Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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It is reported today that the Government will finally consider asking asylum seekers who are working to make a contribution towards the costs of their accommodation, food, energy and Wi-Fi bills. These are things that every other worker has to pay for out of their wages, and the fact that the Government has not introduced charges for these things for those working asylum seekers who can afford to pay is a classic example of the unfairness the Government has created and presided over.

Another example of unfairness is the Government's accommodation recognition payment, ARP, scheme. The scheme provides €800 per month to pay for rent for Ukrainians, regardless of whether they are working and regardless of their income. The payment, as the Minister knows, is tax free. That means that to a landlord it is worth €1,600. It provides an advantage to Ukrainians that is not available to other renters. In particular, in constituencies like mine, in Donegal, where the average rent is below €1,600, it is pricing ordinary renters out of the market. It is not fair. We warned at the outset of the scheme that this would put further pressure on the private rental sector, and it is manifestly unfair. Will the Government end the scheme in the way Sinn Féin proposed earlier this year?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The ARP scheme is being reviewed in the context of the extension of the directive. The operation of that scheme is being reviewed. We do not want to see a situation whereby properties that were previously in a rental market - and that is being looked at-----

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Which is happening, and the Government parties refused to deal with this when we told them.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I am trying to answer the Deputy. Will he just relax for a minute?

With regard to the contributions by those who are seeking international protection here, first, as a country, we still have a moral and a humanitarian obligation to look after those who are seeking shelter from persecution here. While they are here, what contributions they will make is a matter that will be brought forward at the Cabinet subcommittee on migration in the coming weeks. We await proposals on that as to whether changes will be made in that regard.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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We continue to see appalling loss of life in the Middle East and a really concerning escalation over recent days with the awful killings in Lebanon. All the while, Israel's brutal bombardment of Gaza and horrific human rights abuses in the West Bank continue. If Israel is behind the deaths in Lebanon, as we all assume, there must be consequences. We believe that stronger action is needed from the Government. We very much welcomed recognition of the State of Palestine but we believe that the Government should adopt a stronger position on sanctioning Israel. I call on the Government to pass the occupied territories Bill. I have in my hand a new legal opinion published at an event recently organised by Senator Frances Black concluding that the case for passing the occupied territories Bill is even stronger since the UN issued its advisory opinion. It also states that EU law does not prevent Ireland from acting unilaterally on this. I know that the Taoiseach has sought a new opinion from the Attorney General on the status of the occupied territories Bill, which would enable the passage of stronger trade sanctions against Israel. Will the Government commit to publishing the Attorney General's advice? Can the Minister give us any timeline as to when that advice will be published and when action will be taken on this?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I once again join the Deputy in her condemnation and the House's condemnation of the absolutely despicable actions that the Israeli state is undertaking, not just in Gaza, which it has flattened, with more than 40,000 people killed, many of whom are children, the continued actions in the West Bank, the continued annexation of land and the building of illegal settlements, and the continued persecution of Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Then we have seen what we all assume and know is an escalation by the Israeli army. I will not call it a defence force in this sense because it is an offensive force here and it has been with regard to Lebanon. That is a very worrying escalation in events. We would obviously, as a country, call on our friends in the Middle East to show restraint, which I am sure is very difficult for them to do. I will revert to the Tánaiste, as Minister for Foreign Affairs, and the Taoiseach with regard to the Deputy's intervention on the occupied territories Bill and we will revert to her.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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Homelessness costs an absolute fortune, but there is another cost and it is building trauma into children's lives and life experiences. As we know, the more adverse childhood experiences a child has, the more it impacts his or her life expectancy, health and educational attainment, missing milestones for babies and so on. This is a tribunal of the future. It is costing more and getting worse, and it has become normalised. Now we talk about numbers every month. What will the Minister specifically do to address child homelessness that is more than he is doing at the moment? Does he have any new specific strategies to deal with child homelessness?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Just before Leaders' Questions, we had an hour and a half of questions on housing, many of which related to the situation of those in homeless emergency accommodation. As I said in reply to Deputies then, it remains the number one challenge we have. I have engaged directly with our local authorities with regard to allocations and, particularly, allocating families permanent social homes to enable people to exit emergency accommodation. In quarter 2 this year, 630 families exited emergency accommodation into safe and secure homes. We see a continued increase in social housing output. Last year, we built 8,110 new social homes and delivered more than 11,000 in total, and we will do more than that this year. It is very important we do that. They are the permanent solutions for people, but homelessness is complex. Looking at the data we publish every month, there are many reasons people come into emergency accommodation. Our job is to make sure that they are supported when that happens and can exit as quickly as possible from that situation, with a particular focus on children.

Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Yesterday, thejournal.ie published a very detailed article on an accident that happened in 1979 on the Glen of Imaal military range. On that day, three children were killed and ten other children were really badly injured. Since the publication of the report yesterday, new information has come forward as to how this accident could have been avoided. According to the article, this accident could have been easily avoided if precautions had taken place. The families of the children never got an apology from the State. Considering this new information that has come forward, would the Government consider giving the families of those who were affected and killed on the day a State apology?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I have not read the article. I am aware of the historic incident to which the Deputy refers and the tragic loss of life. I will raise this matter directly with the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence and we will revert to the Deputy.

Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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We have citizens information centres in 50 locations across the country. There are five centres across County Tipperary: Thurles, Nenagh, Roscrea, Tipperary town and Clonmel. In 2023, these centres dealt with 40,000 queries and 17,000 callers, with queries ranging from social protection to employment, pensions and applications for citizenship. This service has provided to some of the most vulnerable people in society, who have trust, faith and confidence in the citizens information service, CIS, to support them. It advocates on their behalf and supports them throughout their journey. CIS staff who are members of SIPTU are being balloted on industrial action, up to and including strike action. If this action commences, CIS centres across the country will be closed post budget, which will have a significant impact on members of the public in gaining information and access to entitlements within that budget next week. Staff working in citizens information centres have not had any pay increase since 2008. A Labour Court decision acknowledges their position and recommends a pay increase of 9.5%. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, has stated her Department would not be found wanting. The delay is with the Department of public expenditure and reform, which appears to be blocking or delaying the implementation of the pay increase. I ask that the Minister to intervene with the other two Ministers to have this situation resolved.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this really important issue. I am a massive supporter of the citizens information service. All of us know the work that is done right across the country and the invaluable service it provides.

I am fully supportive of a pay increase for these workers. I want to be clear on this. I have not met a Government colleague who is not supportive of that at this stage. The Department of Social Protection has been actively engaging with the Department of public expenditure and reform on the Labour Court recommendations of 21 June to which the Deputy Lowry referred.

I understand talks commenced last week between representatives of SIPTU, the Citizens’ Information Board, CIB, and the Department of Social Protection on a pay agreement. They are due to convene later this month. This process is the best way to reach consensus on a pay agreement for the workers. I strongly encourage parties to continue to engage. I certainly am fully supportive of the pay increases, as are most of us. I will raise the matter raised by the Deputy with the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, and the Minister for public expenditure and reform, Deputy Donohoe.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I am glad the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, is here. I have just come from the audio-visual room where the McDonald report on housing and vulture funds was launched.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Which report?

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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The McDonald report on housing and vulture funds. I hope the Minister will be able to read it. Mr. Edmund Honohan, former Master of the High Court, Mr. Cormac Butler and others spoke. Critical, independent analysis was carried out, and not by NGOs. It is found, and Mr. Edmund Honohan pointed out also, that many areas of legislation are flouted and broken daily in regard to the Land Registry, the vulture funds in the courts and the repossession of homes, farms and property. It is outrageous the Government is allowing this. Some judges, in fairness to them, are waking up to the fact the Land Registry papers that are being offered are totally invalid and fraudulent. The vulture funds do not have any access. They buy the keys of these properties and homes but they have nothing else. They have no documentation. When is the Government going to act? The Minister should read the contents of this report. The problem with housing is not supply, but rather that the Government is allowing vulture funds and other people are allowed to break the law and victimise people and families.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I ask Members to abbreviate the questions and the answers, please.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I have not seen the report.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I know the Minister has not seen it.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I am glad the Deputy has raised it. I will review the report and revert to the Deputy.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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While it is within the remit of the Minister, I wish to raise school transport. It is a huge scheme every year, with 163,000 children availing of it. Properly functioning school transport is an absolute necessity for access to school, to allow people to go to work and for climate change. August and September are a nightmare every year all over the country. The emails I have received, as all TDs have received, describe the utter nightmare because there are not enough drivers or buses. It just simply cannot go on. At some stage we need to actually take action and pre-empt this happening every year rather than having the pain and distress it causes families and their children.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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It is an invaluable service. All of us have been aware of certain issues as the scheme has grown. I have dealt with them in my own constituency in Dublin Fingal as well. It is important to know the Minister, Deputy Foley, has been actively engaged and involved in this. Since 2018, there has been a 38% increase in the number of pupils being provided with school transport. The cost of the scheme has gone up from approximately €200 million to just short of €400 million. Approximately 140,000 tickets are issued. The Deputy knows these statistics. There are still issues and I respect that.

The school transport scheme 2030 report and looking at the review, it is really important. Like in many sectors, there are issues with regard to vacancies. More can be done in respect of bus drivers. We discussed this issue in the context of retirement ages and the difference between private and public bus operators. This is to the forefront of the Minister for Education's agenda. We have issued a significant number of additional tickets this year for this school year. If the Deputy has any other particular issues, she can raise them directly through me and I will get them to the Minister for Education.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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A boil water notice has been in place in my area for the past eight years affecting 9,000 customers. It appears to be costing approximately €500 per year. In the UK, families are now compensated when boil water notices are put in place. Will the Minister give consideration to doing this in this country, particularly for the 9,000 customers who are suffering under this notice for the past eight years?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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It is something I have in mind. We reduced the number of boil water notices in areas that had been under boil water notices in recent years but there are some areas, like the area to which the Deputy refers, which have been under these restrictions. They are a very serious imposition on people and households in that regard. It is costly and it costs business.

At the moment, I am reviewing the Uisce Éireann strategic plan and its plan going forward. I also will seek additional capital funding for Uisce Éireann. It has never had a budget as large as it has now, but it needs more because we have legacy issues that need to be dealt with. We have some areas of the country - I see Deputy O’Sullivan is present as well - about which many Deputies have raised specific schemes, be that with regard to wastewater treatment or drinking water and the quality of that. I am reviewing the Uisce Éireann plan and it is something I am considering.

Francis Noel Duffy (Dublin South West, Green Party)
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I congratulate the Minister on the work he and his Department are doing in housing in the country and in reaching targets we have set in the programme for Government. However, as the State is due to receive more than €14 billion in unpaid tax from Apple, and as discussions are going on with where to invest these funds, we can all agree in the Chamber that it is imperative that some of this money goes into housing. The Green Party is proposing an extra €2 billion goes on top of current housing expenditure to allow for the increased delivery of social and affordable cost-rental housing, which would hopefully, going forward, meet the demand considering the projected population increases and, importantly, resolve the supply deficit we inherited. While an additional €2 billion is not much from the €14 billion from the Exchequer, will he consider that investment?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for his kind words and for all the work he has been engaged with in the past four years in the Oireachtas joint committee and as a colleague of mine in implementing Government housing policy. We have been able to make progress. We still have a lot of work to do and challenges remain. The Deputy has seen from the three party leaders that in relation to any additional capital allocations, there is the budget first. Certainly, I am seeking additional capital funding for 2025 in the budget.

The additional moneys are a matter the Government will discuss and decide on as a whole, but I expect additional investment. We are investing €5.1 billion this year, which is the largest amount we have ever invested in housing. I expect additional funding to be allocated to infrastructure, of which housing, obviously, is a crucially important part. I welcome the Deputy’s support on that.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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Just 1,300 payments have been made or are in the process of being made under the mother and baby homes redress scheme. That is out of 34,000 people who are eligible, not to mention the 24,000 who have been left out of the scheme. Today, I was made aware of a 91-year-old woman who is still waiting. She applied in March. The scheme has been open for six months. Older people were supposed to be prioritised. Another person contacted me earlier this week whose loved one passed away since applying. I ask that the Government looks at the payment scheme and system that is in place, fixes what is there and tries to speed up the payments to these survivors who have frankly been through enough. This needs to be fixed and this needs to be fixed quickly.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this really important issue. The Government has brought forward the mother and baby institutions payment scheme, and rightly so. Applications opened in March. As of 16 September, 5,100 applications had come into the scheme, of which 4,400 were fully completed and have proceeded into the processing system. Approximately 2,700 notices of determination have been issued to applicants, of which more than 82% contain an offer of benefits under the scheme. Applicants have six months to consider the offer before they need to respond. Almost 1,400 payments are either processed and completed or are in the process of being made.

If the Deputy has specific instances, because I know how important that is to someone of advanced age, I ask her to please get the details to us. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, was here earlier for Leaders' Questions. It is important we work together on this scheme to make sure it works for people.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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The Government pledged that children who have a diagnosis of autism and who require either a special class or a special school placement to meet their assessed needs will get those places. Despite the child being in primary school for many years, it should come as no surprise to the Government the child will then progress to secondary school. Yet, each year parents face a last-minute scramble to find such places. This is due to a lack of proper forward planning by the National Council for Special Education and a lack of a political will from Government to tackle this annual issue which unnecessarily stresses out parents, children and schools. Has the Government any ongoing plan to avoid this yearly debacle?

It is just a firefighting exercise constantly.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I assure the Deputy there is no lack of political will. If he looks at what we have been able to achieve in recent years, he will note that over 28,000 children are now being supported in special schools and classes. Since 2019, just five years ago, there has been a 15% increase in the number of special education teachers and a 30% increase in the number of special needs assistants. Budget 2024 – we will be working on this in the provision for next year as well – provided for an additional 744 special education teachers and over 1,200 additional special needs assistants. Eleven special schools have been established since 2019 and there has been €4.8 billion in capital funding. However, from time to time all of us receive specific examples of parents finding it difficult to have their children placed in the appropriate education. We still have to work on that, but I can tell the Deputy there is no lack of political will or investment. We are increasing the numbers of teachers and SNAs in this space, too.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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After the summer break, the Castletown issue remains, unfortunately. The OPW was somewhat distracted by other things in the interim. Several attempts have been made to achieve an interim solution or compromise solution. I am aware that the Minister is familiar with this situation. I ask that a permanent resolution be found because it was the interim solution that brought us to where we are now. The time has come for all heads to come together and ensure this issue will be resolved.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I agree with the Deputy. He and I have discussed this matter on a number of occasions. With regard to anything I can do to support him in bringing about a permanent resolution, he can be assured he will have my support.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for taking my question today. I wish to raise the issue of the difficulty people in Kildysart and adjacent communities in west Clare are experiencing in accessing GP care. For the past several years, the Saffron and Blue clinic has had the medical card contract for the village. Hundreds of people live in it, or thousands when you take in the wider hinterland. The quality of care is fantastic – no one is faulting it – but at a meeting I attended on Monday night it was overwhelmingly clear that people cannot get access to GP care. It is not a Monday-to-Friday service; it is now about six or eight hours per week. I have two asks of the Government. I have also mentioned this matter to the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly. Number one, we need to support rural GPs so they can provide a high level of care directly, and so care can be provided through the Saffron and Blue clinic. Additionally, the Government needs to have oversight such that the HSE medical card contract in the area will be adhered to. I refer to the distance rule and availability. Patients should not be asked to drive 21 km to the village of Clarecastle.

I thank the Minister because we have a hub-and-spoke system of healthcare, but if the spokes are not working and healthcare cannot be got in the community, it means even more congested in the hub that is University Hospital Limerick.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I know the Deputy is very passionate about this matter and has met community groups very recently on Kildysart and the provision of GP services there. He can be assured that I will raise this directly with the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, and revert to him directly.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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I was listening intently to the debate this morning on the tenant in situ scheme. I need to ask the Minister a specific question. I have been dealing with the Housing Agency. A family living in my estate is approved for the Housing Agency's cost-rental tenant in situ scheme. The two-bedroom house went on the market for €290,000. It appears the Housing Agency bid for it but a private bid came in for €340,000, ironically at the same cost as the controversial bike shed. The Housing Agency could not go any higher with its offer. I have been struggling to get transparency from the agency. There are similar houses in the area going for up to €100,000 more than the house in question. It was well within the acquisition cost guidelines for the area. I cannot get a straight answer from the Housing Agency as to what went on. It will not talk to you directly; it will deal with you only by email. Will the Minister provide me with detailed information on how the Housing Agency valuation process works? Will he liaise with me on this case because it involves a very desperate family with a child with additional needs facing eviction on 30 October, with very few options left on the table?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Is it a cost-rental tenant in situ case?

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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Yes.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy should be able to get details from the Housing Agency.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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I do not.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy might supply me with the details. Just short of 200 homes have been acquired through the cost-rental tenant in situ scheme. We will be legislating for that in the coming weeks to underpin it in primary legislation. That will come forward in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. In the meantime, if the Deputy gives me the details directly, I will raise the matter with the Housing Agency and find out what is happening.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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In 2019, when the number of people living in homeless emergency accommodation exceeded 10,000 for the first time, the Minister denounced the Fine Gael Government for shattering yet another record. He went on to say this could not continue and promised Fianna Fáil would fix the housing crisis. He is now coming towards the end of his term as Minister for housing and there are now 14,429 people living in emergency homeless accommodation. Shamefully, this includes 4,401 children who are growing up without a home. That is a staggering increase of 66% since the Minister took office. At the same time under his watch, there are local authorities that have not been turning around social homes for more than a year. In Limerick, for example, social homes have been sitting empty for an average of 62 weeks before being re-let. How is it that the Minister has not tackled the scandalous waste of social housing in his term in office?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I referred to this earlier. We had Priority Questions today and questions to the Ministers responsible for housing. I note that we had no questions in from the Social Democrats this morning with regard to housing.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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We did not have Priority Questions.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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They had no questions in at all on the topic.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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The Minister should look at the questions paper. That is not true.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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All right. I withdraw that. My apologies.

To answer the Deputy's question, we need to continue to increase housing output, and we are doing that. Many challenges remain but, unquestionably, we have taken a step up. We need to deliver more social homes and we are doing that. We are doing it in our own area of Fingal, even with continued objections to one of our biggest schemes from the Social Democrats. Balmoston in Donabate-----

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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That is not true.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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One thousand two hundred homes-----

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Just not true.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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-----the Deputy's party voted against.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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That is absolutely not true. We wanted all of them to be affordable.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy's party voted against 253 affordable and 253 social homes, so what I would say-----

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Not true. We wanted them all to be affordable. We did not want it sold to a private developer.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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If the Deputy really wants to help, he should stop objecting-----

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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That is not an objection.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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-----to homes in his own constituency,-----

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Untrue, untrue, untrue.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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-----stop objecting to homes across Fingal and support the Government in the provision of social homes.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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The Minister should answer the question.

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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I want to talk about the critical shortage of gardaí in Tipperary. Towns and villages such as Roscrea, Templemore, Newport and Borrisokane are extremely short of gardaí. The fact that we do not have our own Garda division anymore is a complicating factor. Unfortunately, there has been a very significant rise in burglaries lately in our county.

I was informed by a senior garda in Tipperary that if senior gardaí want to avail of overtime for their workforce, they now have to get permission from Dublin. This just cannot work practically; it is just not feasible. If there is an accident on the motorway – we have many kilometres of motorway in north Tipperary – or another incident, Garda overtime will be needed urgently. It is just not practical for a senior garda to have to get sanction from Dublin. I urge the Minister to speak to the Commissioner and have the decision reversed.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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On first hearing that, it seems to make absolutely no sense that a Garda division would need to seek specific approval for overtime in a particular region. I will raise the matter with the Minister for Justice and get her to talk directly to the Deputy. The Government is committed to increasing Garda numbers. Garda resources, provision and visibility are crucial. We will continue to recruit gardaí in that space but I will raise the matter with the Minister for Justice.

Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein)
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I want to raise the issue of the lack of 24-7 acute mental health beds in Wexford. I ask this in the context of the closure of St. Senan's Hospital way back in 2006. Nine acute mental health beds were closed at the hospital and it was promised they would be relocated elsewhere in County Wexford, but this never happened. Fast forward to today, somebody who has a mental health difficulty or breakdown outside the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. between Monday and Friday has nowhere to go but to the accident and emergency department, which is often not the most appropriate place for somebody in a mentally distressed state. What steps are being taken to deliver 24-7 acute mental health beds in County Wexford so people can get the right care in the right place and, crucially, at the right time?

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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If the Deputy gives me the specific details, I will raise the matter with the Minister for Health on his behalf.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Today, the Department of Education celebrates its 100th birthday. In 100 years, Ireland has moved from being a country with the poorest educational progression in Europe, with fewer than one in eight getting beyond primary level, to a country with the highest level of education participation. Thirty years ago this year, a national convention on education was held.

Given the watershed moment now in education, with massive changes in terms of digital, social media and the failure to reform adequately our leaving certificate, we need to consider having once again a national convention on education where these new challenges would be addressed and we would carve out a pathway for the future.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Bruton who, as always, makes a very important intervention. The whole environment has changed for school children, particularly with the prominence of social media and mobile phone devices. That is a debate that has been happening across the way. It might be timely on the 100th anniversary of the Department of Education to look at that again. I will certainly speak to the Minister, Deputy Foley, and inform her of Deputy Bruton's intervention and comments.

Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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I have to raise the disastrous roll-out of the defunct pilot school transport scheme in County Clare. I hope it is not replicated in other rural areas. There has been a cluster of serious safety concerns. All I have received in response from the Minister is reference to another review. There had to be major backwards and forwards with the parents and Bus Éireann. I thank all of the parents for their huge work in this area. Inappropriate locations have been chosen for bus stops. We had 280 children at a stop in a pub car park on a busy main road with no bus shelter. There was a stop at the side of the dual carriageway until the parents had to push back. On 2 September, children were seated three to a seat and standing in stairwells. Then there is a crazy issue of no seat belts on the 316 bus at 7:55 a.m. This shows little regard for road safety and duty of care and the minimal planning done in this regard. Only this week has a more suitable bus been found but we have no clarification whether that is a permanent fixture.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I ask the Deputy to give me the details. All of us, and the Minister, Deputy Foley, have been very involved in the bus transport scheme. I have found her office to be extremely helpful in that regard. Bus Éireann and its inspectors have a role in it with regard to the routes and where the stops are. I have come across an issue in my own area very similar to the one the Deputy raised. Thankfully, we have just very recently resolved it. I found the school transport division in the Department of Education to be extremely helpful. I take it the Deputy has written to that division and has formalised the representation. If she gets that information to me, I will raise the case with the Minister, Deputy Foley.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will raise my favourite hobby horse, namely, Uisce Éireann. It was raised previously by other colleagues. The Minister is obviously familiar with the situation in Cork city, where there is discoloured and contaminated water on a continual basis. TDs in the Cork constituencies attended a meeting two weeks ago with Uisce Éireann. It became clear that Uisce Éireann is trying to divert resources into solving the city's ongoing issues. The replacement of cast-iron pipes there is going to take decades. Let us be straight about it. In the short term Uisce Éireann has identified other water treatment plants and wastewater treatment plants in the city on which it can do some mitigating works. It will not be ready to do that until quarter 2 of 2025. It is diverting reources from other projects to try to get those works done. I cannot stress how important it will be to ensure people in Cork city get proper drinking water. We need to ensure the upcoming budget provides an increase in funding for Uisce Éireann to do that.

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. We have discussed these particular issues in Cork city and beyond. I am meeting the chief executive and the incoming chairperson of Uisce Éireann. I will seek additional funding for Uisce Éireann on the capital side to carry out additional works. The Deputy referred to Cork city. That is a big piece of work. Another scheme that we discussed is the Carrignavar scheme. There are others where I would like to see Uisce Éireann provide a focused programme to address some of the legacy issues and improve the lot. I will be seeking additional capital funds above and beyond what has been allocated already. I need to mandate Uisce Éireann to carry out certain works as part of that too. I have found my engagement with the company to be very decent heretofore. It is doing a good job, spending the money it has and investing it, but we need to take a further step up. People have been very patient in Cork and Cork city with regard to problems they have had. I thank the Deputy for raising the issue with me. I will revert to him directly on the matter.