Paul Lawless
Mayo · Aontú · Ireland
“Confidence in our education system depends on quality resources but parents remain seriously concerned about inappropriate material that is being promoted in our schools, libraries, etc. Concerns have been raised in relation to the book What's the T?”
“They would make up a higher proportion of the membership of the Dáil than is the case at Westminster. Aontú's leader, Deputy Peadar Tóibín, during his time on the Oireachtas enterprise committee, completed the first Oireachtas report on the all-island economy.”
“Difference is an accident of birth and it should therefore never be the source of hatred or conflict. The answer to difference is to respect it. Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace — respect for diversity. Aontú believes fundamentally in a united Ireland.”
“It is important that those who oppose a united Ireland - who are now a minority on this island, and increasingly so - are treated as equals and with the respect they deserve in the discussions relating to a united Ireland. I have good friends from the Protestant tradition to whom I speak on a near daily basis.”
“The Tánaiste once said that he wanted to make Ireland the best country in the world in which to raise a child. He is failing in that regard. We have a situation where we have record homelessness among children, spinal surgery waiting lists and children with special needs or disabilities who are waiting for supports.”
“Rather than celebrating and respecting our differences and our right to be different politically or religiously, they wish to make us all the same. They want to make us all apolitical atheists who never speak on or campaign in respect of the issues.”
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“What amount of the additional funding presided over by the Minister in recent years is going into supports for mothers and families on this aspect of childcare?”
“I very much welcome the childcare supports and subsidies. It is critically important that we reduce the cost. I also want to raise with the Minister a poll by Amárach Research in 2024, which found that 69% of mothers with children under the age of 18 would prefer to stay at home if they could afford it. In addition, 76% of mothers felt that their work in the home is undervalued compared to work in society. We know that women who stay at home to look after their children provide a very valuable service to their families, the community and the economy. Many mothers have children with disabilities and it is a necessity for them to provide additional care, particularly in light of the lack of services that are available from the State.”
“They completed their doctorates in places such as Britain. The HSE does not have a clear pathway to bring these people home. One psychologist has been trying to work in the HSE for more than a year and has been met with bureaucracy and red tape.”
“I have to say if I were a parent listening to this I would be incredibly frustrated. The Minister of State has, perhaps, a mid- to long-term plan but very little to alleviate the crisis today. There is a window of opportunity. These children will miss their targets. They will be significantly disadvantaged. For some it will mean the difference between being able to live independently or not. We have many wonderful professionals abroad. They are living abroad for many reasons. The Minister of State has not answered the question so I assume she has no plan to bring them home. I will give an example. I spoke to a number of psychologists who had to leave this country to get training because there were not enough assistant psychologists posts available. These people are highly educated.”
“How many vacancies do we have in the CDNTs? What is the number? What is the percentage? What are the strategies on this? The Minister of State alluded earlier to the strategy being recruitment in secondary schools. Am I right in saying this? Are we to believe the crisis will not be solved for a number of years? What are we doing to entice the wonderful graduates in this field who are now in Australia, Canada and the UAE? What strategy does the Minister of State have in place to bring these people home? This is the quickest way to unlock the crisis.”
“Early intervention is critical. I want to ask about CDNT vacancies. What is the number of vacancies? What is the percentage of vacant posts throughout the CDNT network? What are the long-term and short-term strategies to address recruitment issues?”
“In the absence of supply and as we are so far short of our targets, this is something we should consider. I am aware of international students who have come to the country seeking an education and got a visa. They had to return home because there was no place to live. It is about time for the Minister to engage with his colleagues in government to manage this process. We need to provide visas where there is a critical need, for example, in the construction industry, in healthcare and in other sectors of the economy. However, it is shocking that this is a part of the equation that is not even being discussed by the Government.”
“Everyone in opposition and in government is entirely focused on discussions on the supply side of this equation, and the Minister has failed in that regard. We must also address the demand issue and the immigration issue. For example, in 2014-15, the State was issuing in the region of 10,000 work permits a year. However, we are now issuing in excess of 40,000 employment visas in the State. The number of residency permits has also ballooned. I appreciate that the labour market is hot and that these immigrants are providing value in the market, but this is putting immense pressure on services and, in particular, housing. I have not heard the Minister discuss that yet, even though this is a way to address and alleviate the difficulties and provide part of the solution at least.”
“It would make a dramatic impact in reducing the cost of building. Last year, the State took in €3 billion in the middle of a housing crisis. I ask the Minister to give some of this back to unlock the potential that exists. Development levies, Irish Water connections, ESB connections and bonds to local authorities are precluding developers from taking the risk of building houses. The other aspect relates to planning. It can cost in the region of €100,000 to get planning permission over the line. These are practical suggestions that the Minister could implement in the morning if he wanted to unlock private housing delivery across the country. There is an elephant in the room when it comes to housing.”
“I welcome the Minister to this debate on housing. He says he wants to deliver more private homes across the country. I agree that we need those houses, but there is another way. He has completely sacrificed renters in order to unlock this, but there is another way. I know people of my age across Mayo - people I play football with - who have planning permission and who were given prices by their builders, but they are not building. This is because of the cost of building. What has the Minister done for those people? He has done nothing since he came to office. His predecessor did nothing for those people either. We need to address the cost of building. We can do that by removing the VAT on construction. The North of Ireland does this. I ask the Minister to engage with this proposal.”
“I am aware of one doctoral researcher who has partnered with Fitbit due to her PhD work. The Department should look at supporting individual students as well as supporting private companies through tax breaks, incentives and so on. I welcome this development and look forward to updates on it in the years ahead.”
“We are a great country with very hard-working, bright and innovative people. I hope the Department will seek to support innovative PhD research projects in the years ahead. I wish to raise the matter of PhD stipends today. I welcome the fact that the programme for Government seeks to increase the stipend by €2,000 but this does not keep up with inflation. This is something that the Minister should focus on and prioritise because it is a really important part of the academic sphere in the country. If we want to develop and build on Ireland's position as a centre of innovation, we have to make sure that these positions are attractive to graduates. We should also encourage the promotion of corporate partnerships. This has been a positive move in recent years but a lot more needs to happen in this space.”
“I welcome the very positive news that Ireland will become an associate member of CERN. Ireland has a rich history in research and scientific innovation. Indeed, the Nobel science laureate, Ernest Walton, who was the first person to split the atom, should be recognised here today. Membership will open doors for Irish researchers to take part in CERN scientific programmes and make Irish citizens eligible for staff positions and fellowships. We have an enormous amount of home-grown talent but as a small country, we have limited opportunities for growth. CERN membership will help to address that particular deficit. As the Minister knows well, it is essential to support academics in their research and encourage more people to undertake PhDs and research and innovation in this country.”
“In many cases what we need is action. I recently had contact from a family who experienced a power outage. They live at the end of a forest. They are living in fear of the next storm. They know that should a storm hit, they will certainly experience a power outage. This is the type of work we need to get down to business on. I appreciate the survey is being undertaken but we are now in the summer and in many cases the best time to achieve this work in terms of ground conditions is now. My fear is that there will be further delays and further inertia. We will get to the autumn and ground conditions will be so poor and maybe in the winter we will realise we are not as prepared as we should be.”
“Last week, Hollymount, Taugheen and Foxford in County Mayo lost power because of a relatively small summer breeze and we need to ensure this is tackled.”
“This Government, in fairness, is great at documents and plans but very poor on delivery. The Minister spent most of his time acknowledging the work of the ESB, which has done tremendous work, but I want to know how many meters have been cleared. For example, there are thousands of kilometres of ESB lines where trees are growing up through those lines. There are guidelines that state the lines should be 10 m minimum away from the felling line of the tree. That is not being met, and my understanding from speaking to the ESB is that these are guidelines and there is no obligation regarding them. I want to know, how many meters have been reduced? Where are we now? We are six months away from Christmas.”
“I ask the Minister about Storm Éowyn and the preparations that I hope are under way to make the grid more resilient. I am sure the Minister is well aware of the difficulties, as is the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, in my constituency, which experienced huge fallout from the storm. Many houses have only recovered connectivity and landline communications in recent weeks. What steps are being taken to address and improve the resiliency of the network?”
“Can we, for example, provide visas for the essential services of the economy like healthcare and construction but manage that system better? We certainly need to. The same trend exists with residency permits. I do not have time to go into full detail. There is an inevitability to this housing crisis. On the one hand, the Government has failed to address the issues and build houses in this State and address the obstacles and bottlenecks it has consistently presided over. On the other hand, it continues to mismanage the demand. I ask the Minister of State to work with the Minister for trade on this. I have the data here. The trends are here. They say pictures do not lie, but they are significant, and the demand has been rapid in recent years. I would appreciate it if the Minister of State would get back to me on those points.”
“It must be said that it has been utterly lost on this Government and on much of the Opposition. I was struck by Dan O'Brien's research. He is a leading economist in the country and he outlined the figures with regard to work permits. I went back and looked at more data. Data from 2015 and 2016 shows we were issuing approximately 10,000 employment visas. Between 2022 and last year, we were issuing approximately 40,000 visas per year. I have no doubt that many immigrants are providing tremendous value to the economy and the labour market is particularly hot. However, we should recognise that the demand is making the housing situation worse, and I ask the Minister of State to engage with the Minister for trade to see if we can reduce these numbers of visas.”
“I was struck by a recent Savills report that stated the population growth to housing delivery is 4:1, which ultimately means that for every house built the population is rising by four. This is the worst in terms of western countries. In Britain, it is 2:1. In Australia, it is 1:9. The USA is 1:5 and Germany is almost 1:1. In Ireland, it is 1:4. In the past 12 months, 150,000 immigrants arrived in Ireland, while circa 30,000 citizens emigrated from the State. Ireland is experiencing one of the worst levels in the area of supply and population growth. We are taking a small step forward, but two steps back. It is important to be honest. We cannot solve a problem that we do not fully understand and that is the part of this equation that is being completely lost on this Government.”
“I have listened to hours of debate and with the odd exception all of the House is focused on one dimension of this equation. That is the supply side. However, the truth is that this housing crisis cannot be solved by addressing one side of this equation. It is important to note that the demand side must be addressed and managed as well. It is an incredible situation where we have had hours of debate today, and weeks of discussion on housing, and there is so little mention of the demand that is driving. It is a fact that this Government is failing to meet its modest targets. Meanwhile, the growth of the population and the demographic pressures are really quite significant.”
“In Claremorris, County Mayo, I recently spoke with a constituent whose rent between 2019 and today has more than doubled. Young people are emigrating at increasing rates, and last year at rates we have not seen since the recession. Bidding wars have become the norm. I ask for the Minister of State's attention briefly. There was a time when you would look at Daft and have an idea how much the cost of a house was. Now, you have to ring the auctioneer to see what price above the asking it is due to sell for. I was listening to what was said in the council chamber in Mayo County Council this week and a Government councillor said that homelessness in Mayo is now a new and almost commonplace phenomenon. There is an elephant in the room with this debate.”
“I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 1: To Insert the following after "rolling planned maintenance will support this": "commits to: — reducing the turnaround time for vacated local authority homes to new tenants from the current average of eight months, to a two month average turnaround time; and — ensuring that local authorities be permitted to apply to the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant for the purpose of refurbishment of vacant council houses.". This amendment seeks to bring vacant council property homes back within two months, as well as ensuring that local authorities can apply for, and avail of, the vacant property refurbishment grant. The housing failure has had a catastrophic impact on the citizens of this country. In just a few short years rents have doubled right across the country.”
“We need to address this. On one hand, we have a shortage. On the other hand, we have thousands of teachers teaching abroad. It is time we had a proactive approach. I understand the Teachers Conciliation Council met about this issue a number of times in 2019, but there has been no action. We need to intervene here. We need proactive solutions, and we need to bring home these wonderful teachers with experience abroad. They are staying away because the Irish system does not value their valuable contribution in the teaching industry.”
“We have a teacher shortage that is worsening year on year. Principals are finding it increasingly difficult to fill teaching posts. We also have a lack of places for children with disabilities. Meanwhile, there are thousands of Irish teachers teaching in the UAE, Australia and other parts of the world. Many left during the crash in search of employment. Many of them want to come home, but there is a barrier and disincentive. That disincentive is the teacher pay scale. Many teachers have to start at the very bottom. I have a letter from a constituent, which is a rejection of incremental pay credit. This man has taught in the UAE for 15 years. He has valuable experience in the areas of teaching, learning and assessment. He has senior management experience abroad, and yet he starts at point 1 on the pay scale in the Irish system.”
“If it is the case that files and X-rays have gone missing on purpose, I hope the full sanctions available to the Minister come down on those professionals. There must be a broader and more comprehensive review. That is the very least the families deserve.”
“The action that CHI took, particularly when it drafted the letter and then failed to send it, was utterly deplorable. This has been a betrayal of children and families. As one mother who called me asked, "Who am I to question the doctor?" That is the attitude. It is a sad reality, but we have learned that maybe we need to ask questions about this. We trust doctors and medical professionals. The saddest thing is that the parents who gave so much trust realise now that they were mistaken. We have also been made aware through reports and allegations that there are missing X-rays and pre-op files for assessments, which will make the task of investigation particularly difficult. That needs to be investigated.”
“The entire scandal with regard to CHI has been shambolic from the outset. We have more than 200 children waiting for spinal surgery. There are children waiting for scoliosis surgery who are in pain. Meanwhile, very young children had surgery needlessly. This is the legacy. We have children the State has failed to treat and failed in terms of their treatment. What happened is absolutely shocking. What we have learned from the CHI whistleblower is that there was greater emphasis on protecting the system and protecting CHI than there was in terms of transparency. That is the real shame in this entire saga. Indeed, this was like a hit-and-run. CHI knew it had done immense damage. It knew that it crashed and yet it proceeded without even sounding the alarm. We had to wait for a whistleblower.”
“I want to raise a very important issue on HHC, a semisynthetic cannabinoid. It is being sold legally in the State. It is being purchased and consumed by teenagers. Recently in my constituency of Mayo I heard of a harrowing case of a young teenager who consumed the drug not realising how dangerous it was because it was so freely and readily available. It ruined his life. He had to withdraw from school to try to get himself off HHC. The fact is that it is sold in vape shops throughout the country. It is sold with sweets. Very often these shops smell like bubblegum and cotton candy. It is a fact that these companies are purposely targeting children with vapes and HHC. We need action to address this. We need to ensure HHC is regulated.”
“I ask the Minister to intervene and to work with First Choice Credit Union, not just in Ballyhaunis but also in Balla, Swinford and Kiltimagh.”
“I too commend Mayo County Council on the great work it is doing. I also commend Manulla FC for its leading work on supporting children and families with disabilities. I also wish to raise Ballyhaunis. The purpose of CLÁR is to support rural towns. In recent years, Ballyhaunis has lost three of its banks and the credit union is now reducing its hours. The lack of financial institutions in the town has resulted in a loss of economic activity. We are seeing a hollowing out of the town in regard to economic enterprise. While the issue is not directly under the Minister's remit, it is very much linked to rural development. We cannot afford to lose the credit union from the town. The question is what will be next after the reduction in opening hours. People wonder what is down the line. Enough is enough.”
“I look forward to reviewing the breakdown. The Tánaiste stated this morning that the Government has failed and is failing children with disabilities. I propose that funding for playgrounds would require them to have an inclusive element. The State is failing children with disabilities. There is a significant lack of services for children - a lack of space in schools, a lack of CDNTs and significant delays with assessments of need. Perhaps the Government could provide some short-term joy to these children, who are not looking for much. I refer to sensory panels and wheelchair-accessible equipment for swings and other activities that would have a major impact. Funding for playgrounds should have an element of funding ring-fenced for inclusive equipment.”
“This family was no better off in terms of their income and day-to-day spending and yet, because of this will, their children were completely struck off from a SUSI grant. The family had to take one of their children out of college. As the inheritance was so small, they will be less well-off than if they never got it in the first place. I know we need a rules-based system but we should look at the anomaly that arises when a modest inheritance is used, as in this case, to pay off the mortgage. This family was no better off. In fact, they are actually less well-off in terms of that. It needs to be looked at. I would greatly appreciate it if the Minister could consider this in his role in the months ahead.”
“I welcome the Minister's assistance on those cases. As the Minister quite rightly pointed out, people who make second-chance applications and move courses should be supported in a bigger way than is currently the case. The extension of the timeline should be looked at and the acceleration of more online courses, which will reduce the cost to the person, would be of assistance as well. I also want to raise another case. A constituent of mine, who has two students in college, received a very modest gift as a result of losing their parent. It was a grandparent of the third level students. This was a very small will that was left. The parents used the gift, which was very modest, to part-pay off the mortgage on their property.”
“Of course, we need a rules-based system, but we need flexibility and perhaps an extension of the timeframe that SUSI currently stipulates. Another point concerns the distance from college in the context of the adjacent or non-adjacent grant rate. I am aware of one case where SUSI failed an applicant for being 29.65 km away from ATU in Castlebar when Google Maps suggests the person is 31 km away. It is very unfortunate. The system should recognise this, particularly in light of how expensive it is to run a car and the fact that public transport in many parts of Mayo is not a viable option for students. Apart from the cost of running a car, the Government is increasing carbon tax and the cost of insurance is rising. This should be recognised.”
“As a result, students who may not have had the opportunity for career guidance during this time have pursued courses that perhaps they would not have pursued in the normal circumstance of having had career guidance. As a result of choosing a course, they find themselves potentially changing course or changing pathway, and they are penalised for doing so. In many ways, we should be encouraging people to pursue their dreams. Changing a course is not in itself a problem and, in fact, it should sometimes be encouraged. I know people who get to second or third year in college, realise that this career path is not for them and find themselves in a situation where they continue along the pathway because of the financial penalties they would incur if they were to change. That needs to be looked at.”
“I would like to raise some concerns, in particular regarding the revoked applications. In some instances, the money is never actually seen by the applicant and is directly linked to the university. I am aware of one case where the university failed to notify SUSI that the student had left the course and, as a result, the student was penalised the following year – essentially, the student was abandoned in that situation. Of course, we need to have a rules-based system and that is very important. However, this is particularly relevant in the post-Covid landscape, given students lost so much time in their second level education, and that window of opportunity was lost.”
“I thank the Minister and Minister of State for attending to discuss these important matters. The questions concern SUSI applications for County Mayo, in particular the number and the percentage of the refusal rate, the revoked applications and the successful applications, and how this compares with the national situation.”
“I know of one family who had satisfied all of the criteria for the fair deal scheme but because their son had left for Australia for six months, he was penalised and this family had no idea that would happen. The bureaucracy and the criteria need to be addressed. It is unfair that non-farming estates automatically qualify for the three-year cap but farm families do not. In many ways, those restrictions and criteria are incredibly onerous. Take succession, for example. The case I raised just a moment ago cost that family significantly. The issue of rented land also needs to be at looked at. These are key issues facing farm families and I believe they should not be penalised in such an unfair manner.”
“I put it to the Minister of State that this is a promise the Government has to keep. It would save the State so much money in the long term. The motion quite rightly raises issues in regard to farm families and the fair deal scheme. The fair deal scheme is crippling farm families. It is costing farm families significantly. These are families who have built up their farms over generations. In the time I have left I want to focus on the cap. I attended a meeting of the Irish Farmers Association, IFA, recently. A farmer walked out of the meeting and he said he would be better off dying before he needed a nursing home if he wanted to give as much of his land as possible to his family.”
“I welcome the programme for Government promises made in respect of the means test for carers. We have campaigned for this for some time. I want to be very clear that the Government must deliver on this. I got a phone call from a constituent weeks after the formation of the Government. This constituent had been canvassed by a Government representative. They phoned me and asked whether, now that the Government had been returned to office, the means test would be abolished. This is genuinely what the Government told the people of Ireland. I asked myself whether this was going to be another promise like the promises the Government gave to the scoliosis families or to the children and families with autism and the assessments of need crisis, and so many other promises.”
“I welcome the motion and thank my colleagues in Independent Ireland for bringing it forward, which we in Aontú are delighted to support. I am happy to hear that the Government will not be opposing it. Every day in Ireland, carers, both paid and unpaid, provide tremendous service to their families, their communities and the State. The value they provide, both socially and economically, is significantly undervalued by the State. Over 5,000 people, in the main elderly people and the most vulnerable people in our society, are still waiting for home care help. This is absolutely an emergency situation because if they cannot get home care help, many of these elderly and vulnerable people will go into a full-time setting that will cost the State significantly more.”
“People attend my clinics as I am sure they attend hers who actually want to become assistant psychologists but cannot do so. They go abroad and then we tell them to stay away. They cannot come back and work in the HSE because we are going to flood them with bureaucracy. This is one simple measure we could address. The Minister of State needs to take a proactive, solution-focused approach to this issue.”
“This is a crisis and it is time the Government dealt with it. There are solutions to this crisis but we need a proactive Government to take the necessary steps to introduce simple, common-sense measures. I ask the Minister of State to deal with this issue of the lack of a pathway for psychologists coming back from the UK. I also want to raise the lack of spaces available. In order to have continuity and a healthy sector with psychologists coming through, we need to address the lack of places for junior and assistant psychologists. I am told that for every junior or assistant psychologist in this country, there are 20 others waiting to get onto the panel. There are forums online which the Minister of State can see if she wishes.”
“It is difficult to believe Cara has been outside for 50 hours and we have thousands of people waiting on assessments of need, yet we have trained so many psychologists who are abroad and cannot come back into the system. It is an incredible situation. Because of the lack of assistant psychologist places in Ireland, we are forcing people abroad who want to qualify into this profession and whom we so desperately need. When they go abroad, we tell them to stay abroad. There is no pathway for a psychologist to return to Ireland. It is absolutely shocking. I know of a number of senior psychologists who did their undergraduate studies in Ireland and went away to highly regarded universities in the UK and other places, and who have been waiting years in bureaucracy to get back and work in the HSE.”
“I welcome these statements. Aontú will be supporting the Opposition's motion later this evening. I met Cara Darmody today. What struck me most was how young she is. As I looked at her chocolate, her buns and her homework, it struck me just how young she is, yet she is forced into this campaign which is three years in the making. I commend Cara. I also commend the thousands of families and parents who like Cara are struggling immensely with a difficult situation at home and are forced also to be campaigners. It is one of the biggest issues in my constituency clinics. I believe the Minister of State wants to solve this issue and hope she will listen to some of the suggestions.”
“The cost of accommodating asylum seekers has ballooned in recent years. It is now ten times the figure in 2019. It cost the State €1.2 billion this year. This is an extortionate cost to the taxpayer. Essentially, the State is paying hotel or accommodation owners a hotel occupancy rate. It has cost the State €4 billion since 2019. The average cost of renting a three-bedroom house is €20,000, yet the average cost of housing an asylum seeker is €33,000 a year. Wealthy accommodation providers are earning huge sums of money. The Government is making millionaires out of accommodation providers. The Carnbeg Hotel, which is now an IPAS centre, has earned more than €23 million since 2023. When is the Government going to address this issue? There is a huge issue here of value for money for the taxpayer.”
“I raise with the Taoiseach a reply to a parliamentary question I received from the Minister for Health. In the last year and a half, since January 2024, just five paramedics and 12 emergency medical technicians, EMTs, have been hired by the National Ambulance Service. This is despite the fact that a recent report states that there are 1,000 staff shortages. There is a major crisis in the National Ambulance Service. There are qualified people sitting on panels in Mayo and right across the country and they are trained to save lives. Instead of saving lives, they are pouring pints in local pubs. This is totally wrong. We need to address this issue. We need to recruit these qualified personnel, take them off panels and recruit them to address the staff shortages in the National Ambulance Service.”
“Is that where the money will be diverted to? Will we see a removal of CAP and of spending on the agricultural sector to increase spending across Europe on military activities?”
“Now, at this juncture, the EU is seeking to remove the ring-fenced nature of CAP. This is hugely concerning. Ursula von der Leyen is intent on the single-stream model of CAP, which will dilute and reduced the funding going into the agricultural sector across Europe. It will have a negative impact across this country as well. It will dissolve Pillar 2 funding and supports for the sector. Mr. Francie Gorman stated that it was like putting a knife through the Common Agricultural Policy, yet Fine Gael has backed Ursula von der Leyen to the hilt. It will be to the detriment of Irish farmers. What is the Minister going to do to ensure that the Common Agricultural Policy is ring-fenced for farmers? This situation is particularly worrying when we see the rearmament and considerable additional military spending across Europe.”