Pat Buckley
Cork East · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“This Sinn Féin motion is to recognise that art is the product of the labour of artists informed by their unique human experience, creativity and skill. The Script's Danny O'Donoghue on "Morning Ireland" said: ... no public funding goes towards AI-generated content, humans only.”
“I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh for tabling this motion. It is not just ordinary workers who are being made to fear for their futures as artificial intelligence continues to develop and expand. Musical artists, writers and filmmakers are also being badly hit by this AI revolution.”
“I thank the Social Democrats for bringing this motion here today. I sat here last night and have sat here again this morning, listening to the debates. The first thing I have noticed is there is absolutely zero from the Government bench. It is absolutely shameful. It is crocodile tears we see in here.”
“We have heard many lines here before about how we do not want to be on the wrong side of history. I urge the Government to withdraw its countermotion. It is utterly shameful. The Irish people are very angry and very hurt. What if the Government had to walk in the shoes of any Palestinian. I have spoken to many of them.”
“To think of an Israeli team with an Israeli flag on Irish soil with the national anthem and the Israeli national anthem being sung and it being acknowledged as normal is absolutely unbelievable and unimaginable. Yesterday, I listened to a debate in the audiovisual room from the Stop the Game campaign.”
“I do not even think UEFA has the balls to take us on because it will set a precedent. If we do the right thing now, we can stand up here in a year's time or ten years' time and say we are proud we did the right thing and we stood up for the people who needed us.”
The complete record
Every one of 195 lines we hold for Pat Buckley, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 1 of 4.
“This Sinn Féin motion is to recognise that art is the product of the labour of artists informed by their unique human experience, creativity and skill. The Script's Danny O'Donoghue on "Morning Ireland" said: ... no public funding goes towards AI-generated content, humans only. At the end of the day, if we are not looking after humans, what are we doing? What is the Government there to do? It is not there to look after robots. It is there to look after humans. It is about doing the right thing today. Let us be first on it. We know there are problems in Australia, Italy and France. We have a unique opportunity. I am very honoured to have the support of the artists in the Gallery. It just shows how important it is to the industry. It needs to be protected. That needs to be done now. Let us not be reactive.”
“I thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh for tabling this motion. It is not just ordinary workers who are being made to fear for their futures as artificial intelligence continues to develop and expand. Musical artists, writers and filmmakers are also being badly hit by this AI revolution. Their copyrighted work is being used without their consent or any remuneration to build systems that spew out AI art that directly competes with them. This is making it even harder for writers, composers, musicians, performers, actors and other artists to make a living in a field where many already struggle and royalties from copyright are vital to their income. It is very difficult for struggling artists to take on the AI systems and vindicate their rights.”
“I do not even think UEFA has the balls to take us on because it will set a precedent. If we do the right thing now, we can stand up here in a year's time or ten years' time and say we are proud we did the right thing and we stood up for the people who needed us.”
“We have heard many lines here before about how we do not want to be on the wrong side of history. I urge the Government to withdraw its countermotion. It is utterly shameful. The Irish people are very angry and very hurt. What if the Government had to walk in the shoes of any Palestinian. I have spoken to many of them. I have asked them how they are actually still coping and living today. One individual said to me that all we have left is hope. Each and every one of us has an opportunity to throw politics out the window, do the right thing and stand up to say "No" that we are not letting this game go ahead and that Ireland will not participate in any sporting event whatsoever and tell the FAI to forget about the sanctions. There is a court proceeding that can go further than this.”
“To think of an Israeli team with an Israeli flag on Irish soil with the national anthem and the Israeli national anthem being sung and it being acknowledged as normal is absolutely unbelievable and unimaginable. Yesterday, I listened to a debate in the audiovisual room from the Stop the Game campaign. One thing that struck me was there were 100 children lined up on a soccer pitch in Palestine. They placed them so close together that it took one bullet to shoot every one of them. That is the gut these Israeli people have. It has been said over and over again here that this Government has an opportunity. We are known as a very proud nation, a strong nation and a sporting nation but we also stand up for those who are being persecuted because we have learned from our own history.”
“I thank the Social Democrats for bringing this motion here today. I sat here last night and have sat here again this morning, listening to the debates. The first thing I have noticed is there is absolutely zero from the Government bench. It is absolutely shameful. It is crocodile tears we see in here. I do not like scripts but I will speak very bluntly. The Government just does not have the balls to stand up to genocide. If this game goes ahead, you might as well bring in who I call Netanyahu the Devil along and dress him up in Prada and we will have a huge Israeli hoo-ha with the headline that the Devil wears Prada in honour of everything the Israelis did in Palestine. It is absolutely shameful. There is awful pressure on those players. Everybody is very proud to put on their national jersey.”
“I feel that I have failed everybody in the factory who came to me. We are here again in 2026. I understand where the Minister of State is going, but I want to get on the record that the matter has not been sorted, that the union is not being recognised, that the company is ignoring everybody, that the family is being destroyed, that a person is dead and that nobody provides answers. All I am getting is that the matter is before the courts and that we cannot say anything. I am saying it now that this is not good enough. We have a separate protected disclosures office. It should have the power to investigate because that is what the protected disclosures legislation was for.”
“We have to wait for Europe to change the law on protected disclosures before we can change anything. In fairness, it was done by mutual consent in this Parliament. An office was set up. I met with the HSA prior to these accidents. It is not being taken seriously. I ask the Minister of State to put herself in my position. I have gone through three taoisigh in the context of protected disclosures. I have tried to raise the matter. I spent 18 months working on protected disclosure legislation in order to strengthen it for whistleblowers. I discovered that there have been constant breaches of health and safety standards, accidents and leakages in the meantime. I could write a book on the subject. How does the Minister of State think that makes me feel as a human being when I am sitting at home and hear that there has been a fatality?”
“I thank the Minister of State for her response. She stated, "When disputes arise and engagement at workplace level breaks down, the State provides well-established institutions to support resolution." I understand that the Labour Court recommendations are generally non-binding. She also stated, "Nevertheless, such recommendations are intended to be treated with seriousness by both parties." I understand that she cannot comment on the case, but I want to follow up on what she said about the recommendations being treated with seriousness by both parties. In 2018, when Cork City Council had a health and safety motion before it, I engaged with the Health and Safety Authority, HSA. It took a lot of work and it was difficult, but the families involved are relatively happy with the HSA. I have brought this up many times; it is frustrating.”
“The Labour Court recommendation is just to engage with unions that were concerned about health and safety. This is the decision in October 2022. We are now in May 2026. Nothing has moved forward. We have had a fatality. We have also had some major incidents that have been reported where people were left out in the car park - three in particular - with no health and safety officer. Nobody knew whether it was water, oil, gas or air before they were hospitalised. There is a breakdown in communications. I am just trying to understand why these companies will not engage in respect of the Labour Court recommendations. In this country, we have unions, and people have a right to be represented.”
“It is three years on and that family are still in limbo because that company is ignoring them. The company has refused to engage with any union. As recently as last week, I got another anonymous letter mentioning the said company and another pharmaceutical company in Cork, which I will not mention. I am here like anybody else as an elected representative and people put trust in us. These were red flags going back to 2018. We are now in 2026. If we go from 2018 to 2023, it had at least four to five major incidents where people were hospitalised. Health and safety were ignored. We are talking about titanium fires. I contacted Cork County Fire Service. It cannot put out a titanium fire. This individual died by burning. Titanium burns at around 2,000°F. To this day, I am stuck in limbo here. That is why I wanted to raise this tonight.”
“Unfortunately, between working on protected disclosures - in protected disclosure law the most important one is the reversal of burden of proof for whistleblowers today who have more powers - and in my experience of dealing with this specific protected disclosure, every one of those whistleblowers were got at, so they have disappeared. I do not know about that court case I mentioned. When you are given a protected disclosure specifically on health and safety issues, you are duty-bound to report it. I do not know whether the DPP has got that evidence. That is serious. I do not know how to find out, which is very serious. If we move onto 2023, after numerous articles in most of the national papers reporting the failures in health and safety on this, we had a fatality.”
“Around 2021, I was involved with Deputy Mairéad Farrell and former Minister, Michael McGrath, on the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022 because I had possession of a protected disclosure on the failings of all the health and safety in this. I went to three separate taoisigh over a number of years on this. I have met with the HSE on this. There is a High Court case running at the moment. I will be careful not to mention any more about that, but it has been delayed continuously. Multinationals are coming into this country and they can rickshaw over Government policy. They will not recognise unions.”
“I thank the Minister of State for being here. A Labour Court recommendation on 22 October 2022 recommended that Stryker management in Carrigtohill should enter into negotiations with SIPTU, with a view to concluding a collective agreement that covers procedural arrangements within which normal industrial relations business can be conducted. It would have given members a voice at the negotiating table so that serious issues, such as improving health and safety standards, at both plants in Cork would be addressed. I raise this because it goes back to 2018. The said factory was subject to a Cork City Council health and safety motion. That was ignored.”
“I cannot understate how much people are struggling with the rising cost of fuel, but that is on top of a constant cost-of-living crisis the Government never got. Its members gave themselves a pat on the back. I have listened to some of the Government TDs speaking about it and saying we have to do X, Y and Z but at the end of it all I hear is excuses. We know there is a war but the Government still has it in its remit to do the right things, but it is not doing them. I call on all the Cork TDs in here to get a grain of conscience, do the right thing and support this motion and the legislation.”
“This is something that haunts me and upsets me every time I speak about it. I will tell the Minister how bad it is for people. I have seen a mother in her sitting room, with a young child on a beanbag on 24-hour oxygen, who had to give up work and is crying because she cannot look after her child and cannot go to work but her biggest fear is she cannot keep the money in the pay-as-you-go meter to keep the electricity going to keep the child's oxygen pump going. That is the reality. The Minister can come out with his VAT figures and so on and so forth, but that does not appeal to the people who have been hit directly. The Minister knows the craic with the kerosene. It can be done. We are not talking about wiping out carbon tax. These are measures to make things more affordable for people.”
“Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. This is bonkers. I have sat here and listened. I thank Deputy Doherty for bringing this motion and for the upcoming legislation. We come in here and we talk about having solutions but the Minister is in government and the Government is supposed to serve the people, not profit from their misery as it is at the moment. The Minister heard a while ago about 64% of the price at the pumps being duties. That 64% is the Government's problem, but a lot more than 64% of people are being hit. Instead of helping the people the Government has decided to make an extremely difficult situation even worse. It is talking about increasing the carbon tax again in May, which is another kick in the you-know-what. I will tell the Minister how bad it is.”
“It will lead to huge changes for those with psychosocial disabilities, mental health difficulties, early onset Alzheimer’s, which I already mentioned, Parkinson’s or whatever. When we worked on the Private Members' Bill some years ago, I remember dealing with stakeholders. When you listen to the families who have gone through the system, a lot of whom are not with us anymore, unfortunately, the dignity was gone, their souls were broken, they had lost their voice and the right to ask for a fair chance and fair try. These are the most vulnerable people. I am not happy with everything – of course not – but I am a realist. Things do not move that fast here. I hope to God the courts will enforce this by the end of April and we can come back and work together to improve the Bill and move it further so people will have better lives.”
“The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill also extends to people with early onset dementia, for instance, so that they will have the right to get proper care and have the opportunity to nominate somebody who will be able to ensure they get the best quality of care and that their wishes are totally respected. That is a basic human right. The anchor date is 26 April to end the current regime. We will revisit this. We would have loved to have tabled amendments to strengthen it but there is urgency around this and there is also the issue with the High Court. It does need certainty. It represents a great opportunity to strengthen human rights and ensure everyone is respected regarding their right to make a decision for themselves.”
“There is a big cloud around that at the moment. That people who are still involuntarily detained under the Mental Health Act did not have a right to advance their wishes about the treatment they were getting is absolutely mad. I have done a lot of work on this. I thank the Oireachtas Library and Research Service for the amount of work it has done on this Bill over the years. The engagement with the stakeholders and service users has been phenomenal. The other side of this, which we often speak about here, is doing the right thing and giving people their rights and choices.”
“I thank the Minister of State for being here. I listened to her last night when she said that urgency was required with the Bill. I and Deputy McDonald tabled a Private Members' Bill on this as long ago as 2017, so I hope we will not be here as long again to get what we need pushed forward. Sinn Féin supports reform of how wardships of court are legislated for. It is a no-brainer. We certainly have to move away from wardship. We have an obligation under the UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. That is why the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill is probably one of the most important pieces of legislation that we need to push through as fast as we can. The deadline of 26 April refers most to the adult section of it. I think we will revisit it again when it comes to people under 18 or 19.”
“I cannot see the logic of trying to fix something that is not broken. If we do not have dialogue and we do not talk to people, then we do not get information so we cannot act on it and cannot get the results. I ask the Government to look seriously at the public service obligation and support the postmasters. The pay has to be increased because it is not attractive anymore.”
“The post office is not just some place people go into to post a letter and that is it. We have heard the cliché "the computer says No". This is what I hear when talking to postmasters. Not so much in the towns but in the countryside post offices are a meeting place for people who come in once a week to draw their pension, get a bottle of milk and a sliced pan because normally the post office is the shop and everything else. The postmaster is also the counsellor and the advice giver. A machine will not help people fill out an application form. I think we have lost sight of that. A number of years ago, just after Covid, we were talking here about the parcel service. They were trying to close the parcel service in Little Island in Cork. That service was dealing with more parcels than Portlaoise and Athlone together.”
“During Covid I spoke to two postmen - not postwomen - who explained to me that on their rounds, they delivered two letters to two elderly people every week that they wrote to themselves. The only people they would see during the Covid lockdown were the postmen. That is another vital little cog in the wheel when talking about post office closures. I want to raise the fact that back in 2011 Sinn Féin highlighted that a public service obligation arrangement would be needed to save the post offices. We mentioned expanding the services. I have met with the Irish Postmasters' Union. I worked with two postmasters over the past number of years, one of whom has since retired. We need to get Government services, the credit unions, driving licences and so on into the post office.”
“The Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, will be aware that the postal services have been crippled with closures and cutbacks. Since 2015 a total of 34 post offices have been closed in Cork, the vast majority of which were in rural areas. The shocking number of closures has also resulted in threats to other community services. I will give the example of Ballynoe. It had a shop that was part of the post office. It did the local newspapers and it was beside the pub. Since that post office closed, they have nothing in that village. What makes it worse is that people now have to get a taxi into Midleton, maybe 7, 8 or 9 miles away, to draw their pension. This is happening all over place. Ballycotton is another village with no shop and no post office. It is just ripping the heart out of rural Ireland.”
“The declaration commits the Government to working towards ending homelessness by 2030. That is only around the corner. We had an alternative housing plan. Our housing expert, Deputy Ó Broin, has given the Government solutions, not ideas, but solutions, and we want to work with the Government to do it. We have to ensure that everyone has a home. It is not bricks and mortar. Houses are knocked down and rebuilt. That is bricks and mortar. A home is where people can have sanctuary, where they can raise a family, and where they can have peace. The biggest thing, as in Gaza, is having hope. If hope is taken away from a nation, it is left with nothing.”
“I mention the tenant in situ scheme. It is the one thing that worked. In my experience in the years I have been here, one of the greatest gifts this Government and past Governments have had is that when they try to fix something that is not broken, they end up making an absolute hames of it, then they scratch their head, because they are reactive more than proactive, and they ask how that happened, and then the whole situation blows up. With the way the Government is tackling this homelessness crisis, I cannot see it being a priority. We are probably one of the richest countries in the world. We are definitely one of the most progressive but having more than 5,000 children still homeless today is absolutely shameful. That is a very polite word coming from me. The Government signed the Lisbon declaration on homelessness in 2021.”
“In the past 12 months, rent for existing tenants has increased by nearly 5%, so we are not going the right way. We are going the wrong way. Another woman who came to me is a highly qualified legal secretary with years of experience. She was given notice to quit. She could not find anywhere to live. Now she is secretly sleeping in her office. These people are not numbers or statistics. I hate that bloody word, "statistics". They are not a piece of paper. These are real human beings getting up, going to work, paying their taxes, trying to live a life, trying to rear a family, and no matter what way they go, there are two types of door in this country. In the health service and mental health service, there is a revolving door. When it comes to housing and homelessness, there is a shut door. It is an absolute disaster.”
“It ties our hands behind our back because we cannot give them answers because of the policy that the Government has made. The Government is just not getting it. These are young people, old people, women, men, children, and people who have jobs. I know people who have full-time, professional jobs. You cannot see the homelessness in their faces but they are sleeping in cars. One individual works in a supermarket and sleeps on a mattress in a buddy of mine's garage. That is how serious it is. I hate speaking from script but sometimes I need it for notes. When I speak from the heart, it is the truth. Average rents in Cork at the moment are nearly €1,500. Figures show that rents for new tenants in Cork rose by 6.8% in the past 12 months. God knows what is going to happen after 1 March.”
“Figures should also be made available for those presenting as homeless to the council services and being refused, not just those who are placed in emergency accommodation. Let us not forget the hidden homeless, those sofa surfing and those living in substandard, inadequate accommodation. Rents have increased in Cork, while supply is falling. Add that to the mounting cost-of-living pressures and it is the perfect storm for increasing homelessness. We see what the Government is doing on 1 March. The storm will be brewing much stronger. I speak to people every week in my constituency office who are experiencing homelessness and there is a real sense of despair, and I mean despair. There are only so many knocks that people can actually take.”
“Homelessness is displacement. We all know what displacement is like in Gaza. People are calling it an absolute disaster. We have displacement of more than 5,500 children. That is happening today and is a disaster. The number of homeless adults in Cork rose by 24% in the past year, the biggest year on year increase in the past five years. These figures show a dramatic increase in the number of people accessing emergency accommodation in Cork but I believe these figures do not fully reflect the actual number of people who are homeless across the country or the county. They do not include rough sleepers, women and children in domestic violence refuges, or those who are using IPAS accommodation as emergency accommodation.”
“I wanted to flag that because if we want to do the right thing, we should engage with every single body to get the policies right. If we do, we will never be back here again.”
“One woman from Cork apologised before she even opened her mouth because she was so upset. These are not my words but this lady's words; she said she never felt so undervalued in her entire life. She never felt so broken for doing something that she loved and felt that there was no answer. I welcome the July provision. I sat on the autism committee, which made 109 recommendations. I would like that to improve and keep going forward. The Minister also mentioned dialogue, the new platforms, the new policy documents that are coming out and the work between the Department and the unions. I will flag something the unions have told me straight out. They said that what would happen is they will go into a dark room, the unions and the Department will say their piece, but it will be the Department's way or the highway.”
“I welcome the statements by the Minister and the Minister of State confirming there will be no cuts to SNAs across schools this year. From speaking to SNAs and parents, however, they are worried that this is just a pause. What will happen next year? I listened to the Minister's speech. She spoke about SENOs knowing our education system. A lot of Deputies spoke today and yesterday about the 2014 circular that is totally outdated. When the policy was being developed, SENOs felt they were not listened to, but they are the professionals and the gang that live it every day in schools. I have certainly listened to that. We had an online meeting last Monday. There was well over 1,000 people at that. We listened to parents, teachers, SENOs and SNAs pouring their hearts out with grief and fear.”
“Whatever hoops the Minister of State has to jump through and whatever planning we have to do, in regard to those who are objecting, I think it is time for the hammer to come down and to say "No". The priority is people, their livelihoods and homes and that is what we have to protect.”
“Another one I flagged - I have not seen it - was the voluntary homeowners relocation scheme. Back in 2016, 2017 or 2018, I remember meeting the then Minister and the Minister for Social Protection with a family because their home was absolutely destroyed. There was never a mention of a voluntary homeowners relocation scheme. That family is still paying a mortgage for a three-bedroom semi-detached house that is totally uninhabitable. I will chase the Minister of State up on that one. I would like to know more about that because that family has been absolutely destroyed. I appeal for urgency. I acknowledge the Minister of State's engagement on this but I am relaying what the people of Midleton and surrounding areas are saying.”
“We are possibly 16 years talking about this and the council has decided now that it is going to build a bank up beyond Moore's Bridge to stop this water flowing down the Mill Road and hitting Willowbank and Tír Cluain. That still has not been done. The Minister of State, in his opening remarks, spoke about what we would do and how he would do it. I know he said he had 150 flood relief schemes and so on and so forth but for the people of Midleton, east Cork and other areas that have been flooded - and this is not being disrespectful to the Minister of State - that is not the answer they want or need. They want to know why interim measures were not done ten or 15 years ago, and why they are doing these CFRAM flood studies with nothing being acted on.”
“In that CFRAM study, there was hydraulic modelling, and other big fancy words they use when doing these models for predicting floods. It made a prediction. I refer to Storm Babet, the most recent storm and where I live in Midleton. This map shows the Mill Road. The thin blue line is the river. It predicted where the water was, how much water would come down and where it would come out. This was back in 2013. It also predicted that not too far from where my office is, there would be 1.4 m of water. It went up to the fascia board and soffit of a bungalow at the junction. It also outlined preventative measures on how this could be done.”
“The failure to start any real work on the overall flood relief scheme planned for the town is one thing but the absence of progress on promised interim flood relief measures is beyond frustrating, especially for many of the residents of Midleton who are still living in fear every time it rains. Many admit to suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression after having their homes flooded. Records dating back as far as the 1880s show Midleton, which is located in a low-lying valley at the junction of the Owenacurra and Dungourney rivers. These have flooded regularly, underlining the long-standing need for a flood relief scheme in east Cork. Another one I raised here was the catchment flood risk assessment and management, CFRAM, study. It was produced back in 2013.”
“I thank the Minister of State for being here today. I am here again today to discuss flooding. I have been raising this issue since I was first elected back in 2016. I have gone through four Ministers of State on this issue. Ten years later, the people of my town Midleton are still waiting for the flood relief scheme to be implemented. I acknowledge that the Minister of State visited, as did the former Minister of State, but I am giving him a synopsis of where the people of Midleton, in particular, are, but I am not forgetting the likes of Whitegate, Mogeely, Rathcormac and other areas that were flooded.”
“It is not about them getting a pat on the back; it is about doing the right things for those who need it. As the Minister of State said, the right level of support is needed. I thank him for the response. It would be remiss of me if I did not say I will probably follow this up with a formal letter to the Minister, Deputy Naughton, because I know she is passionate about it and when people are new to their roles, it can be difficult at times. We have all often said that we do not come here to get a pat on the back. We come to do the right thing. That is what it is all about. I understand there is the ten-year strategy, but everyone has an emergency. It is urgent, and after three years of full engagement and the Taoiseach coming to see it first hand, surely that first-hand experience would give it a better advantage.”
“I thank the Minister of State for the reply. Sometimes, it is hard to comment on individual cases. Going back to this school, it is three years on. The Minister of State spoke about the urban bands 1 and 2. I understand that the Department has to be fair and tick all the boxes. It is similar to what we have been dealing with in terms flooding with tranches 1 and 2. The Minister of State mentioned the right level of support and, in fairness to this school in Youghal, it has made a strong case. It has been three years and nothing has changed. Thankfully, the population is growing despite being in a rural area, the lack of public transport and so on, which is a different issue. From dealing with the individual representing the school, I know these people are passionate.”
“I appeal to the Minister of State in his position - I again thank him for his presence tonight - to try to push for this, take it on board and progress it because we are all here to help people.”
“The Minister of State heard about these situations from the previous speaker and other TDs as well. There is more than one school in my area of east Cork that is struggling without assistance. Principals in many schools in my area are reaching out. I met the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy McEntee, and we were promised at private meetings additional classes for people with autism and special needs and additional SNAs, and told that if the school principals asked for them, they got them. At the time, I told the Minister I knew of six principals where those supports were not forthcoming. I will stick to this school under Topical Issue Matters.”
“Independent and objective data sources, including the Pobal HP deprivation index, the Youghal community profile and the Barnardos document, clearly demonstrate a concentration of socio-economic disadvantage that significantly impacts students' educational, social and emotional well-being. Without the DEIS urban band 1 supports, this school is structurally constrained in its ability to deliver equitable educational outcomes for students experiencing sustained socio-economic disadvantage. Schools serving communities with comparable profiles benefit from reduced class sizes, targeted staffing supports and integrated DEIS interventions. These students do not, despite the clear evidence of need. I am speaking on behalf of the principal of the school.”
“However, critically, the correspondence acknowledged the challenges faced by Gaelscoil Choráin and stated the submission would contribute to future work examining the allocation of resources to tackle educational disadvantage, including through a review process informed by updated deprivation data and the OECD analysis. Since 2023, the socio-economic circumstances affecting this community have not improved. On the contrary, the concentration of need in the school has intensified. Gaelscoil Choráin serves a school community located in a designated revitalising areas by planning, investment and development, RAPID, town where disadvantage is persistent, cumulative and well documented.”
“The submission was grounded in objective data, including the Pobal HP Deprivation Index, the Youghal community profile and Barnardos documentation, all of which demonstrated entrenched and persistent disadvantage in the school community. That same month, An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, visited Gaelscoil Choráin and other schools in Youghal and witnessed at first hand the scale of complexity of disadvantage affecting students and families and acknowledged the significant challenges facing schools across the town. In June 2023, the Department of education refused DEIS urban band 1 status to the school.”
“I thank the Minister of State for taking this question. As a Sinn Féin TD representing Cork East, and in line with my party's strong focus on tackling inequality and investing in disadvantaged communities, I ask for his active support in progressing fair DEIS provisions for students in Youghal who are experiencing persistent socioeconomic disadvantage. The Youghal urban area is home to 7,075 people: 5,276 adults and 1,799 children. The sociodemographic profile of the town shows that significant populations within the town experience varying degrees of disadvantage. In January 2023, the board of management of Gaelscoil Choráin submitted a comprehensive, evidence-based submission to the Department of education seeking consideration under DEIS urban band 1.”
“We have moved on from that but the point I am making is that I do not want to be here in another ten years repeating myself. We do not want to have to keep talking about this. We need to improve the services and we must do it now.”
“I want to be clear that I do not blame the staff, who spend years training for this work. They have been totally let down by the system and by the Government. It is a system that undervalues them, overworks them and does not listen to them. That has been going on for years. I spoke about it ten years ago. In the brief time remaining, I will talk about the people who are left behind after a loved one's suicide. It is absolutely harrowing. The Government is not opposing the Bill but I will give the Minister of State a very quick synopsis in the 26 seconds I have. When my brothers died, the coroner's reports were crap, the HSE service was crap and how everybody dealt with death was crap. An Garda Síochána and all the emergency services were amazing, in fairness, but we never got counselling.”