Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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For the past year, the Government has assured us that the proposition on the future funding of RTÉ would be brought before the Dáil before the summer recess. We have just over a week to go. In the 20 months to April of this year, more than €500,000 has been paid in TV licence fines by ordinary people. In that same time, almost 5,000 people received a conviction for non-payment of the licence. The report of the media committee is being launched today, and I believe a majority of that committee recommends an end to the TV licence and its replacement with direct Exchequer funding. Yet, we still see no sign of Government action. In fact, we have Government Ministers and TDs speaking out of both sides of their mouths. Meanwhile, RTÉ staff and, more importantly, the hard-pressed public at home are kept waiting. When will we see an end to this uncertainty? When will we have a decision and finally move to abolish the television licence?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the issue, and I thank the media committee for the work members across parties have put into the RTÉ issue over a sustained period. I look forward to reading their report and recommendations. I particularly thank the Chair, Deputy Niamh Smyth. I assure the Deputy that there is action on this. The Tánaiste, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and I met with the Minister for media on Monday at our weekly leaders' meeting. I expect we will meet her again next Monday. We will reach a decision this month on what a sustainable model for public service broadcast funding looks like.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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Becton Dickinson announced that it is to close its plant in Drogheda, County Louth. It made that announcement approximately an hour and a half ago, and 170 jobs will be lost. Here is the killer. It is Drogheda's only IDA-backed manufacturing plant of scale. The Taoiseach knows that Drogheda is Ireland's largest town. It is Ireland's next city. It needs investment. It is on the floor at the moment. It has taken too many blows, and it seems this Government's enterprise plan for Drogheda involves extending the DART to the town to bring more workers from Drogheda to Dublin city centre every morning. Drogheda has the skill sets and expertise for foreign direct investment jobs. We need an expert-led enterprise task force to attract and retain foreign direct investment jobs in Drogheda. Will the Taoiseach work with me on that proposition? It is absolutely urgent. Drogheda is about to lose its only IDA-backed manufacturing plant of scale.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am sorry to hear about those job losses and my immediate thoughts are with workers and families affected, as I know are the Deputy's. I will of course work with him on this, as we have done in the past. I think the Minister for State, Deputy Higgins, was in Drogheda this week with regard to the regional enterprise plans. We remain committed to doing everything we can to support the town. I make the point that the benefit of the DART line runs both ways because it also has an opportunity to bring workers and investment into Drogheda.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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Help create the jobs. It is a two-way street.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I take the point about the bad news received in Drogheda today. I am happy to meet with the Deputy. As he knows, I am scheduled to meet shortly with the group of enterprise stakeholders who have come together in Drogheda. They have a plan and a view and I will follow up to arrange that.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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In early May, I received some shocking figures that revealed that 4,785 young people were waiting to be seen by primary care psychology services. That is in counties Cork and Kerry alone. Since then, I have been trying to get to the bottom of how long these people have been waiting. In response to my follow-up parliamentary questions, the HSE informed me that, disgracefully, of those young people in Cork and Kerry, 1,045 have been waiting between two and three years, 319 have been waiting between three and four years and 105 people in the Cork area alone have been waiting between four and five years. It is clear from these figures that the waiting lists in our area are completely out of control. We are still waiting for figures to find out if this is typical nationally or if it is just particular to Cork and Kerry. However, the fact that 105 young people in Cork services are waiting between four and five years for intervention is deeply shocking. There has rightly been a lot of focus on the child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, but this has largely gone under the radar and a lot of these people end up needing CAMHS. A lot of people are timing out of the service and having to go to adult services. Will the Taoiseach outline the plan to address this? Does he know if the picture is similar nationally?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am reading a note on this. I thank Deputy Cairns for raising this serious issue. I am told, specifically with regard to CHO 4, which is Cork and Kerry, that the HSE has advised that data showed an increased referral rate across the region of 63%, specifically for primary care psychology waiting lists. There seems to be a particular challenge in this region that I do not believe is replicated nationally based on this note. Psychology vacancies in the region equate to approximately 25 whole-time-equivalents. It is 25.95, which is a 61% vacancy rate. I understand Cork and Kerry are at present working on a service improvement plan and new and improved initiatives, but that is a high vacancy rate. I am told that is a regional challenge-----

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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There is also a recruitment ban.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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-----but I will speak with the Minister and come back to the Deputy with the response.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Aer Lingus announced today that it is cancelling a further 76 flights, which is on top of 392 already cancelled. I do not think anybody welcomes the disruption, uncertainty or confusion that this dispute has caused.

At the same time, while the two sides, IALPA and the company, go into the Labour Court today, we learn that Lynne Embleton, the CEO, received €300,000 in shares and that is on top of the whopping €2.8 million paid to three top brass in 2022. They will have received much more last year. Can the Taoiseach imagine how a group of the most responsible workers in the world, who take us safely into the air, keep us safe up there and land us safely, feel when they hear those kinds of figures, when they are looking for a figure that will keep their pay in line with inflation? To be honest, I believe the pilots are doing us all a service, because all workers deserve inflation-related pay increases to manage the cost of living and be able to stay on top of the rises that are happening. Despite the disruption, would the Taoiseach agree that when the Red C poll shows 38% of people, the majority of people, favour the strikers, that indicates all workers deserve an inflation-related pay rise?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I doubt that many people in this country favour strike action and I think most people, as the Deputy said, want to see an end to the disruption. I am very conscious the least helpful thing anyone in this House, most of all me, could do is wade right into this while Labour Court hearings are under way today. A huge amount of work has gone in to get to this point. I thank both parties for agreeing to attend and the Labour Court for agreeing to intervene. All I will do at this stage is really encourage both sides to dig deep to find a solution. The only way an industrial relations dispute is resolved is with two things, engagement and compromise. It is up to both parties to decide whether they wish to bring about a resolution now, which will always end in engagement and compromise, or put the travelling public through more chaos. I certainly hope it is the first.

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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With Galway's great win over Dublin last Saturday, I received a huge number of phone calls, some before and many more after the match, from people who were very aggravated that they could not watch the two championship matches on Saturday afternoon, Roscommon versus Armagh and Galway versus Dublin. Many of the people who contacted me are the people who built the GAA, former players and officers of the clubs who gave their time and commitment to the GAA in years gone by. Many people look forward to sitting down at the weekend and watching the GAA championship. A lot of them are pensioners who have no access to Wi-Fi and cannot afford to pay for it, so they do not have access to GAAGO. They simply do not have the expertise or the resources to avail of, and keep paying for, the GAA championship and to travel to Croke Park on a Saturday for 6.15 p.m. Will the Taoiseach meet the president and the director general of the GAA and find a solution so that all championship matches are aired for free on our national airwaves?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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There is no need to be provoking or rubbing salt in the wounds of Dublin Deputies, but I congratulate Galway on their win at the weekend. The Deputy raises a very important issue. The last time I raised it there was a lot of tut-tutting from top brass in the GAA and they were very disappointed with my comments, but I would say this to them, respectfully. Far more people are disappointed with how this season has been shown in terms of GAAGO. They should not listen to me if they do not want to - that is grand - but they should please listen to the grassroots of the GAA. The GAA is an amazing organisation and its beauty has been that it is a grassroots organisation. I have said many times that the GAA needs to listen to the grassroots.

I was at the Cork-Limerick match in Páirc Uí Chaoimh earlier this summer. Unfortunately, many people across the country did not get a chance to see the game because it was behind a paywall. The same, indeed, was true for the game the Deputy referenced, between Galway and Dublin, last weekend as well. This is a matter for the GAA. When we talk about public service broadcasting and RTÉ, I think there is also a role in that dimension too. There has to be a better way of doing this. I am certainly a big supporter of the GAA, as is the Government, but it should listen to the grassroots. I absolutely look forward to meeting the president of the GAA and the director general, both of whom have reached out to me on this issue.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Today, there is a group up from the Clonmel and District Wheelchair Society, led by volunteer driver Philip Meaney, some of whom are wheelchair users. I thank the staff of Leinster House, including the ushers, for being so helpful, as they always are but especially to these wheelchair users. The mobility allowance was cut ten or 11 years ago and has nearly gone off the agenda, and it was supposed to be replaced. Wheelchair users have huge issues with mobility and trying to get transport. One woman drives her daughter to Clonmel five days a week from County Waterford. Access to transport is vital to these people. There is no point in having a free travel pass if you cannot get the bus. Even for Bus Éireann, seats have to be booked a day in advance. These people do not have the liberties we have, whereby we can just walk onto a bus or whatever. The mobility allowance, or some form of it, should certainly be reinstated and, indeed, other mobility issues should be addressed. It is very important for these people to be able to live their lives. They are enjoying their day here today and they have asked the Taoiseach to meet them if he has a minute, although we understand if he does not. They are from all over the country in different groups lobbying on this issue and they need all the supports they can get.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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In fairness to Deputy McGrath, he was good enough to send me a note today to say representatives of the Tipperary spina bifida group are in the Dáil and I would love to get a chance to say hello if I can. I will be here for quite a while yet. I wish them well and thank them for being here, along with the Irish Wheelchair Association.

There are two issues. I understand that the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, has just allocated some money to the Irish Wheelchair Association in Clonmel for a new bus, I believe, and no doubt that will be welcomed. I am pleased the Government was in a position to support that.

The Deputy is right in regard to the mobility allowance and the need to replace it. A lot of work has been done. I accept it has gone on a long time. People will remember the history of this in terms of the Ombudsman. I wrote to the Ombudsman in recent weeks on this and I am expecting we will bring final proposals very shortly to the Government.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I am glad the Taoiseach is here. This is my second time to raise this issue in the Dáil. I raised it in the Taoiseach's absence with the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and have written to her. It is really serious. Deputy Kelly raised it in the context of Borrisokane. I am raising it in respect of Galway. An eviction notice has been served on those who have been in accommodation for two or three years, embedded in the community. I know the local school. There are any number of families with eviction notices for various times in July. The one in particular I am thinking about is for Friday. This is a family who have been moved three times. They have finally embedded in the community. They do huge voluntary work. I could go on forever about the amount of work they do.

This is cruel, inhuman and unacceptable. A battle seems to be going on between the Department of housing and the Department of children, with one trying to push the other to do something. To think eviction notices are being served on families in this manner, telling them to get emergency accommodation in Galway, where there is absolutely none. We have a waiting list of up to 20 years. No housing assistance payment, HAP, premises are available. These are not my words; it is according to the Simon Community. This inhumanity has to stop and the decision must be reversed.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I was just speaking to the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, on this matter while the Deputy was speaking. I will discuss it further with him and the Minister, Deputy O’Gorman. My understanding, though, is that these are transfers, as opposed to evictions, whereby people are being asked to transfer to other locations, but-----

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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They have been told to go to emergency accommodation but there is no emergency accommodation.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Okay. I will take a look at the specific situation the Deputy has raised and discuss it with the Minister of State and the Minister. What we are doing, and we have to be honest about this, is that the number of people coming from Ukraine has fallen and we are reducing our footprint in terms of leases and contracts-----

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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This is inhuman.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I accept that this has to be done in a way that is careful and compassionate and I accept that a number of communities across the country are, rightly, highlighting the sensitivities around this. I am not familiar with the specific situation relating to Galway but I will make myself familiar with it today.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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A week ago, a republican prisoner was taken out of Maghaberry Prison for an urgent medical appointment. On the way out, a full body scan was carried out and was clear. The prisoner was handcuffed to a prison officer and taken to the hospital, where he was examined by medics. During the examination, afterwards and at all times, the prisoner was handcuffed to a prison officer. When he returned to the prison, another scan was carried out and the allegation was made that there was something in his stomach, and he has been in isolation since. This is a source of serious aggravation in the prison. Similar situations have arisen previously and were discussed at the justice committee in Stormont with the Independent Monitoring Board for Northern Ireland, so this is known to be a recurring issue in the prison. Will the Taoiseach raise this issue with the Minister of Justice in Northern Ireland to see whether we can resolve it, which I understand is a matter of interpretation, according to the report, and not a black-and-white issue?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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First, I acknowledge the very good and important work Deputy Ó Cuív has done in this area over many years and appreciate the great support he has been on occasion in a variety of roles. In regard to the individual case, he will understand, not that he is asking me to, that I am not going to comment on the rights and wrongs of it here without full knowledge, but I will certainly ask the Minister, Deputy McEntee, to consider raising the matter in a way she views as appropriate and to revert to the Deputy directly.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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If someone is on a medical card, it is close to impossible to be seen by a dentist, as things stand. I have seen some new figures for the Cork area.

In 2019, there were 287 dentists on the dental treatment service scheme, DTSS. There are now just 188. In my area, south Lee, there has been a 44% reduction during the same period, from 108 dentists to just 60. This has caused problems, in particular in Carrigaline, but also in other parts of my constituency, across Cork and throughout the country. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find dentists. It is not only individuals and families who will pay a price for this down the road but also the system as dental ill-health increases. The DTSS clearly needs to be reviewed and a modern up-to-date contract is needed. It is profoundly impacting the dental health of people in my constituency and across the country and urgently needs to be reviewed.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this serious issue, which is one I discussed with the Minister for Health on Monday, I think, at the Cabinet committee on health. There may well be a particular challenge in Carrigaline and in parts of Cork but the Deputy is right to suggest that it is a more national challenge. I know the Minister for Health and his Department have given consideration to what measures can be taken. We can point to increased number of dentists, etc., but that misses the point in terms of the number of people on the medical card who are reliant on the DTSS. I know the Department of Health is giving policy consideration to what steps can be taken. I will ask the Minister for Health to revert to the Deputy directly.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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Central Statistics Office, CSO, crime statistics tell us that robbery is up 18% in the first quarter of this year compared with the first quarter of last year. In my constituency, across Roscommon and Galway we have had numerous burglaries in recent weeks and months. The idea of older people who live on their own being afraid in their own homes is a very sad indictment of where we are today. I commend the community policing units across my constituency which do really great work, particularly in engaging with our older people. I ask the Taoiseach to prioritise Garda numbers, particularly in rural areas where Garda stations have been closed or do not operate on a 24-7 basis. As the Taoiseach will know from his county, rural areas need more community gardaí. We need them to be engaging with our older people, in particular as we have seen so many burglaries in recent months.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. No one likes the idea, by any manner or means, of any person, but particularly an older person living in isolation, being in any way fearful in their own home. The home should be a safe haven for people. I will certainly pass on the Deputy's specific comments about Roscommon and Galway and the importance of a Garda presence in rural areas to the Minister for Justice. Obviously, the Garda Commissioner allocates resources but I am sure the Minister can raise that matter with him.

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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It is the first week of July and an impending fodder crisis is facing the livestock sector. We had an extremely long, wet winter which exhausted all existing fodder supplies. Grass growth for the spring and early summer has been roughly 30% below average. We are heading into a crisis and the mental and financial pressure farmers are under cannot be overestimated. I stress, above all, the mental pressure. Unfortunately, we hear increasingly stories of the mental anguish farmers are suffering. Farming is a lonely profession. More than a year of the weather we are after having is causing huge difficulties. I urge the Taoiseach ask the Minister for agriculture to convene the fodder group immediately and put plans in place to deal with the fodder crisis we will have next winter.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I know the Deputy's particular area of expertise in this area, both as a constituency TD and before his political life in this House. I take seriously what he says. This is a Government that will always support farmers. I am very conscious of how horrific the weather has been for them this year and the huge stress that has created. I have visited a number of farms with the Irish Farmers Association and others and I have seen the anguish etched on the faces of farmers. I will convey the Deputy's view to the Minister for agriculture on convening the fodder group and ask him to revert to the Deputy directly.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Last week, the Department of Finance published a report that showed forward funding arrangements by the approved housing bodies and the Land Development Agency are now central to the construction of multi-unit developments in Dublin. There are strong funding streams for social housing and cost-rental housing but no funding streams for affordable purchase. This is borne out by the statistics for building in Dublin, with 80% being apartments but only 6% going for purchase by owner-occupiers. That is not the tenancy mix we want to develop in our new cities and towns, nor does it reflect demand. The difference is that with cost-rental the State effectively underwrites the allocation of tenants, whereas with affordable purchase the risk of assembling buyers lies with the funders. We need to either take on the sale of these affordable homes so they can be built or underwrite the risk to those developers.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for allowing me to give consideration to this issue. I saw the report from the Department of Finance. I have also had a series of meetings with the banks this week at which I discussed the issue of development financing and how, when anyone reads the Housing Commission report, which is often misrepresented by people in this House for their own political ideology, it is actually very stark in terms of the level of funding that will be required. People speak about housing targets but the actual level of funding to meet them will be a huge collective challenge we will need to encounter. Let me specifically come back to the Deputy regarding what actions we can take. I will also ask the Ministers, Deputies Darragh O'Brien and Chambers, to look at the Deputy's specific suggestion and advise me on it.

Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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On Friday, the Department of Education informed us that St. Kevin's school in Finglas West was approved for a new ASD class. This brings to 20 the total number of ASD classes opened in my area in the past four years. There is a real challenge here in that for the last nine months, parents will have applied to all 20 of those schools to try to secure a place. They will have spent nine months doing that. While that is a timeline that works for mainstream students, although there are those who argue it does not work for mainstream students , it does not work for ASD students. The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, is not an advisory service. It should be a placement service and while we have extra staff we need to focus on providing places to parents earlier and with more certainty. We need to plan for second level too because the ASD classes are not coming on stream quickly enough for the demographic bulge that is inevitable.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. Since I came into this role, we have seen that the number of special educational needs organisers, SENOs, will increase from 73 to 120. The Deputy is correct about the issues with enrolment, with parents applying to numerous schools. Schools have their own enrolment policies and the NCSE is sometimes blind to the figures a school has when places become available because some of those places have already been taken by children in the school. The Deputy is aware of the issues. I meet the NCSE every single week. I want to be in the position outlined by the Deputy in which parents of children with additional needs know where their children will be in January, February or March, rather than being in the current situation. That is the reform space I am in and the work I am doing with the NCSE. I am also working with and talking to parents and schools directly to resolve this.

Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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This Government promised to look after our older people. Why then is it being reported that elderly patients are continuing to be removed or discharged from University Hospital Limerick, UHL, outside normal discharge hours? Are their families being informed? I am told staff are being prevented from speaking out. I want to know why. Is this policy and, if so, why is it continuing? It is unacceptable to move people between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. in the darkness of night. Most of these people are suffering from Alzheimer's disease or dementia. Do we know why this is going on? If not, why not and when will it be stopped?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the issue, which is concerning to me. I have a number of concerns related to University Hospital Limerick and so too does the Government. That is why we have asked the former Chief Justice Frank Clarke to look at a number of issues. Let me specifically talk with the Minister for Health - I an conscious the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is sitting behind me as well - and I will come back to the Deputy on the matter.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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I, too, raise a health issue. According to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, more than 50 nursing positions are vacant in University Hospital Kerry. The union is calling on the HSE to immediately end its recruitment moratorium for front-line healthcare workers. In that vein, Deputy Michael Collins, my brother Danny and I have been operating a bus carrying people to the North for cataract procedures, which, as the Taoiseach knows, are very important. We have only two eyes in our head and our eyesight is probably the most important thing in the world to us. People who needed their cataracts removed have been able to avail of the EU cross-border healthcare directive. The sums were, effectively, that when people spent €3,000, they would be reimbursed just under €2,000. Now, all of a sudden, we are being told that is being cut to €850. I ask the Taoiseach to find out about this, clarify it and let us know why it would happen.

The way I will word it is that it was either go to the North or go blind. Deputy Michael Collins and my brother have been doing it. I have predominantly been taking all of Kerry people on this trip. It is highly successful. I had people last week. I will have people the week after next. They are relying on getting approximately €2,000 back. I plead with the Taoiseach to ensure that will continue and to try to address whatever has happened whereby it has been cut.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I will personally look into it and come back to him on the matter. As he will know better than most, a lot of work was put in post Brexit to ensure that cross-Border healthcare could continue. We believe in it. We believe in being able to access healthcare right across the island of Ireland. I will make specific inquiries and come back to the Deputy.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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Sligo University Hospital houses the oldest renal unit in the country. I am requesting an update on the new unit. In February this year, the HSE informed me that the feasibility study on the unit is to be completed within a two-month period and that was two months ago. The response also states that national capital approval will be submitted at stage 1, quarter 2, 2024. We are now in quarter 3. The reason I am asking the Taoiseach for an update is that we have had delay after delay. Over 12 months ago, the Department of Health confirmed a feasibility study would be complete and submitted for capital approval in late quarter 3 of 2023. On 1 April 2022, the HSE said the accommodation schedule was being completed and that, as part of stage 1 of the capital process, a feasibility study would be completed in four to six months. That is 26 months ago. Back in 2019, the national clinical lead for the HSE renal office said a new renal unit would be needed at SUH. That is five years ago. I am hoping for good news today.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Harkin for raising this matter. I can hear her palpable frustration on behalf of her constituents. I want to assure her first of our commitment to the development. The note I have in front of me says that a feasibility study is currently under way - as the Deputy knows - in relation to a new four-bay renal dialysis unit. A capital submission will be made in quarter 3 or quarter 4 of this year with a view to progressing to detailed design in 2025. Based on what the Deputy tells me today about a history of delays, let me probe that further. I know how important this is to the hospital. It is going to replace the current temporary three-bed renal unit on medical 5, which will create an extra space for the renal dialysis unit in Sligo. I will personally look into this and come back to the Deputy.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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On 18 April, I asked the Minister of State, Deputy Butler about the lack of public health nurses across the Dublin 8 and Dublin 12 areas, especially regarding childhood development checks. The reply given to me by the Minister of State was that it was not a funding issue or a moratorium issue, it is due to a lack of public health nurses for that area. She said she would bring my concern back. I also followed up for details in a written question and was then told it was a HSE service matter. That is not the impression I got from the Minister of State at the time. There was only one public health nurse for children and one for older people. Now I am informed there is only one public health nurse for the whole area. I have seen a letter sent to parents dated 13 June which states that the public health service is moving to priority status in their area, the nursing staff shortage is having an impact on delivering routine child health and development assessment and that at this time, public health nurse services are not in a position to deliver child health and development services.

You have known this for two years. The situation has got worse. You have done nothing to intervene. The Minister for Health said he would intervene and said it was a postcode issue because every other child in the country can access this service. What are you going to do about it? I am asking the Taoiseach to intervene through his child poverty unit. This is a health poverty situation for children in this area. It is outrageous.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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While I know the Deputy is very annoyed, the HSE is in charge of recruitment in respect of public health nurses.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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You said you would intervene.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I said I would intervene and I brought it to the attention of the Department, which brought it to the attention of the HSE. It has been raised in the House by many Deputies in your area. For some reason, there is a significant challenge in recruiting public health nurses in that particular area. I understand how important public health nurses are in relation to young babies, their mothers and older people. There is a serious challenge here. It is not affected by the moratorium because this was an issue before the moratorium was ever in place. The overriding recruitment piece is not down to me as Minister of State. My job is to try to secure funding with the Government and the Taoiseach. The issue is that the HSE has to operationalise the funding we get. It has failed to recruit someone in that area because there were challenges in that particular area.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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There has to be an interim solution.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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As the Taoiseach highlighted earlier, we have tragically lost 97 people on our roads this year, which is 12 more than at this time last year. We urgently need to act to avoid further loss of life. I have long advocated for the creation of a road safety commissioner with the authority and resources to deliver on our commitment to zero deaths by 2050. The chair of the RSA has said there is merit in exploring that concept. I am quoting her directly here:

It would be better if we had more powers to bring all the actors [in the road safety space] onto the one page. I would like to see a more all-of-government approach, real commitment if we are going to reverse this trend.

Just last Thursday, the CEO of the RSA told the Committee of Public Accounts that he also can see the benefit of one powerful entity "having the funding, the remit and the statutory duty to do all of what is required ... [in] a more joined-up, single approach to road safety". I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Lawless, every success. I believe he will be excellent in that role. I am asking the Taoiseach to sit down with him and act decisively and swiftly on the deep reform of the RSA that is urgently required.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Cannon and acknowledge that he has been a very strong advocate for road safety for long years. I thank him for that. I join with him in wishing the Minister of State, Deputy Lawless, very well in his new role. I absolutely will sit down with him. In the 12 weeks I have been Taoiseach, I have chaired two ministerial meetings on the issue of road safety with the Road Safety Authority, the Garda and others. This is a really serious issue. Look at the number of deaths seen on our roads this year, the fact that we have lost four lives on roads in the last 24 hours. Between Leaders' Questions yesterday and Leaders' Questions today, four lives have been lost on Irish roads. We think of all of those families.

I understand that a full review of the Road Safety Authority is under way. It is expected to come to the Minister for Transport very shortly. It is within that context that we can consider the sensible suggestion the Deputy makes.