledged that the crews are being kept away from their homes, and are not being paid for all of their time away from their homes, but neither the IAA nor the Government wants to do anything about it. Who in the Government thinks that this is reasonable? It has allowed Bristow Ireland to rewrite the rules to suit itself and not the crews. Search and rescue helicopter crews routinely work 24-hour continuous duty periods.”
“We can all agree that search and rescue crews are among the bravest men and women on these shores. They are willing to put their lives on the line day in, day out to go beyond what would be deemed reasonable by the average person to save lives, sometimes in the worst weather imaginable. All they are asking for is to be treated fairly and to have their true working hours reflected in their pay and conditions. This is not the first time this matter has been brought to the attention of the Government or that of the IAA, which is under the aegis of the Minister of State's Department. That is why the Government's amendment to this motion is all the more insulting. It has had time to consider the facts and, again, it has chosen to ignore them and allow Bristow Ireland to create a whole new set of rules and data that are, frankly, nonsense.”
“Will this Government pull the relevant stakeholders, including the NTA, Irish Rail and Louth County Council, together and make this long-standing ambition a reality? No obstacle is insurmountable if the Government wants to deliver it.”
“Drogheda is the largest town in the country, with an expectation of becoming Ireland’s next city. The design of Government policy has meant it has become a commuter town, with little to no investment in infrastructure to serve it. Almost 20 years ago, a train station for Drogheda's northside was included in the Drogheda northern environs plan. To this day, it remains an objective of the Louth county development plan. Notwithstanding the already high population figures we have, we are due to see a population boom in the coming years of approximately 20,000 people with the housing along the port access northern cross route. Combined with an IDA business park and new sporting and amenity facilities planned for the area, the train station on the north side of the town is needed more than ever.”
“Following recent events, the people of this State, County Louth and indeed Drogheda need to be certain that those operating IPAS accommodation centres have been awarded contracts appropriately and based on merit, providing value for money and in areas that can accommodate them. The people of this State and more importantly those in IPAS accommodation deserve a system that is fair, efficient and enforced. It is time to stop prioritising profiteering.”
“Is there a lack of inspectors or are issues that require remediation arising that we are not hearing about? Similarly, there is no inspection report for the D Hotel in Drogheda. The last review, in 2024, counted only 89 occupants despite the hotel having capacity for over 500. This was the only hotel in the largest town in this country and it was ripped out of the tourism and hospitality sector. I call on the Minister to publish the 2025 reports for all IPAS accommodation in County Louth immediately. If he cannot do that, he must make a statement to this House to explain why.”
“Following the despicable arson attack on the IPAS accommodation in my hometown of Drogheda, the Government ordered a security review of all IPAS accommodation. General security in emergency details is already part of the IPPS inspection checklist to ensure the occupants are safe. From what I have witnessed, this is not the case. I refer the Minister to the fact I outlined to the House yesterday, where one of those families in Drogheda had no way out of the burning building except via stairs that were ravaged with flames. When we checked the inspections, we saw that few inspections have been published for 2025. In fact, only two have been published for County Louth for this year as the year draws to a close. Will the Minister tell me why this is the case?”
“Every stroke of the pen takes too long, from decisions to appeals to deportations. Worse, there is massive profiteering in the provision of inappropriate IPAS accommodation. The review by the Comptroller and Auditor General of the management of international protection accommodation is a damning indictment of the Government's failures to address profiteering and cost overruns. The Government should not be able to dismiss the C and AG's review but I have no doubt it will do its best to ignore it. The review is damning about a lack of due diligence and payment controls in the awarding of IPAS contracts, which the State is due to spend €1.2 billion on this year alone. The Irish taxpayer deserves better.”
“It has been clear for quite some time that this Government has been mismanaging the entire IPAS process and accommodation. Concerns raised by the Opposition and civil society groups have been dismissed by this Government. It has buried its head in the sand, stating how much it is spending to fix the problem, which only continually gets worse. It is solely responsible for the mess and it will not be remedied under this Government, which makes statements in the press but then takes a hands-off or do-nothing approach. Recent comments by the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste show they are taking no responsibility for their own failures in relation to migration. Because of the failures of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in government, our migration and international protection system is a mess and is operating in crisis mode.”
“There are no published reports of inspections of direct provision or EROC centres in County Louth, including this building, for 2025. The Government has paid millions of euro for asylum seeker accommodation to a company which is owned by a man who has been linked by the Criminal Assets Bureau to the Drogheda gang feud. Recent media reports suggest that the owner of this company, Secure Accommodation Management, has been paid €10.2 million since it was set up in September 2022. Indeed, the then Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth highlighted its huge profits for 2023. It terrifies me that gangsters named by CAB are securing contracts and profiteering on public money. As a result of this, 28 people could have died on the Government's watch. What is the Minister going to do about it?”
“A local headline in Drogheda today reads, "28 people could have died", following the horrific arson attack on the George's Street IPAS accommodation centre. If it had not been for the swift intervention of An Garda Síochána and Drogheda fire services, families and children, including a three-week-old baby, would not have escaped with their lives. One family had no way out of the top-floor room in which they were trapped other than by going down the stairs that were ravaged with flames. Concerns have been raised about safety standards in this building and indeed about the private operators. We have here a rogue landlord prioritising profit over duty of care and human life, aided by the Government not meeting its obligations.”
“If the Government is serious about delivering for sport, the Government needs to get its head in the game and think more broadly.”
“It will be the never-ending story for it to proceed through the applications at this pace, with this level of funding. The Government could simply have raised much more money to dedicate to sports if both Government parties just kept their election promises. Page 117 of the Fine Gael election manifesto states that the party will increase betting duty from 2% to 3%, raising €50 million. Page 170 of the Fianna Fáil election manifesto states that it will increase the betting tax levy from 2% to 3%, with a portion of the additional yield to be allocated for the development of sports infrastructure. We have both Government parties with broken election promises and with the investment in facilities and academies suffering as a consequence.”
“Sports facilities is an issue that will dominate much of this Dáil term, with teams and sporting organisations the length and breadth of the State crying out to have playable pitches, never mind new pitches. It is a goal that many teams will aim for, but the Government has made achieving that goal just as difficult now as it was in the past. I am sure some on the Government benches see that the €18.7 million increase in large scale sports infrastructure fund as a victory to be cheered but as the Minister of State has said, there were €665 million worth of applications with only €173 million worth of them approved. The sum of €18.7 million is a drop in the ocean and will not make much more difference. One single application probably costs more than that alone.”
“Irish players cannot go across the water to larger academies and learn their trade like they used to. Those youths are here, they want to play and learn. They want the opportunity to represent their club and ultimately their country, to the best of their abilities. However, without football academies up and down this country, they will never realise their full potential. Without adequate investment - and the key here is adequate - our League of Ireland academies cannot realise their full potential. I hope that the €3 million is just the start and the multi-annual commitment the Government has made will see further sufficient investment. The Government has taken its eye off the ball when it comes to the large scale sports infrastructure fund and the community sports facilities fund.”
“With so much money in the State coffers, the Government had the perfect opportunity yesterday to set sport on the right path for the future. It was a striker's dream, an open goal with no opponents and the Government just needed to do its job and put the ball away. Instead, it scuffed its shot, kicked the turf and missed the net in an open goal. I fail to see the logic or rationale as to why the Government would short-change football academies by only allocating €3 million instead of the €4.45 million requested. The Government has agreed with the language and reasoning we in Sinn Féin have put forward in recent debates but it has not followed through with the right amount. I must reiterate that at grassroots and youth level, the opportunities that were there before Brexit no longer exist.”
“The programme for Government stated that the Government will explore new mechanisms for the creation of football academies with the FAI and the League of Ireland, so I am not going to stand here and give the Minister plaudits for doing what he has committed to doing. The FAI pre-budget submission asks for support for League of Ireland academies, which is what my question this morning is about. This will create a total of 81 new jobs in clubs around the country before a jump to €8 million annually with the hope of creating 340 full-time and part-time jobs to kickstart an industry. If the Government makes the investment now, we could have the days like those I referenced earlier of Euro 88, Italia 90 and USA 94, but it has to make the investment now for Irish football to be self-financing in the future.”
“Some of the significant moments of modern Irish history have been because of football. Let us think of Euro 88, Italia 90, USA 94; events that unified everybody in every part of this country and lifted the mood of the population and brought joy and belief in ourselves as a people. If we want to see moments like that again, we need to start the process and invest now.”
“I cannot emphasise enough just how important academies are to the future of Irish football. At the very top of the scale, we just need to see where our national team is right now in the international rankings and look at recent defeats to so-called lesser teams. At grassroots level, the opportunities that were there before Brexit no longer exist. Irish players cannot go across the water to larger academies and learn their trades like how it used to be done. Those young academy players are here. They want to play; they want to learn. They want the opportunity to represent their club and, ultimately, their country to the very best of their abilities. Without football academies up and down this country being adequately resourced, however, they are never going to reach their full potential.”
“It is not only I who expects this; nearly every house in this country has somebody involved in sport of some sort. They too will be watching in earnest to ensure the Minister of State is fulfilling his role and supporting the growth and sustainability of sport in this country.”
“In this initial phase, the proposal is for investment of €4.5 million per annum for two years, which will deliver 81 new full-time academy jobs, a women's under-15 programme for all clubs, athletic development testing equipment for all clubs, a centralised player platform to track all League of Ireland academy players and a quality assurance and audit process for all clubs. While I acknowledge everything the Minister of State outlined in his opening statement and commend the strides that have been made so far, it is fair to say that, while much has been done, there is much more to do. I expect to see League of Ireland academy funding front and centre in next week's budget, along with enhanced funding for the LSSIF and other sporting grants to continue the positive effects the Minister of State outlined here this evening.”
“The audit highlighted a deficiency in full-time roles, a lack of indoor facilities and late-starting women's academies as major issues, leading the FAI to request €8 million in annual Government funding for academy improvements. While the audit is a crucial first step in establishing an academy certification model, the expectation is that this will unlock future investment. As a result, the League of Ireland academies investment proposal was submitted to the Minister of State this week in the FAI's pre-budget submission. It has taken on board feedback from the Department and Sport Ireland as well as the results of the Double Pass audit and revises the ask from last year to focus on a phased approach.”
“Sinn Féin is committed to investing in sport, striving to increase participation and making our population healthier, stronger and more robust. The Minister of State can fund more projects and make more dreams come true if he just implements this simple measure. It is an easy win for him. It would be remiss of me not to impress upon the Minister of State today the importance of League of Ireland academy funding in next week's budget. League of Ireland clubs have been waiting on Government funding for their academies for some years. A recent Double Pass audit of League of Ireland academies funded by this Government found that our academies lag significantly behind their international competitors in terms of full-time staff and player contact hours. Significant investment in infrastructure and personnel is required to meet standards.”
“Both Drogheda United and Louth GAA, along with the 59 other unsuccessful applicants to the large-scale sports infrastructure fund, are keen and eager to persist and to apply again. With additional funding channelled into these streams, the Minister of State holds the power to allow these sporting clubs to achieve their aspirations and, in turn, to empower their sports stars to reach for the stars. Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael made commitments in their manifestoes to increase the betting tax from 2% to 3% and to use this funding to invest in sport. That has not been done yet. An increase of one percentage point in this levy would have raised approximately €50 million in desperately needed funding for Irish sport.”
“I know first-hand the impact a setback such as this can have to development plans, morale and internal harmony. This is why it is crucial that there needs to be more investment in every one of these funding streams in next week's budget and, in particular, the LSSIF. Despite these funding setbacks for infrastructure, both clubs defied the odds and on the pitch brought so much silverware home to the wee county throughout this year. We had the Drogs with their FAI Cup win, the Louth GAA senior footballers with the Delaney Cup, the Louth ladies with the all-Ireland junior trophy, the Louth under-20s with the Leinster cup and the Louth hurlers with the NHL division 4 title. Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement.”
“In the last round of the large-scale sports infrastructure fund there were 96 applications with 35 being successful. Significant funding such as this is seismic for many sporting organisations throughout the entire spectrum of sport. It can alter the trajectory of a club for decades to come. That said, for those which are not successful it can also send clubs and organisations on a downward spiral with no alternative hope for the immediate future, be it to expand their facilities which, in turn, opens so many opportunities, or whatever their ambitions may have been to preserve, protect and enhance their club for generations to come. In last year's round of applications in my constituency Drogheda United and Louth GAA were both unsuccessful in their applications.”
“Last week, when I saw that statements on sport were on the agenda for this week I was particularly pleased. When I saw the change to the much longer title, with a much narrower focus, for these statements, the realisation dawned that the Government benches were going to use this as an opportunity to be their own cheerleaders, focus on the positive and ignore the bigger picture and the significant challenges our sporting communities face. That said, I welcome the opportunity to highlight the positive effects that grant systems, such as the LSSIF, CSSF and sports capital programme, can have in our communities. Sport brings people together by creating common good, fostering teamwork and friendship and breaking down social barriers, but sport needs adequate facilities to allow greatness to thrive and hearts to shine.”
“As of last week, it has killed over 66,000 Gazans, 217 journalists and media workers, 120 academics and over 224 humanitarian aid workers, a number that includes 179 employees of UNRWA. Independent sources have estimated that 80% of Palestinians killed are civilians. These are all war crimes. This State, I am proud to say, is on the right side of history in speaking out against Israel's genocide. We have said all the right things but we must follow through with actions. We must pass the occupied territories Bill in its full form. We must press the EU to sanction Israel. Our EU Commissioner must raise this with the Commission. We and the EU must treat Israel as the genocidal apartheid rogue state that it is. Gaza needs us to be their voice as theirs is drowned out by the sound of Israeli bombs.”
“The flotilla is being escorted by one Spanish and two Italian navy vessels, but those Governments have clarified that these are not expected to use military force. The Italians will turn their naval vessels around and return to base. Now the flotilla is waiting for the Israelis to illegally board the ships, kidnap the activists and bring them to one large navy ship and, from there, to Ashdod port to be deported from Israel. The Israelis may even sink some of the flotilla ships as a punitive measure. What are the Israelis scared of? The flotilla is only transporting humanitarian aid to the suffering, barely surviving population of Gaza. Food, medicine, baby formula and nappies - that is what Israel is scared of. Israel has deliberately starved the people of Gaza.”
“I must start my contribution to these statements on Gaza by mentioning the peaceful Global Sumud Flotilla, our friend and party colleague, Senator Chris Andrews, and all who are on the vital humanitarian mission. In the early hours of this morning, an armed vessel with no lights on approached the flotilla. Those on board the flotilla ships believe that this is an Israeli military vessel that is trying to intimidate them, damaging their communications systems and doing very dangerous manoeuvres circling the lead boats, Alma and Sirius . The flotilla is now on high alert as it is close to the high-risk zone where the Israeli Government has publicly stated it will stop the flotilla.”
“There are low volumes of claims for accidents in childcare settings, a sector that has historically reported high insurance costs, but insurance is one of the reasons that paying for childcare is still like paying a second mortgage. We used to hear from insurers that the high volume of claims was to blame for the high premiums. Claims are down but prices are still up. The Government has a chance to end this insurance rip-off by backing Sinn Féin's legislation. This will hold companies to account, cut costs and keep money in people's pockets. The Government should stop being a do-nothing government. It should act now and stop allowing these companies to rip people off while making eye-watering profits. It should play its part in making life more affordable for people.”
“They know insurers will not be held accountable for high premiums because the Government does not have the rights of consumers in mind when it looks at insurance costs. The cost of motor insurance went up a whopping 11.5% over 12 months in 2024, more than four times the general rate of inflation. It is almost double the EU average. How do they explain that to the Minister of State when he confronts them with this data? Does he even speak to them about it? Public and employer liability premiums have risen 56% over the past ten years. At the same time, the loss ratio has fallen from roughly 80% to 53%. Claims by cafés, hotels and restaurants more than halved between 2019 and 2023. Shops and stores saw a 44% decrease and sports and athletic areas experienced a 38% reduction.”
“Insurance costs in this State defy belief. The reasons given by insurers for costs being so high defy logic and are beyond rational realisation. However, the Government will not tackle them and their obvious profiteering despite mountains of evidence that should demand action from any government, anywhere, that really has the best interests of its citizens at heart. Sinn Féin, from the Opposition benches and in the committee rooms, battled hard to get reforms introduced that should have seen the price of insurance premiums and the financial strain on consumers drop dramatically. However, the insurers have not implemented the reforms and have not dropped the premiums. In fact, they have brass-necked it out and increased premiums because they know that this Government, like the previous Government, is a do-nothing government.”
“Alternatives to the Government's position are given regularly but are ignored and this is the outcome of that. I dread to think what the figures would be like without the Drogheda Women's and Children's Refuge, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and all of the other fantastic groups operating locally in Drogheda and elsewhere around the country trying to alleviate and reduce the consequences of this Government's failure of the children of this nation. I urge the Minister to listen here today and to make a pledge to end child poverty and homelessness. I urge him not only to make that pledge, but to bloody well act on it.”
“Research by the ESRI shows that one in five children, or more than 225,000, lives in a family below the poverty line when housing costs are accounted for. The cost-of-living crisis is deepening, with annualised food price inflation in August up by 5%, and for the first time in the history of the State, child homelessness has surpassed 5,000. These are all the result of Government policies and decisions. Does the Government listen to the ESRI, the Children's Rights Alliance or any of the other bodies and agencies that are ringing the alarm bells on child poverty? The number of children in consistent poverty rose by 78% in the last year. This amounts to over 100,000 children trapped in poverty, with advocates warning that it could take four to five generations to break this cycle. This State has the funds to end child poverty.”
“The starkest example of how unimportant child poverty and homelessness are to this Government is in its amendment to this motion. The Government's response mentions reducing child poverty but nowhere does it mention eradicating it entirely. The response also mentions that this Government has announced a target of 3% or less of consistent poverty to be achieved by the end of 2030. Does the Government believe it is acceptable for up to 3% of Irish children to live in consistent poverty? Will it make that its campaign slogan and put it on its election posters the next time around? I think not, somehow. The motion states that the number of children in consistent poverty nearly doubled in 2024, up to 8.5%.”
“We need to ensure the service is reliable and robust in order to expand and cater for more and more children over the coming years, as both the Minister of State and the Minister have referenced. We waited three years for the school transport 2030 report to be published. It has been published almost two years now and many of the key recommendations have not been implemented by this Government. It needs to implement the recommendations in the report and let this be the last year the school transport scheme is such a calamity. There should be no more task forces or working groups, but a focus on delivering procurement processes on time and in turn delivering security, reliability and equality for the children who are left behind by this Government.”
“They believe their child’s place is secure on the school bus. The Government must then understand the anger when they receive emails giving very late notice that that place is no longer secure. In most cases, this happens on Friday afternoons with school due start on the Monday. Working parents have told me of the worry they felt when they realised they did not have time to make alternative arrangements for their children to get them to school. Parents of children with autism have told me how they rehearsed and prepared the morning school routine with their children to get them as ready as best they could for the new school year, only to have that routine dashed. We need a complete overhaul of the school transport scheme. Pilot programmes are not enough. The recommendations from the school transport review must be implemented.”
“I raised this issue directly with the Tánaiste last week and, due to the level of calls I have received from parents and guardians across Louth and east Meath, unfortunately I feel the need to speak on it again. Every year, the Government knows how many school buses are needed, how many seats are needed and what routes are required. Every year, we end up having the same discussion, highlighting the children in each of our constituencies, including those with special educational needs, let down by this Government. The Minister for education’s party has been in power since 2011, which is 14 years, but still she has failed to prepare, failed to act and has unfortunately failed to deliver for these children. The Government has to recognise that, when parents and guardians receive the school bus tickets, it lifts a huge weight off their minds.”
“It is absolutely scandalous for us to be told at this stage, this week, that a public procurement process is under way to find a solution. I am sorry to say it, but the Minister has failed to prepare. She has failed to act and, sadly, she has failed to deliver for these children.”
“I want to raise the debacle that is the school transport scheme, in particular the scheme for children with special educational needs in Louth and east Meath. My constituency office is inundated with parents, some worried and some livid, as their children have not received a place on the school bus, even though they received their tickets some months ago. Very late notice was given to parents, in most cases on the Friday afternoon, with school due to start on the following Monday. This has caused major distress to both the children and the parents. Young Kate in Drogheda, who has Down's syndrome and is trying to develop her independence, has still not received a school place. We need to implement the school transport review recommendations and just get the bloody buses on the road.”