Maurice Quinlivan
Limerick City · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“The Kilteragh estate in Dooradoyle, where hundreds of homes are also located, has no bus service. The nearest bus stop is located outside the Crescent Shopping Centre, which is 2 km away. Another area that is lacking a bus service is that which lies between St.”
“In recent years, there have been some improvements on the bus transport in Limerick city, with routes such as the 310 from Annacotty to the city centre being rolled out. These new routes and improvements have to be welcomed, but significant gaps remain in the provision of bus services across Limerick city.”
“We have already seen a four-year delay in the delivery of BusConnects, which has impacted the economic development and liveability of Limerick. When raising the issue of University Hospital Limerick on many occasions, I have spoken about the growing population of Limerick and the wider mid-west region.”
“We have faced major challenges in making the Limerick city centre a liveable and enjoyable place. Efforts have been made to improve the city and make it a more attractive place to visit and enjoy. We have had some great success with the promotion of King John's Castle as a music venue, Thomond Park and the annual Great Limerick Run.”
“As stated, good progress has been made regarding transport in the mid-west, but we still lag way behind other areas across the State. Last year, I published a report on bus infrastructure in areas on the north side of Limerick City.”
“What they have done with the route, with buses coming onto O’Callaghan Avenue from Kileely and then onto the High Road and Thomond at Johnseys shop, is very dangerous. The road has been narrowed so much that buses have to mount the footpaths on both sides. Somebody is going to get seriously injured unless something is done.”
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“I am pleased to speak on national social enterprise policy. The purpose of social enterprise organisations is to sustain the social and economic well-being of people living in our communities. They are essential in delivering social inclusion and the provision of opportunities to some of the most marginalised groups in our society, such as the long-term unemployed. Across the State, they represent almost 4% of the workforce, with over 84,000 people in employment, the vast majority of whom are women. We often talk about economic growth but for many communities, unfortunately, some that I represent, this growth has not produced any real social or economic benefit. My home city of Limerick still has seven of the top ten unemployment blackspots, which is an incredible statistic.”
“There is significant offshore wind energy potential in Limerick. We have the deep port at Foynes and the potential to improve our electricity grid to make ourselves an energy-independent nation and deliver cheap energy to our people while exporting the excess but as usual, the Government acts at a snail's pace. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have an opportunity to support the constituents by supporting this motion but, unfortunately, I do not think they will do so.”
“In the past number of weeks, SSE Airtricity announced an increase in standard variable electricity prices of 9.5%, adding approximately €150 to the average annual bill. Bord Gáis Energy, Energia and Pinergy have all announced similar price increases. Despite this, the Government is determined not to introduce energy credits. We need reform of the energy market and to strengthen the power of the energy regulator to hold these companies to account. We need a focus on affordability and, crucially, transparency within the cartel-like energy market. Families need a break. They need help and the introduction of three energy credits of €150 each goes some way towards aiding them while we work towards holding these energy companies to account. In the longer term, we must end our reliance on imported energy - 80% of energy is imported.”
“It would be shameful if that happens. The decision to liberalise the Irish energy market has led to increased prices for citizens. It is a political choice not to address this challenge. The parties opposite in government are content to take the energy companies at their word regarding their prices. We in Sinn Féin want to provide the energy regulator with the power and resources to investigate the companies' profits and determine if these prices are simply profit driven. Wholesale energy costs have dropped dramatically in the past three years yet retail prices remain 75% higher than pre-2022 prices. Ours is an energy market that functions not for families, but one that seems to prioritise the profits of these companies.”
“Families from all backgrounds are struggling. I meet people all the time, especially in my clinic and when I do my weekly grocery shopping. They tell me they are struggling with the high cost of groceries, the cost of housing and the high cost of utilities, such as electricity and gas. The cost of these utilities is not sustainable for hard-working families. The prices consumers are paying are rip-off prices and, despite the desperate need of citizens, the Government parties fail to take on the energy companies and work for the benefit of consumers. The average annual electricity cost for an Irish household is €1,752 per year. We have 300,000 households in arrears with their electricity bills, with the average arrears at €500. As the colder months approach, it is certain many more people will enter arrears or skip heating their own homes.”
“An assessment of need is vital for children and their parents. It is crucial in supporting parents as they seek to access services such as occupational therapy, speech and language supports and provisional special assistance within school settings. I would contribute a lot more, but I have run out of time. I am chair of the disability matters committee and we will pursue all of this stuff during this Dáil term.”
“We also have a problem in this State when it comes to providing a guarantee of rights to people with a disability. They have few rights at present. It should not take the inspirational work of teenage disability rights campaigner Cara Darmody to prompt change and action. When it comes to providing assessments of need for children with a suspected disability, the Government is in constant breach of the law. The State is basically repeatedly breaking the law every day with regard to children with disabilities and this has to stop. The State is legally required to carry out an assessment of need within six months of an application yet the HSE estimates that by the end of this year almost 25,000 children will have been waiting more than six months, with 15,000 already waiting more than six months.”
“I have seen so often the level of talent and creativity in those of our citizens who live with a disability. To date, many of these citizens have not had the employment platform to showcase these talents. This must change. Pillar 3 is independent living. Those with a disability are too often denied independent living opportunities, but they are just another cohort of people who have been impacted by our housing crisis. Some 13% of adults aged over 25 within the home have a disability. A disability allowance payment is simply not sufficient to support independent living given the cost of housing. Funding for housing adaptation grants has already run out in Limerick so necessary conversion works cannot be commenced. This is an absolute scandal.”
“These students have a fundamental right to education, but a failure to provide and deliver sufficient school infrastructure has meant that many of them are denied the supports needed to offer them an appropriate education. What action does the Department intend to take to address the serious shortfalls in the services for children with additional needs at Le Chéile national school in Limerick? The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, visited this school with me last week, and I have raised it in the Dáil on a number of occasions. I hope some action is taken in respect of that school very soon. Pillar 2 is employment. We lag far behind our European counterparts. The European Disability Forum's Human Rights Report 2023 notes that this State's rate of employment for those with a disability is the lowest in the EU.”
“I welcome the publication by the Government of The National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. It has been suggested that this is a roadmap for inclusion of citizens who live with a disability. We have been down this road before and without a legal framework, I fear this strategy will not have any meaningful impact at all on the lives of those living with a disability, but I might be wrong. Each pillar title of the strategy represents an area where this Government and its predecessors have failed to advance services and supports for those living with a disability, be that in terms of inclusive education, employment or independent living. Pillar 1 is education and inclusive learning. There has been a failure to deliver for students with additional needs.”
“In December 2021, the Council of Europe recommended making restorative justice available for all offences and at all stages of the criminal justice process. It noted that all victims and perpetrators should be given information and opportunities to determine whether restorative justice is the best option for them. Restorative justice can become an important tool in the battle against criminality. It can be an important tool in diverting people from custodial sentences and a life marked by crime. It should be given the opportunity to play a more important role in our criminal justice system. I thank the Minister of State for his attention and his consideration of this Bill.”
“Any effort that can safely avoid a prison sentence while providing justice to the victims of crime, as restorative justice does, must be considered, as we look to ease the tension and danger that overcrowded prisons can create. A Department of justice policy paper on restorative justice notes that the use of restorative justice as a response to offending is supported by rigorous international evidence, indicating high levels of victim and offender satisfaction with the process. It also notes positive results for the support of victim recovery and offenders desisting from crime, high levels of compliance with actions that are agreed through restorative justice and strong participation from those offered the chance to engage.”
“It further projects that between 290 and 579 would be diverted from being given a custodial sentence, leading to a reduction of between 42 and 85 prison places per year. The estimated savings range from €4.1 million to €8.8 million. Of course we would need to look at these figures in terms of the current data but the point is clear that restorative justice can lead to a decrease in the prison population and a saving for the taxpayer. If we maximise the use of restorative justice, as this Bill will enable us to do, it will result in not only a decrease in custodial sentences, but also significant savings for the State.”
“As previously mentioned, engaging in a restorative justice programme can help avoid penal convictions and in some cases, lead to an avoidance of custodial sentences. As it stands, our prisons are operating beyond capacity. We have in excess of 5,000 prisoners and bed capacity for 4,600. In my own city of Limerick, overcapacity is leading to dangerous conditions for staff and inmates. The women's section of Limerick Prison is 48% over capacity, while the male section is 28% over capacity. The National Commission on Restorative Justice noted that if restorative justice was applied more widely, somewhere between 3,200 and 7,200 cases of restorative justice could take place each year in relation to adults before the courts.”
“Often, these situations escalate due to local tensions and a failure to hold to account those involved in such crimes. The use of restorative justice may temper these situations and ensure that any potential escalation is avoided. Restorative justice, as I said, can be positive and for victims it also offers them the opportunity to confront the offender, outline the impact of the crime and seek apology. The alleged perpetrator may gain an understanding of how their crime has consequences for others. It may allow them to explain why they committed the offence and it may save them from a custodial sentence. Both the last and the current programmes for Government committed to restorative justice, so we hope this legislation progresses as soon as it can.”
“During the contribution, I spoke about the feedback the then Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment had received from grocery stores and newsagents' representative bodies. They spoke of their members being the victims of approximately 1,000 shoplifting incidents per week. They spoke of how young shoplifters often feel as if they can operate with impunity. A young shoplifter may only see it as one or two stolen items but does not see the total cost of the crime and its impact on the business owners and their employees, who are often young people. Could restorative justice make a difference for these offenders and the business owners? Too often, we see so-called petty crime ignite a situation that escalates far beyond the original more minor damage, such as a broken window.”
“The Bill we are debating today will encourage gardaí, prosecutors and judges to refer cases to restorative justice providers who would then be tasked with discovering whether the parties involved would like to participate. In addition, while there is currently no obstacle to cases being referred pre-conviction, this Bill will explicitly encourage and permit it, opening new referral pathways. This allows victims to benefit at an earlier stage in the criminal justice process. During my remarks on First Stage of the Bill, I made mention of shoplifting as an example of the type of crime for which those prosecuted could avail of the restorative justice programme. Shoplifting can be an opportunistic or a more organised crime.”
“I hope this Bill will clarify the process, offer victims closure and avoid prison sentences by helping offenders through rehabilitation. This can be a key component of our criminal justice system. It currently remains an underutilised resource. A mapping exercise by Dr. Ian Marder, an associate professor in criminology at Maynooth University school of law, found significant gaps in restorative justice provision. Less than 1% of cases in the State are referred to restorative justice programmes. While there was an expansion of the restorative justice programme in Munster extending these services to Cork and Kerry, the legislative framework needs to be updated.”
“A broad range of research has been done, which identified benefits as regards reoffending rates for certain offenders and high satisfaction rates among victims who can express how the crime affected them and seek reparations and commitments from the alleged offender. Restorative justice can work and has worked. The European Forum for Justice showed that there was an 85% satisfaction rate among victims who engaged in restorative justice programmes. In many cases restorative justice can lead to positive outcomes. This Bill seeks that the option of the restorative justice approach be explicitly encouraged and promoted by the courts between charge and conviction and between conviction and sentencing. The victims of crime legislation allows for discretion for judges.”
“I thank Deputy Daly and Professor Ian Marder of the criminology department in Maynooth University, who helped us to draft the Bill initially. We introduced the Criminal Justice (Promotion of Restorative Justice) (Amendment) Bill 2023 in December 2023. It fulfils several objectives for the State, the victims of crime and alleged perpetrators. If enacted, I strongly believe it will be of benefit to victims of crime, perpetrators and the wider community. Restorative justice involves a dialogue taking place between the victim of a crime and the alleged perpetrator of a crime with an independent person who is trained to prepare and manage such conversations. These conversations can be held directly or indirectly via the third party. It may not be applicable to all crime and it is a voluntary process for all parties. That is important.”
“We need immediate action that treats the situation with the urgency it deserves. In recent weeks an average of 100 people per day have been on trolleys and the hospital is simply not designed for that. We have had a new emergency department since 2017. It was never designed properly for the numbers presenting to the hospital. The UL Hospitals Group advises that a minimum of 400 beds are needed and even that number does not consider the projected growth of population in the mid-west region which we all know will grow exponentially. The figures the Government is offering are dramatically short of what is needed in University Hospital Limerick. I do not get any comfort from the response the Minister of State gave and the people in Limerick and the mid-west will not get any comfort either.”
“I would like to know what the Government intends to do in the interim as we plough through the An Coimisiún Pleanála delay on that. People are entitled to object to planning applications if they want but this will cause chaos in Limerick because we were depending on this 96-bed unit being delivered sooner than that. This will potentially add two years on to that. What will the Government do in the interim to solve the problem we have? The sum total of the Government's plan to solve the crisis is to introduce a few additional beds, which is not really good enough. It is talking about 2028, in three years' time and potentially two years later than that. In Limerick city and county, where the Minister of State lives, the people he and I represent cannot wait that long.”
“I thank the Minister of State, but it does not give me any confidence. In the last line of his response he said, "I would like to reassure the Deputy, and all patients... in the mid-west, that this Government is fully committed to improving health services in the region." I have received the same reply since 2016 when I first started raising this nine years ago. The fact remains that we have record numbers of people attending University Hospital Limerick, with June of this year having the highest June number ever. The Government's plan will not address this issue. I am not sure if the Minister of State is aware that the second 96-bed unit that he mentioned has been referred to An Coimisiún Pleanála. That means we will face at least a two-year delay on that one.”
“Too often, there has been the tragic avoidable loss of life at University Hospital Limerick with the issue of overcrowding deemed a contributing factor. One thinks of the loss of young Aoife Johnston. We are 12 months on from the publication of the Clarke report into Aoife's avoidable death and since then, the capacity challenges at UHL have only worsened. Last October Sinn Féin brought forward a motion in the Dáil, in part on the establishment of an additional model 3 hospital in the mid-west region.”
“A government that is serious about addressing the obscene nature of the overcrowding in UHL, which has caused the cancellation of elective procedures and excessive emergency department wait times, would have said that the number is far too high. Indeed, I would suggest that such a government would have taken robust action to stem the tide of increased numbers. Over recent years, we have had commitments to build two 96-bed units, each of which may deliver an additional 48 beds. While I welcome any increase in capacity, it is simply not good enough. It is not enough when you consider that UL Hospitals Group itself advises a minimum of 400 beds is needed to deal with the capacity. Even that number does not consider the projected population growth in the mid-west region. This is a crisis. It happens every day and needs an emergency response.”
“Nurses, doctors and other medical professions at University Hospital Limerick do their best, in most cases, in the most challenging of circumstances, but they are exhausted. The hospital struggles to retain nursing staff. Who could blame these nurses departing for jobs in places such as Australia and Dubai? Once there, they have job security, a lesser ratio of patients per nurse and accommodation options near their place of work. In Limerick, the average rent is €2,400 per month, and beyond the affordability of many nurses. We are halfway through the year and already 13,000 people have been treated on trolleys in one hospital. This is an utter disgrace and a complete abandonment of the people of Limerick and the mid-west.”
“The staff at University Hospital Limerick deserve much better. It is not good enough that 1,899 people were treated in June this year in conditions that are devoid of privacy and dignity. For the record, June saw 233 more people treated on trolleys than in June 2024. Despite this issue being raised on so many occasions in this Chamber for more than five years by me and despite it also being raised on so many occasions by consultant doctors, patient advocacy groups and nurses' organisations, there is no real progress being made. Last week I had the pleasure of meeting with the members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, the nurses' union. They highlighted how often their members were asked to care for multitudes of patients - numbers that are clearly not safe or acceptable.”
“In each year since the Fine Gael-Fianna Fáil coalition was established in 2020, the trolley numbers at University Hospital Limerick have got steadily worse. Already this year, we have seen 12,998 people treated in this manner. In 2024, it was 23,203 people. In 2023, it was 21,400 people and the previous year, it was 18,012 people. The coalition parties have failed again and again to address the capacity issues at University Hospital Limerick. Indeed, since Fine Gael entered government in 2011, there has been a 585% increase in trolley numbers in my local hospital. Each of those left on a hospital trolley in a hospital corridor is somebody who has presented to the hospital and has been assessed and deemed in need of a hospital bed and yet no bed is available to them. The people of Limerick and the mid-west region deserve much better.”
“I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, but I would have hoped somebody would have come from the Department of Health. At least they told us it was going to be the Minister of State. I appreciate that we were told, at least. The last time I had a Topical Issue it was on crime and nobody came from the Department of justice. I want to put that on the record. I will write to the Ceann Comhairle about it because it is bad road to be going down. We are trying to raise important issues to us and we do not get that chance often. It is important that a Minister from the line Department comes in. Again, I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Collins. He is from my own county and I know him for a number of years. The capacity issues of University Hospital Limerick continue unabated and they risk patient safety.”
“We also need to ensure that we focus on little - I am not sure what word I could use to describe them - criminals donning expensive watches, driving high-powered vehicles and going off on holidays, all over social media, while not seeming to explain how they earn any of that or ever work at all. I very much welcome today's debate and the aims of the legislation but this cannot happen in isolation. We must reinvest in these communities. The State must re-engage with these communities so that we can limit the lure of the criminal lifestyle. I very much welcome these enhanced powers for the Criminal Assets Bureau.”
“The Criminal Assets Bureau has been a fantastic resource to target criminals and it is pleasing to see its powers will be increased. CAB is there to pounce on the proceeds of crime but we must as a State do more to stop criminal behaviour at its inception. It is a role that the community gardaí have performed well over the past number of years. Unfortunately, we have seen their numbers slashed. We need to see these gardaí returned to areas of deprivation in urban estates. We need these communities to see the Garda in a positive light and not only see gardaí when they are undertaking raids, etc. We must also ensure that the bond between the community and the Garda remains unbroken. Increasingly, the number of community gardaí is a key link in that chain.”
“Section 8 of the Bill seeks to amend section 4 of the Proceeds of Crime Act so that the time period between an order being made that assets are proceeds of crime and a disposal order is reduced from seven years to two years. This is a welcome amendment. It ensures that assets, such as houses, can be returned to the communities quickly. The immediate appointment of a receiver to assets is also extremely welcome. Once in place, this will ensure that the suspect of crime is deprived of any benefit from these assets. Furthermore, the restriction or freezing of financial accounts and the detention of moveable assets in a timelier manner will ensure that the gangs and their associates are very much restricted in the use of these assets. That is very welcome.”
“It does not happen by accident that most of the money seized by CAB originates in areas that are highly disadvantaged. We need to see a stronger approach by the Government. I am calling on it to ring-fence the money seized by CAB and to ensure it is invested back into areas most affected by crime. To reference the Bill itself, the Criminal Assets Bureau, since its inception in 1996, has worked well. Its seizure of assets and wealth has had a devastating effect on criminals but has been a joy for many local residents to see. The Bill will strengthen the Criminal Assets Bureau. These new provisions will deprive criminals of illegally obtained assets. Those assets should have been returned to the communities most affected. While this is starting to be done, it needs to be speeded up.”
“Limerick and other areas have had a massive problem with crack cocaine. At the same time, we have fantastic local community projects in Limerick and they do some fantastic work with limited resources. I would like to see the grant amounts available through the community safety fund increase dramatically. We also have many groups and projects doing incredible work trying to break the cycle of imprisonment in crime. They could do so much more with increased resources. This would save us money in the long term. It would keep young people out of prison. Sinn Féin welcomes this Bill. We look forward to seeing its impact on those who do so much damage to our communities. More must be done to support the vast majority of families who are hard working and law abiding and only want to raise their children and get on with their lives.”
“There are elements of the fund we would like to see altered, particularly the arduous application process that often sees the funding not awarded to the communities most in need. To this end, we would like to see the funding allocation linked to the Pobal deprivation index. On that, there is no area in the State more deprived than the St. Mary's Park area of my city of Limerick. Although I am open to correction, there is no area more impacted by crack cocaine, antisocial behaviour, criminality and organised crime gangs that have devastated that area over the past number of years. I would hope that the brilliant groups in St. Mary's Park do not have to go through an arduous process and that the community safety group will telephone a number of such areas and give them the funding. We all know exactly what they need.”
“It demonstrates that crime does not pay, that their success, for want of a better word, will only ever be fleeting and that the State, often for the first time, will have the backs of decent people in many of these areas. It is immensely satisfying to see this wealth return to communities through the community safety fund. Such an approach is one that Sinn Féin has advocated for years. My colleagues sitting beside me here, Deputies Mark Ward and Ruairí Ó Murchú, introduced the Proceeds of Crime (Investment in Disadvantaged Communities) (Amendment) Bill in 2021. In its four-year operation to date, the community safety fund has returned €7.6 million to the communities. That is very welcome. We should be putting more back into the communities most impacted by crime.”
“Organised crime flourishes in areas that have been abandoned by central government. This is as true of parts of Limerick as it is of parts of inner-city Dublin. The vast majority of people in these communities have retired or are hard-working people, and they just want to do the right thing. They want to make a positive impact on their local communities, but the criminal elements there who seek an illegally gained quick profit, often on the misery of others, do significant damage. These criminal elements have destroyed many people. They flaunt illegally gained wealth, and this wealth can attract vulnerable youths into their criminal grip. Taking their ill-gotten wealth away from these anti-community elements is crucial.”
“I thank CAB for the work it has done over the past number of years. I really want to talk about the community safety fund and how that can be enhanced. The aims of the Bill are positive aims that my party and I support. Any efforts that attempt to deny criminals their ill-gotten gains are welcome. The message must be delivered loud and clear that crime does not pay. We have to make that a reality. In my home city of Limerick, we have a number of ongoing feuds between criminals and criminal gangs and it is almost inevitable that lives will be lost. I have said that in this Chamber a number of times. Often, these criminal feuds are between drug dealers. The associated feuds are fuelled by their desire to increase their share of the market. Some of the places impacted are areas of deprivation.”
“I am making several specific requests today, one of which is for more gardaí for Limerick from among those coming out of Templemore. The gardaí in Limerick do a fantastic job when they are available but they cannot be deployed or respond if they do not exist. I also ask that the Tánaiste support an application that has been made for CCTV for the Garryowen area. Garryowen is a large area. It is caught between two areas where there are cameras so everything is being concentrated in Garryowen. I request additional gardaí for Limerick and CCTV for Garryowen.”
“I raise the lack of gardaí in Limerick city and the perceived lack of a Garda response. In recent days, I have spoken to many community leaders who have all used the same words - "tense", "fear" and "dread" - to describe the situation. It is not fair that communities are left like this. This week alone, I was contacted by several constituents. One said a car was speeding around the area all day and there were no gardaí about. Another resident said that five motorbikes were speeding around doing wheelies since that morning and they could not get through to the Garda station. I know people in other areas will say this also but we need more gardaí in Limerick. When the new recruits come out of Templemore the Tánaiste has to ensure their deployment is not only based on population but on need. Limerick has that need.”
“To echo some of the comments my colleagues made about physical abuse, there has to be some version of that included in the report because thousands of people suffered such abuse. I saw it in my school and classroom. I saw colleagues in my classroom being absolutely battered, smashed off the walls and smashed over the heads for making simple mistakes with essays, etc. Children nowadays would have probably been diagnosed as dyslexic, not as being bold or as truants. They were absolutely smashed every single day of the week, and they will all be excluded from this.”
“Following Louise O'Keeffe's 15-year legal battle, it took years for survivors of sexual abuse in day schools to have themselves included in redress schemes, years which, unfortunately, many of the men abused at Creagh Lane did not have. While several of the issues relating to Creagh Lane have been addressed, we are far from getting closure. I urge the Minister to make contact with the group as a matter of urgency and discuss their ongoing issues, which are far from being sorted. The abuse they suffered is not historical. They live with the terrible consequences to this very day. The establishment of a commission of investigation is a long overdue acknowledgment of the harm done to thousands of children in the State. However, I am concerned that the commission will have up to five years to submit its report. That is far too long.”
“Yet another spoke about how he shut down, stating, "All I know is I was crying for my mother." This abuse impacted on them as children and has followed them into adulthood, some suffering mental health challenges and others having left this world through suicide. From protests outside the gates of Dáil Eireann to bringing their concerns to the European Parliament, these men have fought to bring attention to the abuse and their nearly daily battle to seek redress. The case cuts to the heart of how we, as a State, have treated those who have been wronged. The commission of investigation must be better. It must take a very different approach to that taken by previous Governments in the context of dealing with reports of such vile abuse.”
“For too long, survivors have had to fight to be heard. Since 2009, I have known and worked with courageous men who were the victims of sexual abuse at Creagh Lane school in Limerick. I met some of them again yesterday. The way they have been treated is frankly appalling. They have been on a very long journey to justice. Unfortunately, that journey has yet to be concluded. These men were failed terribly by the State. It is important that while we discuss this issue, we do not lose sight of just how evil these crimes were. One survivor of Creagh Lane, who told me he was abused at the age of eight, described the school being about survival and him looking at a teacher and thinking, "How do I get away?" Another survivor told of how he had to be tied to a buggy just to get him to school.”
“With student fees, costs and the cost of living more generally, some people just cannot afford anything additional to that. Families will have done their budgets already. They might have multiples of students going to college. The fact they have no certainty coming this close to the return of the academic year is a disgrace and the Minister needs to sort it out.”
“They contribute greatly to our city. However, people are struggling, and I do not think the Minister appreciates how much they are struggling. For instance, I was in Dunnes Stores yesterday and the woman on the checkout told me that every single week she notices the cost of living and the prices people are paying. Students pay these prices as well. They are going up and up, and nothing is coming down. As I have said, Ministers over the past number of weeks and months have not told us they will be giving a cost-of-living package in the budget. The first we heard about was a €1,000 fee increase. Most people do not have such an amount of money, as some of my colleagues have said. Most families will have budgeted for the year ahead and for student accommodation already.”
“For the past number of weeks or months we have had Ministers saying they will not do a cost-of-living package. They have evaded the question every time they have been asked. When we heard about the plan from the Government to increase fees by €1,000, the Minister can imagine our shock. It shows exactly how out of touch the Government can be, because there is a cost-of-living crisis. I do not have to tell the Minister that. I spoke to many of the students outside the door earlier today, but I speak to them all the time. I represent Limerick city, which is a student city. We have a huge number of third level institutions, the Technological University of the Shannon, TUS, the University of Limerick, the art college, Mary Immaculate and others. They are fantastic. Lots of students come to Limerick and they are very welcome.”
“We all want to see fewer cars being used for short journeys and sustainable intracity transport options could be a fantastic alternative. In examining transport options for Limerick, the strategic rail review highlights the case of the city of Exeter in the UK. The city has a similar population size and geographical layout to the Limerick-Shannon area. The suburban rail network in Exeter delivers a two-train per hour service to eight stations within the city and a further 12 that fall outside the boundary of the city. This could easily be replicated in Limerick. In the short time remaining, I want to mention the rail spur to Shannon Airport, which is critical for the future of the economy in the mid-west region.”
“The report recommends an increase in frequency on regional lines, including Galway to Limerick, Limerick to Cork and Limerick to Ballybrophy. The Ballybrophy line, which contains the Castleconnell to Limerick route, operates only three times per day and it is important for this frequency to be increased. It is bonkers that we do not use this line more because it would bring hundreds of people to the city every day. The report notes the limited local rail services in Limerick. I welcome that construction is anticipated to begin next year on a train station in Moyross. This should be the start of a more complete service within Limerick city. In Limerick, we have existing lines that can be developed into a comprehensive suburban rail service to serve local journeys.”
“Fittingly, the all-island strategic rail review contains 32 recommendations across six headings. I welcome the all-Ireland nature of the document and its commitment to increasing rail coverage across the island. I commute to Leinster House most weeks on the Dublin to Limerick train. I acknowledge the staff who service Colbert Station in Limerick city on this route. They are always friendly, approachable and very informative. However, there are significant gaps in railway coverage and a lack of regional balance on the current lines. The strategic review is timely and necessary, as far too many lines have been closed by successive Governments in recent decades. I hope this review and the more localised transport strategies will be the spur that allows lines to be reopened and rail services across the State to be enhanced.”