Paul McAuliffe
Dublin North-West · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“In the context of the previous Government, some of our Green Party colleagues were also supportive of this for a range of other reasons relating to delivering the circular economy. From what I hear, one outcome of the review could be the creation of a franchised service.”
“It would allow it to say that in the context of my area of Finglas, it is not appropriate that because an area is more affluent, people living in that road have access to five bin companies and because somewhere else is less affluent, it is stuck with one bin company.”
“I made a commitment to Deputies Gannon and Sherlock in 2019 in an agreement we signed together to pursue the issue of remunicipalisation. It was the right thing to do then and it is the right thing to do now. It is not an accident that there are many Dublin-based Deputies in the House for this debate.”
“If Dublin City Council had been allowed address the housing crisis back in 2012, 2013 or 2014, when it was impacting the city far more than anywhere else, we would have been ahead of the curve.”
“-----to put in place waste solutions that suit their areas. If this means that there is a different solution in Dublin City Council's area than in the other local authority areas across the county, then that is how it should be. Unfortunately, that power rests with the chief executive.”
“To break that down a little, the issues Deputies Gannon and Sherlock are having in the city centre are vastly different from the ones that are relevant in my constituency. We do not have an issue with bags. Nor do we have the same street structures or networks.”
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“In a childcare setting, there is. Why is that not in place in a senior setting? HIQA also pointed out an area which alarmed me, namely, that there are three separate legal entities on the Beneavin site, all of which are under Emeis, but the holding company, which owns multiple legal entity providers, is not accountable to HIQA. That is an area the Minister of State should be concerned about, particularly because the number of these have grown and there are large numbers of nursing homes under a single provider. We have to get around that issue. I raise the amount of money going into these homes. The nursing home support scheme or fair deal scheme was a positive way of reducing the huge financial burden on many families. Families were paying thousands of euro, and the fair deal scheme prevented that.”
“It acknowledged additional powers and resources, which were given to it last year, and that the inspection report was based on an unannounced inspection. With some reassurance, HIQA announced that there had been two visits by six inspectors in the three Beneavin nursing homes over the last week, but it has not yet contacted the relatives, which is really important. There is no trust in the provider anymore. HIQA needs to step in and explain what it explained to the three local TDs this week. We did not get any sensitive GDPR-related information, but we had contact and an opportunity to question it. Families are entitled to that too. HIQA pointed out a number of worrying concerns too. There appears to be no baseline staffing ratio, as there is in the acute setting. There is no baseline education or training requirement.”
“There were families who were not featured in the broadcast who have great concern and have still received very few answers. There were also relatives who felt they had a positive experience in the home. I was very fearful of traumatising these people or opening up doubts in them, particularly the many people whose relatives had passed away. I spoke to three people this week who had concerns. One of these was a lady called Christine, whose relative featured in the programme. I spoke to a lady called Patricia, whose relative had passed away but had made a complaint to HIQA last year with regard to Beneavin. I also spoke to a lady called Phil. Each touched on things that are broken in the system. This week, HIQA provided a briefing for the three TDs in the constituency. It was a useful briefing that provided insight.”
“I say this with great regret because I have been in them. I have seen the people being cared for. I had thought these places were good places for older people. Over the years, I have received many requests for people to get into the Beneavin nursing home because it was seen as a premium nursing home, accessible and providing care locally. This was because the HIQA reports were very positive for Beneavin, unlike Portlaoise. As a family who recently had a relative in nursing home care, I know HIQA reports are important to families when they are selecting a nursing home. I spoke to a number of families this week, including those who had relatives directly on the broadcast, who were incredibly upset. I cannot tell the Minister of State how upset they were.”
“When people are filling out forms that are not correct, they know it is wrong and it is not professional for them to do so. There is a basic lack of decency and human compassion when this happens. There is a basic lack of supervision and management. When there are not sufficient supplies in a nursing home, including basic sheets and incontinence wear, there is a basic lack of management and procurement. The people who are responsible for this are directly responsible. There is also a basic absence of culture. They say culture is the quickest form of management. Things can be acceptable and unacceptable. In organisations where culture is strong, things will be called out by work colleagues without a manager having to be in front of someone. It was very clear there was no ethos or culture of care in these nursing homes.”
“Like many in the House, my heart was breaking when I watched the programme last Monday. The Beneavin nursing home is literally five minutes from where I live. There are neighbours and friends who have relatives in Beneavin nursing home. However difficult it was for any of us to watch the programme, I cannot imagine how difficult it was for them. I know many people could not bring themselves to watch the programme. Having watched the programme, there is one area we have to call out very clearly, namely, those with direct responsibility for the neglect and lack of care. They are, in the first part, those people who carried out the acts. When someone is willing to close the door so his or her colleagues do not see that he or she is taking a shortcut, that person knows it is wrong. That person is closing the door.”
“Deputy Cummins helpfully asked the question I was due to raise on school funding and I re-emphasise that point. Given the news breaking on the plane crash in India, which I believe involves 169 Indian nationals, 45 Britons, seven Portuguese and a Canadian, will the Tánaiste as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade do everything in his power to provide consular assistance to any Irish citizens and families that may be impacted and provide humanitarian aid from within the Department? There is a great degree of expertise in Ireland - not that we have a responsibility here but we should assist where we can. I appreciate this is still at a very early stage.”
“I appreciate the Minister of State's advice on it. I appreciate the sentiment that she supports the concept. I understand the legal difficulty of inserting a term that is not specific enough, which is essentially what she is saying. I might revisit it on Report Stage.”
“I see the specific issue with trying to include a particular condition because there are many others that could be. I have reminded myself of the specific request in the DCU FAST report, which is to do with people being committed to psychiatric institutions when they are under the influence. There is a difficulty with doing that. The way we might deal with it on Report Stage is that rather than looking for dual diagnosis to be included and named specifically, perhaps I will try to address it by way of an amendment that seeks to make it easier for people to be admitted or committed to a psychiatric institution if they are under the influence, to ensure if that is the only option, and it is a difficult option, their being under the influence would not prevent that course of treatment. Perhaps that is an alternative way.”
“Perhaps on Report Stage the Minister of State can come back with amendments of her own that take into account the spirit of what Deputy Clarke is proposing. The no wrong door concept is an appropriate one. The Minister of State is familiar with it but I will outline it for the record. It is very common that people present at a mental health facility and are not treated because they are engaged in substance abuse, or they seek treatment in a recovery centre but will not be treated because of a mental health condition. This means they often fall between two stools. The DCU report is very extensive. Very senior HSE officials and so on were involved in it. Perhaps the Minister of State’s Department will examine it for Report Stage, whether the amendment is withdrawn or not.”
“That has happened as a result of budgetary changes which I thanked the Minister of State for. She has engaged with me on it as well. There is probably more we can do to incorporate the spirit of what she said here and what the Deputies opposite have put forward. I only say this to be helpful, but often on Committee Stage a Member is offered the opportunity to withdraw the amendment on the basis we might come back to it at a later Stage to examine the proposal. If that was to be the case, I wonder whether there is an opportunity for the Minister of State to be able to examine the inclusion of dual diagnosis. I appreciate the difficulty of getting into the business of having one specific condition referenced in the legislation, but the report spoke about the no wrong door approach being enshrined in legislation.”
“I welcome the amendment because it opens the discussion on dual diagnosis, which is incredibly important. I was lucky enough to be part of the DCU Finglas Addiction Support Team, FAST, peer-reviewed research on dual diagnosis. There were a whole range of recommendations included within it. One of those was an amendment to the Mental Health Act that would ensure a no wrong door approach. Of course, the no wrong door approach applies not just to those with dual diagnosis but also to those with other complex needs in the mental health space. The Minister of State’s answer is quite useful in the sense that report was drafted in 2019 and a number of the recommendations have already been implemented. There is a clinical lead in this space and a number of intervention teams are also in place.”
“Students there will have access to its facilities and will be able to progress their research. I thank the Minister for the work he has done. As others have said, we need to go further and create the demand for a sufficient number to avail of the new opportunities in order that we can go to full membership. To do that, we must encourage those involved in research centres in our universities and elsewhere.”
“The Minister is one of those people who was certain about CERN a long time ago. While that organisation might operate at the speed of light, the implementation of our associate membership, unfortunately, did not. This is a small step in some ways but it also represents an important underlining of the investment by Governments over many decades in education and research, which has put Ireland and the Irish population in a place where we can benefit from international investment. All of that has helped to create jobs and generate the proceeds of taxation we can use to progress further. This development is another step forward in providing access for Irish researchers to a very important facility. The Minister was in DCU a few months ago to open the new Polaris building.”
“Business will never impact the morals of this Government or I would hope any other Government in this State. It is not the reason we are taking actions. Shame on any Opposition Member who says that by not supporting this motion we are supporting genocide. Shame on any Member who says I am supporting genocide because I cannot vote for a motion that is not legally sound.”
“Many people, including this week when I was on national television, said the Government was afraid to take these actions because the capitalist system, our relationship with America, business and so on was somehow acting as a chilling effect on us taking these steps. I cannot reconcile that argument with the steps Ireland has taken. This is because I know from people I have spoken to in the United States that they do not understand why Ireland is making these decisions. I refer to the impression that Ireland is already a strong supporter of the Palestinian people and of preventing what is happening there. This is already known around the world, so the argument does not stack up that we are afraid to take certain decisions because they might impact business.”
“It is my view that other European Union countries need to come on board with Ireland, Spain and our other partners and that we need to undertake the far bigger and greater sanction of reviewing the EU-Israel trade agreement. We voted for this, although it took too long. We must also introduce European sanctions against Israel, as we did with Russia. The impact of European sanctions against Israel would be far more effective than the passing of the occupied territories Bill, which we are committed to doing, and anything we do here in relation to bonds. Reviewing, ceasing or ending the EU-Israel trade deal would be one of the biggest sanctions we could take against Israel.”
“Additionally, all of us in this House have called for an immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages. We must, however, make a broader call to our European partners. While there is a great strength of feeling in this House regarding the issue of Palestine, I think many of us cannot understand why many of our European partners are not taking the same position when we see the pictures every night. I know this is, in part, because of the historical relationship and historical facts on the Continent over the last 100 years. We cannot, though, allow what has happened in the past to restrict our ability to prevent a genocide taking place.”
“There is strong EU regulation and the Central Bank's own press release is very clear in setting out what it can and cannot do. The Central Bank, however, does have a contract to issue this prospectus and it is an institution that regards its own reputation as important. While the Central Bank has limited grounds on which it could decline a prospectus, it should use every element in the context of its own independence to ensure that prospectus is only approved because of the basic financial regulations it can operate within. If there are any grounds on which the Central Bank as an independent body can decline the prospectus, then it is my belief that it should do so. That is not the same thing, though, as this House or this Government instructing an independent body to do it.”
“Its role is under EU regulation and it is to assess a bond's prospectus and ensure it includes all the disclosures required under the EU prospectus regulation. This is what the Central Bank currently does. What is important to note and what this motion fails to understand - I take on board the bona fides of those supporting it - is that the Central Bank is independent of the Government in its functions. I think everybody in the House accepts this point. If the Central Bank were not to be independent in its functions, the Minister for Finance would be setting the interest rates for every mortgage in the country. We cannot have a situation where the Government can direct the Central Bank. It is independent and a cornerstone of the way our system works. The Central Bank does not issue, sell or oversee the bonds.”
“I will take the example of the measures we took in relation to the UN Relief Works Agency, UNRWA. When Israel and many other countries were seeking to de-fund and discredit UNRWA, the Irish Government was one of the first to step in. Not only did we discredit those attempts to undermine UNRWA, but we were also there with money to support its core services and Palestinian aid in general. I also commend our decision to support the International Court of Justice, ICJ, process of evaluating Israel's actions in the occupied territories. The latest issue is the sale of Israeli bonds through the Central Bank. It is certainly of concern. As the previous speaker said, we should try to do everything we can legally do to prevent any support. The important word is "legally". The Central Bank does not issue, sell, trade, list or oversee Israeli bonds.”
“First, I will respond to the thousands of emails I have received and make it clear that I, my party and the Government do not support the genocide taking place in Gaza. We do not support the genocide, the starvation of Gazan citizens or the current actions of Hamas or Israel. We believe those actions are undermining the stability of peace in the region and of the ultimate solution, a two-state solution. Ireland has taken strong action on this. In fact, we have been one of the loudest voices in the global community on the issue of Palestine. It is difficult sometimes to balance the idea that two of the loudest voices criticising the Government are on the one hand the Israeli Government, and on the other hand the Irish Opposition. It is hard to reconcile those two things.”
“I urge the Minister of State, who is a big supporter of delivery and of local authorities delivering, on behalf of people in my constituency who are contacting me, to impress on the Department the need to bring forward a plan as soon as possible for these sites. As I said, I am not in favour of spending hundreds of thousands of euro per unit more than we need to. We should not do that, but we have to have an alternative delivery mechanism if the PPP does not deliver.”
“At this early stage, we need to make sure that they do not sit for any length of time in terms of being solved. The Minister has committed to me that is what will happen. We will hold him to account in that regard because delivery by local authorities has to be paramount. They are the ones that will deliver the kind of affordable rental and affordable purchase we can deliver. If local authorities believe that we will not have their back when they go for a PPP process, and contribute a huge amount of time and effort into that process, only to then find that the funding is either pulled, sanctioned or not granted at the last hurdle, local authorities will default back to not delivering or saying there is no point in them doing that unless they have the support of the Government.”
“If the price that has come back exceeds what we believe to be good value and, as I said, I support that concept, we have to have a very rapid alternative plan in order to deliver. Those homes at Shangan and Collins Avenue are badly needed in our constituency. People who have seen the planning notices are already coming to my constituency office. They have seen the conversations that councillors have had about the units, which were due to go on site this year. We need to make sure they get on site this year. These locations are backed up by other sites, including the Church of the Annunciation, the Collins Avenue Bring Centre, Wellmount Road, the Ballymun bundle, which has multiple sites, Barry Road, Carton Lands and Silloge Road. All of those are within different PPP bundles.”
“The power they have is the ability to deliver, and they have the funds and now the new mechanisms to do that. A number of bundles in my area come under the PPP programme, including bundles 3, 4, 5 and so on. I was very concerned, and I expressed this to the Minister, Deputy Browne, about reports that there appears to be a delay at Shangan, where there are to be 93 accommodation units for older persons, and at Collins Avenue, where there are to be a further 83 social homes, which are included in PPP bundle 3. The delay appears to come down to the fact that the price that came back under the PPP bundle did not prove good value for money for the taxpayer. As a member of the public accounts committee, I think it is right for Ministers to protect public money but what is not right is to not have an alternative plan.”
“We need our local authorities to be the ones leading the charge on it. Over those five years, I have identified nearly 2,000 units that have been developed in my constituency. Many of them have gone through Part 8 planning. Some of them have been started through the PPP bundle process. Those 2,000 units will be public housing on public land. They will be delivered by Housing for All and will make a very substantial difference in our constituency. It is important over the coming five years that local authorities know that delivery is the key. Of course, the housing activation office, when it comes on stream, the Minister and the Government have ultimate responsibility for the delivery of housing, but local authorities are the housing authority. That is their role. They often object to being stripped of powers.”
“I spent five years on the housing committee during the previous Dáil, and I learned fairly quickly that there is no silver bullet to solve the housing crisis. It is by turning on the supply in multiple different streams that we will be able to reach that. Despite what previous speakers said, we cannot ignore the fact that we are now at the stage where we are building more social or public housing than we have done since what might be called the golden age of social housing in the sixties and seventies. Let us be clear: we are building substantial amounts of social housing. In the past five years, we have also tried to concentrate on other forms of housing in the form of cost rental and affordable purchase. These are the areas we have to drive home in the term of this Dáil.”
“SCHEDULE Bill Title: To be restored at: Member in Charge: Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) (Amendment) Bill 2021 Order for Committee Stage Pádraig O’Sullivan Housing (Housing Assistance Payment Waiting Times) (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Bill 2021 Second Stage Seamus McGrath Local Authority Public Administration Bill 2023 Order for Committee Stage Pádraig O’Sullivan Local Government (Establishment of Town Councils Commission) Bill 2017 Order for Committee Stage Malcolm Byrne Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person (Amendment) (Stalking) Bill 2021 [Seanad] Second Stage Malcolm Byrne Safe Deposit Boxes and Related Deposits Bill 2022 Order for Committee Stage John Connolly Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) (Amendment) Bill 2024 Second Stage Peter 'Chap' Cleere Ukraine Solidarity Bill 2022 Second Stage Seán Ó Fearghaíl Veterinary Practice (Amendment) Bill 2021 Order for Committee Stage Peter 'Chap' Cleere Water Services (Amendment) Bill 2022 Second Stage Cathal Crowe”
“I move: That, pursuant to Standing Order 205, the Bills which lapsed on the dissolution of the 33rd Dáil and are set out in the Schedule to this motion, shall be restored, at the stage specified in the Schedule below and notice of them shall be published pursuant to Standing Order 37.”
“I want to ask the Tánaiste about the policy of first-time passport applicants requiring gardaí to verify their identity. Every Deputy in the House will have been frustrated by cases where a passport could not be issued because a name could not be found in a book in a Garda station or a contact not made. One can imagine the frustration of my constituent, Sinead, who has had her application rejected twice because a name could not be found in the book. In six counties on the island it is not the police service alone that is required for identity verification, as other trusted local office holders can do it. Will the Tánaiste consider reviewing the mechanism and the process to free up Garda time, to improve what is otherwise a very good public service and to strengthen identity verification by involving other office holders?”
“Ireland has been a lonely voice on this for some time, as the previous speaker said, but t is welcome to see others coming to the table. I noted the presence of members of the House of Commons Procedure Committee in the House today when the Taoiseach made his comments. There was a very different debate in other countries on this issue. I welcome the fact that in some countries, people are waking up to the horror that is happening in Gaza. Violence without repercussions is just not tolerable.”
“We need a complete flooding of humanitarian aid into Gaza. We need the work of agencies like UNRWA to be supported. The Irish Government has not only supported it but protected it from other countries' attempts to demonise it. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb or desensitised. Judging from the emails that come into my inbox and the calls we get, the Irish people are not desensitised to this issue. There is a clear humanitarian blockade directly impacting on the assistance of people on the ground. Israel is pushing Gaza closer and closer to hunger and crisis. Nothing I have said takes away from the horrible atrocity that took place on 7 October, the need to release hostages or the need for Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace in the long term. We have to cry stop, however, when such disproportionate action is taking place.”
“Whether or not there are breaches of international law - I believe there are and agree with the Taoiseach that there is a war crime here - we are seeing a complete lack of morality on the part of Israel, which has led to the atrocities in this conflict. To inflict hunger and suffering on a civilian population is immoral. What has continued to unfold day by day in Gaza is plain and simple genocide. We must remember that those who are suffering the most at the heart of this conflict are vulnerable children, the sick and the elderly. I understand there are complexities and challenges to ensure the safe arrival of aid trucks to the region. However, the UN is now estimating that approximately 600 trucks per day are needed to address this humanitarian crisis. With only 93 trucks entering the region yesterday, this is entirely inadequate.”
“I particularly welcome the comments of the Taoiseach today in the Chamber that he not only welcomes the review but believes there should be a suspension of the EU-Israel trade agreement while that is taking place. This would obviously go far further than the occupied territories Bill, which I and many other people hope to see passed in this House and in respect of which the Government proposes to bring legislation. Suspending the EU-Israel trade agreement would prevent trade between Israel and the entire EU bloc. The Government statement on that is welcome and I ask others around Europe to consider it. The response of the Israeli Government to this conflict is wholly disproportionate.”
“I am at a loss for words at this stage of the conflict, knowing what we know now and seeing the atrocities unfold directly before our eyes, that the people of Gaza are being led to forced starvation. I have said before in this House that the memory of famine lives large in the Irish people. The idea that any state would be deliberately using starvation as a weapon of war is unconscionable. I welcome the EU foreign affairs chief's indication that there will be a review of our trade arrangements with Israel, but I worry about the timeline of this. The people of Gaza need real solutions and driven action. They need it now, and Israel cannot be allowed to continue getting away in this manner.”
“A few weeks ago, I raised the issue of Gaza here on the occasion of statements in respect of the European Council. I noted that we needed a united European voice in response to the conflict. Unfortunately, across the Continent we have not seen that united voice. I certainly welcome yesterday's news regarding the review of the trade deal but, sadly, since then the situation in Gaza has not changed. In fact, it has worsened, with fears of more deaths, starvation and destruction. It was reported this morning that 93 trucks carrying aid entered Gaza yesterday but, according to the UN, Israel's new security processes are preventing it from reaching Palestinians on the ground.”
“If we provide a better line of sight for parents, listen to parents more and provide diagnoses we will be able to provide that better pathway and a better experience for the people who have the disability.”
“Part of the difficulty we have and one of the challenges for the Minister is the putting in place of a pathway parents can easily understand so they do not feel they must advocate at every level. Parents only advocate at every level when the services are not readily available and they only advocate at every level when they do not feel they are being listened to. I have lots of comments around the assessment of needs. One of the most startling things was that a third of therapists’ time last year was taken up by assessment of needs. As somebody who would like to see, and very directly like to see, more treatment, therapies and interventions I have to ask myself what the Department’s priority is. I ask if we can have that better pathway.”
“We need to get back to a place where the diagnosis and the treatment pathway is the priority, rather than a technical document. I say that with some experience, although without the permission to define anybody in my family publicly here. One of the issues we have to deal with is that when people receive a diagnosis there are often different levels of literacy. We talk about digital literacy, but there are different levels of health literacy and sometimes parents are given a diagnosis in the coldest and most clinical of language and they have no real understanding of how they progress it. There is not a continuum of care from the moment concerns are raised to when we diagnose a condition to making an intervention to putting in place the support at preschool and primary school, despite there being lots of interventions available.”
“Then there is a referral to CAMHS in some cases or through the schools, where teachers reinforce the concerns of parents. One of the huge difficulties with the current model is parents are just fighting for an intervention. What they want is not any technical document but a treatment pathway for their children who they know have needs. Often, acknowledging the need in the first place is the first step. A parent told me the best and worst day they ever had was when their child received their diagnosis, because at the very least they knew the scale of the challenge ahead and they knew the mountain they were climbing. Part of the debate on the assessment of needs is the desire of the parents to crystalise the diagnosis and the needs. I reference the Taoiseach’s comments earlier on perhaps changing legislation and so on.”
“The difference is that with many of these people, we are talking about adults but with the assessments of needs, we are talking about children, meaning all of those decisions fall on the carers of those children which in most cases are the parents. “Disability” is such a broad term and often has become focused very much on the space of neurodiversity. If somebody had a congenital physical defect, then the parents know from the first moments that they have challenges, that they need to have a treatment plan and that there needs to be a diagnosis and the health services put in place measures to do that. The difficulty is that for some children their disability is not as obvious. It often comes about as part of development checks or suspicions or concerns of parents.”
“I thank the Minister for her statement. As Fianna Fáil spokesperson on disability, I attended a fairly powerful workshop held by the Independent Living Movement Ireland and the Dublin City Council public participation network. There were adults with all ranges of impairment. That was the word they used. They spoke about three things, namely, their freedom to make decisions, choice and labels and being defined by a label. Each of them is a person who has lived experience of disability. Interestingly, when they spoke about freedom, they also spoke about the freedom to fail and their own freedom to make mistakes that anybody has.”
“Will the Government raise this issue with the authority and ask it to provide guidance to local authorities? Places as Ballymun and Finglas currently have proposals, and there are also examples in Ballincollig and Dolphin's Barn. Supports should be provided to prevent uses of this type that do not contribute to communities.”
“I want to raise the issue of the proliferation of gaming arcades, a phenomenal number of which have opened in recent months. From her time in the Department of Justice, the Minister will know that the establishment of the Gambling Regulatory Authority was an important step forward in terms of supporting people with gambling addictions. I want to see the authority take further steps in respect of these gaming arcades. In many cases, we are not just talking about adults; these arcades are attracting children into a gambling environment. While local authorities have taken steps to prevent the proliferation of certain types of outlets, for example, adult shops or gaming arcades, they often do not have a wide remit in respect of gambling. The Gambling Regulatory Authority should do some work on this.”
“If someone books an event six months ahead, how do they know what might pop up at that time? A non-attendance rate is being baked into the system when people are allowed to book so far ahead. I welcome the indication of the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, that all options are on the table. This type of can-do attitude is exactly what is needed. Let us not forget there is a responsible authority in the Road Safety Authority. It is responsible for delivering a public service. If it is not able to do so, perhaps it is time we need to start thinking about who can do it. When we budget for, allocate and provide a public service we should not tolerate the inability of people to deliver that service. We have to get back to a reasonable period of a delay of somewhere around ten weeks.”
“Can we imagine if we said to them they would be sitting their exams at some point between now and Christmas but we cannot tell them exactly when, and they will have to apply a week beforehand to see whether they can get a date? We would not tolerate that and we should not tolerate this. The backlog has built up over time. It needs an interim response to deal with the backlog, and then we need to get back to a system where there is a waiting time of between six and ten weeks. As I said, it is not beyond the realms of possibility; it is about the basic provision of a public service. As others said, it impacts on people's lives and on their insurance costs. It has an impact on their employment opportunities. It has an impact on their ability to plan and progress. It is no wonder we have so many non-attendees.”
“This is one of the things that utterly frustrates me as a Member of the House. Dealing with the delays in the driving system is not rocket science. It is about scheduling appointments for testing, resources being in place and the testing taking place. Perhaps I am oversimplifying it but it is not something that is beyond the realms of the delivery of a public service. I have to ask the RSA why it is tolerating the excessive delays. The excessive delays we are speaking about in my constituency are up to 31 weeks, slightly above the national average. It is something that affects the entire constituency. This year, thousands of children will sit their junior certificate and leaving certificate exams.”
“The proof of the pudding for this Government will be the actions that we take arising out of it. As someone who will be involved with the disability committee, I hope it will be swift and that we can work together to ensure there is some justice in terms of how things change going forward.”
“I do not believe that we can let Grace or any other Graces out there to remain in a situation where they may be at risk which is why adult safeguarding is important. I will be calling on the committee to examine the situation whereby the submissions of the general solicitor for minors and wards of court were not included. Perhaps it will be necessary for the chair of the commission to come before the committee in the same way as previous chairs have done. That might answer some of the questions we have. I will not prejudge the discussion of the committee but I will be calling for the chair of the commission to come before the disability matters committee, so that we can try to examine some of the issues that have been raised. I commend the Minister, who is new to her office, on the way in which she has addressed the issue.”