Nessa Cosgrove
Labour Panel · Labour Party · Ireland
“The Minister of State recognised that there was a grassroots movement and the documentary "Groundswell" captured it. There is also the documentary "Gasland", which was made in America and came out in 2010. We know it is going to come from America. Again, this is the Trojan horse.”
“The amendment defines "fracked gas", which does not appear anywhere in the Bill. This, with amendment No. 13, would make clear that the importation of fracked gas would not be possible under the Bill. LNG particularly when sourced in the US, is usually derived from fracking.”
“I move amendment No. 3: In page 8, after line 39, to insert the following: " "hydraulically fractured gas" means liquefied natural gas, or natural gas in any other form, that has been produced, in whole or in part, by means of hydraulic fracturing within the meaning of section 5A of the Petroleum and Other Minerals Development Act 1960;".…”
“I am sorry but I just do not buy the argument that it is security. A floating LNG storage facility in Qatar was blown up. It is actually more of a risk to our security to have a floating LNG terminal. This whole thing is mad.”
“All of us were probably at the IFA briefing yesterday. When they gave us the briefing document I saw that it was exactly the same as the one last year and I wondered whether it had got anything it looked for. I was told not really, apart perhaps with regard to areas of natural constraint.”
“Historians, no doubt, are going to refer to this legislation in that way, because the reserve is not going to be used solely for emergencies. We are trying to define what an emergency is. There is no definition. Seven years ago, we led the way in the international community by committing to phase out oil and gas exploration.”
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“I move amendment No. 1: After the word “recognises:” to insert the following paragraph: "- the publication of a report on The Future of Youth Work by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in July 2023, which acknowledged the essential role of youth work in vindicating the rights of our young people, and the need for the youth work sector to receive the investment and recognition required to sustain this vital work;".”
“When Labour left Government in 2016, homelessness was at 6,000 people. It was being treated as an emergency by then Minister, Deputy Kelly. In just ten years, homelessness levels have soared by almost 150%. A construction company is something we have been calling for for a long time, and to go back on the reset clause. That has caused mayhem. This will never be normal. This has been caused by poor decision making on the part of the Minister of State's party and that of Fine Gael.”
“I know the Minister of State is very aware of the following and has been instrumental, and I am very appreciative of that, as are the people in Sligo and Enniscrone. However, for anyone who does not know this, six households of elderly and disabled people got a notice to quit, an eviction notice from our retirement village in Enniscrone. What kind of society have we come to if we are coming to that? We know that when children are denied a home and physical shelter, it not only affects their development at the time but it can cause developmental regression. As a party, we have been in government, as have Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and there does not seem to be a sense of urgency. Senator McCormack spoke about Jonathan Corrie. I remember when he died. We can all remember that, and it was shocking.”
“She has been issued with a notice of termination from a landlord whom she rented from for five years. The week before it was a family who have been in long-term rental through the local authority and the landlord decided to sell. The week before that it was a single woman who successfully maintained a tenancy for 14 years. The week before that it was a single man expressing suicidal ideation because of his homelessness. A friend of mine with children has lived in a tenancy for 14 years. Her children have lived with her and grown up there and they have been served with an eviction notice. An elderly lady living in rural Ireland, down the road in Sligo has been served with a notice from her landlord, whom she still describes as being very decent to her. Homelessness has become normalised.”
“The Minister of State is very welcome. It has been said here before that we all know people who have found themselves homeless who never in their wildest dreams would have imagined they would be in that situation. In February, as was said, there were 17,300 people homeless, including almost 5,500 children. That does not include people sleeping on couches and in spare rooms with friends or family, which often happens in rural areas. It also does not include rough sleepers. We know that the biggest cause of homelessness is people being evicted from private rental, and we can see as a direct result of the residential tenancies Bill that 43% of homeless figures are made up of people who have been given notices to quit. Just this week, on the train to Dublin, I was approached by a young mother from Leitrim who works in a Government Department.”
“We continue to support the American and Israeli Administrations by facilitating the refuelling of American warplanes in Shannon. If we continue to do this, we will continue to fail to address the root cause of this crisis, namely, the unashamed American and Israeli militarism which we in this country are supporting. By not listening, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independents in the Government have handed this on a plate to the far-right groups that have taken over and infiltrated the protests.”
“They are determined to undermine and reverse any previous commitments to investment in renewable energies. We have repeatedly heard a Government spokesperson touting the delivery of massive floating LNG storage depots as necessary for energy security. Have the attacks on LNG facilities in Qatar opened anyone's eyes? A floating tank of explosive gas is not security; it is a target. Why has the Government squandered the fruits of hard work? I commend my Green Party colleague. Hard lessons and work were put into renewable energy and the Government tore that down. We have to show leadership on this. We should follow the example of Pedro Sánchez in Spain, who is acting on the cost of living and is a fierce and fearless critic of America.”
“It was very obvious going into the Dáil debate today that the Government had not only failed to predict the extent and scale of the protest but is still failing to grasp the depth of the public anger and the failure to address the ever increasing cost of fuel and living. As has been said here today, this did not start just two weeks ago; it was inevitable and foreseeable. I will go back to the origins of the issue, namely, the continued reliance on fossil fuels and the Government's blind conviction that it is business as usual. It is hard to listen to Government politicians, in particular rural Independents in my constituency, saying they understand. These are people who claim to go into Government to protect rural communities and have done the reverse.”
“There could not be a more fitting person to get the freedom of Sligo. I commend her not only on her ability in the pool but also on the determination and commitment she has shown in fighting against the odds and overcoming adversity. Maith thú, Mona; táimid go léir an-bhródúil asat.”
“They are usually presented at the end of someone's career or maybe when a public figure has retired. Mona is still at the height of her powers. Unfortunately, I am going to miss it. I commend her because she set a new championship 200 m breaststroke record at the Irish Open a few days ago in Bangor. Hopefully she will represent Ireland at the European Championships in Paris in August. I want to talk about Mona today in the context of balanced regional development, which I have brought up previously. Mona was born in Grange, County Sligo. She trained in a 25 m pool in Ballyshannon, County Donegal. We have produced very strong swimming athletes in the north west. There are three 25 m pools in the region, in Carrick-on-Shannon, Ballyshannon and Sligo. Despite having no access to a 50 m pool, she is one of our shining glories and Olympians.”
“I take this opportunity to offer my condolences to Brian O'Shea's wife, Eileen, and his six children. I did not have the pleasure of knowing him but I know he was a huge advocate for the Déise and for regional development and having investment in his own community and I commend him for that. Suaimhneas síoraí dá anam dílis. When Brian was an active politician, I suppose there was more trust in politicians and there was not the willingness to put up and to see money being squandered. I am looking forward to the debate later on the conditions that have given rise to these protests. One of the reasons is the squandering of money. Tráthnóna inniu i gContae Shligigh - tonight, in Sligo - a Sligo woman, Mona McSharry, is to be conferred with the freedom of Sligo. Honours like this are very rarely bestowed on people.”
“I do not know why the Government voted this down in the Dáil but I urge the Minister to reconsider because it is a simple but important fix to make sure the Bill does not run the risk of undermining the independence that has been well established as a necessary cornerstone of a fair and impartial application system.”
“This also means that there is no guarantee that a single person will be considered in deciding on an application case, which is really important. Under this Bill, a case could be treated like any other piece of departmental business and would be sent up the line through the hierarchy of the Department, with various eyes and hands adding to the decision-making process. This is not in line with the spirit of EU law and the Supreme Court's rulings. International protection applications must be considered and decided by whoever decides on a quasi-judicial basis.”
“The EU's new regulation replacing the asylum procedures directive made a similar requirement of impartiality. Clearly, at EU level the situation here has not changed, yet this Bill makes no reference at all to officials when it comes to deciding protection applications. All the power seems to be vested in the Minister as the determining authority. This amounts to an abolition of the independence that was core to the 2015 Bill, and which the Supreme Court endorsed unambiguously in the ASA judgment. It seems as if the Government is intending to treat international protection applications as a normal piece of its departmental business and that all functions will be vested in the Minister but carried out by officials, which means without any statutory independence.”
“This is a very simple amendment but it is an important one. It will enshrine the independence of officers in the International Protection Office within the asylum determination process under the Bill. Between the 1996 Refugee Act and the 2015 International Protection Act, an independent refugee commissioner played a key role in our system by examining each case and made binding recommendations to the Minister. From 2015 that process changed, with the recommendations then being made by international protection officers in the Department of justice. The independence of those international protection officers was specified in the Bill and the Supreme Court underlined its importance in line with the 2013 EU asylum procedures directive requirements for impartiality.”
“I move amendment No. 23: In page 28, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following: “(2) Where an officer of the Minister, pursuant to any enactment or rule of law, performs a function conferred on the Minister by virtue of subsection (1) , the officer is independent in the performance of that function.”.”
“It spoke about the lack of space and privacy already for children in direct provision and the fact that they did not feel safe here in the country to which they came to asylum and safety. The Ombudsman for Children produced a report stating that this was crisis driven and is threatening the safety and well-being of children. To me, the proposed changes that focus on rapid returns and a new border procedure will mean that children, in particular unaccompanied minors, could be more vulnerable than ever to having their rights breached. I hope the Minister will consider accepting this amendment.”
“No one disputes that. What about the White Paper on ending direct provision? What we were aiming to do was to get rid of direct provision. Unfortunately, given that this Bill is being rushed in, there is a chance that we are going to see more restrictions being made and even more children being at risk of being detained against their will. It is highly concerning that the State is already not able to manage how it deals with unaccompanied minors who present. How are we going to deal with them if they have additional vulnerabilities? We do not know. We have signed up to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Bill needs to be debated further. We do not want to go back in our history. There already have been reports. The Ombudsman for Children commissioned a report on direct provision.”
“I also wish to speak to this amendment No. 272. As a member of the children's committee, it is very stark to get such concern raised by the Ombudsman for Children, Dr. Niall Muldoon. He has been before the children's committee on a number of occasions, including with staff from his office. We know from reports already that children in asylum seeking and direct provision are probably among the most vulnerable children in the State. They are raising the alarm and saying the Bill has been rushed through the Dáil and that this is our last opportunity in the Seanad to bring this forward before it is guillotined. This office was set up as an independent office to promote and protect the rights of children and young people under 18. That has to count for something. No one disagrees with the notion that we would have an effective asylum system.”
“The sale of the nursing home was authorised by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission but were these houses to be part of this also? There is a lot more to this than meets the eye. We have seen that 10,500 eviction notices have been issued since June last year, as soon as there was talk of changes to the residential tenancies legislation. I thank the Minister of State for listening and I hope we will be able to have further conversations about this.”
“I thank the Minister of State for listening to the real story behind these people. The tenants I have met are old, vulnerable, confused and scared. I appeal to the hopefully higher nature of the people who own the units. In the event of this not happening, there have to be emergency provisions in place whereby the Department can step in and acquire these properties via compulsory purchase order. I know from being a county councillor that the local authorities do not have the money. They have legislation whereby they could use compulsory purchase orders but they do not have the money. County councils should be resourced to look at whether there is a breach of the residential tenancies legislation in the sale of ownership and whether residents are being told there is a new landlord.”
“I understand there was good intent envisaged in the six-year tenancies but guillotining the legislation in both Houses has led to this unintended consequence. These six evictions are just the tip of the iceberg. With all evictions at present, the tenants have nowhere to go. Enniscrone is like every other village and town across Ireland, with nowhere to rent or to go. These people have built their lives around this small village and there is nowhere for them to go. To remind the Minister of State, this involves people aged 84 and 88. It is apparent that the residential tenancies Act has not only failed to increase security of tenure for elderly and disabled tenants living in private rental accommodation, but is leading to an immediate decrease in security of tenure in situations such as this.”
“These eviction notices served on vulnerable people have not been issued by a faceless multinational vulture fund but an Irish-owned company. My concern is that mass evictions throughout the country seem to have been triggered by the market reset clause in the recent residential tenancies Act. Some landlords seem to view the change in legislation as an opportunity to maximise the asset, make more profits by evicting existing tenants, and sell or even sit on the properties and keep them vacant. In the climate generated by the implementation of the recent residential tenancies Act, more profits are to be made by an empty property then by having people in it. This is never okay and it is not acceptable. The recent residential tenancies Act was intended to provide security.”
“This was a place the elderly and disabled tenants chose to move into - a place where they could see out and live their days together in the knowledge that their physical and social needs could be met, but this certainly transpired to be an illusion. Last November, the occupants of six of the houses, who are all elderly or disabled, received notices of termination from Nasso Bk Holdings Limited, which identified itself at that stage to be the landlord of the properties. These bungalows, which were constructed with the express intention of housing elderly and disabled people, now appear to be treated as a financial asset that can be traded, sold or even left vacant in order to maximise the financial return of the owners and the individual directors who own this Irish-registered company.”
“The residents were told they could access the services of the nursing home, such as home help, social events and so on, if required. If and when the time came that their health deteriorated, they could seamlessly transition into the care of the nursing home. Elizabeth kept all the records. She showed me all the paperwork she had maintained over the years, including correspondence with Sonas letterhead, which indicated the Sonas bank account the rent was to be paid into. At no time were they or any other households I spoke to given any indication that the landlord was any organisation other than Sonas. What I am painting here is a picture of a retirement village based around the physical presence and service of an adjacent nursing home.”
“The houses are all single-storey dwellings laid out and equipped for occupation by people with restricted mobility, including wheelchair users. The internal and external doors - I visited the houses myself - are wide enough to easily accommodate wheelchairs and the bungalows have wet rooms instead of traditional bathrooms. Last Friday, I visited a number of the residents' bungalows, including that of Frank and Elizabeth. Frank is an 88-year-old wheelchair user with dementia. Elizabeth, who is 84, is Frank's wife and has been his carer for the past number of years. When Elizabeth and Frank moved into the retirement village, they were given to understand that each house formed part of a retirement village surrounded by the Sonas nursing home.”
“Lovely. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I start by acknowledging the role my former county council colleagues Michael Clarke and Joe Queenan have played in bringing this matter to national attention, and to Sorcha Crowley, a Sligo native, for raising this issue in The Irish Times last week. To give the Minister of State some background, Sonas Retirement Village is made up of 27 dwellings located in the immediate surroundings of Sonas Ard na Gréine Nursing Home in Enniscrone, County Sligo. These homes were constructed with the express purpose of being, in the words of the original planning permission, "run in conjunction with [the] existing Ard na Greine nursing home". The name of the development, according to the Residential Tenancies Board, is Sonas Retirement Village.”
“I know from speaking to residents in the constituency I am in that their bravery in speaking out has encouraged, and will continue to encourage and inspire, other children and adults who were victims of abuse to come forward. Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine.”
“As we all know, unfortunately times were not always like this and the family was forced to live through an era when a blind eye was turned. Times have certainly changed for the better but these improvements need to continue and can never be seen as an afterthought. Youth and community services need multi-annual funding and not to always be fighting for crumbs from the table. It is through environments such as youth centres, community centre and family resource centres, and work with SNAs that children and families are supported to come forward and make disclosures of abuse. A month on, I thank the Farrell family for their bravery and courage.”
“I commend the bravery and courage of these siblings, and their families, who were judged and looked down on for years. None of this was their fault but as children, and as adults, they were forced to live a life filled with shame and confusion. I raise this matter today as we see so many people at the moment are struggling to exist, let alone live. It is essential that we as a State continue to invest properly in front-line public services, such as gardaí, teachers, SNAs, youth workers, social care workers and social workers. Properly resourcing social services like these meant that when these siblings were ready to come forward as adults the services were there for them, were available and were ready to listen, because they had been properly trained and resourced.”
“In this current cost-of-living crisis, all decisions should be made with the needs of vulnerable people at heart. Just over a month ago today, a brave family from County Sligo waived their right to anonymity. This family won their court case against their father, who sexually abused five of his children when they were between the ages of three and 17. The Central Criminal Court heard harrowing evidence of abuse and neglect, including times when the children were left hungry and locked in a room to drink their own urine. These siblings included Jessica, Christopher, Amanda and Helen Farrell, who had to suffer the abuse in silence and in shame and were let down repeatedly by the agencies of the State. Just over a month ago they finally received some level of justice for the abuse they endured as children at the hands of their father.”
“It was only through the sterling investigative work of Catherine Corless that the burials of Tuam ever came to light. Governments, over successive decades, were none the wiser. Now the Government presumes to tell campaigners and families that they cannot be trusted to know where similar events are likely to have taken place. It is a deeply disappointing amendment and a deeply disappointing stance for the Government to take. As I said, the Labour Party fully supports the Senators in the Civil Engagement Group and of course the tireless campaigners who have kept the spotlight on this issue. I know the Minister is open to discussions. I hope she will reassess her position and back this Bill so that real closure can happen for families.”
“It claims it would create a lack of clarity, would be out of proportion and would not be in the public interest. However, the Government is failing to recognise that the situation now is leading to a lack of clarity and is not proportionate. The situation as it exists now is simply not in the public interest. The Government seems to be suggesting that by broadening the scope of the 2022 Act, we would open the floodgates to a large number of poorly evidenced interventions. I do not think it is fair that there is such little faith in families and campaigners who have had to fight for so many years to finally get this far. I do not believe the suggestion that allowing for interventions where inappropriate burials are likely to have taken place will lead to a disproportionately large number of actions is true. I think it is insulting.”
“In passing that Act, the Oireachtas accepted the State's role in responding to the legacy issues by intervening in inappropriate burials. While the Bill was in effect largely limited to dealing with the Tuam site, I do not believe a case of justice and closure in Tuam but nowhere else would ever have been acceptable to campaigners, families or indeed legislators. In taking action on this issue and passing the Bill, the intention of this House was that justice would be open to all. This Bill is about making that intention real. That is why I am deeply disappointed to see the Government's amendment today. This should not be a partisan issue. Discretion is very much evident within the Bill. It should be an issue on which all in this House can agree. The Government claims this would lead to speculative interventions.”
“The effect of this is that other known or suspected institutional burial sites cannot meet those criteria. Therefore, justice and closure are being denied to survivors and family members from other sites. I do not believe this was the intention of the 2022 Act. It is certainly not in line with the spirit that underpinned that legislation. This Bill seeks to put that right. It would expand and strengthen the powers granted to the State under the 2022 Act. It would bring other institutional lands into scope for investigation and intervention if inappropriate burials are likely to have occurred there. The core aim here is to make sure the State can intervene appropriately in cases of suspected inappropriate or undocumented burials linked to religious institutions. We already accepted this concept in the 2022 Act.”
“The simple aim of this Bill is to make real the promise of justice for survivors and family members of people who died in and are buried in institutional lands. This is why we fully support it. All of us in the House can agree that this is a worthy aim. The 2022 Act sets a high legal threshold for intervention. In practice this means it is extremely difficult to authorise State-led interventions on institutional burial sites other than Tuam. The Minister explained her reason for erasing another amendment. Perhaps as a result of how effective the campaigning of those in Tuam was, the 2022 Act was very much drafted with Tuam at the forefront of their minds. Several of the criteria for intervention included in the 2022 Act are referential to the context of Tuam.”
“Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I commend and thank Senators Ruane, Higgins, Flynn and Black on bringing forward this Bill today. The Labour Party fully supports this important legislation. When the Institutional Burials Act 2022 passed through the Oireachtas four years ago it was a victory for the tireless campaigners, survivors and families of Tuam and other mother and baby homes. The work of people like Catherine Corless, who has rightly been mentioned here many times tonight, uncovered the facts of the burials at Tuam. The Act was a vindication of years of work and a step towards justice. However, it was not perfect. Many of those same campaigners in the years since then have pointed out significant issues with the legislation that was passed four years ago.”
“Chabhródh sé seo leis an national plan for Irish-language services don tréimhse ó 2024 go 2030 chomh maith. Gaeilge is part of who we are. Fiú muna bhfuil tú líofa nó má tá tú ag foghlaim nó ag feabhsú do Ghaeilge, caithfear í a úsáid. Ní féidir lenár dteanga iontach bás a fháil.”
“Maidir le múineadh na Gaeilge, ní mór grúpa saineolach a chur ar bun sa Roinn oideachais a dhéanfadh ailíniú ar ar an gcóras oideachais in Éirinn le leibhéil inniúlachta teanga an common European framework of reference. Is é an rud deireanach ná pleanáil teanga. Seacht mbliana níos déanaí, tá formhór na bpleananna teanga Gaeltachta críochnaithe. Níl aon chinnteacht ann maidir le todhchaí, fís, feidhm ná uaillmhian na bpleananna seo. Caithfear na moltaí a bhí san athbhreithniú ar an gcéad deich bplean teanga sa tuarascáil a choimisiúnaigh Roinn na Gaeltachta ó Bharr Feabhais a chur i gcrích, go háirithe na moltaí maidir le hacmhainní daonna, pá agus maoiniú do na pleananna. Caithfear pleanáil teanga a dhéanamh ar bhonn an Stáit go léir, an Státchóras, na Ranna Rialtais agus gach áit eile san áireamh.”
“Tá a fhios agam gur chuala an tAire an méid sin uile roimhe ach bear with me. Tóg go bog é liom. Ar an dara hábhar, tugadh maoiniú breise don Ghaeilge agus don Ghaeltacht i mbuiséad na bliana seo caite ach ba 51% den infheistíocht a bhí á lorg ag pobal na Gaeilge agus na Gaeltachta é sin. Caithfidh an tAire maoiniú cothrom a chur ar fáil to the Irish-language lead organisations ar nós Fhoras na Gaeilge. Is é an t-oideachas an tríú hábhar. Tá cruachás mór sa chóras oideachais maidir le maoiniú na Gaeilge. Tá a fhios agam é sin óna bheith ag obair i scoil. Tá na exceptions as smacht. Níl spriocanna ann do mhéadú na Gaelscolaíochta agus níl aon phlean ceart curtha le chéile maidir le scoileanna a aistriú ó scoileanna Béarla go Gaelscoileanna agus Gaelcholáistí.”
“Mar sin, táim chun caint anois faoi cheithre cheist thábhachtacha. Tá a fhios agam gur labhair Seanadóirí eile faoin méid seo freisin. Is gá dul i ngleic leis an ngéarchéim tithíochta sa Ghaeltacht lena chinntiú go mbeidh aon Ghaeltacht ann sna blianta romhainn. Is gá rannóg tithíochta a chur ar bun in Údarás na Gaeltachta le comhoibriú a dhéanamh leis na comhairlí contae agus Uisce Éireann. Beidh airgead de thimpeall €650,000 agus leasú ar Bhille Údarás na Gaeltachta ag teastáil chuige sin. Caithfidh an Bille um short-term rental and tourism, 2025 a bheith láidir i gcoinne cíosa ghearrthéarmach. Ní mór don Aire tithíochta an ráiteas náisiúnta pleanála tithíochta don Ghaeltacht a fhoilsiú anois díreach. Gealladh ar dtús treoirlínte mar seo in 2021. Tá an easpa gnímh seo ag cruthú fadhbanna.”
“Mar sin, ar an 19 Márta san audiovisual room, beidh mé féin, mo chomrádaí Councillor Fiona Connelly agus triúr cainteoir eile ag plé bealaí simplí chun an Ghaeilge a úsáid inár saol laethúil. Ba bhreá liom an tAire a fheiceáil ann. Tabharfaidh mé cuireadh do gach duine san Oireachtas. Tá ár gcaidreamh leis an nGaeilge dhifriúil anois. Féach ar an obair iontach atá ar siúl anois ar social media agus ar na podcasts a dhéanann daoine agus grúpaí, mar shampla, "How to Gael", Irish with Mollie agus Gaeilgeoir Guides. Tá daoine ag caint Gaeilge bhriste agus flúirse na Gaeilge. Caithfimid moladh a thabhairt do na daoine a labhraíonn Gaeilge. Ná bac leis an puritanism. Tóg go bog é le daoine cosúil liomsa. Ar nóta eile, bhí mé ag caint le John Prendergast agus Julian de Spáinn ó Chonradh na Gaeilge inné.”
“Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. Roinnfidh mé mo chuid ama leis an Seanadóir Noonan. Nuair a bhí mé ag smaoineamh aréir ar cad a déarfainn inniu, tháinig seanmhothúcháin orm, náire agus eagla. Bhí imní orm nach bhfuil mo chuid Gaeilge maith go leor lena bheith ag labhairt anseo inniu. Is dócha nach bhfuilim i m'aonar. Thug m'athair, Seán Ó Ceallacháin, grá mór dár dteanga dhúchais dom. Is mór an trua nach labhraíonn níos mó daoine ár dteanga álainn ó lá go lá agus ó dhubh go dubh. I ndáiríre, tá a fhios agam go bhfuil go leor daoine cosúil liomsa. Ní as an nGaeltacht muid agus ní dheachamar go dtí Gaelscoil ach tá grá mór againn dár dteanga álainn agus suim mhór againn inti.”
“The announcement was unnecessary and was a very obvious mistake. It has caused so much upset for SENOs who have to deal with schools. An awful lot of work needs to be done to resolve this. Along with many others, I am looking for a commitment that there will be a long-term funding model for special education in this country.”
“I want to focus my remarks on the debacle of the SNA cuts. I welcome the decision to pause the roll-out of the proposed cuts to SNAs and also the announcement of the €19 million for additional SNA supports. However, the question as to where this money came from still has to be asked. While it is very welcome, how could it be just plucked out of thin air? Because parents and school communities have been contacting people across the country about the long-term security of this, I would encourage people to take part in the many demonstrations taking place across the country. I am very proud that the Labour Party is very involved in these. Parents, schools and young people themselves are looking for a long-term commitment that this is not going to go away and change again in 2027 or 2028.”
“That is wonderful news. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. I am delighted to hear it. People will be absolutely thrilled. It is not only for the students. Kevin said that it was an emergency and that there were only eight weeks left. It will alleviate so many of their concerns and worries. It is fantastic news. I give a big shout-out to all the staff like Tamsin, Jeanette and Róisín for all the work they do and the impact it is having not only on the students but, as the Minister of State said, on the wider community within the colleges and the places where they are doing their work placements as well. I am delighted and again thank the Minister of State for confirming it.”
“The reason I tabled this matter is Project WAVE is funded under a three-year pilot programme, designed at enhancing course provision for students with intellectual disabilities. Just as it is in Kevin's story, the enthusiasm shown among the staff, students and families demonstrates Project WAVE is money more than well-spent. It was so wonderful to welcome them here; we had such a wonderful day. Education experiences are not transitory or temporary. They pay dividends for years, especially in the lives of people who are denied the kinds of opportunities open to most of us. Can the Minister of State confirm whether funding will be made available for the next three-year period and on an ongoing basis, so that students like Kevin, who should have the opportunities open to every other young person, have them?”
“I was thinking of dropping out but decided to stick at it because I knew that someone else would take the chance and lots of other people who interviewed did not have the opportunity, and Project WAVE has changed my life. I am very happy now. Two years ago, I was in a bad place with sensory issues and the staff at the college I was attending did not really understand, but the staff at Project WAVE understand my sensory issues and are very nice to me and I could not hope for better. My goals are to do an access course at ATU or do a PLC course in Ballinode College, and to qualify to get a job in Yeats Library or the ATU or another university, maybe in St. Angela's. I have learned a lot of practical skills relating to the appropriate use of technology, flexibility and time use skills.”
“All the research for this Commencement matter was carried out by Kevin, who is a Project WAVE student currently doing work experience in my office. Since starting Project WAVE, he has developed into an advocate for the rights of students with disabilities. Kevin has agreed to my sharing his learning story here today: I was 20-years-old and a student at another college when I first heard about Project WAVE in June 2024. My mum told me that she thought it would be a great opportunity and would give me a better life. I thought about it and I decided I would go for it. Before I was accepted, I had to do an interview. I told them how I wanted to come to ATU and learn new stuff and I would be meeting new people. The first day I arrived in September 2024, there were nine other students starting. None of us knew each other and I was so nervous.”
“In the course they study, core topics include ICT, personal development, learning skills and employability, as well as other elective modules, depending on the campus they are based in. For example, in Donegal, the focus is on hospitality. In Mayo, it could be business and early childhood education and care. In Sligo, we have students studying early childhood care, engineering and creative and visual arts programmes. The range of interests, personalities and talents among the Project WAVE students is as varied and diverse as that of the general student population. Project WAVE is a two-year project, rapidly approaching the end of its second year. After completing WAVE, many of the participants hope to go onto further study or enter the world of work.”