Mattie McGrath
Tipperary South · Independent · Ireland
“The loss of the double child benefit payment and other cost-of-living supports has come at a time when families are facing rising bills across every aspect of daily life. Parents are not just paying for education. They are paying more for food, energy, insurance, childcare and gach rud eile.”
“Parents also face substantial bills simply because they are required to buy specific items from a specific supplier. That is not fair and is not a balanced market either. There is no good reason that generic uniforms or PE clothing cannot be used in most cases.”
“Maidir le hUisce Éireann, cad a dhéanfaimid feasta gan uisce? The situation in south Tipperary has reached crisis point. Since January, the Ardfinnan regional water scheme has experienced 58 water supply interruptions, affecting 11,000 customers, while almost 28,000 homes and businesses were placed on a boil water notice in a single week.…”
“Music education is a perfect example. Some schools provide excellent music programmes and opportunities for students to learn instruments and participate in assemblies. Other schools offer very little.”
“I, too, am glad to be able to speak on this motion today. I compliment Páirtí an Lucht Oibre for introducing it. While we often the cost of education in terms of books, uniforms and transport, the reality for many families is that the financial pressures associated with rearing children have never been greater.”
“They say it would be great to have water to be affected by a hosepipe ban. Uisce Éireann is totally out of control. Two weeks ago, the Tánaiste gave me some hope here that the Government might do something. Uisce Éireann is not acting for anybody.”
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“There are a number of students with a diagnosis of special educational needs in mainstream classes with no supports, and a number of children with complex needs do not have a place in the special class. Many principals like Peter Creedon have taken time to engage with the NCSE over recent months and have made plans for these new classes but have been told they cannot now proceed, not because of a lack need but because the Government has reached its target regardless of need. This is so cruel. We are talking about human beings. Schools across my constituency are affected by this. If they have to wait another year to open these classes, it will create an even greater backlog as there will be even more students driving the list next year and students will be taking up places in the school without the support they need.”
“I appreciate it is not the Minister of State's reply - he is reading it out - but it is not about quotas, deadlines and systems like that. It is about ordinary children with needs. It is not fair on the schools that expected to open these schools to now have to wait to see if the decision will be reversed. By the Minister of State's account, I do not think it will be. We are approaching the end of the school term and principals have already been including the expected allocation in their numbers. One such school is Coláiste Dún Iascaigh in Cahir, which was approached by the SENO to consider accepting an additional ASD satellite class. I commend the principal, Peter Creedon, and Ms Fiona Greene, who is the co-ordinator, on their work to ensure the needs of all students are met, but this is increasingly difficult.”
“I believe the Minister of State is committed so he needs to go back to talk to the NCSE, see if that body is fit for purpose and get it to change its decision in this case.”
“To think that we could even send out that kind of bland email saying that we have met the quota so it is a case of tough, we are not going ahead with those three classes in those three schools in south Tipperary, is wrong. There are probably many more around the country. In this case, the groundwork has been done and ploughed and many arrangements have been made. The parents are exhausted from trying to get a place and were definitely very pleased to have the knowledge heading into the end of the school year that their children would have a place next year. It is just not acceptable that a bureaucratic system can make a cold bland statement saying that we have reached a quota. It is about people. We are talking about human beings.”
“The Minister of State with responsibility for special education is not here. I am asking him to go back to the NCSE and literally instruct it to not renege on the commitment it made to these children - not to the building, board of management or principal, Mr. Peter Creedon in Cahir, but to the families and particularly to the children. Are we going to allow a situation to develop where, because we have reached a certain quota, it becomes a box-ticking exercise, the quota is met for this year - 399 special classes - and it is a case of "sorry, tough"? This is supposed to be about the person. Under the Constitution, every child is entitled to an equal education and every opportunity in life.”
“To think that some civil servant or some person in the NCSE has decided that we have met a target, the job is done and the box is ticked. This is a body blow to the parents, the children with additional and special needs and the principals of these schools. One of the schools affected is Coláiste Dún Íascaigh and I have permission from the principal to mention the name. The school has worked with the SENO and the Department and the needs are there. It has pupils with additional needs who are being catered for in mainstream classes. There was real energy and synergy from the whole body of the school to have extra room and an additional six pupils catered for. These people had the clear impression they were being enrolled and were thoroughly delighted, so arrangements were made. This is a body blow.”
“I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise this very serious issue. A number of ASD units were approved for three secondary schools in south Tipperary. Three principals and their staff, boards of management and parents of children with special needs were waiting for places and expected them to come on stream. In fact, the SENOs asked them to generate space and accommodation and all of the resources needed to deal with an extra class this year. However, they got shocking news from the Department a couple of days ago to the effect that the classes would not go ahead because the number of special classes in the national tally have been rolled out, which is a total of 399 classes. This is a shocking indictment.”
“Before we start, I would like to express on my own behalf and that of the House good wishes to our new Pope elected this evening while we were doing the session. I wish him well. Our hearts and prayers are with him. I thank everyone who supported the cardinals for their diligent work. It was a speedy process. Go n-éirí go geal leis an bPápa nua.”
“Deputy David Cullinane - To discuss the funding requirements for the Waterford Airport extension Deputy Matt Carthy - To discuss the provision of disability services in County Monaghan. Deputy Emer Currie - To discuss regulation around the commercial use of drones in Ireland. The matters raised by Deputies Emer Currie, Marie Sherlock, Séamus McGrath, Mattie McGrath and Roderic O'Gorman have been selected for discussion.”
“Deputy Séamus McGrath - To discuss an application under the additional schools accommodation scheme from Scoil Ballinora, County Cork. Deputy Pat Buckley - To discuss waiting times for hip operations. Deputy Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin - To discuss the case of CJ Gaffney Deputy Mattie McGrath - To discuss the decision of the NCSE to halt special education classes in south Tipperary. Deputy Aidan Farrelly - To discuss the introduction of the new fare zones to the public transport system. Deputy Marie Sherlock - To discuss a review of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman - To discuss the need for greater support for Irish aid agencies working abroad. Deputy Martin Kenny - To discuss the implications of the Good Agricultural Environmental Condition GAEC 2 following recent EU approval.”
“I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case: Deputy Michael Cahill - To discuss the disparity faced by school secretaries in terms of leave entitlements and pension rights. Deputies Rose Conway-Walsh, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, Pearse Doherty, Donna McGettigan - To discuss the increase in the cap for the defective block grant scheme. Deputy George Lawlor - To discuss progress on the new Wexford campus of the South East Technological University. Deputy Paul Murphy - To discuss a public inquiry for conduct in care facilities during Covid. Deputy Dessie Ellis - To discuss funding for An Saol Foundation CLG's plan to relocate to a new campus in Ballymun. Deputy Pádraig Rice - To discuss driving test wait times in Cork.”
“The service was their brainchild. We must stimulate such activists and people who want to do good and to provide childcare places and other facilities literally from the cradle to the grave. Tá an t-am almost caite.”
“Buildings get old and they need to be upgraded, especially with modern heating systems and everything else. We must also bear in mind running costs and the cost of fuel. It is not simple. It has been a great pleasure for me to have been involved in Naíonra Chaisleáin Nua. I am no longer on the board but I still have regular contact with it. I love to go in to hear the children ag súgradh out in the yard and then to see them walking from there up to the scoil náisiúnta. It is an holistic approach that keeps the village alive. I have spoken about the childcare services in my area but there are also wonderful community crèches in Clonmel, Mullinahone, Caiseal Mumhan, Cathair Dún Iascaigh, Ballyporeen and Ardfinnan. There are many others I have not mentioned, such as Ballingarry. I remember Clare Cashman and Sr. Patricia.”
“I remember that when we first opened the doors, people came from New Ross, which is 70 miles away. I could not believe it. That shows the kind of demand that was there. The shortage of places has been addressed to a good extent, but there is continuing need and a demand for extra support. Funding for childcare services from Pobal is great, as is funding for the Department, but it is for construction. Many community initiatives are suffering due to a lack of continuing upgrades and maintenance supports. We must examine such issues and be imaginative. We must have a fund, whether it is for community centres or community crèches, for maintenance and contingencies for events such as accidents, lightning strikes or other events. God knows what will happen.”
“The childcare services know what they have to do. They are looking after other people's children. There are strict rules, including HACCP and the guidelines on food preparation. The vast majority of naíonraí are very happy places. I heard previous speakers refer to situations where people were overcharged or they did not get access to the free scheme. That is a pity. Is mór an trua é sin. It is important that future generations are nurtured. We must give respect to the boards of management, the management and staff, including cleaners and the suppliers. In our community of Caisleán Nua, tá na naíonraí ag fás. They are expanding. We have 120 daltaí and 17 staff. It is like an industry in our small village. It is one of the biggest employers in the area.”
“West Waterford has struggled to get places as well. This is a very timely motion. The Minister was here earlier and the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, is here now. We have an adversarial system that results in the Government rejecting the motion. It is a good motion and we all need to work together. Ní neart go chur le chéile. We must try to do that for the sake of the children, including those yet unborn, who need places such as the ones in my area of Caisleán Nua, where there are up to six. I intend to support the naíonraí we have. My wife, Margaret, and I have 13 grandchildren, so we will be in need of childcare and childcare facilities for some time, as well as national schools. It is an evolving situation. It is great to see it continuing. These places are so badly needed. The rules are rigorous.”
“There are difficulties and challenges, especially with special needs and the clamour for special education places. We have many such services in the country. Many schools have got extra rooms but some people have been left out. I could mention Bansha National School, which is still awaiting sanction for a second room. The boards of management in those schools and the principals and staff want the facilities. It is great to have people who want to care and to give extra care to special children. They need to be supported. I know Rome was not built in a day but it is tough. We do need more special schools. We have a special school in Clonmel, Tipperary. Ferryhouse, which is south of Clonmel, is no longer in use for its previous purpose. It is ideally located on the border with Waterford. The river is all that is between us.”
“Many of these services are wonderful success stories. That is the case in Cluain Meala freisin and in many villages. This started with five daltaí. My own daughter was one of the first students in the first naíonra. She is 30 years of age now. Twenty-five years ag fás – fiche bliain is fiche. I want to impress on the Government that we must look at childcare. It is not the case that one size fits all. We must support parents who are in the home and allow them to be there as that is the best of all solutions. The second best approach is community childcare and then private childcare. The situation must be considered in an holistic way. All the facilities cannot be public because that does not work. We see that with the education system itself.”
“The voluntary boards do their best. The early years supports help to support such facilities. Another problem relates to the maintenance and retention of staff. The naíonra has been very lucky. Because it is a wonderful place to work, the staff have stayed, but recently a number of them have had to retire or they have reached the end of their time on a CE scheme. The naíonra is finding it hard to replace the staff, which is a problem that is experienced throughout the country. A multifaceted approach is needed. I salute Cahir Bears, Ardfinnan Community Playschool and the childcare service in Ballyporeen. They are wonderful institutions. They got funding from Pobal but they had some difficulty in drawing down the money and getting it. They had to be architects, managers, builders and everything else.”
“I am very proud to have been involved in the setting up of Naíonra Chaisleáin Nua. It was the brainchild of Helen Nic Craith, a sister-in-law of mine. A voluntary board has continued to run it. It has responsibility for children in the first instance - babies, toddlers, preschool and after-school services. It also has responsibility for its employees. It looks after them. There is a very happy relationship between staff and management, led by Mary and Joanne. It is important we have proper conditions and wages. I met Marie Lonergan, who is there from the inception of the service, which is in place for more than 20 years. She made a very passionate plea for workers to be respected and supported. Sadly, they are not. They are treated as second-class citizens. They do not get the same rate of pay or holiday pay.”
“I, too, compliment Sinn Féin on bringing forward this very timely and important motion. Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. It is a bad state of affairs if we do not look after our young people and nurture them properly. Ar an gcéad dul síos, I salute na máithreacha go léir, the mothers who care for children in their homes, as well as the extended family - grandparents and neighbours and friends in the sense of the meitheal. The old adage is that it takes a village to raise a child. I salute the visionaries for the community crèches especially, as well as private crèches that exist. They must be supported because they involve volunteers. We cannot kill the spirit of the volunteer. The Minister of State, Deputy Collins, visited Naíonra Chaisleáin Nua last Wednesday evening when he was in Newcastle village. He saw it for himself at first hand.”
“In actual fact, the opposite is the case. If they have to build elsewhere, such as a town or some place else, they have to go to and from the farm to do their work. It is patent nonsense and these bodies will not listen. We have more of these agencies that have CEOs and directors and brass plates on the walls. They are doing nothing only confusing. They cannot go on the way they are going because they have stalled progress on housing and infrastructure with Uisce Éireann. How many villages and towns in Tipperary that are full up have no access to this? There is no funding and they have no power. We must go back and look at what happened in 2014 with the set-up of Irish Water.”
“The plan that was reviewed in 2021 - my daughter, Máirín, is on the council in that area - sought to reduce the quantum of residential zoned land from 50 acres to just 10 ha. It ignored concerns from the councillors and anybody else at the time. It was the height of stupidity. Now they want the council to rezone the land again, having admitted their mistake. Anybody would know that reducing the zoned land from 50 acres to 10 ha was way too much but they just would not listen. They were obstinate. I have cases involving planning for rural farmers. One is on the N24, between Cahir and Tipperary, and one on the N74 on the way to Kilkenny. These farmers are living with their families and even though they have land and are farming it, they are not allowed to build a house on it because of more turning in circles.”
“I wish the Minister of State well in his new position. I welcome some of the proposed changes in the NPF review. Ultimately, the document must restore power to councils to form their own plans and address the overriding powers of Uisce Éireann, the Office of the Planning Regulator and Transport Infrastructure Ireland in dictating the development of rural constituencies. When I was a comhairleoir on my council, we had none of this. We had the National Roads Authority, NRA. As I often said, I thought we had decommissioned it but apparently it is still there. This is the problem with this document. The Cahir local area plan is a prime example of the failings of the NPF and the heavy-handed nature of the Office of the Planning Regulator.”
“It should be taken out of the hands of the RSA, which should just look after road safety and not driver testing or the issuing of licences. It is in it for the money, I think. It is miserable to have one tester in a town the size of Clonmel. People are doing their lessons, paying that expense and doing their best to get on the road to get to work, college and everything else, but there is no light at the end of the tunnel.”
“The driving test situation is appalling. There are 81,000 people on a waiting list. Many of them are in my county of Tipperary. There is only one tester in the town of Clonmel, which is a large town with a huge hinterland. This is causing enormous strain for families who now have to accompany drivers with L plates. Those drivers cannot get apprenticeships. I know many young people who have got jobs but must have a licence. There is one tester. We were told last year that 75 new testers were being appointed. I want to know where they are. I want more appointed in rural areas because we do not have the DART, Luas or other forms of public transport. People are hindered. The RSA has made a pure hames of this.”
“I appeal to the Minister of State - I do not have much time and I do not want to take time from my colleagues - to continue with his good work. I thank him again for his engagement.”
“The Minister of State visited one of them recently and I appreciate that. I could not say enough about the boards of management of those schools, the volunteers and the parents here today and the fight they have to have for their children. We need some place in Clonmel. Ferryhouse is a wonderful institution, and is no longer being used for what it was. It is just east of Clonmel, between it and Carrick-on-Suir. It would make for a wonderful location. I ask the Department to examine its potential as a new special school, which would cater for people from west Waterford and south Tipperary, because people should not have to travel long distances. It takes them away from their hinterlands and their siblings in school.”
“I thank the Minister of State for engaging with all of us in Tipperary. I thank him also for meeting a parent recently, Tina Barrett. Her son recently got a place in St. Michael's and I thank the Minister of State for his involvement there, albeit in Tipperary town. There are two excellent special schools in Tipperary, Scoil Aonghusa and Scoil Chormaic, but they are at capacity. They had to turn away 17 children. There is a real problem in providing sufficient numbers of second level classes. It is really a failing on the part of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCSE. I know the Minister of State knows this, although I also know he is committed to this. We really need a new special school in south Tipperary and west Waterford. We have the two excellent schools in Cashel.”
“The people in Dundrum House, Tipperary, and all over the country are incensed. The Government continues with this failed policy and makes greedy people richer and fat cats fatter in the name of looking after people. They have no interest in looking after people. They are interested only in the money in their pockets. It is disgusting that this contract has been signed. I want it withdrawn and I want a full investigation. I have referred the matter to the Committee of Public Accounts, and I hope the Minister of State will support me with that. This is a shocking vista and it is not acceptable.”
“I am extremely disappointed with the reply the Minister of State read out. I want the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister for Justice and the Minister, Deputy Foley, to halt, pause and withdraw this contract because of the company that is involved. The Minister of State gave me gobbledegook there. It is not legal to pay €20 million to a company that has not filed taxes and that is not compliant with the Companies Act. Both Brogan Capital Ventures Limited and Utmasta Limited are subsidiaries of Steelworks Investments Limited. That holding company last filed accounts with the Companies Registration Office in 2017. In the name of God, there is collective Cabinet responsibility under the Constitution to serve the people of Ireland and not to be trading with these cabal outfits that have no trust.”
“The Department of integration was made clearly aware of this. To have signed this for 277 applicants to be put into a village of 200 people is simply GUBU territory. That is grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented. It is shocking.”
“It is €20 million in taxpayers' money with a paper company that is not there. We know it is the same owners who have it, and the people who have been dealing and blackguarding and who are not interested in the well-being of IPAS people. They are interested in their greasy pockets. I am shocked that the Government think they can wash their hands like Pontius Pilate. I know it is after Easter. That is what it is from the Minister, Deputy Foley, to evade this question. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, is saying he has not got it. The Minister of State is here tonight. No disrespect to him; he is probably reading out an answer. However, the public need answers about enormous amounts of taxpayers' money going into companies that have no track record and as I said, are before the courts.”
“This contract for €20 million of taxpayers' money was signed in such a fashion. The Tánaiste, Simon Harris, stood in this Chamber some months ago and told me that this would all be paused. I have been running after the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, who will have responsibility for this on May Day, which is in two days' time. The Minister, Deputy Foley, has it now and she will not deal with it. Somebody signed this contract with a shady, dodgy company that is before the courts. Three cases have been in the courts this week across the river in this city with the receivers, the funders for the company and, indeed, the Dundrum heritage company. I salute na daoine ó Dhún Droma i dTiobraid Árann. They are decent people. However, blackguarding has gone on here. This is taxpayers' money on a €20 million contract.”
“I, too, have tabled a Topical Issue matter about Dundrum House Hotel in County Tipperary. I am appalled that the Minister who is responsible for this, Deputy Foley, left this Chamber 20 minutes ago. She fled, but she cannot hide from the people. It is disgusting to treat elected representatives like this. If she was not here, I would say something, but she was here all evening in this Chamber. The contract on Dundrum House Hotel raises some very serious questions. I am extremely concerned about the lack of transparency with regard to the matter. We need to know how such a contract has been awarded to Utmasta Limited, a newly formed private company incorporated in Spain last January. The company lists a single director, Ms Ana Maria Fernandez Sanchez, with a declared income of €120.”
“The Minister stated that she cannot accept it because she is waiting for a report. There is always some excuse. We must start taking accountability and provide the services. In the context of money, when I came here first, there was €6 billion or €7 billion for the Department of Health. The amount now is €26 billion or €27 billion. While we have a lot of good outcomes, we have less accountability - practically none.”
“Where is the accountability? Somebody - including Secretaries General in Departments - must be held accountable. The Minister is ultimately responsible, but they are the people under him or her. There must be accountability, and there is not. I said this earlier, and I will be repetitive. The HSE was set up with the single purpose of taking accountability away from the political heads. We have no accountability now. We do not have it from the political heads or the heads in the Department. Many good people work in these hospitals, in the HSE and in the different organisations. They do their best, but they are embarrassed by the situation that these are standard procedures, and rightly so. Why should they not be? This motion will, I am sure, be dealt with in the same way as many other motions.”
“I hope she does well with the HSE, but so many Ministers have made promises. As has been said, we have been waiting for the children's hospital; it is a saga. There was a campaign to prevent it being built where it is now located. The Minister's former party leader and former Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, chose the site. The current leader tried to deny he signed the contract. Why would there be accountability on the part of officialdom when Ministers are not held accountable? The buck has to stop somewhere for the people who are watching this debate to see what goes on here and what goes on in Departments in terms of the lack of accountability. I remember when the Secretary General moved from the then Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to the Department of Health. He got an extra €60,000 or €70,000 to move. For what?”
“I, too, want to speak on this motion. I thank Sinn Féin for bringing it forward. Again, it is a saga concerning the HSE. As the Minister stated, she is constrained in what she can say and must wait for the report. We have so many reports and so many investigations, but they are all inside investigations. It is wrong for anybody, but a child especially, to have an invasive procedure that was not necessary or was in error. It beggars belief that this is going on. As we know, it came to light in 2021 and prior to that. The report asks why the pace was so slow. This is for every person who had an incorrect or unnecessary procedure. Children have parents, siblings and wider families. It is a shocking indictment that in 2025 this is being allowed to continue and that nobody seems to be accountable. I have wished the Minister well.”
“That is what is said of the self-serving HSE and CHI. The board should be gone. If the members of CHI's board do not have the good grace to go, they should be sacked. There is no accountability. Sick children, the elderly and people with autism are suffering. History books will be written about that, and there will be shame on all of us in this House for allowing it to happen and that they did not get the services.”
“His wife told me that he had taken 250 coffins - little white boxes he made himself - for those children. I refer to the humanity of it. We are privileged to be in this House, but if we cannot do justice for the most vulnerable and people who are sick, especially children, what are we here for? When will somebody take accountability for the HSE, Children's Health Ireland and HIQA? I could name them all. There are many good people working in those organisations, but as organisations, they have gobbled themselves up in cover-up and deceit to protect the system and certain individuals in it. We have seen it too many times. I wish the Minister well. I hope she will be able to do it. She visited Clonmel last week. I was shocked to see the number of senior managers, layers of them I had never met before and who had new titles.”
“I, too, am pleased to be able to speak on this matter. I wish both Ministers well in their roles. I sincerely thank Deputy Brennan for putting away his notes and talking from the heart, and my colleagues here for doing so as well. We have to have heart. Have we no heart to see what has been happening since the HSE was set up? In my honest opinion, it was set up by Mary Harney - maybe I am wrong - to create a buffer for the Government when it comes to accountability. My late brother was a paediatrician of some renown. The Minister saw, during her visit to Clonmel, the wonderful memento that is up there for his work. He loved and cared for children all over the world, especially in Africa, and he could not understand how they were being buried in just their clothes in the clay.”
“The best of land is being gobbled up and used. What are we going to do? We must look after our own house first and then we can work with the American people and the US Administration. They have been good to us always and we have those jobs here. I believe we can negotiate with President Trump and his team, rather than attacking him like the parties here are. Sinn Féin would not even go to America. I am wondering whether it was invited at all this year. That is a nice way to do business - abstention. It is used to abstention. It is time we got our house in order, looked after ourselves and kept the juvenile Tánaiste at home. We should put him in the dressing room somewhere rather than having him going out on our behalf after the insults he put on President Trump during the US presidential election campaign.”
“I thanks Deputy Nolan, who found out a couple years ago that we have 36,000 NGOs that are in front of the Government, behind the Government, tripping the Government and costing more than €6 billion a year. The sooner we get a wake-up call with tariffs and start to deal with the waste, the opulence and the naked, shameless way that these NGOs are milking our taxpayers, the better. There is also the fact that so much waste in government has been going on under successive Governments. We banned the turf. We have the farmers nearly put out of business with different issues supposedly from the EU. It is time we looked after small businesses and our small- and medium-sized farmers. Ní neart go cur le chéile. We should not allow the ranchers. We do not have any policy on wind turbines and solar panels.”
“We the had the Fine Gael Party and the Tánaiste, who was Taoiseach at the time, meddling in the US election by describing one of the candidates, now-President Trump, as a gowl. God only knows. Another morning, he tweeted a photo of a baseball cap endorsing Kamala Harris which he got that morning in the post. That is such juvenile, pedantic and silly behaviour. Then some bright spark sent him over today to meet the US Secretary of Commerce. I was over there for St. Patrick's week at the time the Taoiseach was there. I met many Irish-Americans who were aghast at the way we had behaved. I met Pam Bondi, RFK Jr. and many other Congressmen and people. They were aghast, as were the voters among the Irish diaspora. Here we are now stifling and crippling small businesses with bureaucracy on a daily basis.”
“I too am concerned about tariffs as there are more than 9,000 FDI jobs in Clonmel and thousands more of them in Dungarvan up the road from me. However, like Deputy Nolan, I too am concerned about the tariffs that our own Government has imposed on the ordinary people, such as the punitive carbon tax and the nearly 48% tax applied to anyone wanting to build a new home. I am talking about people building a home for themselves, not looking for houses from the State. The Government has taken punitive measures. As for the bailout, I called it at the time and voted against it. It was a clean out when we had the crash and the EU charged us 6% interest yet the German and French bondholders were let off scot-free. We got money that time from the IMF at 2.9% interest. They are now supposed to be our friends.”
“Anois, we move onto the Independent and Parties Technical Group. Tá triúir Teachta Dála le labhairt, is iad sin ná Teachtaí Paul Murphy, Roderic O’Gorman agus Catherine Connolly. They are sharing time.”
“Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire - To discuss Garda presence and numbers in the areas of Carrigaline, Douglas, Bishopstown and Ballincollig. Deputies Jen Cummins and Paul Murphy - To discuss grade inflation in leaving certificate 2025 and to discuss the impact on leaving cert students of the proposed changes to grade inflation for this year's students. The matters raised by Deputies Eamon Scanlon, Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, Catherine Connolly, Jen Cummins, Paul Murphy, Edward Timmins have been selected for discussion.”
“McGuinness - To discuss the urgent funding requirements for the Waterford Airport extension. Deputy Colm Burke - To discuss the inclusion of the shingles vaccine in the national immunisation programme, drug payment scheme and medical card scheme. Deputy Louis O'Hara - To discuss the need for SNA support for schools such as Lisheenkyle National School in County Galway. Deputy James O'Connor - To discuss the rapid development of major solar farms on high quality agricultural lands in the Cork area. Deputy Thomas Gould - To discuss the waiting lists for primary care in Cork city, and the need for primary care centres in Mayfield, Blarney and Glanmire. Deputy Louise O'Reilly - To discuss the provision of primary care services for Dublin Fingal West. Deputy Pat Buckley - To discuss recent changes to the tenant in situ scheme.”
“Deputy Aidan Farrelly - To discuss new mechanisms for the creation of football academies with the FAI and the League of Ireland as outlined in the programme for Government. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae - To discuss pension abatement for retired nurses who returned to work during Covid-19. Deputy Mattie McGrath - To discuss delays in Uisce Éireann connections and the cost of connections on housing developments. Deputy Michael Murphy - To discuss local government reform as set out in the programme for Government. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí - To discuss the need for BusConnects routes to adequately support north Dublin commuters travelling to destinations south of the Liffey. Deputy Catherine Connolly - To discuss the ongoing delays in the provision of an ambulance base at Recess, County Galway. Deputies David Cullinane and Conor D.”