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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“The numbers of seizures are down dramatically and that is because there are no gardaí available to go out when the local authority is seizing horses. They need to have Garda protection when they are doing that because it is not safe. Unfortunately, and I hate to say this in the Dáil, but I have said on a number of occasions that crack cocaine is prevalent in Limerick city. It started off in Limerick city. It is available in Limerick city. It is cheaper to buy in Limerick city than anywhere else. People come from all over the country to buy their crack cocaine in Limerick city because it is cheaper. We obviously need to look at addressing not just the crime aspects of that but the health aspects, and funding groups that are supporting people in addiction. Other issues include the courts in Limerick.”
“We did a survey recently and 547 people responded. Most of those were from regeneration areas but not exclusively and 57% of those people said they did not feel safe in their own communities. We need a focus on Limerick, and we need additional gardaí on the streets. On other issues, I have raised previously in the Dáil particular problems in particular areas. The previous Minister for Justice organised for a Garda response in a particular part of Limerick with really good results, but there were only good results because we put extra resources in. We authorised overtime and we got additional staff and Operation Copóg was successful, but it has run out and the area is back to where it was before. I raised the issue of horses in urban areas in a Topical Issue question last week.”
“I am delighted to speak on statements on policing and community safety, but if we are to be serious about this the outcome has to be that people actually feel safe in their own local communities. Unfortunately, a lot of them do not. In 2007 John Fitzgerald produced a report that led to the Limerick regeneration programme. In that report he stated that we needed a minimum of 100 extra gardaí for the four regeneration areas. That never materialised and we have had problems since then. I put on record that the gardaí in Limerick do a really good job. I deal with them on a continuous basis, but they cannot respond, they cannot do their work and they cannot deliver for the communities if they do not actually exist. Numbers decreased between 2023 and 2024, not significantly, but they should be going the other way.”
“I dealt with a person in emergency accommodation in a hotel in my local area who could see boarded-up, voided homes in the nearby estate from which she came. It is absolute nonsense what is happening.”
“I raise the issue of vacant local authority homes, of which there are always thousands across the State. There are 200 of them in Limerick at the moment, and 200 is always the number of vacant houses there. These are local authority homes that, for whatever reason, are not in use. The process of local authorities applying for funding from central government needs to be changed and simplified, so these properties can be turned back into homes more quickly than they have been in the past. It is frustrating for people living next door to a voided home, which can be magnets for antisocial behaviour, litter and dumping. It is not fair when a house is not heated for five, six or seven years and is closed up, meaning the houses on either side have to make up the cost of excess heating.”
“I welcome the fact the Control of Horses Act is under review. I hope it will lead to a more robust response to the issue of mistreated and malnourished horses destroying public land and urban estates.”
“We must ask why horse owners abandon these animals rather than have them assessed by a vet. There are two answers. It is cheaper to purchase a new horse; a new one can be got in Limerick for €20 or €30 to replace the animal. The other reason is the failure to enforce chipping legislation. My understanding is nobody has been prosecuted for not having a chipped horse. In response to a parliamentary question I previously received from the Department, I was advised that no prosecutions have taken place for failing to have a horse chipped in the State. Why does that happen? Why do we have legislation if we do not enforce it? Why do we allow so many in our communities to operate with impunity and to destroy our public lands and roadways? Why do we allow these unregistered animals on our roads?”
“While this has often been the case, there seems to be an increase in the number of such animals, especially in recent months. We need to deal with this issue once and for all. I recognise that some of the horses are well cared for and securely tied but, unfortunately, many others are allowed to roam and graze freely. In each of these scenarios, it is public land that is being misused, depriving local residents of their facilities. It is local green areas that are being trampled on. Often, it is local sports fields being turned to muck and local footpaths and roads that are covered in horse shite. Since Christmas, a number of horses have been abandoned and left to die and rot in city estates. This has a terrible impact. It is a heartbreaking sight for anyone, especially children, to see outside their own front door where they live.”
“I thank the Minister of State for his response and understanding of the issue. He did not get to it in his speech, but I am glad he mentioned the ongoing project in Moyross, which does good work in that area. However, it is only a drop in the ocean in dealing with the issue. Wandering, unkept and uncared-for horses have been a plague on working-class areas of Limerick for decades, as I said. I mentioned the late former Deputy Mick Lipper, who raised this issue as far back as 1977. Regretfully, despite additional legislation, not much has changed in Limerick, especially in the city area. In fact, it has got much worse. If you travel through many estates in Limerick, you will almost certainly encounter horses, ponies or Shetland ponies.”
“If the horses were wandering around Montenotte in Cork, Foxrock in Dublin or the North Circular Road in my city, Limerick, I suspect there would have been a different response. The law should apply equally, regardless of the value of the homes in an area. I would like to see more Garda enforcement to address illegal sulky racing on our streets. Animal welfare remains a big issue across urban and rural areas. As I have said, 1,431 horses have been seized in Limerick since 2015, and unfortunately many of those have been euthanised. There has been much documentation on disgraceful abuse of and cruelty to horses, both within Limerick and farther afield. We need better enforcement of animal welfare laws and more support for animal welfare groups.”
“Last Friday, in the space of 90 minutes in three local areas in Limerick, I saw more than 50 horses on public land and in the gardens of vacant council-owned properties. We are now approaching foaling season and this will only get worse. In some cases the authorities have been met with threats of violence when attempting to seize abused animals. This is not fair or proportionate, but it is what happens when the law is not applied year after year and the result of the Department not doing its job properly. The problem in now a major one in some of our towns and cities. Interestingly, the problem is largely associated with working-class areas of Limerick, Cork and Dublin.”
“It is simply unfair on the animals, local communities who witness the abuse and neglect regularly, and animal welfare organisations and their volunteers. It is unfair to see the destruction of green areas, public spaces and community facilities. It is also unfair, pretty disgusting and not acceptable in 2025 to see horse manure on city streets, roads, footpaths and green areas. It is like something you would have seen in Victorian times. This year, nearly 50 years after Mr. Lipper's remarks, must be the one in which the issue is finally tackled, properly challenged and addressed. It is shameful that the situation has been allowed to continue for decades. I have never seen it so bad.”
“Many have no tradition whatsoever of keeping horses, and in recent years it has been quite noticeable that a number of young people with very little or no experience of horses simply cannot work with or look after them properly at all. Recently, I met experienced horse owners in Limerick and heard they are embarrassed about and utterly fed up with the state of so many horses and the poor way in which so many of them are cared for. In recent weeks, we have seen carcasses of dead horses in areas across the city. Some horses are often left in a distressed or abandoned state. I was recently made aware of children who could not go to school as there was a horse in their front garden. Can you imagine your child not being able to go to school because of such a blockade outside your home? The failure to address this issue over the years must end.”
“From a response I received from the Department of agriculture to a previous parliamentary question, I am aware the Department has contributed millions to local authorities in respect of activities regarding the control of horses. The keeping of ponies and horses has long been a tradition in many parts of my home city, Limerick. It is a tradition that has been passed down through generations of families, and in a number of cases the animals are well maintained and cared for. However, we can no longer ignore the fact that there are many who misuse and abuse the animals. They have a lack of compassion and do not understand, know or care about how to treat these beautiful creatures.”
“In a Dáil debate on 13 December 1977, the late Mick Lipper, a Deputy from Limerick, raised the issue of wandering horses in Limerick and asked what actions the then Minister for Justice would take regarding serious problems created by them. Here we are, 47 years later, talking about the same problems. At least 1,431 wandering or stray horses have been collected in Limerick city since 2015. Unfortunately, most seized before 2019 ended up being euthanised. Horses collected since then have been rehomed by horse welfare charities, putting huge pressure on them. This matter is a waste of Garda and council resources, as well as time and money.”
“Additional patients are moved onto wards and into hallways outside emergency units. Elective surgeries are cancelled. People arrive at the hospital to be told that their scheduled procedure has been cancelled due to the lack of beds. What steps is the Government taking, here and now, to deal with the numbers of people on trolleys and to stop the cancellation of procedures in the hospital because there are no beds available?”
“It will come as no surprise to the Taoiseach that I wish to raise the ongoing crisis in University Hospital Limerick. As we sit here, 113 people are on trolleys there. These are people who were assessed as in need of a bed but no bed was available for them. The trolley crisis at University Hospital Limerick continues to impact patient safety and well-being, as the Minister is well aware. Already this year, we have had 3,392 people treated in this manner. It is totally unacceptable. It is not fair on them and their families or on the staff who must deal with them, often in an unsafe and desperately overcrowded emergency department. The lack of beds affects nearly all departments across University Hospital Limerick. Much of the normal activity in the hospital is suspended daily.”
“The figures are indicative of the snail-like approach to mental health and this needs to change. While children await appointments, their childhood is being damaged.”
“In the past couple of months, Limerick has seen the launch of the community access support team which is comprised of gardaí, medical professionals and paramedics who respond to out-of-hours mental health issues. I was delighted to attend the launch last year, which the Minister of State attended and I met her there. Again, that was a delayed launch. When I first raised this in the Chamber, I was advised it would be launched in the last quarter of 2022, but it was launched in 2024. While we wait for the Government to step up to the mark on mental health, waiting lists are growing. For instance, in my area covering Limerick, Clare and north Tipperary, at the start of the term of the previous Government, 196 people were waiting to be seen by CAMHS.”
“In Limerick, we are fortunate in some of the fantastic volunteer support groups that operate in centres such as the Haven Hub where you can walk in and talk to somebody, our courageous suicide prevention teams who patrol the banks of the River Shannon to assist anybody who is in need, or the Bedford Row project. Without their efforts, many families in Limerick would be in a much more difficult position. They have provided coping skills to children and their parents. They are some of the unsung heroes of children’s mental health. However, these heroes can only do so much without State support, support that, without the enactment of the Mental Health Bill, remains lacking.”
“The programme for Government states that its passage “is essential to modernise our mental health services”. My party agrees that the passing of this legislation is very important. We also advocated for its implementation throughout the previous Dáil, but two and a half years later, we continue to talk about a Bill that has not passed. The Minister of State will be judged on her progress of this. We will hold her to account but we will also help her when we can. The treatment of mental health in the State is challenging. Too many people do not get treated and too many face the challenge alone.”
“Childhood is fleeting, and where help is needed, it should be offered as soon as possible. Children deserve better than to be waiting for treatment and to be subject to a postcode lottery, which happens quite often. Under the previous Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael Government, waiting times for an appointment with CAMHS grew longer. Since 2020, the number of young people waiting more than a year increased by 145%, from 223 to 546. Behind these statistics are young people who need support. It will be a young person whose life is impacted because they are not receiving the support they need. Behind these statistics are parents desperate to do the best for their child. I welcome the reinstatement of the Mental Health Bill 2024, which the programme for Government notes is a priority.”
“I wish the Minister of State the best in her new role. I hope she and the Government will treat mental health as a priority. I think all of us in this Chamber are agreed that a lot of work needs to be done. A person’s mental health is as important as their physical health. If a person is disabled in one aspect of their health, then it will have an impact on the other aspects unless the condition can be treated quickly. We all know that. I am sure all Deputies will agree that, too often, there are significant delays in the treatment of mental health. This has been particularly true in recent years for young people who engage with the child and adolescent mental health services. Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial in assisting these children in managing their illnesses and recovery.”
“That is not even the true measure of homelessness. The actual figures are much higher when we consider those who couch surf, sleep rough or are in emergency accommodation. We also have an astronomical number of young people still living at home with their parents.”
“A significant number of people have come to us to relate stories about landlords willing to sell properties but, due to the delays and prevarications, not just on the part of the council but also in the context of getting answers from central government, those landlords are pulling out of the process. This is a cause of major concern. Like everywhere else across the State, demand for housing in Limerick is outpacing supply. The previous Minister for housing repeatedly told us that things were working, that targets would be met and that the Housing for All plan would be a success. If the plan was working, why are we here five years later talking about the housing crisis? Why are more than 15,000 people, an increase of 47% on the figure that obtained at the start of the previous Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Government, listed as homeless?”
“As my colleague Deputy Ó Broin said yesterday, we will not fix the housing crisis by increasing rent. More and more people are entering homelessness or seeking housing support from their local councils due to being unable to afford these very high rents. What chance does a middle income family have of affording a deposit for a private house when paying these exorbitant rents? On a daily basis, people come into my constituency telling of notices to quit. The tenant in situ scheme is in place, but it has effectively ground to a halt. It is now very difficult to draw down funding from it. That must be looked at as a matter of urgency.”
“I want to put on the record that he has the opportunity not to be a failure, like all the previous Ministers for housing have been. I refer to former Ministers Simon Coveney and Eoghan Murphy and Deputy Darragh O'Brien, who has turned out to be the biggest waffler and bluffer we have ever seen in this House. That is saying something. In Limerick, my home city, house prices have increased year on year, making them unaffordable for most people. If anything is available to rent, the rent is way too high for most workers. In Limerick, house prices have increased year on year by 13%, with a typical home approaching a price of €300,000. Rents have also increased, with the average rent standing at an astronomical €2,107 a month. This represents a year-on-year increase of 21%.”
“I thank the Labour Party for tabling this important Private Members' motion. Housing is the number one issue that we all deal with every day. Any of us who has a constituency office knows the stress, trauma and disaster that has been forced on the people of our country. It has been an absolute nightmare. When I was first elected in 2016, along with University Hospital Limerick, housing was the number one issue that was raised. People constantly raised the lack of affordable housing, the cost of housing, the cost of renting, the state of local authority houses and the voids that litter our cities. The Government has failed in respect of all of those issues. Unfortunately, the Minister, Deputy Browne, is not present.”
“Mental health remains an under-resourced area of our health system. Mental health challenges can impact anybody at any time. Early intervention is crucial to managing one’s mental health. We in Limerick are fortunate to have so many fabulous support groups that offer their time and their energy, often voluntarily, to the cause of mental health. The previous Government, made up of the two parties opposite, did not treat mental health issues with the urgency needed and I remain to be convinced that this Government will be any different.”
“Unfortunately, our experience of these two Government parties when it comes to mental health is one of false promises and delayed delivery. The programme for Government commits to the enactment of the Mental Health Bill. It acknowledges that this Bill is "essential to modernise our mental health services". I could not agree more with this sentiment but it needs to be delivered. When it comes to the Mental Health Bill, there has been false dawn after false dawn. After two and a half years of delay, the Government will forgive my scepticism that these two parties are now committed to the delivery of this legislation. The programme for Government for the Thirty-third Dáil promised to reform the Mental Health Act, and yet here we are at the start of the Thirty-fourth Dáil with more commitments to deliver the same.”
“At the same time, local authority homes lie vacant across Limerick due to the Government’s failure to address properly the vacant council-owned properties and release the funds we need to deal properly with the voids issue. Of course, in the general election these parties told us that completions would hit the 40,000 mark by the end of 2024. They told us that their housing plan was working, but it was not working. Targets were missed and last year there were not 40,000 houses completed. It was actually 10,000 less homes than what the Government was talking about. The programme for Government outlines some ambitions in the delivery of mental health services and this is to be welcomed. We will not be found wanting in supporting these measures if the ambition outlined in this document is matched by timely action.”
“The purchase price of a house increased year on year, from 2023 to 2024, by 13% with the cost of the typical home approaching €300,000. It is not any better for renters because the average monthly rent now stands a €2,107 per month, which is a 21% increase year on year. Given these types of costs, is it any wonder that 69% of 25-year-olds - a generation which has been failed by this Government and previous ones - are living with their parents? I deal daily with people seeking housing assistance. From single men to families, people are desperately in need of housing. Many people have been waiting years for housing. Many workers on low to average incomes have no chance of purchasing and little chance of affording the astronomical private rents. We need to ramp up delivery of new homes.”
“John's and Nenagh hospitals; end the HSE recruitment embargo; bolster out-of-hours GP care and deliver a Pharmacy First minor ailments scheme; and legislate to mandate safe staffing levels in every hospital while engaging directly with workers. On housing, the programme for Government says again that it acknowledges that “housing is a major social and economic challenge that touches every generation” and goes on to state that "a radical step change to housing supply to rise to that fundamental challenge" is needed. In the last Dáil, these two parties consistently missed their targets, year after year. They did not deliver on housing and I do not believe they can. In Limerick city house prices remain beyond the reach of many people.”
“Perhaps it is an indication of the scant commitment Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have to resolving the multitude of challenges in health. In a 161-page document, a one-line vague commitment to increase capacity falls far short of the ambition needed. Last year, in conjunction with my colleague Deputy David Cullinane, we published a comprehensive plan for addressing the crisis in health in the mid-west region. To address these challenges in the long term we need to at the very least deliver 288 acute inpatient beds at UHL; establish additional emergency department capacity in the region with a review of the closure of Ennis, St.”
“What is often lost when we talk about these numbers is that each of these figures represents a person, sometimes one of our friends or a member of our family who has been deemed to be in need of a hospital bed but no bed is available to them. The programme contains a list of measures previously promised and not delivered. It is a document absent of vision and crucially lacks the funding and efficiencies needed to drive reform. The people of Limerick and the wider mid-west will be disappointed with the complete absence of detail pertaining to the crisis at our hospital. With the challenges facing staff and patients at UHL, it is shocking that it is almost unmentioned in the programme for Government document.”
“Considering the consistent level of overcrowding at the hospital and the litany of unfortunate and avoidable deaths arising out of that overcrowding, the programme for Government is an extremely disappointing document. Should the Government need reminding, UHL is the most overcrowded hospital in the State and is one that is in a daily crisis with hundreds of people being treated on hospital trolleys, chairs and corridors. Already the figures for 2025 are stark. For instance today, there are 103 people on trolleys and 2,551 people so far this year have waited on trolleys or chairs with no bed available for them. It is an utter disgrace. In January this year, 2,234 people were treated in this manner. This is even higher than the 2,073 people treated in those conditions in January 2024 so it is clearly getting worse.”
“As this is my first time speaking in this new Dáil, I want to thank the people in Limerick who elected me for a third time. I thank my family and friends and those who campaigned and supported me in that, whether they gave me their first preference or a different preference. "Go raibh maith agat" to everybody for sending me back here for a third time. On health, the programme for Government is the same rehash of undelivered old commitments and contains no solutions for the daily crisis we encounter in University Hospital Limerick, UHL. The programme for Government is 161 pages long and has one mention of UHL. To say the people of Limerick are disappointed by that would be an understatement.”