Malcolm Byrne
Wicklow-Wexford · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“I appreciate the Minister of State is responding on behalf of the Minister but the response provides nothing new. It is almost a carbon copy of the response I received when I raised this issue in January last.”
“Free and fair trade right throughout history is the greatest example of providing people with employment opportunities and lifting people out of poverty. One of the best examples of this is our being able to trade with Canada.”
“I am sure the Ceann Comhairle will remember being approached by the then principal, staff and others. Pressure has been applied. When capital decisions were being made by the Department of education I asked why this school was not included and what criteria were used.”
“To say that the school, and indeed, the wider area are deeply frustrated by the lack of progress is an understatement. This is an excellent school, but when it comes to its physical infrastructure, the school is in dire straits.”
“As we are moving towards the recess, I thank the Ceann Comhairle, and indeed, the officials in her office and all of the staff across the House for all of their work during the year that has made this place run so smoothly. I wish to raise the question of Bunclody Community College. I have had to do it on a number of occasions.”
“I am conscious the Minister of State referred to additional capital investment in 2027. I fully expect and will continue to campaign to ensure this school is included in the 2027 capital list because it deserved to be addressed before now.”
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“It was the first significant review since the 1960s, when the scheme came into being. A big element of that was to significantly expand the number of children able to avail of school transport. As my colleague and friend Deputy Cleere said, we want to see an additional 100,000 children on school buses by 2030. It will give ease to their families and is critical from an environmental point of view. Part of that was to introduce a range of pilot schemes. I was happy that one of the first 2024-25 pilot schemes was introduced in north Wexford to serve the Monamolin area coming into Gorey. I pay tribute to the work of parents there. Emma Johnston, Yvonne Dempsey, Michelle Kennedy and others came together to make sure that pilot bus scheme was up and running. I am disappointed that there may only be 14 more pilots this year.”
“I know the Minister of State is personally invested in improving the school transport system. It should be acknowledged that we have seen a significant increase in the number of school transport places. I want to put on record my thanks to officials in the Department, to people in Bus Éireann and to the bus companies and drivers around the country who carry tens of thousands of children to school every day. The Minister of State will appreciate it is not from those that we are hearing the complaints. The issues coming up are from where we need to expand the service. The Minister of State will be familiar with this and I have raised a number of cases in the Wicklow-Wexford constituency with him. I was happy when the Minister, Deputy Foley, carried out a review of the school transport system in the last Oireachtas.”
“It is critical. When we have a number of companies that are ready to build that infrastructure, we need to facilitate them. We do not need them to be held up in the planning process for long periods. We need that private infrastructure to complement the State infrastructure as soon as possible.”
“The Minister of State knows how urgent this is. I am particularly thinking in terms of industrial demand and whether we can connect solar farms or wind farms into private industry or on the commercial side. In the development of our digital infrastructure, including data centres, it is critical that we move on this. I even suggest this in regard to housing because electricity supply is becoming a problem. A developer in my constituency who is ready to build homes came to me recently and said the only thing holding him up is the fact that ESB Networks is telling him that there is not sufficient supply in the particular area. We need to set out ground rules and for the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities to be properly resourced. However, as a piece of legislation for this country's long-term economic development, this is essential.”
“This relates to the question of energy demand and how we meet it and the importance of progressing as quickly as possible with the private wires policy and indeed the private wires Bill. I welcome the commitment in July by the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, that he is going to progress on this. However, it is now of the essence that we move quickly. He did say it would be priority legislation. I hope the Minister of State can indicate a timeframe to the House today because we know about the demands for energy and we need to have movement on it as quickly as possible.”
“In support of my colleague Deputy Ó Cearúil, I think we need to explore nuclear as a potential option. We are all very supportive, for instance, of the Celtic interconnector between Ireland and France, where there is the possibility that we will be obtaining some of our energy from France. Last year, up to 68% of all of France's energy was generated by nuclear power. If we acquire energy from Scotland, similarly, some of that is going to be generated by nuclear. The debate on nuclear has moved on. I totally understand that in the past we had safety concerns but as a cleaner energy source, while I accept there are issues around how we may dispose of some of the waste, it is something that needs to be considered. I back my colleague in that we really do need to have a debate on it.”
“The Minister of State knows that people involved in drama groups and musical societies around the country love it and have a passion for it but there are costs involved and we must put a funding stream in place to support them.”
“This Government is very clearly doing it for sport but we need to put the arts on a level playing field. There is a very clear commitment in programme for Government to the arts capital programme but the maximum sum in the scheme E capital programme for an arts centre is €50,000, which is minimal for a capital programme when we compare it with the sports capital programme that I also strongly support. I was at a sports club this evening where incredible investment is happening, which is right, but we must do the same with arts venues around the country. We need a dedicated funding stream to support amateur theatre and musical groups because of the number of people involved.”
“I thank the Minister of State very much. Like her, I encourage everybody to get involved in Culture Night. Many of the activities in Culture Night will be led by people who are involved in local community theatre groups and musical societies right around the country. There has been an enormous and very welcome commitment to significant increased funding for the Arts Council, and the introduction of a basic income scheme for artists, as well as a number of measures the Minister of State mentioned, but none of them are of benefit to the amateur musical theatre or amateur drama sector in Ireland. The Brennan review into the Arts Council is a little bit more about governance. We need to look at the structured funding schemes for the arts in the same way as sport when it comes to building communities.”
“Within my constituency, we are very fortunate to have three very active musical societies in the Gorey Musical Society, the Carnew Musical Society and the Avonmore Musical Society in Arklow. We have wonderful theatre groups the length and breadth of the constituency. I will not start to name them because there is a danger that I will forget some. They run from Tinahely to Kilmuckridge. I have been very involved with the Gorey Little Theatre group. We all know the difference these groups make within our communities but, given the growing costs and challenges, we must support their development. The State does need to step in and provide resourcing.”
“Given the importance of all of these groups in helping to build our communities, we should have some way of channelling funding to support their management and administration at national level but also their development at local level. When I look at what happens with sporting organisations – the Minister of State is aware that I am very supportive of how we support sport – national governing bodies in sport receive funding through Sport Ireland to support the administration of the organisation but also for development and engagement and to build activity within the sport. We do not have the same level of commitment in the arts. The Minister of State knows how important the arts, theatre and musical groups are in building communities and we must consider a structured system of support for all of those organisations.”
“While some support was provided during Covid - we all know about the impact on the arts then - we have not seen a structured way of funding and supporting these organisations, so that they can both manage their activity at a national level but also help with development, training and education costs. The Oireachtas committee on the arts, of which I was a member in the previous Oireachtas as well as in this one, recommended clearly that a funding stream would be put in place. This is not covered at the moment by the Arts Council, although when the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, appeared before the Oireachtas committee recently, he did indicate that this may be a channel for so doing it.”
“Even though a lot of these productions are amateur, the Minister of State will be very much aware that the quality is professional. In order to attain that, it costs a lot of money. A lot of these groups spend a lot of time fundraising to be able to put on those productions. Their national representative bodies, the Drama League of Ireland, the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland, and the Association of Irish Musical Societies, which run festivals and try to ensure standards and provide training programmes, essentially do not receive any form of State support.”
“Along with others, I congratulate the Minister of State on her recent wedding and wish her every success. I appreciate her being here to take this debate this evening. We are talking about the role of amateur theatre and musicals right around the State in all of our constituencies. In terms of the numbers who are actually involved in amateur theatre and musicals, it is estimated that after the GAA, it is the largest voluntary movement in the country. Think of the people who are involved, both onstage and behind the scenes in our theatres, providing those productions and the audiences right around the country for whom they provide great enjoyment, but also the role of amateur theatre in challenging us and making us think as well as entertaining us.”
“The area of Tara Hill and Ballymoney, which the Tánaiste is very familiar with, regularly experiences outages. Communities like Aughrim in County Wicklow and Ferns and Camolin in County Wexford have been waiting for more than 20 years for a wastewater treatment plant. What guarantees can we be given that, when the Government puts the investment into water and wastewater infrastructure, Uisce Éireann will actually be accountable and will deliver so we can ensure that the outages we have been experiencing will not happen at the same levels again?”
“I too look forward to the publication of the national development plan in the coming weeks and to the significant investment we will see in infrastructure. The challenge, of course, relates to delivery. Our problem with certain State agencies is what I can only describe as a "Bulmers" approach to delivery - nothing added but time. Some of our delivery has been particularly poor. I would like assurance, particularly in respect of water infrastructure. I will talk about my own constituency of Wicklow-Wexford, which the Tánaiste knows very well. While Uisce Éireann has done good work with regard to the Arklow wastewater treatment plant, there have been 24 instances of water outages of 24 hours or more in Gorey town over the last 18 months.”
“These include Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, Brunei, Nigeria and Mauritania. The death penalty is a horrific concept in any event but it is appalling that someone might face the death penalty simply because there is a perception that that person is gay. I commend the Ministers of State on their work in this area and urge them to continue at a global level to preach the good news.”
“Many Irish politicians, including Deputy O’Gorman, travelled to Budapest Pride this year. Cynthia Ní Mhurchú MEP was also there. Being able to show that solidarity is critical and the fact that Ireland continues to raise this issue at European Union level, UN level and in some of our overseas development work makes me really proud. We need to remember that when the decriminalisation of homosexuality was brought forward 30 years ago, which is a relatively short time, by the then justice Minister, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, some of the language used in this House during those debates was pretty horrific. However, we can look at what is still happening around the world. In over 60 countries, homosexuality is still a criminal offence and in a number of countries people can face the death penalty for being gay or even suspected of being gay.”
“I am also very proud of the role Ireland is playing at a global level in promoting LGBTQI+ rights. While not everything is perfect in this country, we have come a long way. We have further to go. Unfortunately, our gay brothers and sisters in many other parts of the world do not enjoy the same freedoms and rights we enjoy here. I am very proud that during World Pride the Irish Embassy in Washington DC hosted a reception and made very clear that Ireland's support for issues around LGBTQI+ rights were to the fore. We must do so at every international forum and that includes the European Union where we must continue to call out Viktor Orbán’s disgraceful behaviour towards minorities generally but in particular, as Deputy Ward said, towards the LGBT+ community.”
“I want to raise an issue in my constituency concerning the town of Arklow. Arklow was extraordinarily progressive in painting the first rainbow crossing anywhere in this country, yet Wicklow County Council has made the decision to allow the rainbow crossing to fade. It says the Department of Transport does not provide or allow for rainbow crossings. I have asked a parliamentary question specifically on this. The Department of Transport has said it is a matter for each local authority. I ask that the Department of Transport be more proactive than saying this is a matter for each local authority. It would be an awful pity if the crossing in Arklow, the first town in the country that had a rainbow crossing in place, were allowed to fade. I know from many in the area that it is a matter of serious concern.”
“We are very fortunate that within politics now, in all parties and none, there are many role models and within political parties there are LGBT groups and supportive mechanisms in place to encourage people of all backgrounds to become involved. Having those role models is critically important. That is also important in many other aspects of society too. As we move towards the all-Ireland finals, I commend Mark Shields, an all-Ireland winner for Armagh, on coming out recently. Mr. Shields spoke very bravely about some of his personal challenges. In sport, it is often a lot harder to come out. In camogie and ladies Gaelic football there are many role models but there are not too many yet in the GAA. For individuals to come out and be those role models is particularly important.”
“Like others, I thank the Ministers of State for being here for this very important debate and discussion. The Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, will forgive me if I single out the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, who has been a champion of the LGBT community, particularly now on trans healthcare. I am very proud to count her as a friend. On this issue in particular, she has spoken out and taken on some of the voices in these Houses who preach prejudice, and about whom colleagues have spoken. It is very important that her voice continues to be heard. I also want to pay tribute to the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, who spoke earlier of his instrumental role in establishing the equality caucus here in Leinster House and about working with the staff equality team.”
“It surprises me in this House that those warm relationships we have with democratic countries that share our values are attacked so often and yet there are those on the Opposition benches who will never criticise countries like Russia, Iran or Venezuela - countries that certainly do not share our values. Trade is the lifeblood of this economy and having a global economy that has free and fair trade is essential to lift people out of poverty and provide people with employment.”
“I welcome the Taoiseach's very warm welcome for the new Prime Minister of Canada. I am sure he will also join with me in welcoming the new Canadian ambassador to Ireland Dennis King and his wife Jana, who have just joined us. The Taoiseach's personal commitment to Canada over a long period is very welcome and I look forward to the Government implementing CETA. I understand the memo has been brought to Government but the Taoiseach might outline if it will be fully ratified by the end of this year. It needs to be remembered that over 15,000 people are employed by Canadian companies in Ireland, that over 6,000 people are employed by Irish companies in Canada and that Canada is Ireland's 12th largest trading partner. As the Taoiseach said, Ireland and Canada share so many values.”
“I would like an assurance in the context of the EU-China summit that human rights will remain on the EU's agenda, that the Irish Government and the EU will raise the question of the succession of the Dalai Lama and that we will reaffirm the position that it is right for those of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition to choose the Dalai Lama's successor and that his successor should not be chosen by the Chinese Communist Party.”
“I agree with my colleague, Deputy Moynihan, about the horrible events that continue to unfold in Sudan. I raise the EU-China summit which will take place next year. While it is important and increasingly the case that we must have free and fair trade around the world, and I know China and the European Union are committed to try to address some of the trading problems globally, I raise again the issue of continuing human rights abuses in China by the Chinese Communist Party. In particular, I raise the case of Tibet and how the Tibetan minority is treated.”
“I would like artificial intelligence to be a key aspect of the Ireland's EU Presidency agenda. The Taoiseach mentioned the competitiveness agenda and I know the Minister of State is very committed to it as well. It remains crucial. We have to keep a focus on what was raised within the Draghi report. It is essential we move on the development of a capital markets union. I hope the Minister of State, in his response, will be able to address those issues.”
“The Minister of State might indicate in his response who will be representing Ireland at that summit. I welcome Ursula von der Leyen questioning China's continued support of Russia in its war on Ukraine. That has to be central to any engagement between the EU and China. While we do want to do business with China, and I have huge respect for China and the Chinese people, its continued sabre-rattling against Taiwan, its oppression of minorities in Xinjiang and Tibet and what has been going on Hong Kong are not acceptable. I ask for this to be a priority at the forthcoming summit. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth's, indication that we will have a major AI summit next year. Before our AI committee yesterday, I was glad to hear her officials confirm they will be working towards an AI summit.”
“I am glad it remains on the European agenda but I am concerned it does not get discussed as often as it should on the political agenda here. We have war in Europe and we have had only one opportunity for statements on the issue within this House. Within the media, with the honourable exception of the Irish Independent , coverage of Ukraine has often dropped off the agenda. As Deputy Bacik mentioned, Russia is engaging in hybrid warfare against the Ukrainian state and this is not being taken sufficiently seriously. We see soft interviews on "Morning Ireland" regarding issues relating to Russia. Ukraine is not getting the level of attention it deserves. I encourage the Minister of State, as I know he has been doing, to continue to keep this at the heart of the European agenda. I also want to raise the forthcoming EU-China summit.”
“In particular, I reference the ongoing concern, which I know the Minister of State has expressed, about what has been happening with the repression of rights in Hungary, particularly with regard to LGBT rights. We need to communicate effectively, both internally within the Union and more widely, why those values are so important, especially given this Continent's history. In that regard, I was very happy to hear the Taoiseach again emphasise Ireland's and the European Union's support for and solidarity with Ukraine and the work being carried out by President Zelenskyy. Day after day, we see the continued bombing and destruction of infrastructure. We have seen children abducted from Ukraine and taken into Russia and Belarus.”
“I welcome the Minister of State's strong commitment to the European Union. In this time of global turbulence, it is more important than ever that we talk about why the European Union is in place. It is the world's greatest peace and prosperity project. It is not perfect and there are lots of reasons we can criticise the European Union, but if we think about what the EU has achieved, not just for Ireland but also for this Continent and the world, it is more important than ever that we start talking about European values regarding human rights, the rule of law and respect for democracy. This needs to be applied both inside the European Union and when we talk about it globally.”
“Equally, commitments have often been made around areas to allow the trains coming from Rosslare to pass the DART on the southside of Dublin. All we are asking for is that we would go some way towards providing a service for counties Wicklow and Wexford to match the services in other parts of the country. I will quite happily call it "the Canney train" if the Minister of State delivers it. We might even go so far as to call it "the Canney line".”
“When I raised this recently with Iarnród Éireann, the promise for improving carriages was that, when it puts all the new carriages on all the other tracks, it will give whatever is left over to Rosslare. The problem is we are not seeing improvements to the M11. I raised this when Eamon Ryan was Minister for Transport. The M11 is the spine that runs through Wicklow and Wexford and links us with the capital. If we do not see improvements on that route, one would expect us to be trying to get people onto the trains, but the rail service serving the east coast is not fit for purpose. Part of the challenge, especially when coming in from Bray, is there are six level crossings that delay some of the services. Can they be removed?”
“Can we also consider doubling it on the Rosslare line from one to two? We hear colleagues talking about the services that are provided. Let me look at the services for commuters in areas around the country that are equidistant from Dublin. For those coming from Dundalk or Drogheda, as Deputy Nash does, there are 16 services available every day. From Portlaoise, which is also the same distance from Dublin as some of the areas I represent, there are 32 services. From Carlow, there are 11 services. However, if you are travelling from Rathdrum, Arklow or Gorey to Dublin there is a maximum of six services on any day and we are served by the worst rail carriages in the country.”
“I have listened in envy to some of my colleagues talk about the wonderful rail services they have and how much more they need, because in this rail review the Rosslare line was an afterthought. Hardly any consideration was given to improving the services south of Wicklow town. While I welcome that we are talking about extending the DART services to Greystones in Wicklow, it is intended in this review to force passengers south of that line - those who get on in Rathdrum, Arklow, Gorey or stations further south - to change trains in Wicklow or Greystones. That is not going to happen on any other line. On a cold wet morning, commuters will have to change trains and no consideration has been given to those with disabilities or mobility difficulties. There is talk of doubling the number of lines from two to four on the northern line.”
“They are engaged in or sponsor cyberterrorism, cyberespionage and the spreading of misinformation and disinformation, which represent threats not just to this State, but to others that share our values. In the same way we rightly hold countries to account for actions in wars on the ground, we need to hold them to account where they act in a malign way in cyberspace.”
“We need to co-operate, particularly with our EU partners. Similar to Storm Éowyn, where we sought assistance from overseas, I believe we will need to seek and offer assistance where like-minded countries are attacked. This is a global issue and, therefore, when it comes to overseas aid, we should be offering to help developing countries to build their cyber resilience, given the expertise in this country. They are often subject to attacks by some of the rogue states in this area. We need at an international level to start demanding accountability, particularly from the four states most responsible for cyberattacks around the world: Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.”
“Like the Minister, I welcome the fact that the NCSC is now within the remit of the Department of justice. I welcome the fact that he is giving priority to the cybersecurity Bill, but he might provide an outline as to when he envisages it coming before the House. While I welcome the fact that the NCSC regularly carries out assessments of cyber risk, I wonder if an assessment has been carried out as to exactly how vulnerable some of our critical infrastructure happens to be. For instance, how easy might it be for a malign actor to knock out the traffic lights in Dublin, with the ensuing chaos that would result, or stop all bank payments to public servants or social welfare recipients? What systems do we have in place to seek assistance from or offer assistance to like-minded states if a cyberattack were to happen here?”
“I hope we have learned from the experiences of the HSE attack and that we are constantly learning from efforts to attack critical State infrastructure. The Minister will also be aware of the risk of destabilisation to the State when there is a malicious cyberattack. The spread of misinformation and disinformation represents a threat to democracy. Trust in Government and our provision of services can also be damaged when critical infrastructure is brought down. Our sense of freedom to enjoy certain rights can also be under threat. This issue needs to be taken seriously and I am glad the Minister is here today to take the question.”
“When I put a question to every Department as to how many cyberattacks they faced in recent years and how much they were spending on cybersecurity, a lot of them replied that they could not answer for security reasons. Interestingly, some of them were able to provide details on how much they were spending on cybersecurity. Given the amounts involved, it shows most are taking it quite seriously. It is important that we know the State has a plan in place to combat any major cyberattack we face in the future and to address situations where critical infrastructure may be brought down. This could be in health, transport, financial services, Government payments or energy. We need to have an all hands on deck approach if this is to happen, similar to what we have seen with major weather events.”
“The National Cyber Security Centre has now found there is enough evidence and information in a number of those cases to attribute activity to specific foreign intelligence and security agencies. We know that businesses are regularly hit by cyberattacks, but I want to talk about the potential impact on critical State infrastructure. Everyone will remember May 2021, when the HSE faced a major ransomware attack. We know that the costs to date have been more than €150 million, not to mention the many lives that were undoubtedly lost as a result of the attack, as well as delayed appointments and the impact on people's health outcomes. For security reasons, we often cannot discuss cyberattacks.”
“In that regard, we have to support the work of the United Nations, the European Union and others in this field. Like other countries, there are challenges to Ireland in the cyberattacks we face, including those from other states or malign actors aligned to those states, as well as those who want to hack State infrastructure systems for financial, political or ideological reasons. I commend the work of the National Cyber Security Centre, NCSC. As the Minister knows, it needs to continue to expand. In one of its most recent reports, it talked about 2023 as being its busiest year. At that time, it received 5,200 cyber reports and while many were minor, it identified 721 cyber incidents that represented a threat to a network and required a response.”
“I thank the Minister for taking this critical issue. As he knows, we all live in a digital world. It is one where computing in general has made our lives better and easier and we are far more interconnected. Artificial intelligence, quantum computing and other technologies have the potential to deliver ever more effective and efficient public services. However, as cyberspace becomes more critical to all of our lives, the risks and threats are also increasing exponentially. Our society depends on a free, open and secure cyberspace. Ireland should do everything to support those values at a global level. In our engagement in multilateral efforts, we need to ensure international law applies in cyberspace as much as it does on the ground.”
“Second, in the event of a global economic downturn, how can we ensure that public current expenditure will be kept under control?”
“In the past decade, according to figures provided by the Minister's Department, the number of civil servants has increased from about 36,000 to 53,000, which is an almost 50% increase. In figures provided to me by the HSE with regard to whole-time equivalents, the numbers employed by the HSE have increased from 107,274 to 148,268, a 38.2% increase. We have seen today a report from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council that overspending by Departments this year is set to top €2 billion. While I totally agree that, with a growing population, more complex needs and a traditional under-resourcing of certain areas of government and the health service, we need to expand. I have two related questions. How can we ensure that these increases in both staff resources and spending are resulting in improved delivery to citizens?”
“I hope the Minister of State, in his response, can broaden this debate. Like so many others, I share the outrage at what we saw on the "RTÉ Investigates" programme. We cannot allow it to happen again and action needs to be taken against that minority.”
“The Minister of State will be aware that in budget 2025 the then Minister for Finance, Deputy Chambers, announced there would be a review around the concept of tax relief for gym membership, but also other incentives for people to be involved to ensure they remain healthy into older age. That is something I strongly support. There is a lot of wonderful work being done by the Active Ageing programme and others about keeping older people active within our communities. Too often, there is a danger - I say this respectfully - that we do not have a Department of Health but, rather, a Department of illness and sickness, and we do not spend a sufficient amount of time focusing on positive health promotion about ensuring how everybody, but older people in particular, can live independently in the community and live healthy lives.”
“We can learn from societies that have faced this challenge, such as Japan and Italy. I do not think we will be going to those extremes just yet but certainly their experiences of having larger older populations are very important to learn from. An issue I want to refer to is the importance of trying to ensure we keep people healthy. If we can keep people out of hospitals and out of nursing homes, that is the best thing we can do. Part of that is about care in the community, but it is also about encouraging a lifestyle of health and fitness right through until older age. Once you get into your 30s, 40s or 50s, when you tend to become less active, it is critically important to keep up some level of physical activity.”
“Those who regularly criticise aspects of the State should recognise that the fact we now have one of the best life expectancies of anywhere in the world is something we should be proud of as a society. However, we have to ensure older people get to live in dignity in later life and we also need to ensure that, insofar as possible, they can be healthy later on in life. While it is important for us to talk about nursing homes and the sanction that needs to be levied against those errant nursing homes, we should also celebrate those who do a lot of good work in the sector. In particular, we should recognise those with qualifications in the sector. There is a broader debate around older people within society, though, and around how we design our societies to be able to ensure that older people can take part and be involved.”
“It is important to note there are many quality nursing homes and centres that provide for the elderly within our communities and they are equally appalled by what has happened. In my own community in north Wexford, many of those who provide quality care were disgusted by what they saw on their screens. It is as important for those who are quality providers of care for the elderly that the rogue element within the sector is stamped out. As the Minister of State knows, the bigger challenge is that we are all getting older and we are all living longer. Over the next 20 years, the population aged between 65-84 is projected to increase by 65% and the population of those aged 85 and over will double. The fact that life expectancy in Ireland is now hitting 83 years of age is a major success.”