Pa Daly
Kerry · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“I thank the Minister of State for coming in to deal with this issue when other colleagues were not available. She will be able to bring her experience of this area to this debate. I am slightly caught for time, so I will try to parse it a little bit. I wish to ask the Minister of State about the harmful content on social media platforms.”
“While we know violence against women is a crisis and femicide in Ireland is a crisis, it is overwhelmingly men who carry out these acts. These are men of all cultures, races and ethnicities. However, social media giants have a responsibility and are clearly not stepping up to the plate. They are not complying with their obligations.”
“The Digital Services Act was introduced. It was to ensure a safe, predictable and trusted online environment and to prioritise greater activity and online safety. There is the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 to protect children and the public from harmful and illegal content. There is a danger.”
“We are running over time but I will make one more point. If, as it provides in the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act, we are to protect children and adults from online conduct, how does it look as an example to younger people in particular when this content is still allowed to be there?”
“Somebody even said that they hope these comments are not going to be deleted to suit one's ideology, which they misspelt. That is the kind of narrative that is going on. They are mocking her beliefs and her. It is similar to what is being investigated by the police in Britain.”
“Bhíos ag caint le healaíontóir i gCiarraí níos luaithe um thráthnóna. Labhair sé liom mar gheall ar na mothúcháin a bhaineann le AI. Dúirt sé liom it could help to generate ideas, layouts and content more quickly, leaving more time to focus on strategy and working with clients.”
The complete record
Every one of 864 lines we hold for Pa Daly, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 15 of 18.
“What measures is the Minister for Transport taking to ensure that regional and national roads in County Kerry are adequately maintained? Has he considered conducting a review into the state of the regional and national road networks, particularly in Kerry? Will he make a statement on the matter?”
“Cutbacks are constant, rather than helping the children who are in need of a continuum of support. Children with literacy and numeracy issues are not prioritised as much as they should be. Those who need sensory and movement breaks, have social and emotional needs, trauma, autism and anxiety, and children with school avoidance issues are waiting. The NCSE says it does not have the final say, but who does? Following a review, schools are obliged to fall into one of four criteria to qualify, but how can schools prove that extra needs emerged in junior classes when the waiting list for psychology in primary care is four years. They used to take complex needs into account. A complete review is necessary here.”
“So cognitively impaired was one girl whom I spoke to that she did not know whether she was real or in a video game. Lives have been ruined. Time after time, we asked the HSE to include in the redress scheme patients who received apologies so that they are not further punished by having to fork out thousands of euro to bring their cases to justice, but this call has fallen on deaf ears. I wish to mention one other case. Many schools are waiting for extra hours of special education teacher time through the review process. I was contacted recently by Castlegregory primary school, among others. It is bogged down and bewildered by bureaucracy, spending precious time completing forms and providing further information which seems designed to delay and to save money.”
“The commission decided not to examine that as part of the investigation. Grace was forgotten by the State. While her case is not unique, as we had the Emily case and the ongoing Brandon case, the system continues to fail vulnerable people, in particular vulnerable children. I want to raise two other issues. We are still waiting for the review into CAMHS services in north Kerry. After the Maskey report from five years ago, it became immediately clear that the children who were treated in north Kerry were subject to the same failures as those in south Kerry, namely, over-medication and unnecessary antipsychotic medication with extreme side effects such as pain, weight gain, breast milk being expressed by some males and blunting of emotions.”
“This is not the first time that we have heard about the State's failure of vulnerable children - I think of the boarded-out children in County Kerry in particular - and it will not be the last. Grace's story is another tragic example of long list of failures. After the Farrelly commission, which took eight years and cost €13.6 million, we are still in the dark on the critical issues. We do know that she was failed over and over again and those who tried to speak up for her were shut down. Her own submissions were not included in the final report. She was only ten when she entered foster care. No social worker visited her for six years. While alarm bells rang about conditions in the home, she remained there for 20 years, and 47 other children were placed in that home and suffered sometimes harrowing abuse.”
“Corporate developers are at the helm of our transition and they ensure that any benefits of transition will be siphoned off into the pockets of their shareholders rather than translating into national wealth for all. We see a higher role for the State. At the heart of our vision is the expansion of community, public and domestic ownership of renewables to bring down energy costs-----”
“What obligations are there going to be on companies that are promoting data centre expansion to ensure renewables are available? As the Government eyes up LNG in a move that it considers necessary, and we will see what happens with the reports that are pending, we must ask ourselves what is really happening here and what is the ultimate agenda. Similarly, the framework also fails to introduce a specific national policy objective that supports repowering. Everyone agrees this will be essential for the transition to net zero but the NPF says and does little in that regard. The same, unfortunately, can be said of our plan for long duration energy storage. I was disappointed, but not surprised, that the Government seems determined to stick with the model of private ownership.”
“That is not going to happen with these targets. With these allocations, we will continue to be dependent on international gas markets for our electricity prices. The allocations fail to take account of our infrastructural deficits in the grid and water provision. What hope have towns in Kerry, which need increased infrastructure so they can increase development in towns and village centres, without a proper plan? It is not just about available land but is also about capacity. The Government is falling short in that regard. To make matters worse, the NPF fails to deal with the fact that data centre expansion has gobbled up all the renewable energy capacity. There are serious risks to our energy security and climate ambition.”
“The NPF additionally fails to take the necessary steps to seize control of Ireland's incredible renewables potential. This was a real opportunity to course correct and make up for decades of inaction, bad planning, mismanagement and the reasons we are so far behind on our targets. The Government, however, has declined to take up the mantle. Take, for example, the regional renewable capacity allocations. They are nowhere near ambitious enough. While I am glad the Government has finally recognised the need for a regionally balanced approach, which distributes the burden and benefit more equitably, the targets it has set almost guarantee we will miss them. That will cost us billions in fines and place energy independence out of reach, and will not deliver on the potential to reduce people's electricity bills every two months.”
“The integrated electricity market already demonstrates the benefit of an all-island approach and there is no reason we cannot build on this in terms of energy but also a united transport system. However, to achieve this we need more than the vague nods to deeper collaboration that we see in the NPF. The framework also fails to ensure that Ireland is operating within carbon budgets. We are already on track to exceed them by a large margin, which is getting wider and wider. Carbon emissions are cumulative and it is a flawed approach to simply focus on 51% by 2030, especially given that the NPF is a national policy document up to 2040. A destination without a roadmap for how to get there is not a proper plan. We must think of our future and our children's future. We owe them that much.”
“This framework will not deliver our climate ambition nor will it deliver the interconnected transport system that will facilitate balanced regional development and ensure proper rural connectivity. There is also nothing in here - faic all - for the Gaeltacht area. There is a basic failure to marshal this plan to address the twin crises in climate and biodiversity and ensure that Ireland’s future development is informed by these existential threats. These challenges are intertwined and should not be treated in isolation. Ireland is one single biogeographic unit. We know about the challenges of ecological collapse. They do not pay attention to borders, so we need an all-Ireland approach. What engagement, if any took place, between Ministers and officials with their counterparts in the Six Counties? I would love to know.”
“The national planning framework had the potential to unlock a brighter future in this country and to right the wrongs of the past, to develop a co-ordinated strategic and ambitious approach to the social, economic, environmental and cultural development of the island but what has been presented is certainly not that. It lacks ambition, is devoid of detail and is certainly not going to bring in the transformative change that the country deserves. Unsurprisingly, the Government has once again decided to rush through today another essential policy tool without allowing for proper Oireachtas scrutiny but that is par for the course for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael - skipping the essential democratic processes so they can evade criticism and let the Minister off the hook.”
“Does the Minister know when that assessment will be completed? The grants are clearly too low and will not suit people who do not have €50,000 to invest in their home. There are many people, particularly older people, who have been using some sort of liquid fuel to heat their houses for many years. They are not going to leave their homes for a few months, rent somewhere or stay with family because of the disruption. They will just keep going the way they are going. Speaking practically, what extra benefits or grants will the Government give? I was just checking with Kerry County Council, for example, and only 708 of its 4,500 social homes have a BER of A or B. That is moving frustratingly slow as well. If the county councils are not doing it, how do you expect anyone else to do it?”
“The price of upgrading a boiler could be as low as €300, by comparison with the cost of installing a heat pump in a property, which could be thousands upon thousands of euro. Despite the obvious advantage of biofuel, combined with the failings of the current scheme, it is frustrating that more emphasis has not been placed on biofuel. What measures are being taken and what is the proportion?”
“The Minister is probably aware that we have retrofitted only 12% of our BER B2 target for 2030 and 5% of the heat pump target. I acknowledge that the Minister stated heat pumps represent the optimal approach. For newer, efficient buildings, heat pumps are the obvious choice but the cost of making people's homes pump-ready makes an immediate switch impossible. Some 70,000 people rely on liquid fuels. One in three of them is over 65, and 59% of those with a liquid boiler live in rural Ireland. The current scheme will never be the answer for them, but biofuels are a good alternative. The Minister stated a proportion should be using biofuels. What proportion does he have in mind? The switch to biofuels can be much less disruptive for houses. It can be done in an afternoon rather than waiting for months.”
“I ask the Minister for an update on renewable heat and whether he has considered measures to increase the use of biofuels because, when it comes to our transition to renewable heat, alarm bells should be ringing. No matter what way you look at it, Ireland has no hope of meeting its targets. For years, the Government has been acting as if heat pumps were the only show in town, but experience and the evidence have shown us the take-up has been extremely poor.”
“I gCiarraí, mar shampla, ní bheidh ach leath de na daoine a bhí ar an mbord againn i ndiaidh thoghchán 2005, agus ní bheidh duine ar bith ó Uíbh Ráthach i gCiarraí theas ar an mbord mar tá an daonra ansin chomh híseal nach dtoghfar aon duine. I gcomparáid leis sin, tá moltaí ag Sinn Féin chun dhá thoghcheantar agus trí shuíochán iomlán a bhunú i gCiarraí – beirt ó Chorca Dhuibhne agus duine amháin ó Chiarraí theas. Bheadh sé sin i bhfad níos oiriúnaí. Níl sé ródhéanach don Aire a aigne a athrú. Molaim dó é sin a dhéanamh, b’fhéidir nuair a rachaidh an Bille tríd an Seanad nó rud eile mar sin.”
“Sula nglacaimid le halt 5, ba mhaith liom cúpla rud a rá mar gheall ar struchtúr an údaráis. Tá sé mídhaonlathach. Tá sé dochreidte go bhfuil an ceathrar Teachtaí Dála eile ó Chiarraí i gcoinne an leasaithe a bhí againn, agus i bhfabhar mholadh an Rialtais chun an t-údarás a líonadh le ceapacháin an Aire. Tá a fhios agam go mbeidh 36% den bhord iomlán roghnaithe ag an Aire. Ní thoghfaí ach deichniúr. Mar a dúirt Teachta eile, bheadh an bord truaillithe le cronies an Aire. Níl leithscéal sásúil againn cén fáth nach bhfuilimid in ann corp nó bord lándhaonlathach a bhunú. Bheadh an t-údarás in ann saineolaithe a thabhairt isteach, cosúil le haon chomhairle contae ar fud na tíre, agus eolas a fháil má tá easpa eolais ag baill an bhoird.”
“Murhur is small, but Karen's needs are as valid as those of the children in bigger schools. She is entitled to her full education and is better served in a special class. The school has reached out and I respectfully urge the Minister of State to intervene and deliver what Karen, her family and the community deserve. As regards the whole of Kerry, 18 special education classes have been sanctioned and there is extra funding, but although they have been sanctioned, there are no additional classes available. That does not equate to delivery.”
“Regarding Karen O'Flaherty, the Department has said in other cases that it will provide modular accommodation where there is insufficient capacity but a new special class is sanctioned. It does not make sense that Murhur has children entitled to a special class and the board of management is in favour of establishing one. According to NCSE guidelines, in certain circumstances the SENO may sanction a class before there are sufficient students if extra places will be filled as students have been identified. The overriding consideration must be to respond to the needs of the students with special educational needs who, had they not additional needs, would ordinarily attend a school in the local community. The recent circular says that medium and larger schools will be required to open special schools.”
“It does not make sense that Karen should have to move schools when the NCSE states the primary objective of special education provision is to enable students with special needs to participate fully and to be included in all aspects of school life and to be provided with equal opportunities to achieve their potential, regardless of their background or abilities.”
“If an ASD unit were granted, she may also not need the other therapies for which her parents pay €180 per week. Her school has an appropriate building and a vacant classroom. The principal, Finola Fogarty, wishes to establish a special class to cater for children in the area, and four other students, including siblings of current students, would use the unit in September. No other school in north-east Kerry has such a facility. Other schools in Kerry have a special class but the closest one is full. It does not make sense. It does not make sense that local children have to travel long distances, even outside of the county, for an education that could be provided in a local school.”
“Today is Karen O'Flaherty's tenth birthday. Karen is autistic and she has dyspraxia and EBD. She and her family moved from Navan to Moyvane in north Kerry during Covid, where she attends Murhur national school. Karen is eligible for place in a special class but at present is in classes with students from other years, including her sister Ellie May. She feels frustrated with the sensory overload. The school and her mother feel her needs would be best served in an ASD unit, a safe place within the school to allow her to receive the best education to which she is entitled. She would not be as burnt out in an ASD unit. Without it, it would be difficult for her to complete primary education but the school has not been sanctioned for one.”
“Is mian liom ceist a chur ar an Aire mar gheall ar acmhainní do leanaí i gCiarraí a bhfuil riachtanais speisialta oideachais acu. Mar is eol don Aire, tá uathachas ar 5% de leanaí in Éirinn faoi láthair. The percentage of children with autism has increased threefold in the past decade, with one in every 20 children diagnosed with autism. The education system must adapt to reflect this fact. According to the National Council for Special Education, the number of special education classes in County Kerry will need to increase substantially in order to keep pace.”
“There also has to be some sort of restorative approach that can be of great benefit in turning lives around. There is currently a pilot in-court accompanying project in conjunction with the University of Limerick. Some 33% of people who attend the Kerry community youth diversion service in the Kerry diocese and Kerry community youth service have a neurodiversity issue, which may not be diagnosed in some cases; either they are not taking medication or there is no proper support.”
“There have been recent meetings in the Department of Justice on following penal reform recommendations. The Irish Penal Reform Trust report in 2014 stated youth diversion projects should be extended to the age of 24 and I hope this will be progressed by the Department. Ireland has the third highest recidivism rate in Europe and recidivism must be attacked. Young people are most likely to change and I have seen it many times over the years. One inspector told me once about a young fella he was convinced would kill someone at some stage. However, work was done with him and he has not been in trouble for years and is a good, upstanding member of the community. The interventions have to be made in education, employment, housing and health.”
“Ar dtús, ba mhaith liom beagáinín a rá mar gheall ar Mick O'Dwyer. Mick O'Dwyer was like a god when I was growing up in County Kerry; he was the greatest of all time. He was so famous that I thought for many years the anti-internment song, "The Men Behind the Wire", was about the Kerry football team. Lots will be said about how he transformed Kerry football and won eight all-Ireland medals, but after being an outstanding minor, he won four all-Ireland medals and had a very long playing career. He is still, as I understand it, the highest scoring Kerry forward in national league history. He also managed Railway Cup teams and the under-21 team. Déanaim comhbhrón ó chroí le John, Karl agus Robbie, lena ghaolta, lena chlann go léir agus lena chairde uile. GAA and other sporting bodies are the best diversion away from criminal activity.”
“Often, the lower paid workers will suffer, such as people who rely on tips. Even though legislation was introduced a few years ago to ensure they receive access to tips, the reality is that sometimes does not happen. Retailers should be required to accept cash as a form of payment. The predicted transition to a cashless society is neither inevitable nor desirable. Research has shown that reduced access to cash presents risks to rural communities and personal independence and creates risks of financial abuse and increased debt. Similar to what we saw in the chip shop in Liverpool, we should keep cash alive, support local businesses and ensure that the transition and the money are there to keep as much money as possible in the hands of the local retailers.”
“In some places, particularly abroad, there is a charge of, say, €2 to access an ATM. In the North and in Britain, 95% of the population has free access to cash deposits and withdrawal facilities within 1 mile of where they live in urban areas and within 3 miles of where they live in rural areas. The details of what communities, individuals and businesses will be able to depend on in future are missing from the legislation. The legislation must ensure that banks do not close cash facilities, including bank branches, where branches are a key local source of cash. The Bill does not protect the right to use cash, only to access it. It is critical that the Government, industry and regulators understand the important of access to cash for social and financial inclusion. Its use and access must be protected in legislation.”
“There is nothing to do with conveniencing consumers. Access to cash remains, and will remain, crucial in our economy and society. The same must be said with regard to banking services through the branch and ATM networks. A recent survey commissioned by the Department of Finance found that 37% of customers still visit their branch every month, and that number is greater in rural areas. Despite the push from the banks to move people towards online banking, there is a distrust of online services. People like to have cash in their hands and they should be facilitated. They should have an ability to access cash locally and conveniently. These services should be provided by banks, or ATM operators where ATM infrastructure has been sold off, and without unfair fees.”
“I wish to discuss the overall Bill. I was recently in Liverpool, and in one of the local chip shops, there was a message on the glass screen that read: Cash is our preferred method of payment. With cash, we retain 100% of its value. The card processing companies get 0%. Big banks get 0%. Keep cash alive and support local businesses. Over recent years, organisations that should really know better, such as the National Driver Licence Service, NDLS, the ploughing championships, Iarnród Éireann, the national car test, NCT, and the GAA, have rowed back from plans they had to eliminate cash payments. We also recently saw plans by one of the major supermarket retailers in Britain, which also operates here, to phase out cash payments at self-service checkouts. The motivation for this is always to do with making more profits for the company.”
“As long as energy is treated as a commodity for private gain and profit rather than as a basic right and necessity, and with the overall influence of the common good, the price is going to remain unreasonably high and we will continue to have such high bills. Sinn Féin will deliver the wholesale change necessary to make energy affordable in a system that prioritises fairness over the corporate balance sheet. Ireland's energy system should be reoriented towards fairness, transparency and affordability and ensure that energy companies are held to account so that ordinary workers and families feel the benefit of the inevitable renewable transition in their pockets and not be continually overdependent. The recent announcement regarding a State-led backup system should be that - State-led, State-prioritised - and be temporary.”
“Why can the profits being made by the energy companies not be invested in repairing the damage to the distribution network and make it resilient to the increasingly frequent extreme weather events? The Government also needs to get serious about accelerating the transition to indigenous renewable energy. Rather than continued overdependence on imported fossil fuels, we should not entrust Ireland's energy security to the hands of commercial LNG developers with a dubious financial history and untested or untried job creation records. This move makes a mockery of Ireland's commitment to achieving 80% renewable energy by 2030. While the indigenous generation of renewable energy will be a prerequisite of reducing the cost of energy here, this will not, in isolation, fix a system that is fundamentally broken.”
“It is the unfairness at the heart of our energy system that leads to such high energy costs in the first place. For example, network charges and the PSO levy place a disproportionate burden on ordinary households, pushing up bills even further while larger energy users such as data centres get off relatively scot free. We have called out this deep unfairness repeatedly and the Government must urgently reform network charges and the PSO levy so that the burden is redistributed more equitably. I fundamentally refute the idea that households should be expected to pay for the damage wreaked by the recent Storm Éowyn through an increase in the standing charge.”
“The Government, in its wisdom, has decided to rip away supports from struggling households. Rather than making things easier, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Healy-Rae brothers and the Lowry-led Independent Deputies are determined to make things even harder. I want to be clear: the electricity credit scheme should be kept in place until the prices reduce. Last month, the Government told us it had no intention of providing this essential relief to households this year but is it really the Government's plan to abandon workers and families to crucifying energy prices in the depths of this winter? Electricity credits, while important supports, are really only a sticking plaster in a fundamentally flawed system that has developed over decades. It is also deeply regressive and inequitable.”
“Ordinary workers, families and businesses the length and breadth of the country are crippled by exorbitant gas and electricity bills. Week in and week out, people come to our office who are struggling to afford to keep the lights on and heat their home. Often, we have no choice but to send them to apply for an additional needs payment or to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. That is why the extension of the lower VAT rate on gas and electricity is necessary. It is the least the Government can do. Why is the Government not doing more to address Ireland's rip-off energy costs? As colleagues have noted, prices here are either the highest or second highest in the EU, at €500 more than the average. Prices are set to rise even further in the coming months with the recent SSE Airtricity announcement.”
“Our proposal to establish a €2.5 billion investment fund could kick-start the procurement of long-duration energy storage.”
“One resident has had 20 power cuts in the past year. While the Government may accept this as normal, we do not. We have a plan to deliver an affordable, sustainable and secure system that is resilient. We also want to distribute the burden of its maintenance fairly, for example, through the restructuring of network charges and a PSO levy. We also encouraged the Government to introduce goodwill payments to compensate for the prolonged power cuts but our proposals were ignored. As households pay for the grid through standing charges, it is only right they should be compensated for prolonged power cuts. This could be one way to bring down our energy prices, which are some of the highest in Europe. There are also broader structural issues.”
“In a similar vein, misleading claims were also peddled by the Government, which said it remained committed to supporting businesses throughout the recovery period and beyond. No commitment ever existed. Many businesses and farmers were left out in the cold literally and left to the mercy of unscrupulous insurance companies more concerned with how high excesses could go, raising insurance premiums and making more profit than ensuring people were supported. That is not good enough. We have repeatedly proposed measures to rectify this mess such as the introduction of clear timelines and the expansion of the scheme to businesses and farmers. We reiterate those calls tonight. The devastation was compounded by the failures to build an energy infrastructure fit for purpose over the years. Power outages are not rare in my constituency of Kerry.”
“It seemed that the Government was not interested in delivering the type of supports people needed. If the intention was to leave no one behind, will the Minister justify why a staggering two thirds of applications for supports have been rejected, some without explanation? Will he explain why he attempted to wind up the scheme without a public announcement? Will he outline why only €6.8 million has been paid out in response to one of the most devastating storms ever seen on the island? The actions in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn indicate that the primary interest of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Lowry-led Independents was providing the illusion of support but not delivering the solutions required.”
“Storm Éowyn devastated entire communities. Households, businesses and farmers suddenly had their access to essential power, heat and water cut off. Many were waiting weeks for it to be restored. People could not wash, turn on the lights or heat their homes. For some, the lack of water and power posed a real risk to their lives. I commend my colleague Deputy O'Reilly on tabling the motion to highlight the total inadequacy of the humanitarian assistance scheme and the lack of transparency and broken promises. People felt let down and abandoned. The Taoiseach provided repeated assurances that the scheme would support everyone who needed it and that the most vulnerable would not be left behind. These reassurances proved to be demonstrably untrue.”
“However, as I already mentioned it has moved five times in the past ten years, which is not really satisfactory. Something extra should be given to this community on a once-off basis given the amount of work it does with the older Irish community in general and given the amount of work that it does in helping the survivors - as the Minister of State has noted, 30% of survivors of institutional abuse live in Britain. The other ones in Yorkshire, Lancashire and London have appropriate premises, but the Coventry centre does not. I am asking the Government to look at this and provide some sort of medium-term help on a once-off basis with leasehold or to allow the society to purchase a building so it can provide the best of care, which is what is owed to the people who use the services.”
“I thank the Minister of State for the reply. The support that is provided in the scheme, which is administered by the Department of foreign affairs, is very much appreciated. It is appreciated by the clients, the survivors and elderly Irish people from all over the midlands and also by the staff who help them with their needs. However, the policy within Government is that the Government does not support either capital funding or long- or even medium-term premises. The difficulty with providing these services is that they need to be secure and in the same place for a protracted time. Eaton House is in a very good location but the Coventry Irish Society has no security of tenure in that building, which is due for demolition at some stage. Its lease is up in May and it is hoping to get another three-year lease.”
“I ask the Government to consider additional support for the midlands Irish survivors service, which have helped more than 500 survivors in total and to consider funding a long-term premises where they can meet in private and are not mixed with everyone else. They need extra attention and care. I am asking at a time when there is an awful lot of money in this country that we give something back to those communities and to those Irish people in Britain who need it most.”
“One operates from the London Irish Centre, Camden Square, London, and the other is Irish Community Care and it deals with people in Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester. Those two centres have their own private offices where they meet with survivors and host social events. They help them with housing and other issues. The Coventry Irish Centre does not have any secure or long-term premises. Like the other centres, it helps survivors to apply for the mother and baby home scheme, the Magdalen laundries scheme, and offer social supports and networks such as outings and lunch clubs, which are vital for people and for those survivors, in particular. We owe the Irish people in Britain more than this and the temporary accommodation the Coventry Irish Centre has.”
“They help approximately 1,000 people per year by befriending, health outreach, with welfare advice and with their passports. As the Minister of State is probably aware, the emigrant support scheme assists with the courses and funds the Coventry Irish Centre but does not help to secure any long-term premises or a secure home. The Coventry Irish Centre has had to move five times during the past ten years. It is one of three Irish survivor specialist services in England. It meets survivors who by now have a long-term and positive connection with the charity. They gain mutual support by being part of a group with a unique history and experience and who were wronged by this State. In Coventry, they help survivors from all over the midlands. There are two other English-based survivor services.”
“Brendan's or the Kerryman, the Bricklayers Arms, the Hand and Heart, or the Four Provinces. As a whole, the Irish in Britain returned €3 billion in remittances between 1939 and 1969 to families who were left behind when they were forced to emigrate from here. Their stories were celebrated by Tom Murphy in one of his plays and by John B. Keane. It produced artists such as Hazel O'Connor and Julianne Regan. Nowadays, the 1950s generation are ageing but their legacy remains. The Coventry Irish Centre performs outstanding work for their community out of Eaton House, which is near the railway station. Great credit is due to people such as Simon McCarthy, Caroline Brogan, Gráinne Fellowes, Liz Flannelly, Manisha O'Malley and Margaret Campbell.”
“I am thankful for the opportunity to raise this issue. Coventry was once the most Irish city in England and in the early 1960s, there were 20,000 Irish-born people living in Coventry. The industries there attracted Irish people who worked in factories, on the buses and in hospitals. They built the ring road, housing estates and the new cathedral. The Irish community flourished. People came together in clubs, trade unions, voluntary organisations and in their churches. They represented their people and others on the city council and went to areas such as Spon End, Coundon, Radford, Jordan and Gosford Street. In the 1950s, for example, 650 Irish people used to attend the Banba Club on an average Saturday night. Others went to church clubs or to pubs such as St.”
“Rather than doing a job like was done in Kilkenny with a budget of €20 million odd for every new courthouse or rather than using an An Post depot that is for sale and refurbishing that or refurbishing the current courthouse, it is planned to close it down and move across to the Denny site, which has been given by the Kerry Group, while limiting any development there and not having any additional benefit to the town. It is not too late to reverse that decision but we will wait and see. I ask the Minister to talk to his colleagues in government about what can be done to do that.”
“I am glad the Minister brought up the town centre first approach because I see it was in the last programme for Government and it is in the current one. If it was the case there was a priority for town centre first, then the Department of Justice or the Courts Service would not be deciding to close the current courthouse in Tralee and to move it to another side of town without any plan to do anything at all with the building, which is right in the centre of town and has been there since the 1840s. The current proposal is preposterous in my view.”