Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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As Ireland prepares for Swiftmania, with Swifties from all over the country descending on Dublin, one would be forgiven for thinking that the music festival scene in Ireland is booming but nothing could be further from the truth. As a founder, director and chairperson of the Sult Music Festival, a not-for-profit festival held in Gaoth Dobhair, which will be held again in a fortnight, I have seen at first hand the importance of the music festival circuit to Irish acts and the industry that surrounds it. While many of them may dream of opening for the likes of Taylor Swift or Pink, it is not on their horizon. The music festival scene is their bread and butter. Nine music festivals have been cancelled this year or are not going ahead: Indiependence, in the Tánaiste's own county; Body and Soul; Wild Roots; Forever Young; the Far West Fest; the Playing Fields festival; the Life Festival; the Bann Festival; and the Bandon Music Festival, also in Cork. I predict that without intervention, more music festivals will close down next year. We need intervention from the Government. It is not unique to Ireland but there is a serious impact on music festivals following Covid. I ask the Tánaiste to convene a roundtable working group with an intervention and support for these festivals to continue, and to support the acts that depend on them.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I would support anything we can do to support Irish music festivals and to try to create opportunities for Irish musicians and acts. I will speak to the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, about convening such a working roundtable. To be fair to the Minister, she has taken a range of initiatives to support native artists more generally, particularly with the basic income scheme she introduced. More broadly, in order to understand the issues that have given rise to the cancellation of festivals, the Government has no difficulty whatsoever in engaging and ensuring that we can provide necessary baseline supports to enable such a rich vein in our musical life to continue and to be sustainable.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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Public transport workers keep our cities, towns and rural areas moving. They get essential workers to their jobs and people to college and to school. They connect us all. Far too often, they face abuse and violence on the job. Following a recent survey by SIPTU, it was revealed that more than 80% of public transport workers suffer regular instances of abuse, which is absolutely unacceptable. SIPTU's Respect Transport Workers campaign demands change now. Even over the past couple of weeks, we have seen further reports in the national media of violence and attacks on our public transport system and towards our public transport workers. Every worker deserves a safe environment to work in, free from harassment and threats. We need immediate action on the demands of the Respect Transport Workers campaign, a dedicated unit of An Garda Síochána for public transport, a national transport advisory council with worker representation on the council, and a clear and proper transport charter. In April the Tánaiste said that the Government was going to move on providing a dedicated unit of gardaí for transport police. We are now on the cusp of July and a Dáil recess. Where is that unit?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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In April I said that Fianna Fáil was committed to bringing it forward in terms of policy blueprints for the future. I believe in a transport police. The Garda Commissioner has a different view. In my view, the level of abuse and attacks on public sector transport workers is unacceptable. SIPTU and the National Bus and Rail Union have been very strong advocates for a transport police to protect workers and passengers. Some passengers were assaulted recently on public transport. It is a very serious issue because parallel with our climate policies is the whole idea of doubling the number of people who will be on public transport into the future. Passengers and workers must feel safe. As a policy orientation, I am certainly committed to that.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Shane O'Farrell was just 23 years old when he was killed in a hit and run. Shane was an exceptional young man and dearly loved by his family and his friends. He had a bright future ahead of him and this was cruelly cut short. The car the assailant was driving was pulled over by gardaí an hour before the incident. Inexplicably, the driver was allowed to continue despite having no insurance, multiple breaches of bail conditions and warrants out for his arrest. Less than an hour later, Shane had been killed. Shane's family have been fighting for truth, justice and answers for almost 13 years now. When will the Government establish an independent public inquiry into the death of Shane?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am very familiar, as are Deputies across the House, with this case. Again our sympathies go to the O'Farrell family. It was a young life. Shane's life was cruelly cut down. The scoping inquiry that was established took a lengthy period of time to come to conclusions. I believe the inquiry was comprehensive. It came to a number of conclusions in respect of what happened. The family were not in agreement with those conclusions and aspects of that report. We must weigh up what would be the focus of the public inquiry and whether it is in everybody's best interest that the tribunal of inquiry structure we are familiar with is the best vehicle to resolve some of these issues. I say this genuinely because I have been in the House a relatively long time and have seen that some inquiries take up to ten or 15 years to come to a conclusion.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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You have only wasted 13 years.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I have only recently-----

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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It has been 13 years since Shane was killed.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I know but it took three years to-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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If Members want to chat, they can do it afterwards.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I would say to Deputies that we can talk this through collectively. It is very easy to say "Let us have a public inquiry" and so on, but it has huge implications for everybody and may not get us to where we want to get to.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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You may say that.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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"It made me feel sick. This person physically attacked me, raped me, invaded my body, then left me lying in a hedgerow like I was a piece of rubbish - and now he could read [my] personal, private and intimate thoughts". These are the words of Paula Doyle. Paula was referring to her counselling notes, which had been requested by the DPP. They were seen not only by the DPP but also by the defence team and her rapist. This was not an exceptional case. It is common for victims' counselling notes to be used by the defence in gender-based violence cases. The CEO of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Rachel Morrogh, has referred to requests for counselling notes as "surely one of the most dreaded and cruellest points on a victim's journey to justice". This week the whole country discussed with anger, scorn and passion the issue of the courts and systemic misogyny. I know there is talk of a working group down the road, but given the week that is in it, will the Minister join with me in saying that Rachel Morrogh is correct that this practice is cruel and should be ended?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I have fundamental concerns with the utilisation of counselling notes in cases of rape or where trauma has been visited to an extraordinary degree on a person. The O'Malley report was a significant watershed in endeavouring to improve the journey of a person through our criminal justice system and our legal system, particularly a person who is the victim of rape or assault.

That certainly needs to be examined. I do not have all the answers here this morning but there is something very fundamental about accessing someone's counselling notes. People may have a reason for seeking them but I do not disagree with the fundamental point that has been made by Rachel Morrogh.

Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent)
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There has been a significant rise in the number of older people with housing difficulties, according to two charities: Alone, which represents older people, and Threshold, which advocates for those with housing difficulties. The housing adaptation grant will help older people to stay at home longer. Under the scheme, grants of up to €30,000 are available to eligible people to undertake works in their home to upgrade the conditions and remain living there. Some 60% of people use the grants for bathroom adaptations, as this is where most falls happen. It is beyond belief that, at times, people must wait for more than two years for the work to be done.

I have people coming to my constituency tomorrow who have cancer. Their house is cold and damp and they are looking for new doors and windows. People come to see me who have disabilities or who are in wheelchairs. They are looking for simple things like bathrooms. Is the problem money or staff? Will the Tánaiste please consult the relevant Minister to help to speed up the housing adaptation grants? Older people want to stay in their own homes.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Fitzpatrick for raising this issue, which is a serious one. I have always believed in the efficacy of the housing adaptation grant. It has been very effective historically in enabling people to get vital adaptations to their homes, especially as they become more frail in their more senior years, and also in respect of people with disabilities. The grant threshold is under review. I will talk to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage with a view to getting the threshold increased.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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The National Ambulance Service and the south Tipperary ambulance service are in a chronic state of frustration due to a lack of personnel. They were promised some interns but now they are told they will not get them until perhaps August. One night last week two ambulances had to come together as there was only one paramedic in each. One ambulance had to be parked so they could go out on a call. That is happening all the time. In addition, the headquarters in the grounds of South Tipperary General Hospital is appalling. A Portakabin is serving 24 staff. They have been looking for a new building for years. They have a site. They do not want to go to the proposed site, for good reason. We badly need supports and personnel. We thank the first responders in my own village of Newcastle. There is a great team there and around the county, who go out in advance of the arrival of paramedics. There are not enough paramedics and ambulances are parked up. There is a chronic shortage of staff and the existing staff are operating in Dickensian conditions. The situation must be seriously examined.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I believe very strongly in the first responder model. The professionalisation of that service has been one of the great changes in healthcare in the past two decades. There has been debate in the House as to what is the best model for the organisation of our ambulance and first responder services. There have been difficulties with recruitment generally across the economy because we are in full employment. That is creating challenges right across all public services and in the private sector as well. I know from the Minister for Health that efforts are being made in recruitment and training to increase the number of people available for employment and to enable us to recruit more people more rapidly.

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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Teastaíonn otharcharr i gConamara. D'ardaigh mé é seo trí bhliain ó shin. Tá chuile dhuine ar aon ghuth maidir leis seo. Tá go leor obair déanta ach tá sé ag tógáil go leor ama otharcharr a fháil do Chonamara. Impím ar an Tánaiste dul i dteagmháil le Feidhmeannacht na Seirbhíse Sláinte mar gheall air seo. The need for an ambulance base in Conamara has been raised many times and there has been a long-running campaign. Everybody is in agreement on that. I raised the matter here for the first time three years ago. Much work has been done but it is taking a lot of time. I ask the Tánaiste to directly contact the HSE to try and get the process speeded up because, as we know, it is so important for the safety of people in Conamara and, of course, ambulance bases save lives.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Beidh mé sásta teagmháil a dhéanamh leis an Aire Sláinte chun an cheist seo a réiteach. Is oth liom a rá go dtógann sé an-chuid ama ar fad - iomarca ama, uaireanta - chun cuid de na seirbhísí seo a chur i bhfeidhm ach táim sásta caint leis an Aire. Le cúnamh Dé, beimid in ann dul chun cinn a fheiscint.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I want to raise the provision of a domestic violence refuge in Sligo-Leitrim. I accept that, happily, nine new refuges are being developed and nine others redeveloped. One of those new refuges is planned for Sligo. Currently, there is no domestic violence refuge in Sligo, Leitrim or Roscommon. The nearest refuges are in Letterkenny, Castlebar, Athlone or Enniskillen. We are at the starting blocks and we are looking for a site. I ask that every effort will be made to progress the refuge in Sligo. There can be no delays and funding must be in place. There is also an urgent need for a refuge in Leitrim. I ask that it would be put on the agenda. While a refuge is crucial, it is only a small part of the solution.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Deputy.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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We must ensure that children and families experiencing domestic violence can access comprehensive domestic violence services.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Harkin for raising this issue. She will be aware that we have established a new agency, Cuan, which will work with all stakeholders to put the structures and supports in place to accelerate the delivery of additional refuge accommodation year on year. She will also be aware that active planning and engagement is under way for the delivery of 150 additional family refuge units. We will deliver eight new family refuge units, 25 additional family refuge units are under construction, and we will increase the number of safe homes by a further 35%. The following 12 locations have been identified for the prioritisation of delivery of 98 family refuge spaces. Sligo is at the top of the list for eight family places. The other locations are Cavan-Monaghan, Cork city, north Cork, west Cork, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Westmeath, Portlaoise, Balbriggan, Longford, Carlow and Offaly. That work is under way and every effort will be made to accelerate it.

Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein)
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More than 180,000 people suffer with eating disorders and approximately 1,000 new cases occur each year. Evidence shows that people with eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of all mental health conditions. In my catchment area of Wexford, there is poor access to out-of-hours services to CAMHS liaison teams in the four general hospitals in CHO 5. In fact, therapy for eating disorders was not available in all teams. In some areas, liaison teams were not able to offer specific evidence-based treatment to young people with anorexia nervosa because there was insufficient appropriate trained staff available. It is proven that when eating disorder teams are in place, there is a positive outcome for all individuals involved. I ask the Tánaiste to provide funding for a full team recruited specifically for eating disorders, as per the model of care in CHO 5. Will he agree to set up a national eating disorder register that would provide factual data to support the future-proofing of services?

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Mythen for his question. I am from CHO 5. I am aware that we have an adult eating disorder team in place in Kilkenny but we still do not have a CAMHS eating disorder team in place. The model of care in 2018 advocated for 16 teams in total, eight adult teams and eight CAMHS teams. To date, we have 12 of the teams funded, of which 11 are in place. I announced one more adult team a few weeks ago for CHO 7. We have four more teams to go in order to reach the full model of care. I hope to do two more in budget 2025 - I hope the Tánaiste is listening - and two the following year in 2026. We have made great progress. Last year, recurring funding for eating disorders was €8.1 million. Some 90% of all those with eating disorders can be treated well in the community, so it is imperative that we deliver the next four eating disorder teams and that we do not have a postcode lottery. I want to see it happen in CHO 5 as well.

Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein)
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What about the register?

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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There is an urgent need to reduce delays for driving tests in the Cavan test centre. As of today, there is a 15-week delay in getting a test date there, according to the average estimated time on the RSA website. An invitation to attend a test is currently being offered for the week commencing 14 October. I understand that it is generally four weeks later before the test is undertaken, as tests are generally scheduled one month in advance. An applicant who applies in Cavan today will wait until the end of November for a test. This is not acceptable. I again appeal for additional personnel to be allocated to this centre.

I welcome the increased number of testers the Minister, Deputy Chambers, put in place but we need more in order to reduce waiting times and give learner drivers a chance of literally getting on the road. Delays in driving tests put a limit on a person's work, education and routine daily activities. The Department must put in place the necessary resources to deal with the issue, which impacts severely on people, particularly young people in rural areas such as Cavan.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The RSA currently has sanction to employ up to 205 driver testers, which is more than double the 100 sanctioned posts in June 2022. To further assist in reducing waiting times, in October last year a change was made to the booking system to allow any unused test slots to be made available for candidates to take up at short notice. If a driving test is cancelled at short notice, the RSA makes the appointment available to the general public on the MyRoadSafety portal. Following this change, test slot utilisation rates have risen from around 95% to 98%, delivering further testing capacity to the system. The RSA is committed to restoring average waiting times to the target 10-week level in the summer.

At the end of May, the estimated waiting time to be invited to sit a driving test in Cavan was 16 weeks, compared with the national average of 14.9 weeks. Significant progress has been made since last August, when the estimated waiting time was 34 weeks in Cavan and 30.4 weeks nationally. Progress in reducing waiting times has been achieved in large part through the sanctioning of 75 additional driver tester posts on a temporary basis.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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We have the comprehensive accommodation strategy for international protection and part of that is to provide State-provided accommodation for asylum seekers. There are a number of earmarked sites, including Thornton Hall. It is almost a month ago today that we had a formal briefing on Thornton Hall's identification for State accommodation for asylum seekers but we have not had an update since. At that stage, we were told the centre would be opened at the end of June. That is obviously not the case and there have been media reports to that effect. When will we have a formal update on it? Will the Tánaiste raise it with the Minister and the relevant Departments? There are questions about planning, transport and supports that need to be answered.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I certainly will raise that with the Ministers concerned. Prior to any provision, work has to be done, various surveys have to be carried out and so forth. I imagine that is happening right now. I will talk to the Ministers about consultations and dialogue.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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The Tánaiste will have read that today the Climate Change Advisory Council remarked on how progress in transport emissions has been arrested, the inordinate delays in, for example, getting BusConnects through and the need for a better planning model for compact development in urban areas. However, the big wake-up call related to EVs, where progress has been arrested. There needs to be, as the council recommends, a concerted programme from the Government to promote the switch to EVs, particularly in rural areas where there are no alternative modes of transport. It means the charging network, tax treatment and long-term strategy around EVs need to be more clearly articulated so people can have confidence in making the switch.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I agree with the Deputy. It is concerning. I have my own views on BusConnects. There seems to be a tendency that initial proposals are ones that will never be accepted by anybody; then they get diluted when the consultations start. It seems to me if we cut to the chase in the beginning and had more reasonable proposals at the outset, we might have truncated many delays related to BusConnects.

There is a significant issue with EVs. Government needs to review the supports in place for EVs. There are different views emerging on EVs but fundamentally they perform two objectives. They will reduce emissions dramatically and significantly in the coming years and are also a huge public health benefit in terms of taking fossil fuels out of the air we breathe in cities and towns, which often does not get highlighted but is a crucial public health issue.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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With regard to medical cards, there seems to be a situation over the past month or so whereby the processing time has got longer, they are looking for more documentation and patients awarded medical cards for life are having their cards reviewed.

I have one constituent whose adult daughter has severe intellectual disabilities. She is her primary carer and her only income is disability allowance. A medical card review has been sought to see if her circumstances have changed. Unfortunately, this girl's circumstances will never change. This adds undue pressure and anxiety to certain families.

I also have a nurse who has been out of work over six months in receipt of cancer treatment and the amount of documentation requested is unbelievable. I have been assisting her every step of the way and every time we go back with something, something else is required. Is there a concerted effort by somebody to delay the issuing of medical cards? What is happening? People who need them are not getting them.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Hear, hear.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will certainly talk to the Minister for Health. I picked up on one or two cases like that during the local elections recently when I was knocking on doors. That should not be happening. People with long-term disabilities or special needs, where it is clear there will not be any significant improvement in circumstances, should have long-term cards. It could save an awful lot of cost in administration not to pursue cases where the result will be the card needs to be retained and the person needs the card. I will follow up because I know the Deputy's ear is always close to the ground and if he is picking it up, something must be happening.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The Tánaiste described the defective concrete block scheme as the biggest redress scheme in the history of the State and gave the impression to people around the State that everybody would be sorted. I can tell him, and he knows this, that most families in Donegal - I can speak with authority about that - cannot access the scheme because they will have to find between €50,000 and €150,000 to avail of it. There have been public meetings in packed rooms, two in Donegal and one in Mayo. The scheme is not working. For pyrite, over 3,000 families in Dublin and north Leinster got 100% redress. Will the Tánaiste deliver a scheme offering genuine 100% redress to families in Donegal, Mayo, Sligo and right down the west of Ireland?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is a huge scheme and the allocation committed to it by Government is enormous. That is a fact. I am not giving impressions that the scale of this is such. I understand fully the plight of many householders, quite a number of whose houses are uninhabitable, and the distress and anxiety caused by mica. There have been a number of refinements to the scheme. It replaced a scheme the Deputy supported. This scheme is significantly better than that first scheme. I understand many people are applying for and participating in the scheme and getting their houses refurbished. I will ask the Minister for housing for an update on foot of the Deputy raising the question.

Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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I have been raising the issue of mould in public council housing for a while. I have brought it up in Questions on Policy and Legislation and Topical Issues. It has been indicated to me the Government will look at it.

I have a young mother in north Kildare who has to bring her new baby home to a house where she and her first child have already developed respiratory conditions due to exposure to black mould. I have another young woman who has lost 21% lung capacity in her home in Naas because of blue mould. Blue mould is highly toxic, especially to people with asthma and other allergies. Ireland has one of the highest rates of respiratory diseases in the OECD. Given a coroner in England, which has a similar climate to ours, has cited mould as a cause of death in a young child, what is the plan State-wide to audit and tackle this health emergency in housing?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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In my view, local authority housing is fundamentally an issue for the local authority to deal with. It should have sufficient capacity to get in early to repair, refurbish or eliminate issues that give rise to mould developing in the first place.

Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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What is the Government doing?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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In this Dáil and Oireachtas, we constantly talk about local autonomy and local government, but every time something happens, we want to say the Government must do it. Local authorities have responsibility for their housing stock. It is interesting; in the affordable housing schemes, they maintain their housing schemes and their houses. Local authorities need to do the same. Maybe, historically, there was a certain attitude when someone came in looking for basic repairs or whatever. People who are tenants are entitled to rights, whether they are in a local authority scheme or any other scheme. Mould should not be tolerated. The local authorities really need to get at it.

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I raise the serious issue of dereliction in the town of Drogheda. There are more than a dozen buildings crumbling on the main thoroughfare in the centre of town. An historic building had to have a public safety notice served on it on 7 June. It caused disruption in the town centre for motorists, pedestrians, businesses, etc. The scale of dereliction in Drogheda would suck the life out of any town. People are just at their wits' end with it. The removal of the borough council from Drogheda has taken away any sort of oversight we had. There is a lack of local power and an erosion of services from the town.

When the Tánaiste spoke of dereliction, he listed a lot of schemes. The problem is, and I am saying this genuinely, in Drogheda, the derelict buildings have been derelict for decades and those schemes are not being taken up at all. They are being ignored. I detected - the Tánaiste can correct me if I am wrong - a reluctance to strengthen the Derelict Sites Act 1990. That is what needs to be done when local authority enforcement notices are being completely ignored. The only way to hit them is with severe financial penalties. Is there a reluctance to strengthen the Derelict Sites Act? If so, why? If there is no reluctance, can it be taken seriously enough? Drogheda is a large town and dereliction has sucked the life out of it.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I spoke earlier on this. There is no reluctance to strengthen the Act. I do not believe local authorities have been strong enough in enforcing the Act. That is a view I have. They might argue it takes too long and there are legal issues and so on which can go on forever. There are other ways to refurbish streetscapes and town centres. We also have to think about our town centres, streets and cities of the future because they are going to be different. There will be a bigger mix of residential as well as commercial. The scale of it will be different from the scale of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s when we had large-scale supermarkets in our town centres. All of that is changing. That is probably a more effective route to getting rid of this dereliction.

In my experience, no matter how many Acts we create, legal routes do not get to the promised land early enough. The urban regeneration scheme is the big game-changer. There is €400 million allocated to Cork for the docklands and the Grand Parade but it will take three or four years before that will manifest itself. Meanwhile, there is dereliction around the very areas we need to address.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Earlier, when Deputy Cian O'Callaghan raised the awful, tragic case of Mr. Shane O'Farrell, a number of Members indicated, and the Tánaiste suggested, that Members might talk to each other about this matter. If that is the case, I would be more than happy to convene a cross-party gathering of Deputies with an interest in the case. If people wish to contact me, I am happy to facilitate that.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I meant that in a spirit of-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Yes, I know exactly.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I think An Ceann Comhairle understands where I am coming from.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I do.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I would be happy to participate in something An Ceann Comhairle convenes.