Pádraig O'Sullivan
Cork North-Central · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“Imagine being the father of two boys who have Friedreich's ataxia and one of them passing away. I know the Tánaiste is familiar with the case of Craig Coady. I normally do not personalise stories in here but he spoke about this quite openly on Red FM in Cork on Tuesday.”
“I am not asking anybody to comment on the process itself as I know we have to respect it, but is it possible that the review committee can be brought forward and convened as quickly as possible to see this through one way or another because of the mental trauma, anguish and emotion? Many people travelled up on Tuesday.”
“I do not expect the Minister to intervene or comment on that specific case, and we have to respect the process, but I am sure the Minister will agree that as part of a wider strategy, we need to inculcate that wider ecosystem where patients get access to this care upfront and early access to drugs, where needed.”
“Last week, I was at a conference with the Minister and the EU Commissioner. We discussed various topics, including healthcare and the development of a life science strategy in Ireland. I know it is something that he and the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, have worked intensively on.”
“It was remiss of me not to welcome members of the Alzheimer Society of Ireland. I am struggling to see through the glare of the glass. I can see a Limerick man, Kevin Quaid, up there. It is not too often that a Cork man would welcome a Limerick man but I welcome Kevin. I can also see Siobhán. I think Andy Heffernan was there as well.”
“I have asked many parliamentary questions on this over the past few years. Very little has changed. The only thing that gives me hope is that the company has since met the CPU and submitted a commercial offer that remains under consideration. I am not asking for special treatment for any drug.”
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“I thank the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, for coming in. It is rare enough to come in here for a Topical Issue and get the line Minister, so I do appreciate it. This is a long story. It goes back to 2020 initially. I think in January 2020 we were delighted when the Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, unveiled plans for a massive development, or so we thought, of a centre of excellence in Glanmire in co-operation with the FAI. It was sold as a project which we were very excited about, to be honest, particularly due to its relationship with Cork City FC. We thought it would be a massive benefit to the community in Glanmire and the wider Munster and Cork regions. That allocation of €86.4 million was made in January 2020, of course, in good faith.”
“I would also reference capital projects in education, whether for ASD classes that were promised last year, extensions to buildings or new-build capital projects. The experience that I am hearing of in the House today is also being experienced by me, particularly in regard to the larger projects. We talk about delivery here, and the Taoiseach has consistently talked about it since he was elected Taoiseach on the first occasion. Unfortunately, I am just seeing stalling, whether because of bureaucracy in the planning process, cost or issues with implementation. We need to ensure that the delivery is going to happen.”
“I raised an issue with the Taoiseach three weeks ago regarding the elective hospital in Cork. To be fair, the Taoiseach gave a good response and said it was a political decision that was made on the timing of the hospital, not a HSE decision. As I told the Taoiseach, the hospital was initially meant to take patients in 2027, but it is now looking like 2030 because the project will go from being a one-phase project to a multi-phase project. To be fair, the Taoiseach was quite forceful a number of weeks ago when he gave me his response. However, since that response, nothing has changed. I do not expect things to happen that quickly, to be fair, but the mood music is the same, unfortunately.”
“I acknowledge the incremental increase to sporting organisations in the budget, and the further enhancement of the large scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF. I am already looking forward to seeing a more enhanced LSSIF in next year's budget. As I have said in the past, some of the best things I have been involved in as a public representative in recent years have been in the area of sports capital funding. It is probably the most important and best delivered funding we give directly to communities. It is great to see this further enhancement.”
“This funding will help facilitate the implementation of the national rare disease strategy, which makes 11 key recommendations designed to enhance diagnosis, treatment and support for people living with rare diseases. I have very little speaking time remaining so I will mention several other issues that involve small amounts of funding but which I welcome nonetheless. I am a spokesperson on sport and while in recent months I have had my issues, which have been well documented, with the FAI as an organisation, I welcome the €3 million for sporting academies to be administered by Sport Ireland. It is fundamental to recognise the grassroots of Irish football and the good work they do, whatever difficulties I might have with the parent body. I also welcome the €1.6 million allocated to the GAA.”
“Moving on to health, last week I vocalised my frustration at the lack of progress on the Cork elective hospital. As I have said, I raised the issue last week and I will continue to do so. The facility is critical to reduce overcrowding and to address long waiting times. We need urgent movement on it. There are a number of primary care centres in the NDP in the pipeline for Cork North Central, including, as examples, Glanmire, Mayfield and Blarney. I have long advocated for increased funding and approved access to medicines for persons living with rare diseases. Ireland has allocated €8 million for rare disease funding in 2026, increasing from €6.5 million in 2025 and €1.5 million in 2024. There is incremental progress, which I welcome.”
“It is crucial to restate that the funding to deliver these projects is in place under the national development plan, despite what Members of the Opposition say. Last year, I spoke in the Chamber about the importance of making our communities safe and my disappointment at the allocation of new Garda recruits. Of the 1,000 recruited, only four were assigned to Cork and only one to my constituency. This year's budget includes a commitment of €110 million to recruit 1,000 trainee gardaí in 2026. I sincerely hope that Cork receives its fair share this time. Our communities deserve adequate policing resources. I also want to highlight the ongoing issue of prison capacity. I was pleased to welcome the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, on a recent visit to Cork. I appreciate his commitment to expanding prison capacity there.”
“While the additional funding is welcome, we must acknowledge that the full replacement of ageing cast-iron pipes is going to take time. Long-term planning and delivery must remain a priority. Nevertheless, an additional €1.4 billion for Uisce Éireann is extremely welcome and needs to be directed at areas servicing new housing developments in particular. In his speech yesterday, the Minister referenced several road projects. I want to ensure the northern distributor road, the Mallow relief road and the Cork to Limerick motorway are included in the projects that receive funding and make tangible progress. We need more definitive timelines for their delivery and I will continue to press for clarity and action on them.”
“The scheme is being extended and expanded, increasing its scope for residential properties from those built before 1915 to those built before 1975. Amending this scheme to support the use of over-the-shop premises for residential purposes is also a good idea. Far too many people are homeless, living in emergency accommodation or in precarious and uncertain living conditions. We all know this is not good enough. We must continue to accelerate the delivery of homes through key initiatives such as the first home scheme, vacancy grants, affordable purchase options, cost rental housing and the help to buy scheme. Turning to infrastructure, I want to address the ongoing issues with water quality in Cork city, which have been well documented, particularly the problems with discoloured water and excess manganese.”
“As a former teacher, like Deputy John Connolly beside me, and having spent 15 years in the classroom, I understand the immense pressure on parents and schools. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, is committed to improving the support for our special education services and that commitment is evident through the increase of 1,717 in the number of SNAs and the 860 additional SEN teachers in special education settings. It is vital that we continue to have the staff and resources necessary to expand special education provision. Housing received a major uplift in the budget. The expansion of the living city initiative will help to address vacancy and dereliction and hopefully bring more houses into the market.”
“I agree with what Deputy Timmins has said. I will fire a shot across the bows of the Opposition because no one has bothered to turn up tonight. When people are watching this on TV at home Opposition Deputies are the first people to point the finger when the benches are a bit light on this side of the House. Their absence is either an endorsement of the budget or they could not be bothered to turn up I welcome the increase in the capitation grant. This will see an additional €50 per pupil allocated to primary and special schools and an extra €20 per pupil for post-primary schools. Many of my colleagues will have received numerous emails from constituents in recent weeks on this issue.”
“This decision should have brought to 11 the number of conditions screened for at birth in Ireland. Early diagnosis of SMA, as the Tánaiste knows, can mean the difference between a child walking or breathing independently and not doing so or can determine whether he or she requires lifelong support. Treatments are funded and available in Ireland, but without early detection through screening, access is delayed. The Tánaiste knows that the person mainly responsible for what I am speaking about is a constituent of his. I will not mention him here today. Two years after the commitment made by the former Minister, I urge the Government to provide a binding timeline for when SMA screening will actually be conducted using a heel-prick test.”
“I raise the issue of newborn screening for SMA. During the week, I was contacted by SMA Ireland regarding the continued delay in expanding the heel prick test. The national rare disease strategy recently published by the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, provides a welcome and comprehensive framework to enhance diagnosis, treatment and support for people living with rare diseases with the stated aim of enabling better health outcomes. As the Tánaiste will know, one in 17 people in Ireland lives with a rare disease. A key element of the strategy, outlined in section 6, is the expansion of newborn screening. Specifically, it states that in 2023 the then Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, endorsed the addition of severe combined immunodeficiency and SMA to the newborn blood spot screening programme.”
“There are effects on siblings and the family, and life must go on while all of this is happening. They must continue to attend school and do the normal day-to-day things we all take for granted. The care they provide is in many ways more acute than other comparatives. I reiterate my call for the funding. It is one of the genuine asks that will be made. I also mention the children's palliative care policy, which the Minister of State referenced in his response. The only thing that gives me concern is that they are on about reviewing the 2009 children's palliative care document. The programme for Government commits to a new care policy, and not a review of an old one. I hope that will be reflected in the Minister's work ahead.”
“I thank the Minister of State for acknowledging the great work the hospice does. I should have led by saying I remember that a few years ago, I heavily lobbied the then Minister for public expenditure - I think it was Michael McGrath at the time - about Marymount hospice, which does phenomenal work in Cork. It is now fully funded in the area of staff. An arrangement was done with section 38 and section 39 workers. It is now fully funded as an adult hospice. Going forward, the care delivered by the LauraLynn foundation deserves the same treatment that the Marymount hospice received a number of years ago when that agreement was made. I reiterate that generally, when it comes to illnesses in children, they tend to be rare diseases and conditions. They appear to be more complex.”
“By 2026 it estimates it has to fundraise €5.7 million. The service this group is providing is clearly increasing. It has increased by 180% since its inception. The demand is clearly there. I understand we are not going to negotiate the budget tonight on the floor of the Dáil. However, I would like the Deputy to take a message back to the Department of Health and the Minister, that of all the budgetary asks she is going to have, this is one of the most worthy.”
“In 2021, 203 children were receiving palliative care in the hospice. For 2026 that is predicted to rise to 440. The number of families receiving bereavement care was 119 in 2021. That will more or less double by 2026 to 230. The number of community visits the hospice conducts has risen from 380 in 2021 to a predicted 4,500 in 2026. There are estimates that 2,000 children in this country require palliative care. As I have just demonstrated, the hospice is providing care for approximately 440. There is clearly an unmet need here. The work it does is phenomenal and needs to be supported by the HSE and the Department of Health in the coming budget. To keep pace with demand, the foundation continues to actively fundraise. I again refer to its pre-budget submission. The amount it fundraised in 2021 was €3.2 million.”
“When I met the CEO, she acknowledged the recent changes in the programme for Government, where there is a commitment to deliver a new national policy for palliative care for children and to increase funding for children's hospice care. The hospice is asking for these programme for Government commitments to be prioritised urgently in the upcoming budget. Time is precious for these children and their families, as the Minister of State knows. To ensure children have timely access to hospice care, the LauraLynn Foundation urgently needs that funding. Statutory funding has not kept pace with the growth in demand for the service and it will run a deficit of €1.9 million in 2025, rising to €2 million in 2026. I will give the Minister of State an idea of the demand that the hospice experiences.”
“We are moving to health now. I think the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, has covered education and transport this evening and I am not sure what else. Fair play to him. I want to talk about the LauraLynn Foundation. I recently met the chief executive and head of communications in advance of the budget. To give the Minister of State a bit of background, the LauraLynn Foundation was established after the loss of two sisters, Laura and Lynn McKenna, to illnesses in 1999 and 2001. This tragedy inspired their parents, Jane and Brendan McKenna, to found the LauraLynn Hospice, Ireland's first dedicated children's palliative care unit. They had witnessed at first hand the need for specialised home-like support and, of course, palliative care. The work that this hospice does is phenomenal.”
“I am dealing with many organisations now, including in Carrignavar, that will be doing a combined CCIF and, hopefully, LSSIF project in the future to deliver a massive multisport project. The emphasis needs to go on delivering those projects above all others because they have the ability to reach a wider audience.”
“We have a project, which I will not name, that was allocated €2 million back in 2020 or 2019. It has still not been drawn down and the organisation continues to sit on that money while there are other viable projects for that organisation to look at in terms of delivering local sports facilities. In future, I think some kind of a time limit must be placed on these LSSIF grants in particular. They are major projects and involve big money. At the end of the day, people get high expectations when they see these announcements. They want to see the projects delivered. I think this approach is worthy of consideration in the next round of the LSSIF, which will probably be in 2027. On sports capital, we need to have a major focus in the next round on multisport applications. I think they give us the most bang for our buck.”
“I think its ability to deliver projects in every community is unmatched in terms of other projects the Government delivers. I can list off a whole range of projects that have been successful. I do not think there was a refusal in the last round for my entire constituency. I am sorry, there might have been one. Basically, anybody that applied, ticked all the boxes and provided the appropriate information got funding. The Minister of State's predecessor is to be commended on that, and when the current Minister of State does his own cycle of grants next year, I hope it will be equally successful. I will make one point in relation to the LSSIF. It is something I have spoken to the Minister of State about previously. I will not mention any specifics, but the term "use it or lose it" was used by the previous speaker.”
“I start by supporting Deputy Kenny's call for clarity for that project in Mallow. To be fair, the funding announcement was made. I do not think the funding is in jeopardy at all. I do not want this to turn into a negative story because the funding is still there. My understanding is that extra information was requested and it has now been submitted. It is now just a matter of sign-off. We would appreciate an update from the Minister of State. To be fair, Councillors Pat Hayes and Gearóid Murphy have been in contact with me about this project as well. I will say something positive initially. I know it might be said that is surprising, but anyway. Sports capital funding is probably the most meaningful thing I have been involved with as a public representative over the last six years.”
“We have been told repeatedly that the elective hospital in Glanmire will be a gamechanger. We need to get it back on track to make sure we will not be waiting until 2030.”
“I raise the elective hospitals and surgical hubs that are being delivered across the country, with particular reference to the Cork situation. Initially, in response to parliamentary questions, we were told it was envisaged that patients would be seen by 2027, all going well. The language used in parliamentary questions of late is frustrating and now suggests patients might not be seen until 2030 in the elective hospitals around the country, including that in Cork. It is a commitment in the programme for Government. There is an envelope of €9.25 million under the national development plan up to 2030. We are disappointed that the language is now changing to say that patients will not be seen until the end of this decade. It is incredibly frustrating. There are waiting lists out your ears to get appointments for certain procedures in CUH.”
“The reply states the Department is working actively to reduce appeal wait times, but it has provided nothing in terms of statistics or facts. Rather, it is about broad strokes such as a reference to reduce appeal wait times. The very least I would expect from an answer is for the Minister of State to say the Department has reduced appeal wait times by 20% in the past year and by 40% over the past three years. Again, the answer is lacking detail. I would appreciate if the Minister of the State could take my comments back to the Minister.”
“The Minister of State said that any system needs to be agile. That goes without saying, but I am genuinely saying to him that from the cases I have been dealing with, the system is far from agile. We are talking about turnaround times of three months just to get an acknowledgement and a letter back. All being fair, if people submitted the correct information at the time of application, there might be no need for supplementary information and all that, and I take that as a given. Nonetheless, the system is far from agile because, like any system, in particular an online system, there will be mistakes and errors, people ticking the wrong boxes or whatever. I do not think it is fair to describe the system as agile. I would appreciate if the Minister of State could make available the numbers I have requested.”
“I thank the Minister of State. I know it is not his direct remit, and I appreciate him coming in and delivering the script, but there is very little information in relation to how many applications people are currently waiting for, and there is no information in relation to numbers waiting in excess of three, six and 12 months. I ask the Minister if State to bring that back in order that the information could be provided to us by way of supplementary information. It would paint a picture for us. I do not think it is endemic to my part of Cork. Deputy Eoghan Kenny is in north Cork, and I assume he is hearing the same. I would appreciate if the Minister of State could take that back to the officials to give us numbers of how many people are waiting and for certain periods of time be they in excess of six, 12, 18 months and so on.”
“Can the Minister of State confirm if he or his senior Minister have met cross-departmentally with the Departments of transport and justice to streamline the cross-departmental employment status of these employees? Can he also advise the steps that his Department is taking to address ongoing delays? Can he advise if he or his Department are engaged with the Irish Road Haulage Association?”
“Surely it is well acknowledged right across the floor at this stage that between the visas and the work permits, something falls down in between. Regardless of whether it is the time lag I referred to earlier or a cross-departmental lag, it is contributing to the excessive waiting list problem we are experiencing. Surely somebody needs to look at how we can co-ordinate the Departments better to streamline this service to the benefit of everybody because we are crying out for these drivers. I do not think there is anybody in this Chamber who has not been approached by business people like couriers, hauliers and people in other professions. They are urgently seeking these drivers.”
“The Department, in response to parliamentary questions, will often cite that there is a lack of information or there is incorrect information on the application, but the turnaround time and the lag in between the processing of those various correspondences is very long and drawn out. A company that contacted me earlier can be used as an example. In early March 2024, it initially contacted me about a work permit issue, which was eventually resolved, but an issue then presented with visas, and they are still outstanding to this day. That is a year and a half. The process appears disjointed, likely due to the number of Departments involved. It is my understanding that a haulier could face a two-year wait to hire a driver from a non-EU country, consisting of five different Departments.”
“They were recently added to the critical skills list as a profession. The Irish Road Haulage Association warned earlier in the month of a severe driver shortage, which could impact the supply of goods across Ireland in the lead-up to Christmas. The association has been clear in its calls for urgent intervention to assist the sector. I note that the Oireachtas transport committee recently cited three key concerns. One of those concerns is the barrier to international recruitment, including time-consuming administrative processes across multiple Government Departments for hiring qualified drivers. Speaking from my own experience in this regard, some of these applications have been going on in excess of 12 months.”
“I thank the Minister of State for being here this morning to take the question. I want to discuss the delays businesses and employees are experiencing when applying for work permits, particularly permits for haulage companies. I am under no illusion as to the gravity of the situation. I understand there has been an unprecedented volume of applications for these permits over recent years. Nonetheless, there are significant problems. There is a particular problem in my constituency of Cork North-Central and in my neighbouring constituency of Cork East where most of the haulage businesses in the south are based. I am regularly contacted by companies regarding delays in processing and accessing work permits for employees, particularly outside of the EU. There is already a shortage of haulage drivers, as we know.”
“I think there is a threshold of some €700,000 or €750,000 that they are not allowed to exceed. In cases of a massive provider like this, is there any way those thresholds can be looked at?”
“I think we both got stuck for time when we were trying to address the question. I specifically asked about the Mary Geary set-up in Carrigtwohill. I ask about it because it is the largest provider in Munster, if not the country. We are concerned because there are no alternatives for people who choose to go elsewhere. I asked the Taoiseach about it last week but have still not received a response. We are particularly concerned because there are about 300 families with 450 children affected and they are faced with the prospect of a 34% hike in fees because the provider has decided to go outside of the core scheme. It is perfectly entitled to make that decision but there are very few alternatives for people. They feel tied to the service and that is a massive increase for any household to take on. I ask for clarity on the threshold.”
“I acknowledge the massive investment made in recent years. Since the introduction of core funding in 2022, something in the region of €259 million has been allocated. In many constituencies, particularly in suburban areas like mine, we still face a severe lack of childcare places. One of the largest childcare providers in the country closed its doors to the scheme a couple of months ago in Carrigtwohill, east Cork, namely Mary Geary's Childcare. That facility has 450 children. When somebody like that turns their back on the scheme, it is not that they wanted to; it is that the offering they give to parents far exceeds the minimum standards required. You might say that is a decision they make, but they have set those high standards. Will the Minister talk about caps for large-scale providers like Mary Geary's Childcare?”
“If we do not have the resources to accommodate all those people, we need to put a value on those tickets. I have anecdotal information about situations where people avail of the ticket because it is so cheap and then do not use it. In some of those cases, people are occupying seats but not using them. That needs to be looked at. There should be a use it or lose it policy and somebody's seat should be forfeited if it is not used within a certain period. I am not trying to take away willy-nilly things that have been given to people. I am on about maximising the capacity we have in the system and using it in the best way. That needs to be looked at, at least in the short term.”
“If there is some medical reason or another reason people who are elderly cannot drive a bus, I would like to know what it is once and for all. It gets peddled around here every couple of years when we are having these debates. My final point is probably my most contentious. I do not mean it to be. I mean it in the right way. When the cost of a ticket was initially reduced to €50, it was done during the cost-of-living crisis. I understood why it was done. It was done with helping families who were hard-pressed in mind. The knock-on consequence is that it has created higher demand for seats and we have not been able to meet the demand. In an ideal world, I would love to see free school transport or to see it cost €50. That is fine, once we can accommodate the demand.”
“We need to put impetus behind that now to try to secure taxis and buses for as many of those children as we can. Every second TD has raised the issue of drivers and extending the age limit for drivers. I taught in a school for 15 years and, thankfully, our caretaker drove the bus to matches, events or things in UCC or wherever else. We always had a driver at hand. That man, when he retired, went over the permitted age to drive a bus. He is now driving part time in his mid-70s. He would not be allowed to drive a Bus Éireann school bus. That needs to be reviewed. We have been talking about the issue in this House for long enough. We have talked about engaging with the RSA. One way or another, the issue needs to be put to bed.”
“Those students must be prioritised in any system we have because of the numbers involved. That is not to say that we will forget people in rural areas because of course we should not. Where it makes business or commercial sense to operate bus routes, we need to put on additional routes to service the demand. It would be remiss of me, particularly considering the Minister of State's remit, not to raise the issue of school transport for students with special needs. It is probably the one area that was problematic this summer. I know the Minister of State is working away on the issue and I have talked to his staff. I know the difficulties around drivers, securing routes and so on. The issue is particularly acute in Cork at the moment. Many students who are attending either special schools or ASD classes in mainstream schools are struggling.”
“They normally attend secondary schools in Carrignavar, Fermoy or Midleton in east Cork. Those are the large towns that have the rural hinterland and attract those students. My concern is that along that geographical enigma, which includes villages such as Whitechurch, Carrignavar, Glenville, Bottlehill and Watergrasshill, people often have no choice but to go to their second, third or fourth closest school. That is primarily because of tradition, history and that rural connection. In that vein, I ask for the review that was conducted to be implemented as quickly as possible. We need a demand-led model as soon as possible. In villages such as Watergrasshill, there might be 50 or 60 students awaiting a school bus seat because those villages are growing quickly.”
“I do not now how many phone calls I had with the Minister of State during the summer and in previous years about school transport, particularly in rural areas. To be fair, whether due to his good work or by coincidence, many of the problematic routes I referenced in recent years resolved themselves this year. Pending the implementation of the review commissioned by the then Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, my concern is that I will be revisited by the ghosts of yesteryear next summer. The one time of year that I, as a public representative, dread is coming into the school transport season. I have that fear because we have a geographical enigma on the northside of Cork city. Many rural villages are quite close to the environs of the city but have no history or tradition of attending those schools.”
“A survey carried out online recently by Indeed, the hiring company, where 1,000 parents were surveyed with 70% saying that childcare accessibility has affected their ability to work and one quarter of all respondents finding they either had to cut their hours or rearrange their work schedule to accommodate the childcare gap. This is now more than a family issue; this is an economic issue.”
“I raise the issue of childcare with the Taoiseach as well. Mary Geary's Childcare is one of the largest providers in the country. It is actually based in Carrigtohill, which is in Deputy O'Connor's constituency, but many of the families who use it reside in my constituency. It has 450 children from 300 families. The parents of those children were recently faced with a fee hike of 34%. This is because the provider decided to remove itself from the public core funding model. It did this reluctantly because there is a situation where some of these large providers are capped at a certain level, which I think is in the region of €750,000, which they cannot go over. This is an example of a large provider but the pressure that is put on us locally in terms of families trying to source alternative childcare is enormous and has been felt deeply.”
“From listening to other Deputies across the House, obviously, energy prices are spiralling, and people might think it is a bit silly of me to be raising it in this context. I am not saying in any way, shape or form that I am against any type of large-scale solar farm, but what I am asking for is that guidelines would be in place. At the moment, we have local authorities operating in the absence of guidelines, with nothing in their development plans and nothing to put structure around what are large-scale strategic applications for planning. I am asking that the Government puts this issue to the fore and consider introducing guidelines.”
“First, I wish to express my condolences to the family of Patrick Gerard Murphy in west Cork. We are actually laying him to rest tomorrow morning. He would have been good friends with many of us here from Cork in particular, especially myself and Deputy Seamus McGrath in that we would have soldiered together on the council with him. He will be sorely missed. As the Taoiseach knows, Patrick Gerard would have had an expertise in planning, particularly one-off housing and rural planning, but he would have believed in sustainable planning. The issue I want to raise with the Taoiseach today pertains to planning, particularly large-scale solar farms across east Cork and north Cork.”
“I am aware this will all come under the Department of agriculture but I have a concern about that. I understand why it is being done, because the vets are with the Department of agriculture, but there are not enough vets. The vets will say there are not enough of them. They do not even have powers to do unsanctioned visits or inspections of properties. The Minister of State and I live in the part of the country where most of this puppy farm culture is, namely, north Cork, west Limerick and parts of Kerry. The numbers being paraded are frankly astounding. It is an industry worth more than €120 million or €130 million. It needs to be better regulated and tightened up. Ultimately, we need to improve animal welfare standards.”
“When they tell me there are more than 40,000 pups being exported every year, I trust them and not necessarily the figures the Minister of State read out. The Minister of State rightly said it is the responsibility of the local authorities. I can only speak about Cork but I think we have three dog wardens in the city at the moment. I think it is a bit better in the county where there are approximately six. They are not tasked with enforcing the stuff they are faced with. I am just on the phone to a journalist, Barry Roche, who had an article in the Irish Examiner a couple of weeks back about somebody who was found guilty in Charleville. The crimes that are being committed and the gain for these people in taking the chance and going under the radar far outstrip the sanctions and penalties they are faced with if they get caught.”
“I thank the Minister of State. I know it is not his Department but I appreciate the figures. I was already familiar with many of them. For example, one statistic was that in 2024, a figure of 8,768 pups were exported. The ISPCA and the DSPCA both estimate that around 40,000 or 50,000 pups were exported. I trust the charities on the ground. As public representatives, when we get a report of a horse, a dog or whatever in jeopardy, we know they are the people dealing with it every day. Basically, the State is gives them a few bob every year to sustain them in the hope that we are ticking the boxes. Essentially, that is what we have done over the last few years. I trust their figures more than I trust the Department's figures.”
“There is a clear case for Revenue to be looking at this. We also need to tighten up on the issue of dog licensing and micro-chipping to ensure there is compliance. I was in the Dáil a number of weeks ago when a Fine Gael TD, Deputy O'Connell, raised a recent court case where a person clearly in breech and found guilty of numerous animal welfare abuses was fined a measly €500. Anybody who knows anything about the industry knows the pups are often going for €1,000 or €2,000. When we have a system that does not disincentivise that type of behaviour, people will continue to take their chances and operate under the radar. Recently, Barry Roche, a journalist in the Irish Examiner , had a story about a conviction in Charleville which I might mention in my supplementary contribution.”