Natasha Newsome Drennan
Carlow-Kilkenny · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“Rates of TB in the North are far higher than in the South and many outbreaks in the South have been traced back to Northern herds. Farming families are put under immense pressure financially and mentally when they lose a herd to TB. That is heartbreaking.”
“I welcome the chance to speak about the fiscal impact of the long-overdue reunification of Ireland. I also welcome the Tánaiste's speech. It is a pity that more people in the House did not speak up in the same way. For too long a false narrative has been published by those who oppose reunification.”
“We need to ask why the economy in the North lags behind that of the South and, more importantly, how we can fix that. There is no doubt that reunification will bring challenges, but it will also bring immense opportunities. It is time that we started focusing on those.”
“This legislation exists because of the advocacy and commitment of Jason Poole, whose sister was killed by her ex-partner, a man with a documented history of domestic violence. The research clearly shows that individuals with prior records of abuse are significantly more likely to offend, often with escalating severity.”
“I strongly welcome the introduction of the domestic violence register and fully support this Bill. It is encouraging to see cross-party support for its introduction, which is a clear sign that this issue crosses all political divides and demands action. The reality is that domestic violence is seldom a one-off incident.”
“Over the past 25 years, Amber has grown and become a safe haven for many women and children. For far too long, Carlow has been one of the few counties in the State without a women's refuge. Given the rise in calls relating to domestic abuse and cases of domestic abuse, that is nothing short of a disgrace.”
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Every one of 332 lines we hold for Natasha Newsome Drennan, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 3 of 7.
“We know we must not measure progress solely by the women who rise to the top of their fields. True progress means that as we rise, we rise together. We must not leave other women behind, especially those who are too often overlooked. Let us look at the recent controversy caused by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s plan to cut SNA posts in schools across the State. Over 90% of SNAs are women, many of them working with zero long-term job security and left on rolling 12-month contracts. Despite everything they contribute to our children, schools and communities, they are still fighting for basic workers' rights. The Minister should be working to improve their conditions and not chipping away at them. These women deserve security, respect and recognition. The same can be said for carers.”
“I am grateful for the opportunity to speak here today to mark International Women's Day. It is one of the greatest honours of my life to be elected as a TD, a position that was in the past, and even today remains, a male dominated one. To stand here among such brilliant republican women who represent their communities with such strength and integrity is something I am immensely proud of. However, while we celebrate the presence of these incredible women, we must be honest about the realities we still face. Despite making up half the population women account for just 25% of TDs in the Dáil. International Women's Day is not only a day to celebrate what has been achieved but it is a day to reflect on what has to be done. While so much has been achieved, there is so much more to be done.”
“They are a community resource - one which provides critical services for older people, vulnerable citizens and marginalised communities. The Government should be working with postmasters not against them to expand the services they can offer. Postmasters want to do more. They are ready and willing but they need support to make it happen whether it is tourist information, voter registration or expanding the role of postmasters as peace commissioners, the potential is there. It just needs Government backing because without it rural communities will continue to be stripped bare. These are rural communities like those in Carlow and Kilkenny. It was devastating when Mullinavat post office closed. That was on Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s watch and that devastated communities.”
“I welcome the opportunity to speak on the role and importance of post offices in Irish life. We need to be frank. The post offices across Ireland, particularly in rural Ireland, are facing death by a thousand cuts. Some 257 post offices closed in the past decade. The vast majority of these closures, 78%, have been in rural areas. Anyone in this Chamber who comes from a rural community knows exactly what that means. When a post office closes, it does not just shut its doors. It deals a devastating blow to the entire community. The ripple effects are felt by the whole community. The Irish Postmasters’ Union has warned that without State support, 40% of remaining post offices will close. We must stop treating post offices as just another business.”
“They cannot get a mortgage because their wages are too low. We need to get back to local county councils building houses, just like the one that I grew up in. Kilkenny would be in a far worse crisis if we did not have the Good Shepherd Centre. It is doing tremendous work but we need more of that. I am glad the Minister eventually came in. There are older people and children who are homeless. Deputy Boyd Barrett said that all the children wanted for Christmas off Santy was a roof over their head. That is a crying shame. Some of these parents are working yet they cannot afford to rent a house. They have no chance of ever getting a mortgage. That is on the Government.”
“They face a very real prospect of homelessness. We are a strong, prosperous, highly developed State. How this Government can allow so many people to fall into homelessness is an absolute disgrace. Without a radical reset of housing policy, as recommended by the Housing Commission, this crisis will only get worse. That means the Minister will not meet his target of ending long-term homelessness by 2030. We have a wealth of expertise and knowledge in this State - experts who could help end this crisis. It is time the Minister started listening to them, and not the lobbyists for big capital. Homelessness is the single most pressing social issue that affects individuals and families in Ireland right now. There are people in Carlow and Kilkenny who are working but cannot afford to rent, if they could even find a house to rent.”
“The housing policies do not work for students being fleeced with sky-high rents. I know colleges that have space to build. We need to get in there. Rents should not be a barrier to people going to college. Parents cannot afford to live in their own homes and they cannot afford to send their children to college purely because they cannot afford to pay the rent. That is not right. The housing policies only work to line the pockets of the mega-landlords, the vulture funds and the big property developers. Put simply, the Minister is putting private capital and profits ahead of the public good. That has led to ever-increasing homelessness. Only this week, I was contacted by a couple in their late 50s who face a no-fault eviction from the house they have rented for almost 20 years. They are devastated and left with no idea of where to go.”
“We need more local housing for older people. People decide who is at the top of the list in communities. We are being told people are not on the list. It does not matter what medical issues they have, as people are dictating who gets the houses. That is wrong. Older people should not have to face eviction. The housing policies do not work for adults with additional needs who desperately need a safe and secure place to live. Recently, in the audiovisual room, we heard from the Before We Die campaigners who spoke about the hidden homeless. The parents are too old. They are getting to a stage where they cannot possibly look after their loved ones, yet the State says that they must. How are they supposed to do that? Some of these people are in their 80s. It is not possible. The State needs to step up and stop putting the blame on parents.”
“It is an utter shame and disgrace that statements on homelessness are becoming so frequent in the Dáil. The fact that the Minister is not here either is also shameful. Every single time this issue comes before us, the numbers of people, including children and the elderly, who have been failed by this Government and have ended up homeless have risen. The number has risen drastically and it is rising every day. The facts are there in black and white before us. They spell out clearly what we in Sinn Féin have been calling out for years: that the Minister has been throwing petrol on the fire with his housing policies. The housing policies do not work for ordinary working people trying to buy a home. They do not work for pensioners facing eviction. Let us imagine getting to that age in life and not knowing where we will go next.”
“Why does it keep making a mess of everything? At the end of every mess it makes are real people and, in this case, real children. They deserve better.”
“Last night's meeting left me wondering how the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael-led Government could ever conclude that cutting the number of SNAs would result in anything other than a devastating impact on schools, teachers, families and children right across the country. Schools still need clarity and SNAs still need certainty and not just a sticking plaster for another year. SNAs are not an optional extra. They are an integral part of our schools, woven into the very fabric of the school environment. They cannot simply be cut or relocated at the whim of the Minister or the NCSE. The fact is that children excel with supports. They deserve better than to be the subject of some box-ticking exercise. The Ministers should not just treat them like numbers. I would really like to know what is wrong with this Government.”
“I thank my colleagues in Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. I especially thank them for bringing together over 1,100 SNAs, teachers and parents last night. They shared with us some of the most beautiful, moving and powerful accounts of the difference that SNAs make in our schools. Most importantly, they spoke of the profound impact SNAs have on the development and well-being of tens of thousands of children across the State. There were tears, disgust, outrage, hurt, upset, alarm and fear. One lady with Down's syndrome spoke about her experience of having the support of an SNA and how it made her thrive and excel. It was an absolute lifeline for her.”
“We cannot stand by while the hawks in Brussels raid the CAP budget, with money that should be supporting our farmers and rural communities to be wasted on arms and bombs. A safe and secure state is a healthy and vibrant state. We cannot have a healthy, vibrant state with harbours and farmlands lying empty. True security is about food security and control over our own resources. It is about ensuring that our coastal and rural communities do not just survive but thrive.”
“Our marine resources are being plundered before our eyes. EU policies have failed our coastal communities, just as they are now failing our farmers. The outsourcing of our primary food production seems to be the driving force of EU policy at the moment. This race to the bottom benefits no one but our competitors. We and our EU partners should be striving to build strong, resilient and self-sufficient food industries, just as we have built world-class beef and dairy sectors. We should be working towards a meaningful level of self-sufficiency in fisheries and across other agrifood sectors. Given the global insecurities of the present moment, the volatility and the uncertainty, this is more important than ever.”
“The decision by the Netherlands, Germany, France and Poland to block the Hague preferences goes against the very essence of the European Union, the principles of mutual co-operation and respect for other member states. This was not just a policy disagreement; it was a fundamental betrayal of solidarity. Where was an Taoiseach? Where was the strong, visible leadership to stand up for Ireland's interests after that disgraceful decision? For decades, our coastal communities have been suffering death by a thousand cuts. Make no mistake, the new quotas are nothing like the cuts before. They gut what is left of Irish fisheries and leave only bones behind. How much longer will the Government stand idly by as third-country vessels operate brazenly in our waters, overfishing with few if any consequences?”
“I strongly welcome that time has been allocated to speak on the changes to the fishing quota, which will simply decimate our coastal communities. I come from a farming background, not a fishing one, but to me the parallels between these communities are clear. There is the same resilience, the same connection to the land and the sea, and the same feeling of being taken for granted. The recurring trend I am seeing time and again is a failure by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to stand up for our fishing and farming communities when it truly matters. We see it over and over from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. We get all the rhetoric, the promises of standing up for these communities, but when it comes to action to take a real stand, they are nowhere to be seen.”
“That trust will be responsible, with the measures evidence-based and fair and not be just another blunt instrument that keeps Irish farmers permanently on the back foot.”
“I ask the Minister to roll out an information campaign on spotting signs and symptoms of bluetongue and on the biosecurity measures farmers should be taking to prevent the spread of the disease; to ensure there is an adequate supply of vaccines available; and to support our farmers as they face yet another financial burden. Reassurances are very sensible. Bluetongue poses no risk to humans and no food safety issue but history tells farmers that reassurances are often short lived and quickly overtaken by layers of regulation, movement controls and trade consequences that far exceed the biological reality on the ground. Farmers will rightly ask whether Ireland is once again holding itself to a standard that goes well beyond what science demands and far beyond what others are required to meet. When announcements are made, we need trust.”
“Farmers are woven into the fabric of the communities that make up rural Ireland and they want to see Irish farming thrive. They want to see a strong environment and a vibrant farming sector that they can pass on to their children, knowing it will provide a good life for them and not be a burden. As a mother raising a family on our farm in south Kilkenny, I want that too. We need to see a step-change from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in how they treat our farming communities. I commend the farmers who have travelled from across the island to protest at Bord Bia around the clock, and the men and women who have stood their ground inside the building. Their message is clear and simple: enough is enough. I ask the Minister to not drag his feet on this issue like he has on so many others.”
“The Government needs to rally behind them with supports and cover part of the price of the vaccinations. At €9 per head of cattle, it is a significant cost for most farmers. The Government cannot look at this as a cost, it must instead look at it as an investment in protecting our agricultural food sector. Over the past few months, we have seen time and again where this Government has failed to put our farmers and the agricultural sector to the fore. We saw it in its passive opposition to Mercosur and we saw it as it rallied behind their man, Larry Murrin, despite the outcry from across Ireland. Last night I attended a meeting of the Kilkenny Irish Farmers' Association, with around 100 members present. They are sick and tired of being taken for granted by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.”
“Some would have been sold off. We need to get answers on how that tracing and tracking is going because we need to know where those animals are. It is the same when it comes to the animals from the cases in the North. We need to know if those spread anywhere. As Deputy Kenny said, we need to know about breeding animals because we know bluetongue can be passed along this way. With the help of the Minister and his Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael colleagues, Bord Bia has been dragged into controversy but we cannot allow any more harm to the sector from the lack of action. It will be during the summer months that the spread of this disease will be at its height. We need to see a national vaccination campaign rolled out. That cannot be a burden lumped onto farmers.”
“I welcome the time that has been set aside to discuss bluetongue. Our farming communities have been contending with challenge after challenge over the past few months, with the detection of bluetongue being one of the latest. We need to be frank. The full extent of bluetongue across Ireland is unknown. More than likely these animals were infected last summer. The first case was detected in County Down last November and the most recent was on a farm in County Wexford. This shows clearly that this is an all-island issue and it must be treated as such. The Department needs to take all the proactive steps possible. This is about protecting our agricultural sector and our international reputation. There are a few questions around the tracking and the tracing of animals, for example, those that had left the Wexford farm.”
“All of these people pay their taxes and all of them pay road tax, yet they see very little coming back to resurface our rural roads. We need central government to step in and provide this much-needed support to the council. The Government has announced over €100 million for flood defence works. This cannot be like so many other Government announcements where the funding has been left sitting idle for years. The manpower is there. The local councils need the funding and they need it now.”
“In Carlow, the banks of the River Barrow overflowed causing stress and unnecessary damage throughout the area. Plans for dredging have been held up by the national planning body. These delays are having a devastating impact on families along the River Barrow. These essential maintenance works must be made a priority before further heavy rain causes the river to overflow its banks again. This rain and the resulting flooding have devastated our local roads. The roads in south Kilkenny are particularly bad. At a local meeting the other evening, the community voiced its frustration at the lack of progress. It is now estimated that the cost to repair the roads will be around €7 million, a massive sum for Carlow County Council.”
“In County Kilkenny, communities like Inistioge, Thomastown, Callan and Graiguenamanagh endured severe flooding during the recent extreme weather. It will take weeks to clear the damage and who knows how long to repair the destruction inflicted on local roads. This flooding has hit local families and businesses the hardest. It is very hard to tell how many of these businesses and restaurants will be able to recover from this devastation. What is certain is that a very challenging period lies ahead. In Inistioge, the pitch at the GAA club was submerged under 6 ft. of water. In Thomastown, heavy rainfall is causing part of the quay to collapse and over time it is slowly being pulled into the river. In Graiguenamanagh, it is expected that flood defence works will take nine years. How is that acceptable?”
“This is a pointless action if we lack the gardaí to enforce it. The facts are stark. Over the past 15 years, the number of gardaí in road policing has collapsed by a staggering 41%. As the roads have grown busier, the number of gardaí tasked with policing them has been nearly halved. This is an utter failure of policy by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. The Minister speaks of recruiting new gardaí but he is silent on the high volume of experienced members leaving every month for police forces in the likes of Australia. We are losing our wealth of knowledge and experience. Addressing road safety demands accountability. We need a serious commitment to restore road policing units, and we need clear accountability from the leadership of An Garda Síochána for its performance around road safety.”
“While progress on an upgrade is under way, its pace is mind-bogglingly slow. Every month of delays is a gamble with lives. This is not an isolated issue. Across Ireland, our roads are becoming more deadly. We have seen this all too often. In Kilkenny, the N24 runs on from the N25 and is just as deadly. Extreme weather from flooding to relentless rainfall is ripping apart rural roads that are already in a poor state. On the quays in Thomastown, roads and walls are collapsing. Again, this is down to money, not manpower. We need a substantial increase in central funding to local authorities, not for patching potholes, but for proper repair, resilient materials and modern engineering that can withstand these new climate realities. Too often, the Government's sole answer to road safety is to lower speed limits.”
“Since my election, I have constantly raised the dangerous conditions and layout of roads across my constituency. Nowhere is this crisis more severe than in south Kilkenny along the N25. The stretch past the Rhu Glenn can be described as a deadly accident black spot. The statistics are not just numbers. They are families and communities left devastated. Over the past 40 years, more than 80 people have lost their lives on this road alone. In recent years, we have endured several fatal collisions. A road traffic report confirms what the local community already knows. Life will never be the same for these people and their families. They have to shout loudly. There have been delays and delays. This is not about manpower; this is about money. This road has been pushed beyond its limit with a 360% increase in users. It is not fit for purpose.”
“I would love to see those inspectors visit Brazilian farms or even the mega slaughterhouses in Brazil that are co-owned by Dawn Meats. Would they pass or is that just another case of "Do as I say not as I do" for Irish family farms? There is clear cross-party support for this action. Even members of the coalition in Fianna Fáil have called for Mr. Murrin to step down. Fianna Fáil's spokesperson on agriculture has stated that Mr. Murrin's position is untenable. He has lost the trust and confidence of the Irish farming community and as a result he must go. I welcome this cross-party support. Now I urge those Fianna Fáil TDs to follow through on their words, stand with the farmers they represent, and support our motion for the Minister to finally use his powers and remove Larry Murrin from Bord Bia. It is time to restore trust.”
“The Government has attempted to lump the blame for all of this onto the IFA and the farmers across Ireland - “emotional nonsense”, as Larry Murrin called it. It is a disgrace. Many of these farmers gave decades of support to the Minister and his colleagues, but that support is clearly not returned. Instead of accountability, the Minister has dug in his heels to defend Larry Murrin as chair of Bord Bia. The Minister's failure to see the blatant conflict of interest is staggering. Perhaps the Minister does see it and he is simply standing by one of his own through thick and thin. The hypocrisy is not lost on our farmers. Irish beef is the world's gold standard. Over 77,000 farmers work relentlessly to pass the rigorous Bord Bia inspections.”
“If the Minister wants to understand the crisis, he does not need to go far. He can go upstairs and talk to them up there. He can go and meet the farmers who have protested every day outside Bord Bia's office, and listen to them. They will tell the Minister in clear terms that their confidence in Bord Bia and the Government is shattered. The controversy surrounding Larry Murrin and Bord Bia is not an isolated incident. It is the latest. The issue should never have reached this point. It is clear that when it comes to standing up for farmers and rural communities, the Government has to be dragged to do the right thing, just as it was finally dragged to oppose the Mercosur trade deal. It is an utter disgrace.”
“Last week, the much anticipated first tranche of the national development plan’s funding for school building projects was announced. To the devastation of their communities, both Coláiste Pobail Osraí and Kilkenny City Vocational School discovered they had been dropped from the priority list for building projects. Coláiste Pobail Osraí is the only Irish-medium secondary school in Kilkenny and Kilkenny City Vocational School is the only DEIS school in the city. The demand and need for both of these schools are immense. Will the Taoiseach provide some insight as to why these vital schools were removed from the priority list and received no notice? How long will they now have to wait for this essential funding?”
“I have heard from far too many people in Carlow and Kilkenny who are experiencing a level of hardship they have never known before because of the Government's failure to listen to the pleas for support. How the Government can stand over this suffering is beyond me. Is it a matter of policy and how the Government views society or is it simply that it is out of touch with ordinary people?”
“Each and every week in this Chamber we raise the case of groups of people who are struggling, who are left behind by the Government, but it seems to fall on deaf ears. Who is this Government championing? Is it those with a disability? Is it those struggling to find a home or to find affordable childcare, or is it the large property developers and multinational corporates like Starbucks and McDonalds? When we look at the measures put in place by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the latter have received more than generous measures, while the former did not even receive enough to keep up with inflation. The welfare and treatment of our most vulnerable citizens is the mark of society we want to achieve but this Government has decided to subject tens of thousands of people with disabilities and their families to poverty and deprivation.”
“As someone who has spent a significant portion of my adult life working with adults with disabilities, I strongly welcome this motion. I witnessed on a daily basis the financial cost of living with a disability, the relentless extra expenses and the hidden burdens that add up to a reality of constant pressure. Reading this motion reminds me of our first Private Members' business in the Dáil after the budget when we raised this very issue and presented our own solutions. Sadly, the Government parties failed to take any of those proposals on board. Here we are, months later, and the crisis we warned about has come to pass in full. The heightened risk of poverty for those living with a disability is an appalling reflection on the failure of the Minister and his colleagues.”
“Substandard water and second-class treatment. Then there is the community of Inistioge, where the Government's failure to invest in water facilities has brought a complete halt to new builds and is destroying local waterways due to raw sewage being discharged into the rivers. How much longer will the Government allow this failing system to punish the public, wasting public money and neglecting people's basic right to clean water and safe infrastructure? What is going on in a lot of these situations is stuff that should be on "Prime Time". Somebody needs to investigate because the money is being wasted on contractors for them to sit in a van getting huge money and hiding rather than looking for work. It needs to be looked into.”
“Instead of leaks being fixed, valves are being installed to reduce water pressure and output, giving the impression that leaks have been reduced when, in fact, all that has been done is that the water supply has been turned down. Bennettsbridge is one of these places where huge funds are after being pumped in to fix old pipes. Now Irish Water has fecked up, so it turns down the water pressure to make it look like there is not as much leakage whereas now the question is how it will go back in there. Just a few days ago they had another burst pipe there without water or with low pressure. This is just not good enough. Just look at Castlecomer, in Kilkenny. It has rolling water restrictions all year round. It is something they have become immune to. This is a community of over 2,000 taxpaying citizens, and what do they get in return?”
“Last week I outlined how several contractors being used by Irish Water are operating in a cartel-like fashion to drive up the cost of public works. This is being done to ensure that every possible cent of public funds ends up in their pockets. While local media have been covering this scandal there has still been no comment from the Department or Irish Water. How much longer will they bury their heads in the sand and hide from this scandal? The harsh reality is that the ordinary people of Carlow and Kilkenny are paying the price for this corruption. Instead of getting their water supply fixed on time, people are getting boil water notices slapped on.”
“The policy framework was published in December but we are still none the wiser as to when the Government will bring forward this much-needed legislation. The Law Reform Commission has done most of the work. When will the Bill be brought forward?”
“As I said, my father was one of the lucky ones. A report into a nursing home in Kilkenny stated that people were cold and did not have enough bedsheets and there was a strong smell of urine. HIQA inspectors concluded that the residents in the home did not receive a good standard of care. Carers continue to shoulder the consequences of decades of underinvestment in home care supports, all while saving the State billions in care each and every year. How can the Minister of State justify going after so many who are already struggling to get by while, at the same time, giving massive tax breaks to the likes of Starbucks and McDonalds. It spells out clearly where the Government's priorities lie. Will the Minister of State provide an update on the adult safeguarding legislation in his closing remarks?”
“This has been caused by the Minister of State and his colleagues. It is fear about the thousands of euro that Revenue will be looking for as part of a back payment of tax for part of three years. This is yet another act of utter heartlessness by the Minister of State and his colleagues, going after carers who provide so much to our society. My father was one of the lucky ones as he chose to stay at home. There was space there and my mother could provide care for him. The vital care that carers such as my mother provide goes unnoticed. A clap on the back is not good enough. They are not getting near minimum wage for 24 hours, seven days a week. To tax them on this is ridiculous. They get the respite grant but it does not go anywhere near respite. It pays bills and pays for electricity. This is all it does.”
“Can the Minister of State point to a single public service that has improved thanks to the Government pushing for further privatisation? Is there anything, be it housing, roads, water, infrastructure or the energy sector? All that "the market will provide" privatisation model has done is drive up the cost of services for everyone, from the State to ordinary workers, while driving down quality and services. Where is the recognition of different levels of need? The Bill treats the provider of basic assistance the same as the provider of complex high dependency care with no differentiated funding or support except for a tiny number of intensive packages. This is a blunt instrument that fails to match the reality of care. While we are debating the Bill, 34,000 carers across Ireland are in a state of anxiety and fear.”
“The legislation is yet another example of the do-nothing Government getting the bare minimum done. Without a public scheme the Bill will only further embed the privatisation of care. The Bill is full of shortfall after shortfall. Affordability of care is completely absent. For the thousands of families who are crippled each and every month, the Bill will change nothing. It will police a system that is failing people and families across the State. The Bill is needed but it does not go anywhere near far enough. It has become clearer by the day that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have little to no interest in building a genuinely fair and public system. The Bill is more proof of this. What we are seeing is the further embedding of privatisation. Two thirds of home care provided is private and public provision continues to drop.”
“The reform that the sector and families have been seeking for years is nowhere to be seen. The Bill represents a profound failure of ambition. The previous programme for Government promised a statutory home care scheme. That was six years ago. Where is it? How many more years will the public have to wait for an equivalent of the nursing home support scheme that will deliver universal home care? We need to see universal and affordable access to home care. It is the right thing to do and it is the wise thing to do. Properly supported home care reduces pressure on our overwhelmed hospitals. It is better for the individual, the State and the entire health system. After all the time spent on this legislation, what do we get? We get a register of private providers.”
“A fundamental issue facing us is how we care for older people in society and for those in need of care due to a disability. The welfare and treatment of the most vulnerable people is a mark of the society in which we want to live. What we are being told by advocacy groups and by the people themselves is that they want support to stay in their own homes and live with as much as dignity as possible. The Bill seeks to regulate private home care providers, establish a register, set minimum standards to be enforced by HIQA and create an inspector regime. While all of these are very welcome, the time it has taken for the Bill to be progressed shows how much of a priority it is for the Government. The Bill is yet another missed opportunity by the Government.”
“They have vans driving around supposedly looking for leaks; in reality, it is a game of hide and seek for €1,600 per day. I am getting reports of contractors communicating with each other to drive up quotes as much as possible. As I said, it is cartel-like behaviour. The list goes on and on. What is happening is nothing short of daylight robbery. It is theft of taxpayers' money. We must be clear in the Dáil today that what these contractors are getting away with is criminal. The conduct of and absence of accountability for Uisce Éireann and its handing out of contracts are a scandal waiting to break. As is typical of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael when it comes to public money, they squander and waste it, with little accountability until a scandal finally forces their hand.”
“The delivery of crucial water infrastructure by Uisce Éireann has been nothing short of a systematic and utter failure. How anyone in this Government can stand here and sing its praises is beyond comprehension. It is an absolute disgrace that, in 2026 in a supposedly First World European state, thousands of families across Carlow and Kilkenny are forced to endure Third World conditions. They pay their taxes in full yet are left with a water infrastructure that belongs in the past. How can the Minister stand over the cartel-like behaviour of Uisce Éireann's contractors? Just five years ago, installing two concrete rings cost between €5,000 and €7,000; today the same contractors charge nearly €40,000. A burst main used to cost €1,600; now it is between €9,000 and €10,000. If they lay one metre of concrete, they get paid for seven.”
“After all the health warnings and after seeing the evidence, would the Minister of State be happy to feed this crap to his family? He has sat on his hands for far too long. It is time to take a stand and ensure Ireland actively supports this legal challenge.”
“How can the Minister of State expect ordinary people to have confidence in a system that allows this to happen? Is he going to stand up and tell us he is happy to buy and eat this product? God knows what is in it. Take a product I have to hand as an example and look at the labelling. It is a well-known brand, the so-called “Finders of Fine Foods”. Instead of using Irish beef, it chooses Brazilian beef, produced to standards decades behind our own. You would need a magnifying glass to read the country of origin on the back of the product. It is shameful and deceitful.”
“I say this for the next generation, for children like my boys growing up on our family farm and for every child who wants to keep up the tradition of farming and providing for communities. It is about not being forced off the land as a result of Government politics. The devastation of Mercosur will not just hit beef farmers because it will also shatter communities across rural Ireland, communities this Government has taken for granted for far too long. As we saw on Sunday, people are waking up to the Government’s false promises. Last week, the Food Safety Authority issued a recall of Brazilian beef on sale in Ireland – beef containing banned cancer-linked hormones. That recall was not a joke. The meat was tested last October and had long been bought and consumed before the warning was finally issued.”