Mark Wall
Kildare South · Labour Party · Ireland
“I understand that the Electoral Commission is undertaking research on this, but we really need to see changes in our voting system to ensure that everyone can take part on voting day.”
“We are seeing lower turnouts in our elections and extending postal votes to a wider range of people would be one measure that could help us all address this issue. I appreciate that the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage may be waiting on the research to be received from the Electoral Commission on postal voting.”
“The Minister is 100% correct that we all want to see recruitment to our Defence Forces continue. However the figures she has given far from the 11,500 sought by the Commission on the Defence Forces by 2028. The Minister mentioned 850 a year. Is that the height of the ambition? It is not going to take us near 11,500.”
“They cannot engage in the democratic process like every other ordinary citizen because they work 24-7, 365 days a year, with no break. This Bill is a small but necessary step to ensure that family carers feel that they can use their voice by voting.”
“There is no single issue here. This is about housing, pensions, pay and conditions. Has the Minister dealt though with the representative organisations on the single public service pension scheme? She might confirm that and let us know whether there is any update.”
“I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to entitle certain persons caring for others to be entered in the register of postal voters, for that purpose to amend the Electoral Act 1992, and to provide for related matters.”
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“This is a significant policy development as without the scheme's implementation, Ireland would be the only OECD country not to operate an auto-enrolment or similar system as a means of promoting pension savings. We know that pension coverage is a particular concern among young workers, as the Minister mentioned. Figures from the CSO for last year show only 59% of those aged between 25 and 34, and more worryingly 27% of those aged between 20 and 25, have pension coverage. In a cost-of-living crisis, it is no wonder that future planning is not a priority for many young people who are barely getting by. Further figures from the CSO show that 30% of young workers cannot afford that pension. Auto-enrolment is a policy priority that the Labour Party has long called for and it is welcome to see it finally being introduced.”
“I am glad to get the chance to speak on auto-enrolment which is a very important topic for workers in this country, as has been said by colleagues throughout the House. The Labour Party broadly welcomes the introduction of the auto-enrolment scheme which is very much needed. It will and should provide an uplift to the basic standard of living in the future for workers in this country who cannot afford to pay into a private pension or where their employers do not have an occupational pension scheme in place. I welcome the appointment of Patricia King as chair of NAERSA. I wish her very well in her role. The Labour Party repeatedly made the case for ICTU representation on the board as the Bill passed through the Oireachtas. ICTU also asked for the Bill to go through as quickly as possible which is also very important for this scheme.”
“I understand it is not the only local authority involved, but at a time when people need them most, we should go back and ensure these grants are readily available. There should be no pause in any local authority area.”
“I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I appreciate the promotion. I raise the importance of the housing aid and housing adaption grants that are administered by the local authorities. In particular, I refer to a letter recently received by all public representatives in County Kildare stating that the grants have been paused. My office is aware of more than 20 applicants who have been told to apply again next year. Those application forms have been returned to the constituents in question. I am sure the Minister will be aware of the importance of these grants and the great work that is done through them. As a result of their being paused, many people are going through trauma and concern about the quality of their lives. Will the Minister raise this issue with the Minister for housing? Kildare County Council needs additional funding.”
“I hope that is something we can all agree on in this House. An eviction ban on cases where children are involved should help to provide some respite for the many households that are struggling. We can help to protect future generations and that would lead to a long-lasting, positive outcome for Ireland's young people. The eviction ban during the Covid-19 pandemic prevented people entering homelessness at a time of enormous uncertainty and, most important, protected vulnerable children.”
“In a rich country, we are again failing the most vulnerable in society. We are now running just to stand still. We need to increase funding for the tenant in situ scheme across all counties to support families facing homelessness. This funding must be dynamic and allow local authorities to respond to the level of need in their area. No child should ever be made homeless.”
“I have been calling on the Minister for housing for months to increase the funding for Kildare County Council to address the demand and prevent more families entering into homelessness. In the recent announcement that was again trumpeted by the Minister, an additional €50 million was put forward by the Government. Kildare County Council received no funding. In my opinion and that of many others, Kildare County Council is being penalised because it does its best to remove families as quickly as possible from homelessness, which seems to be the criterion set by the Minister for housing for this additional funding. Yet, at the end of August this year, there was a 50% increase in families in Kildare who are in homeless accommodation for more than 12 months. The questions remain. What should these 12 families now do? Do they simply not count?”
“A number of young mothers who are trapped in homeless hubs have to travel from Dublin or one end of Kildare to the other just to get their children to school. The Minister can just imagine the pandemonium each morning when people living in homeless accommodation in Lucan, County Dublin have to get their three children to Athy, County Kildare in time for school. These children cannot have their friends over to play because there is nowhere to play as they share a room with their entire family. Unfortunately, this is the reality of this Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Government. I am dealing with six families at the moment who are trying to access the tenant in situ scheme.”
“We need a policy reset that lifts households out of poverty and provides a basic standard of leaving so that no household is left behind. It is more than disappointing that the Government will oppose this motion. I sincerely hope that many on the Government side of the House will take a good long look at themselves and at exactly where their priorities lie. Day in, day out, almost 40 struggling families sit in my office or contact my office because they are unable to find housing. They are worried about their children's future. A father recently told me that his landlord is selling the home they have rented for ten years. He is being made redundant and has until November to find a place to live. There are only 12 houses available to rent in Kildare for this family.”
“Just over half of that money could, as the Minister will be aware, abolish the carer's means-test in the morning. The Government has utterly failed the children of Ireland. Childhood lasts a lifetime and unless we take radical action, we are likely to see the impact of Government failure and inaction on future generations. Budget 2026 must be a cost-of-living budget. We cannot return to the previous "Late Late Show" style of one-for-everyone-in-the-audience budgets. The Labour Party's motion today puts forward real and meaningful measures that would help to support many working families who are struggling to keep the lights on and food on the table. We need a radical reset to address child poverty and homelessness.”
“This Government is presiding over record levels of child poverty and homelessness. There are now over 5,000 homeless children in Ireland and one in five children or more than 225,000 children live in families who have incomes below the poverty line. Over 300,000 households are in arrears on their electricity bills and almost 175,000 families are in arrears on their gas bills, not to mention that food prices have risen by more than 5%. Let me be clear. When over 5,000 children are homeless, we are no longer in a housing crisis, but an emergency and we need to act like it. Instead of emergency measures to address spiralling child poverty and homelessness, the Government is hellbent on wasting more than €600 million on a non-targeted VAT rate reduction for the big hospitality lobby.”
“I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — the number of children in consistent poverty nearly doubled in 2024 to 8.5 per cent, rising by over 45,000 in one year to 104,780, up from 4.7 per cent in 2023; — the research by Economic and Social Research Institute shows one in five children, over 225,000, live in families 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 per cent; — Ireland already has some of the most expensive energy costs in the world, and suppliers are now increasing their rates by over 12 per cent for the winter ahead; — over 300,000 households are in arrears on electricity bills, and nearly 175,000 in gas arrears, while the moratorium on disconnections only covers the Christmas period; — there were 5,014 homeless children in emergency accommodation at the end of July, an increase of 14 per cent in a year; — the reduced funding available for the Tenant in-Situ Scheme is not enough to meet demand, and local authorities do not have sufficient resourcing for the purchase and repurposing of vacant and derelict properties; and — the School Meals Scheme has been rolled out across primary schools, but remains unavailable to far too many children in schools not signed up to the scheme; recognises that: — budgets are about choices, and regrets that the Government intends to spend over €630 million a year to reduce Value Added Tax (VAT) on food and catering hospitality, while the number of children living in consistent poverty and homelessness continues to increase; and — the reduction in VAT: — will be of most benefit to those businesses with the highest turnover; — will not be passed on to customers; — will not be reflected in better pay and conditions for workers; and — will not address the underlying issues facing the hospitality sector; and calls for in Budget 2026: — the €630 million cost of an untargeted VAT reduction, instead be committed to measures to relieve child poverty and homelessness, the improvement of public services, and reduction in waiting lists for disability and health services; — the urgent implementation of a targeted rate of child benefit, a new child income support payment - to address the shocking rise in child poverty; — a ban on the eviction of children into homelessness, and legislation to prioritise the housing needs of homeless families; — the removal of the restrictions introduced in March 2025 on the Tenant in-Situ Scheme so it is demand led, and the resourcing of local authorities to tackle the scourge of vacancy and dereliction; and — the introduction of targeted energy payments, an extension of the moratorium on disconnections, an increase to the Fuel Allowance payment and widened eligibility to include those on the Working Family Payment.”
“Maybe if the Minister of State or her Department get the chance, they might come back to me on how many have availed of those emergency services, and they might also look at that Sensational Kids proposal, which would be so beneficial to so many people in the area I am from.”
“I always welcome the Minister of State finishing with a question like that. I am going to use the opportunity once again to raise Sensational Kids, a new building in Kildare town. I am sure the Minister of State is aware of this particular building. It remains unbuilt since November 2024. This building could have allowed up to 300 children per week in the greater Kildare and Leinster area to receive those services I mentioned but also training for those therapists in speech and language, OT and physiotherapy. That was a proposal that was part of Sensational Kids. I understand that proposal is with the HSE now but it would make a difference for so many families in Leinster. I still state that as much as I support public services, families are crying out for that early intervention and those emergency services.”
“The number of people coming to my office are probably not aware of that but they are definitely not using that particular emergency service.”
“I thank the Minister of State. I am all for public services and I welcome the fact the Minister of State is chasing down the maximum number of public services we can and increasing the number of consultants and clinicians we have in that area. Unfortunately, too many families are waiting too long for those much-needed services for speech and language, OT, physiotherapy or whatever their child might need. I know we spoke already about Cara Darmody and the €10 million fund that was created for private assessments of need, and I welcomed that at the time. It was discussed in this House. In supporting any public development, the question around case-by-case basis emergencies remains. Does the Minister of State have any idea how many CDNTs have used that facility of using private services for case-by-case basis emergencies?”
“We are all aware - and it has been discussed already tonight - of the length of waiting lists of families waiting for therapies in this country. I ask the Minister of State to address the House tonight on any plans she may have for a reimbursement scheme for families who have had to pay privately for their child due to these long waiting lists.”
“However, it is underfunded and needs more support. We also need that support throughout the State and not have it determined by a postcode lottery.”
“One of the areas I want to concentrate on tonight is emergency care. I have come across a number of cases recently where family carers need that respite care in an emergency situation. I know that Family Carers Ireland has been providing such a service for a number of years and it tells us that that service is underfunded. I ask the Minister tonight to consider through the budget proposals, through her Department and in her cross-departmental conversations tomorrow to look at that emergency care and look at additional funding for Family Carers Ireland to ensure that when a family needs that emergency service, there is respite care available for them. It is a huge issue in this country that when their hour of need comes, there is somebody to answer that call. In fairness Family Carers Ireland has been doing that for a long time now.”
“I appreciate the Minister's reply. As I said in my introduction, we are all aware of the great work of family carers, what they do for the State and the €20 billion they save the State every year. However, as the Minister said in her reply, they need a break, something we all can agree on. Today I attended the family carers' pre-budget presentation. One of the issues for the people they represent is that respite care is not strong enough in many places. I appreciate, as outlined in the Minister's reply, that this is also cross-departmental, but from the point of view of the Minister for children and disability, a huge cohort of family carers who are caring for those with a disability need respite care. They are caring 24-7 and are crying out for some sort of respite.”
“I think everyone in this House can agree that family carers right across the State do an outstanding job 24-7. I would, as I am sure the family carers would, love to hear the Minister's plans to introduce respite for those family carers.”
“It seems madness that these same drivers can come in on a private bus and take those children to far-flung places, such as Donegal or Cork, without a problem yet they cannot drive 5 miles from their home into the school. What is wrong there? Special schools have already been mentioned. I have raised this before and I will finish on this point. We have people in school buses and special taxis criss-crossing one another as they go from Athy, where I live, to Dublin and as people from Dublin bypass Athy on their way back to Kilkenny. It is about joined-up thinking. While I know the Minister of State is doing his best, we need more action. We need that joined-up thinking because too many families are suffering.”
“I refer to a line we could ring to give the details and get an answer as to what is actually happening, rather than waiting three to four months for a reply. As I said, in some cases, a reply has still not been forthcoming. The Minister of State will know I am going to raise the issue of the Curragh secondary school with him once again. I have raised this as a Topical Issue, as well as with the Minister of State on a number of occasions. Some 29 to 40 children are using their parents’ cars, carpooling where they can, to get to a school on the Curragh. They are waiting for a new school to be built in Kildare town, but we still do not have a bus for them. In the short time I have remaining, I wish to raise the issue of drivers over the age of 70 not being allowed to drive Bus Éireann buses.”
“I have been inundated with worried parents and, as has been continuously said here tonight, parents who have had to take time off work and unpaid holiday leave to get their children to school. It is simply not good enough. I did not pick up at all the communications problems I and other public representatives have had with Bus Éireann in the Minister of State’s speech. It is simply not good enough that I have been asked to submit emails, with consent from parents, and yet, as I stand in front of the Minister of State today, I still have not received those replies. We need a dedicated line for Oireachtas Members. We need to have a line that will provide us with answers straight away, such as the line we have in the Passport Office.”
“Who is controlling the ghost buses? In many cases I have been told by Bus Éireann and the Minister of State's office that it came down to finding suitable contractors. Yet, when I rang some of the contractors, whom I know and have worked with on many occasions, they told me they were actually waiting on Bus Éireann to sign the contract and not the other way around. That is the case for more than one route in Kildare. I am sure other colleagues in the House will have had the same experience. While this is happening year in, year out, this year was particularly bad. Every year since I have been a public representative, school transport has been an issue. We have been promised reports and solutions but, unfortunately, this year has been the worst year I have ever had with school transport.”
“I thank Deputy Eoghan Kenny for affording me the opportunity to raise a number of matters. I welcome that the Minister of State is before us this evening. Like many Deputies here today, I have been inundated with queries from worried parents who are struggling to get answers from Bus Éireann on their children's school bus places. In many cases, parents were contacted a week or two before the start of the school term, and in a number of cases in my own county of Kildare two days before the school was due to start, and were informed that their school bus routes were not going ahead. This is despite the fact that many of these parents already had a school bus ticket in their possession. The question has already been posed, but I will pose it again. How can Bus Éireann issue a ticket for a bus that does not exist?”
“It would take the burden off the parents. I can give examples of 47 schools being contacted in one case involving a young family in Newbridge, 39 schools being contacted in another case, and 42 schools being contacted in another case. This involved an average of 40 to 50 phone calls looking for a special education place. It is not good enough. The NCSE and the SENOs should be doing this. I hope the Minister of State ensures this happens for everybody next year.”
“I welcome the Minister of State's announcement today that he will put the NCSE on notice to come in four months earlier than last year. The question I have today is the same as the one I asked the Minister for education previously, which is whether this will mean that parents will not be ringing 40 or 50 schools looking for a special education place for their loved one. Will this mean the NCSE and the SENOs will do the work and take the burden off those parents who need a place for their children? We have people sitting in front of us who have made 40 or 50 calls and are at the end of their tether, and it is so disappointing for them and their loved ones. This is what we need from the Minister of State. If the Minister of State has this, and the NCSE will do this, it would be a massive step forward for us in special education.”
“They come to us looking for assistance but the NCSE is simply not responding to me. I can send on the cases to the Minister of State. I have a litany of emails I can send on to him. I am sure the Minister of State is familiar with St. Mark's Special School, which was recently built in Newbridge. It is a fabulous school. It shows the model of what can be done. It is a fabulous school and a fabulous community. It has moved into a new school building. We were promised a second special school for south Kildare but what we got was a school located in Naas, which is in north Kildare. When I spoke to the Minister for education previously, she told me Kildare South has the need for a special school but it was located in Naas. It is a fabulous school but, unfortunately, it is full. Parents are still coming to me looking for this.”
“I thank Deputy Kenny for sharing his time. I also thank Sinn Féin for tabling this very important motion. In recent months not a week has gone by when my office has not received calls from worried parents looking for a special school place for their children. I am worried about the numbers the Minister of State has given us this evening. Like other colleagues, I am dealing with at least four families who do not have a place at present. This is half the number the Minister of State has spoken about. My biggest problem is the NCSE. I have been ringing it and emailing it since July, as has my office, and I get no response from it. This is simply not good enough. The parents are at the end of their tether looking for the special education places their loved ones so deserve. Something needs to happen. We are elected to represent these people.”
“This strategy is a chance to have that done, but all it will do is sit on a shelf unless the Government is serious about ensuring it is backed up by that cross-departmental involvement over the coming years. I look forward to working with the Minister, as she requested, on the pillars that she has mentioned today. She will not find the Labour Party wanting on those pillars if the Government is serious about helping those with a disability and giving them the dignity and respect they deserve day in, day out.”
“I welcome the fact that one of the pillars in this strategy is to do with employment. It is long overdue that we concentrate on providing the incentives to employers to allow those with disabilities to get a sustainable job close to their home. In this way they can gain confidence, social skills and the pleasure of working in a particular form of employment. This has been lacking for a long time and it needs to come through this strategy. Of course, we in the Labour Party support the strategy. We believe that it is long overdue and that the people with a disability who live in this country have the right to have the respect shown to them day in and day out.”
“The problem is that they got the school place but they cannot now get the school transport needed to bring that loved one to school each day. This issue is replicated time and again. The Minister mentioned in her opening contribution the need to resolve this once and for all for people with disabilities. We need to ensure that transport is not a barrier to their quality of life. I also want to bring up the issue of employment that other colleagues and the Minister have also mentioned. I have dealt with this with a lot of families in Kildare and neighbouring counties over a long period. We need to incentivise employers to provide those places that work for families and those with disabilities. It has come too late for many that there is no employment for them.”
“As the Minister said to me in a previous contribution, the demand is in Kildare South. That is why there should be a school in Kildare South. Is there an update on providing a school in Kildare South, where the demand is? Many parents are still travelling huge distances to bring their loved ones to school each day. It is causing serious issues for families day in and day out. Regarding school transport, I am sure that, like my office, the Minister's office has seen a huge demand for school transport over the last weeks and months. This is particularly the case for those with special school needs. I am dealing with one family in Dunlavin, on the Kildare border, who cannot get a school place for their loved one.”
“I ask the Minister now, and will ask the other Minister later, whether this will allow parents to ring the NCSE, take the burden of 40 or 50 phone calls from them and allow, as I have always said, the NCSE to do the work and empower the SENOs, a point I have raised previously on many occasions with the Minister. I recently had the pleasure of visiting St. Mark's Special School in Newbridge. What a wonderful school and what wonderful pupils and teachers in a wonderful setting for all those who use the facility. However, we in Kildare South have been promised another special school for a long time. I have raised this issue previously with the Minister and her predecessors. She will be aware that the special school that is there has been located in Naas, which is actually in Kildare North and not Kildare South.”
“Even if they do get a place, it is extremely difficult to get school transport to allow the child with additional needs to get to their school. I have been working with a number of families trying to get a school place for their children with additional needs. I have been in contact with the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, but I have as yet failed to get a meaningful response from that organisation. I welcome the announcement today by the Minister that school place scheduling will begin four months earlier than has happened previously.”
“As we all know, this scheme has been key in supporting older people and people with disabilities to continue to live in their own communities. If this Government is serious about supporting and enabling independent living, then we need to see an increase in this grant, with funding to the levels that are needed by each local authority to meet the demand that is there and to allow people with disabilities to continue to live in their own homes. Special education is an issue that I have raised with the Minister previously. It is a massive issue for many people who come to me and, I am sure, everybody in this House. It is one, in my opinion, that the Government has failed to act on and get a handle on. My office is constantly in contact with worried parents who are struggling to find a school place for their child with additional needs.”
“This can be a turning point in Ireland's treatment of disabled citizens but every Department must step up to the plate. Disabled people face many challenges, including long waiting lists for services, in particular therapies and supports, high levels of unemployment and poverty, inaccessible transport and a lack of supports for independent living. I acknowledge the strategy is based on five pillars that seek to address these barriers. I will address some of these, as a number of concerns have been raised by disabled people and their families with my office over the last number of years. We have recently seen that many local authorities, including the council in my own county of Kildare, have paused new applications for the housing adaptation grant scheme.”
“I welcome the opportunity to discuss the national human rights strategy for disabled people. Of course, it has long been awaited and many disability organisations have been campaigning for its publication. It is the first strategy since Ireland ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was way back in 2018. I welcome the fact, as the Minister herself said, that the strategy has taken a whole-of-government approach to progressing the rights of people with disabilities. This is an acknowledgement that disability is not just the concern or responsibility of one Department but extends to many more, including health, transport, education and housing. However, we need to see the ambition from the Government to match the implementation of this strategy.”
“I know my colleagues will talk more on this in the coming minutes. I will hand over to the rest of my colleagues, if that is okay with the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach.”
“According to Belong To, there has been a significant decline in the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ people in Ireland since 2016, with even more significant challenges for younger age groups. We need to continue to fight hate in all its forms and ensure we can be a more equal Ireland so that young people know that things can and will get better. While Ireland has had strong rights in place for many LGB people, the same cannot be said for our trans community. It is now a decade since the passage of the Gender Recognition Act. Despite this, transgender health in Ireland is consistently ranked as the worst in Europe. My Labour Party colleagues and I have met a number of trans rights groups regarding issues impacting them, access to basic health, issues with the National Gender Service and the major challenges highlighted.”
“These changes do not just happen. They are a result of years of hard work and campaigning. They are about being bold, brave and proud. However, we have seen in recent years that far right governments across the world are trying to row back on any rights for the LGBTQ+ community. We saw this recently in Hungary. I want to stand with the Minister of State, who acknowledged Deputy O'Gorman's presence there, and also members of our own Labour Party who made a trip to Hungary in the last number of weeks as well. There continue to be attacks by far right groups on LGBTQ+ people, and I am particularly concerned about the impact this is having on young people.”
“We also introduced the Gender Recognition Act, marking for the first time in Ireland transgender men and women being allowed to self-declare their own gender identity. It has been said here many times today that Pride is not just a celebration. It is also founded on a base of activism and protest. We can never forget that. We can never forget the pivotal points in history that bring communities together to fight for equal rights, like the death of Declan Flynn in 1982, a 31-year-old gay man who was brutally attacked in Fairview Park in Dublin and later died from his injuries; John Roche and Charles Self, who were killed that same year; or the recent murders of Aidan Moffitt and Michael Snee, who were killed just because they were gay. We must continue to put these deaths to the forefront of our minds when we speak about Pride.”
“I also want to use this opportunity to commend former Senator David Norris, who was a leading campaigner around the decriminalisation of homosexuality. In 2018, on the 25th anniversary of that decriminalising of homosexuality, the Labour Party secured an official State apology for gay and bisexual men. We have yet to see any real, meaningful steps by the Government to disregard these convictions, however. All through our history, the Labour Party has been and continues to be a party committed to achieving equality for our LGBT+ comrades. We were the first political party to propose legislation to recognise same-sex couples in the law through the former Deputy Brendan Howlin's Civil Unions Bill. In 2015, we delivered on our promise to hold a referendum on marriage equality, which passed by a landslide.”
“I start by welcoming two very good friends of mine, Jacinta and Geraldine, who are visiting the House today in the week they celebrate their ninth wedding anniversary. I also welcome friends from our own Labour Party LGBTQI group, who are with us in the Public Gallery this evening as well. In many regards, Ireland has led the way to social progress for members of the LGBTQI+ community. I am pleased to say that the Labour Party has been behind much of this progress. It was the Labour Party that gave the first ever legal protections to gay and lesbian people by amending the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act. In 1993, we delivered on our promise to abolish the criminal offences relating to homosexual acts.”
“Multipurpose buildings in communities are bringing a bit of life back into rural Ireland again. It is a positive reply and I look forward to advancing that.”
“I thank the Minister of State for the positive reply. I want to mention two issues he brought up, namely, the age-friendly aspect and sensory rooms. They are important as part of our libraries. I welcome the fact that the Government has recognised that. I urge the Government to continue to invest in sensory rooms in particular. I know from visiting my local library and other libraries the importance of inclusivity. Having a sensory room means libraries are inclusive. Everyone can be part of the community. The issue of turning rural buildings into mobile libraries facilitating book clubs and history clubs is something the Government should look at. I look forward to working with the Minister and the Minister of State on that because there are so many issues.”
“However, rural communities want to take over buildings, some of which are derelict, and form book clubs or heritage and historical societies. It is a great use of the building and a great fit for the library service as well to link in with those community buildings.”
“I did not come in on Deputy McGreehan's question because I wanted to leave it until this one. I totally believe it is important to have multipurpose facilities. I want to raise an issue that has come up in respect of a couple of locations. We have derelict buildings, old former schools in rural areas. A number of people have come together to form book clubs and heritage and historical societies in those buildings. The query I have relates to that multipurpose function whereby a library or a history club can be developed and make use of that community building. Will the Minister support that? Can we see funding for it? It is a very good use of buildings. We have spoken previously about the major libraries in major towns and the amount of very welcome investment going in there.”
“We have a tradition and history there and a great history department within Kildare County Council. It has a lot of archive material that needs to be shown and displayed. The Curragh history museum is also very important to the county and we can share that history as well through the Newbridge county library. I thank the Minister of State for his reply and I look forward to that project for the people of Newbridge and of County Kildare.”