Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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We move on to Questions on Policy or Legislation. I ask that the questions take no longer than a minute and that the answers take no longer than a minute.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Nothing angers and frustrates people more than seeing wastage of public money. Of course, the litany of overspends and wastages under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael is endless. We could go back to the electronic voting machines; the €150 million spent on the MetroLink, which still does not a have a timeframe; NAMA giveaways; and projects with seemingly unlimited budgets and zero accountability. After each such controversy, the Government says that lessons have been learned. Perhaps the Tánaiste could tell us what lessons the Government intends to learn from a bike shelter that cost €336,000 or a security hut that fleeced the Irish people of €1.5 million. Is the lesson simply that Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael cannot build hospitals, houses or even bike shelters without squandering taxpayers' money and that they are incapable of protecting the Irish people from such wastage?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I would tell the Deputy to travel around the country and look at the new schools that have been opened and built and which he has visited. They were not a waste of money. I do not think we can extrapolate from the bike shed outside that every other piece of infrastructure represents no value for money or represents excessive expenditure. We need balance and perspective in debate all the time. Some very fine projects have been completed under the capital infrastructure programme, including schools, hospitals and roads. That is the overall picture. I do not think we can look at everything through the lens of what was in my view excessive spending in terms of the bike shed. I am not fully au fait with the security pavilion at the Department of Finance. It is my understanding that the OPW deals with all of that. It is stretching it to suggest that Ministers are going to get involved in the nitty-gritty of every security contract. That is not the way it works. There have to be proper checks and balances. The Comptroller and Auditor General is there-----

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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There will be cheques all right.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----to oversee public expenditure and the Deputy knows that. I note from Sinn Féin's budget that its confidence and capacity to spend money has not stopped it from proposing billions of euro more expenditure than anyone else is proposing.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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This morning, the well-known 14-year-old disability rights campaigner from Ardfinnan, County Tipperary, Cara Darmody, held her monster meeting rally outside Leinster House. Many of us attended and there were many parents there expressing their incredible distress and dissatisfaction at the Government's failure to provide their children with timely assessments of needs and proper services and appropriate school places. Cara is calling on the Government to give a State apology for the pain and suffering that families have experienced with these delays. She is calling for the Government to sign the optional protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Of course, she is calling on Government to stop the HSE from breaking the assessments of needs law and ensure that children are assessed in a timely manner. We know thousands of children are still waiting on assessments. Cara is here with her father, Mark, in the Public Gallery. Will the Tánaiste commit to her today on behalf of the Government to those three asks? Cara has met with the Taoiseach on a number of occasions-----

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

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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-----and she has been tireless in her campaign. I am asking for commitments on her behalf today.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank Deputy Bacik. The Tánaiste, please.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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First of all, I have met with Cara as Taoiseach-----

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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Yes.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----and, indeed, more recently as Tánaiste on the way into Government Buildings. I appreciate the extraordinary commitment she has shown in respect of this issue. It is important to point out the broader picture in terms of children, in particular those with special needs. More than 28,000 children are now being supported in special schools and classes. We have 10,000 more special education teachers under this Government, 5,000 more special needs assistants, 11 new special schools have opened and almost 1,300 new special classes have opened over the last four years. There is, therefore, very significant expenditure. The challenge is on the assessment of need and the provision of therapies. The progressing disability services programme, which was initiated in 2013, is one I do not agree with and something I sought to change within government. There has been huge resistance to that-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The time is up now, Tánaiste.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----and I can discuss that with the Deputy in greater detail. I believe in a school delivery-based model with therapies, and I am progressing that as we speak.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I want to ask the Tánaiste about the task force the Taoiseach commissioned for the city of Dublin. It was one of his first acts when he came into power some four or five months ago. That report has been completed and it is sitting on his desk. I read today that it is intended to be brought to the Cabinet in two weeks' time. Contained within that report are a number of recommendations about restoring flat complexes around Dublin and reanimating O'Connell Street to bring people in to live on that street. It will require a budget. Is it the intention of the Government to allocate funds for that task force in next week's budget?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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First of all, there has been much work with regard to the revitalisation of Dublin and that is ongoing. For example, the revitalisation of O'Connell Street has been long on the agenda, but it has been subject to much debate, controversy and opposition in terms of the development and significant commercial development on O'Connell Street. However, we will support all of the recommendations that will emerge because the perception of city life on the streets of Dublin is that it is not safe. Many people have that perception. It needs to be cleaner and modernised as indeed do other urban areas across the country.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I asked about the task force.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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There is a sense of urban living. Many young people and young women in particular will tell us they do not feel as safe in our cities and in Dublin-----

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

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----as they might have in a previous time.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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What is the point?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I only have one minute to answer.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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What is the point?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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What is your problem?

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I asked about the task force.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The report will be published. I do not have details of the task force. I have not seen it yet. I have not seen it.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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Cara's meeting this morning outside the Dáil was a powerful one. We heard about the horrendous failure by this State of so many children across this country. She made the point that she should not have to be here. She should be in school. She should not have to fight for the rights of her brothers and for the tens of thousands of other children who have been failed. What we get from the Government are empty promises and empty words. It cynically allows motions to pass, with no attempt to actually implement them. There has been a continuation of that failure. I will give the Tánaiste an example. Oisín is an eight-year-old who lives in Templeogue. He has significant additional needs. He requires speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, psychology and feeding therapy. He has been on the list for those supports since 2018 but he has not had a single support - no therapy, no nothing. His mother got an e-mail from the CDNT in Chamber House last week which stated that "we are currently only starting to make children active with the team that we referred in the year 2016". Given that he has been on the list since 2018, that means that at the very best, it is going to be 2026 or 2027 before he gets any supports from the State.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Deputy. He is way over time.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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I could go on.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Please do not go on; you are over time.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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I could speak about Cyra Cahill whose mother is in the Gallery. I intend to speak about her case next week.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy, please.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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Every single day, we could speak non-stop-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy, please, you are over time.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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-----about the failures of this State. We need action, not just words.

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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Hear, hear.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I agree that we need action with respect to the provision of therapy services and assessment of need.

A child does not require a diagnosis to access therapy services. The delays in accessing assessments of need are extremely frustrating. In my view, legislation will be required following the court decision some time back, which upended, if one likes, the HSE's approach to assessments of need. Significant funding has been provided for the children's disability network teams. My view is that we need to go back to a schools-based delivery model, starting with special schools. We have initiated a pilot, but there is a lot of resistance to it within the HSE in particular and among those who advocated for the progressing disability services model. My view is that we need to have a multidisciplinary team-based approach in our schools-----

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

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----beginning with our special schools, so that the occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists and psychologists are in the schools with the teachers. That would be a much more consistent and sustainable model than the one which has not worked to date.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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The overspend and the massive delay that exists in the national children's hospital exists because of the ill-defined, woolly confusion in that hospital contract. The contract for the national children's hospital was signed by the Taoiseach, Simon Harris, and it has proven to be a shambles. It has created an open chequebook for BAM. I have the bill of quantities for the tender for the national maternity hospital. It appears that the Government is again rushing to tender before the job is properly designed. It also appears that the bill of quantities for the national maternity hospital is as half-baked as the contract for the national children's hospital. I understand that there are only two companies now tendering for the mechanical elements of the national maternity hospital contract. It appears that the Government is heading for the same procurement car crash for the national maternity hospital that exists for the national children's hospital.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Deputy. The time is up.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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The Government is incinerating taxpayers' money.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The time is up.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Will the Government review the tender process for the national maternity hospital, given the fiasco over the national children's hospital?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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First, the question of definitive design has been raised in respect of the national children's hospital. The PwC report goes into considerable detail on errors and mistakes that were made at the time-----

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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They were signed off on.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----in terms of the development of the national children's hospital and so on, and all of that. On the national maternity hospital, the delay was more on the political side in terms of getting that project off the ground.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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That was your fault.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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When you delay, you increase costs. We had a farcical debate in here on that question for far too long.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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That is a different question.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is relevant to costs, and the increased costs.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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The question is about the bill of quantities.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is ridiculous to suggest that politicians now have to oversee every bill of quantity in respect of every hospital that is going to be built.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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They must make sure it is done right.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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That is just ridiculous. Are we really going to get into the operational issues pertaining to the building of a hospital or a school?

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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We are out of time now.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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We have systems and procedures.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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They are not working.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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We will change the procedures and the systems.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Not in this contract.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The idea that I will revise-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The time is up.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----the bill of quantities is just farcical. In my humble opinion, the agencies responsible need to do their job. They need to do it properly and effectively.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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The buck stops with the Minister.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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We have procedures here where we try to stick to a minute but nobody is paying any attention.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I apologise.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I too want to issue a fíor fáilte to Cara Darmody and her father, Mark. I wish her two brothers and mother, who are at home, well. I know the Darmody family all my life. I know Cara's grandfather and grandmother. They are a hard-working, decent family. Why does Cara Darmody have to leave her school to come up here in the rain today, as she does every day, to lobby for a law that has been broken? The Tánaiste has been talking about his opinion. He is in power. He met Cara as Taoiseach and as Tánaiste. She has met the present Taoiseach several times. It is like a merry-go-round. The law is being broken by the HSE. She has a simple ask - that the Government does not allow the laws that it makes to be flouted by an agency of the State - full stop. She is campaigning for children to get their assessment of need. If they cannot get that basic service, they cannot go anywhere. Does the Tánaiste know how frustrating it is for a family? I hear all the time from families in Tipperary who raise different cases. Could the Tánaiste please answer the questions? He is going around them. It is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. He is providing his opinion. He is in government. He sees the waste with the children's hospital. He also sees the waste with the maternity hospital.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Deputy. The time is up.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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He is not listening to anything.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The time is up.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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The State has a duty of care to Cara, her two brothers, and children like them.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy should please stop. The time is up.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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As I said, on the education side, very significant investment and progress have been made in special education.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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The Tánaiste should answer the question about Cara.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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That is the first thing. I acknowledge that is not so much the case on the therapies side. I am not happy with that situation.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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What about the law-breaking?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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In terms of what has to happen, first, the CDNT teams and the HSE are endeavouring to recruit, but they are not getting sufficient numbers applying to put the full teams in place. There is a fundamental issue there in terms of recruitment and retention of therapists on the paediatric side and within children's areas more generally. That is a very practical challenge that the HSE has not been able to overcome.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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The HSE is breaking the law.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The bottom line is that we need more therapists and children need more access to them as fast as we can possibly provide it.

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

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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I also support Cara and her call for the optional protocol of the UNCRPD to be ratified. I ask the Tánaiste to do that before the end of this Dáil's term.

I want to follow up on an email I received from a constituent about the fact that the fuel allowance has not increased since 2020. Between 2020 and 2022, household energy bills more than doubled, totally eroding the efficiency of these targeted supports. The energy allowances now barely cover standing charges. In that time, we saw those living in energy poverty rise to levels as high as 40%. While universal energy credits can assist many people, what is needed is an increase in the targeted energy supports, which have been almost totally eroded in the past four years, as there were no increases. Does the Tánaiste agree that the fuel allowance does not meet the needs of the people who receive it? Does he agree that the fuel allowance should be extended to those on the working family payment?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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First, the Minister for children will bring a memorandum to the Government in the next while to get a positive decision on the ratification of the optional protocol.

The Government has significantly expanded the number of people entitled to the fuel allowance.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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It has not increased the actual amount.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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In the past two years in particular, we dramatically provided additional supports for those on the free fuel allowance-----

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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I refer to targeted supports.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----in respect of the energy crisis and the increased costs. We have gone over and above what would have been the norm in respect of the amounts of money allocated in the past two years.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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They were once-off payments that do not deal with the issue.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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We are running out of time. I ask people to please abbreviate their questions and answers.

Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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In anticipation of a budget increase for the Department of Rural and Community Development, could we ensure that pay for staff in public participation networks, PPNs, is regularised? It would take just €1.5 million to bring PPN staff in line with their peers, such as community development partnership co-ordinators and sports partnership co-ordinators. In many cases, they are peers working in the same buildings but PPN staff are expected to work for reduced rates. Currently, the PPN support worker is a temporary grade 3 contract. It must be made permanent and upgraded. It is in contrast with our new integration units where we have a grade 7 co-ordinator, two grade 6 support workers and one clerical officer at grade 4. If we take Longford as an example, after ten years our hard-working co-ordinator is still at grade 5 and the support worker is a temporary grade 3. The Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, is well aware of the work they do in Longford, so I do not need to point it out. The Longford service operates with a paltry budget of just €25,000 to €30,000.

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

Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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It is expected to run a county-wide network. We need to support PPNs. They are in the front line of community development and support.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I also acknowledge the work of the PPNs, which were initially established about ten years ago. They are independent bodies that operate in every local authority area. Their function is to make the connection between local policy development and local community and voluntary environmental bodies as well. My Department funds the PPN office in every local authority area. Because they are relatively new, we underwent a structural review recently and we have just completed the implementation plan on that. There were issues with how PPNs functioned in terms of their relationships with local authorities and pay issues arose in the review as well. We have the implementation plan and we will publish it very soon. I have received requests from individual PPNs for salary and wage increases. We will not be able to do that across all PPNs in the budget, given all the asks I have received. I am endeavouring to give them an increase in the budget but I cannot confirm the scale of it.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Minister of State.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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Unfortunately, it will not be of the scale they are looking for.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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There is chaos on commuter rail services since the changes at the end of August. I have constituents contacting me who use Laytown station, and Gormanston and Drogheda. The changes at the end of August have led to widespread delays, overcrowding on platforms and overcrowded trains. It is a well raised issue. There is concern in our county as well that there are changes coming for the bus services. There has not been good engagement in relation to that. We look at the Tánaiste's own county and city in terms of the challenges there. Will the Tánaiste talk to the Minister for Transport to ensure that Irish Rail goes back either to the initial schedule or implements a schedule that works for commuters because the current system is completely unacceptable, and, similarly, in relation to the Bus Éireann changes?

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Is the Minister of State, Deputy Lawless, taking this?

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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I will take that for the Department of Transport. I am aware of those issues on the northern commuter line. The Kildare line is affected as well. A number of the greater Dublin area routes are affected. The core issue is the Enterprise line to Belfast which has gone from two-hourly to hourly. That is a service improvement but it has a knock-on effect. Signalling into Connolly needs to be improved as well. I am engaged with other representatives and am meeting Irish Rail on that issue next week. I met them in August as well. I am meeting them again next week. I am aware of the issue. I am working on it.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Covid has taken the lives of over 9,500 citizens to date in our country. It was a shock and an appalling vista to all of those families who lost those loved ones. As a supporter of the Government, I want to know what we are going to do in relation to learning the lessons from the deaths from Covid. Ninety per cent of those deaths were people aged over 65.

Older people are queuing up now in doctors' surgeries right around the country to get their welcome Covid injection to help them if and when it comes again in a pandemic. A new pandemic could well be on the way.

There is one nursing home, Dealgan House, which during Covid was the only nursing home in the country where the HSE had significant care and governance issues arising. Families lost 23 family members in that nursing home. The HSE went in there for a reason. We do not know the full facts. The only way we will find the facts is through an inquiry into that nursing home. Would the Tánaiste agree it is time to have that inquiry now?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Government has undertaken a lot of work in respect of an evaluation of how the nation did in respect of Covid-19, which was an extremely traumatic and devastating time for many families across the country who lost their loved ones. No doubt vaccination changed the course of the pandemic and enabled us to live with Covid into the future, but it still is a dangerous virus, particularly for older people. That is why vaccination is essential, in my view, and why we urge people to get their annual vaccination in respect of Covid and the flu.

There will be a national evaluation. We are looking for personnel to lead-up that evaluation but much of the work has been done in respect of it.

In terms of specific inquiries into specific locations, that is a matter on which a decision has not been made. Whether one covers that under the overall national evaluation or a different mechanism for the specific issues that the Deputy has raised is something the Government is open to considering.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I have so many families around the county of Carlow whose children were refused places on the local school bus. For example, Bus Éireann has a private operator in Rathvilly, which is a small rural part of Carlow, but one of the buses is a 24-seater. I have asked for a bigger bus, a 52-seater, which would sort out a huge issue in that area. This bus goes from Rathvilly to Tullow Community School. I am engaging with Bus Éireann on a weekly basis. We are back now. It is the fifth week back in the school term and I am being told there are empty seats on buses. Bus Éireann is telling me that no one has returned their tickets. There are so many children looking for school places this year. I have never seen anything like it. We need to have commonsense, get more buses and bigger buses. It would solve a lot of issues.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy Lawless, is that your baby?

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Not school buses.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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First, I will talk to the Minister for Education in respect of this specific issue. I am surprised that Bus Éireann has not conceded yet. Given that Deputy Murnane-O'Connor is in weekly engagement with them, I would have thought-----

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Every week.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----that, given the manner in which she approaches these agencies with her tenacity, they would have caved in by now. Anyhow, in a serious vein, it is a serious issue. I think there is an issue with some people getting tickets but not using them and then taking up seats that other people would use. We need to resolve that. I will talk to the Minister to see what we can do.

Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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Bhí sé iontach a bheith ar Inis Mór roinnt seachtainí ó shin i gcomhair sheoladh oifigiúil otharcharr nua Inis Mór. Bhí súil ag muintir Inis Oírr go bhfaigheadh siad sean-otharcharr Inis Mór ach ní bhfuair mar gheall go raibh sé i ndroch-chaoi. Tuigim sin ach is léir go dteastaíonn otharcharr ó Inis Oírr. Tá beagnach 350 duine ar Inis Oírr agus i rith an tsamhraidh bíonn breis agus 3,000 duine ag teacht chuig an oileán ar bhonn laethúil. Faoi láthair, úsáidtear feithiclí atá ar an oileán ach ní léiríonn sé sin an meas agus an t-ómós cuí do na hothair agus, ar ndóigh, níl sé praiticiúil ach an oiread. Tuigim go mbeadh costas thart ar €300,000 i gceist. Tá cáinaisnéis an tseachtain seo chugainn agus tuigim go bhfuil airgead sa chiste. An féidir leis an Teachta Martin, mar Thánaiste agus mar iar-Aire Sláinte oibriú leis na húdaráis chuí chun otharcharr a chur ar fáil ar Inis Oírr?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Mar a dúirt an Teachta, is iontach an scéal é go bhfuil otharcharr nua in Inis Mór anois. Níl aon ionadh orm go bhfuil muintir Inis Oírr ag lorg otharchairr chomh maith. Fuair an tAire Sláinte an-chuid airgid i mbliana agus, faoi láthair, don bhliain seo chugainn tá sé ag lorg níos mó airgid agus áiseanna. De réir dealraimh, tá sé fós ag caint leis an Aire caiteachais, an Teachta Donohoe. Laistigh den mhéid airgid atá aige, b'fhéidir go mbeidh sé in ann níos mó airgead nó infheistíocht a chur ar fáil d'Inis Oírr. Caithfidh mé labhairt leis. Beidh mé sásta labhairt leis agus a rá leis go bhfuil ceist ann anois agus go bhfuil sé mar aidhm ag muintir Inis Oírr otharcharr a fháil.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I want to raise the issue of the cardiology service in Cavan and Monaghan Hospital. GPs in both counties have been written to and told not to refer cardiology patients to the hospital because there is no consultant. The consultant has left to take up another position. They say recruitment is ongoing but that could take months. There is no pathway for referral being outlined to them otherwise. Obviously, emergency cases can still go to the ED but for patients who have already had a heart attack or maybe have angina, irregular heartbeat or whatever, there is no specialist to see to those patients. Patients could die or end up with heart failure. It is a serious issue and it needs to be addressed immediately.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Is it the absence of cardiologists in Cavan-Monaghan?

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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In Cavan-Monaghan.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Okay. I will talk to the Minister for Health in relation to that. There should be alternative pathways of referral for people with challenges in respect of cardiac disease notwithstanding the fact that they are currently recruiting, as the Deputy said, for a cardiologist. I will talk to the Minister for Health.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Earlier, the Tánaiste acknowledged that PDS is continuing to fail as a policy in terms of providing for the needs of children, particularly in special schools. I want to raise the pilot scheme that the Tánaiste referenced as well earlier in relation to the reintroduction of therapists into special schools. The Tánaiste referenced that there were considerable roadblocks to this pilot being reintroduced. It took the HSE nearly four weeks from the return of schools to touch base with the schools that were chosen as part of the initial six special schools. As the Tánaiste will be aware, there is a further ten schools that are earmarked to be announced at the end of October. Bearing in mind that the HSE's tardiness in touching base with those six schools, I urge that those next ten be brought forward for decision. The reason I ask is that there is a provision for private funding of therapists to be used as an interim measure and, as the Tánaiste will be well aware, St. Killian's in my constituency has that private therapy team lined up ready to go but they are all awaiting that announcement of the further ten schools. I urge the Tánaiste to try and bring that date forward.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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First, I thank the Deputy, who has been pursuing this issue for quite some time. In my view, on the pilot scheme, I would prefer a much wider scheme. We are three parties in government. I have very clear views as to what we need to do now and that is a wholly school-based multidisciplinary delivery model. On the issues around recruitment of therapists, the HSE clearly has issues in terms of recruiting therapists.

This was a pilot that was agreed between all of the different parties - the National Council for Special Education, HSE, education and health - and there were still delays in getting the first six off the ground. That is now happening but it illustrates the kind of deep-rooted resistance to this model of in-school delivery and a multidisciplinary model within schools.

I am hoping the next ten schools will come on stream as quickly as possible and that they will be announced certainly before the end of this year.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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This morning Cara Darmody committed to protest every week from now on unless the Government fully and immediately takes action to vindicate the rights of children with additional needs. It needs to give her those commitments and undertake those actions. I promised the parents of a child named Frankie that I would mention him. He is four-and-a-half years old. He has autism. He has global developmental delay, sensory issues, low muscle tone and a genetic condition. He lives with his family in an overcrowded council house. Two specialists have asked the council to prioritise the family for a transfer because he is a flight risk and they have nowhere to go. They have to tape the doors closed when the mum is going to the bathroom in case Frankie flies out the door. The council has refused the medical priority which was appealed for by two specialists for Frankie. It is unbelievable. Something needs to be done for Frankie and his family, but this is emblematic of our failure of children with additional needs. It has to stop.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The council has the wherewithal. The criteria are clear if there are issues like that. Clearly young Frankie has real issues and that justifies emergency provision of alternative housing for that child and family. I cannot comprehend how that has not happened. If the Deputy gives me the details, I will see what I can do to pursue that specific case and the broader issue. I have dealt with the optional protocol and have already spoken about the broader issue, although on limited time because it is only a minute. It is difficult to discuss the thing at greater length.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Maybe the Tánaiste will talk to Cara.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Yes.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I am raising the issue of Bord na Móna employees and pensioners. A number of years ago, as part of the just transition programme, and in recognition that they received no wage increase for approximately 15 years, shares were issued with an option for employees and pensioners to either sell or retain them. Until this year those shares were receiving dividends. This year Bord na Móna unfortunately took the decision to part retain its dividends and said the dividends would be paid over the next five years. That is on the backdrop of last year being one of its most profitable years on record. Given the State's involvement and the Government's interest in Bord na Móna, I first ask if the Government was consulted about this decision to retain the dividends and pay them out over five years. Second, will the Minister with responsibility for Bord na Móna speak to the CEO to see if the dividends can be paid out in full this year rather than paying them out over five years?

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Please, Deputy, the time is up.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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The employees and pensioners have been co-operative in the transition of Bord na Móna over the past number of years.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the issue in respect of the employees of Bord na Móna. I will talk to the Minister and alert him to the fact that the Deputy has raised this with a view to him engaging with Bord na Móna to see if this issue can be resolved.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The standard that underpins the defective concrete blocks scheme is IS 465. It is widely agreed that this standard is now not fit for purpose. Indeed, it is discredited. Despite this, engineers acting on behalf of the State through the Housing Agency have overruled more than 100 recommendations from qualified engineers representing homeowners. We now have confirmation from the National Standards Authority of Ireland that IS 465 will be amended-----

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Which standard?

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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IS 465. This standard will now take account of pyrrhotite internal sulfate attack. I ask the Tánaiste and his colleague, the Minister for housing, to urgently ask the engineers in the Housing Agency to pause this overruling that has no credibility and to await the outcome of the National Standards Authority of Ireland developing a standard we can trust so we can move forward together.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will discuss this with the Minister for housing. The Government has been anxious to progress this scheme to get houses remediated, repaired, restored and built anew if that is required. I will certainly talk to the Minister, but the agenda of the Government is to work with people to get these houses-----

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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So, you will pause this practice.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I did not say that. I said I will talk to the Minister. He is dealing with this in a more detailed manner.

Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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There is endless delay to the permanent building for Gaelscoil Ruairí in Maynooth which was to move from stage 2B during the summer, only it has not budged. Is breá agus is iontach é go bhfuil an dara Gaelscoil ag teastáil i Maigh Nuad mar tá éileamh ann. The families of north County Kildare live in real time, and they see their children's lives slipping away in a prefab. Parents want the specifics of where the plan is. They want the precise date this Government will move on to the next stage. Will the Tánaiste please get in touch with Gaelscoil Ruairí and finalise this date?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Beidh mé ag caint leis an Aire Oideachais níos déanaí. Níl aon amhras orm go bhfuil rudaí atá freagrach as an moill. Bhí mé ag caint leis an gComhairleoir Naoise Ó Cearúil chomh maith agus tá a fhios agam faoin gceist seo. Tá mé sásta go ndéanfaimis ár n-iarracht an scoil a thógáil chomh tapa agus is féidir linn.