Last June I raised the issue of the collapse of the HSE dental services across the State and since then the situation has gotten far worse, to the extent that the Irish Dental Association now believes that there are only 750 dentists actively treating medical card holders. This has led to shocking waiting lists across the State and also to the denial of services to countless people. There are more than 10,000 people on orthodontics lists waiting longer than a year and half of those people are waiting longer than three years. That is not acceptable for any patient or for any condition anywhere. Can the Taoiseach explain to me why there has not been an intervention from the Department of Health to deal with this growing crisis? Why are there no serious talks between the Department and the dentists to fix the dental treatment contract and to prioritise preventative oral healthcare? How will the Government ensure that older people, including workers and families on the lowest incomes, can access the good dental treatment they require?

There has been intervention, as I explained to the House earlier. An extra €10 million was allocated in the budget, which is available to provide for dental services on an interim basis to medical card holders. There have been discussions between the Irish Dental Association, private contractors and the State, which represents the people and which wants to do the best for the people. It is time an interim solution was found based on the money that has already been allocated, and I would appeal to the Irish Dental Association to engage constructively on the utilisation of that funding.

Momentum is growing for the amalgamation of the GAA, the Ladies Gaelic Football Association and the Camogie Association, which I welcome. It is a matter for all the individual associations but the One Club model is working well and there is recognition that we must progress, move on and-----

I doubt there is any legislation planned on that.

You would never know.

This is a first.

I am a strong supporter of this and I know the Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Chambers, has been a strong advocate for one body if that is the will of all concerned.

I agree.

We should then resource that adequately. Based on the funding that was recently allocated to sporting bodies, we would see strong funding allocated to women’s Gaelic football and camogie across the length and breadth of the country-----

In relation to works at Carlow Castle, OPW have just completed the structural remediation works to the south eastern tower following storm damage and the site has been open once again to the public since October 2021. Additionally, some localised fencing has been placed on site to keep visitors back from the face of certain walls within the castle complex.

These areas require further structural investigations and assessments and provision has been made in this years budget to allow for these surveys to be completed before a works programme can be put in place for possible further remediation works.

With regard to works to the railings at Carlow Courthouse, the contract value for this project is €419,181 excluding VAT and works are currently underway on site.

-----and to women’s rugby and soccer as well. We will not be found wanting, and nor was the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, in allocating the largest amount of funding for sports ever. This includes clubs as well, which are important to communities.

If they come together will the Government give them a few bob?

Yes. Well-----

If the Taoiseach and Deputy Kelly want to have a conversation about it they should do so outside.

It would be more than a few bob.

The Taoiseach could have said that.

In recent weeks a school in west Cork has told its early intervention classes to close. After a local campaign this decision was rightly reversed, which is welcome news. However, it is still of huge concern that the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, plans to phase out early intervention classes nationwide in favour of the access and inclusion model. Needless to say, that would be a disaster. Since then I have been doing my best to try to get answers. At a committee meeting last week the NCSE had a worrying and evasive response. Where we would expect it to say that is absolutely not the case, it said it is waiting on the findings of an access and inclusion model, AIM, report and did not want to comment. Since then it and the Department have just ignored my questions so today thanks to the Ceann Comhairle I raised it with the Minister for Education at the Topical Issue debate and she also did not answer the question. I do not expect him to know the answer in this exact moment but I have tried every other avenue to try to get an answer to this question, so will the Taoiseach please look into it?

In my days as Minister for Education, I was responsible for bringing in early intervention classes, especially language classes, in national schools, which proved to be highly effective in terms of outcomes for children with language difficulties, in particular, or other difficulties. I am a passionate believer in early intervention. I will discuss this with the Minister for Education. The National Council for Special Education has statutory remit and freedom to commission reviews and to put forward policies. We have to acknowledge that. Of course, that does not take away our right to interrogate that policy. I believe in early intervention on the ground. We should not take away resources that are there already.

In the programme for Government, the Taoiseach committed to a shared future for all, in the aftermath of Covid. He and the Tánaiste repeatedly said that workers who have played a key role in keeping our society going during Covid should get a reward. Will the Taoiseach comment on the shocking efforts by Aer Lingus, the national flag carrier, to try to impose a pay freeze on 1,000 ground staff until 2024 and a 10% reduction in its rostered allowances, against which the workers have now voted twice? In the most recent result in the past few days, 85% of the workers voted against this shocking attempt to cut their pay. These workers are faced with inflation which is now, according to the Department of Finance, looking as though it will go up to 7% because of events in Ukraine and Aer Lingus expects them to take effective pay cuts. Will the Taoiseach join with me in commending those workers in rejecting this disgraceful pay cut from a company that got huge amounts of public money-----

Deputy, please.

-----from this Government during the Covid pandemic?

The Deputy was correct in saying that the company received very substantial funding from Government through EWSS and other aviation supports, both for airlines and airports, during Covid-19. The airlines took a huge hit, as we know, throughout the pandemic. That has to be acknowledged as well. However, the successful way to retain good quality employees, staff and so on is to reward them and acknowledge their contribution during Covid-19. It was not their particular fault-----

The same company gave a 10% pay increase to British Airways workers. I forgot to say that.

-----and there are mechanisms. We do not engage here in operational decisions of companies but, clearly, from basic principles and values, workers' efforts should be acknowledged.

A number of recent economic reports into the Irish horse sector have shown that the vast majority of people involved in this industry, especially in horse breeding, have small holdings with five breeding mares or less. The equine sector comes under the remit of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, but has not benefited from any capital investment grants or direct support from CAP. There are currently 27,000 farmers registered on the Department's database with equine premises. These farmers in Tipperary and throughout rural Ireland would greatly benefit from the inclusion of their sector in target agriculture modernisation schemes, TAMS, to be funded under the new CAP regime from January 2023. Essential infrastructure, such as stabling, arenas, horse fencing, outwintering paddocks and horse handling facilities should be incorporated and eligible for funding under the scheme. Will the Taoiseach request that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine examine inclusion of this integral part of Irish agriculture in such a scheme and engage directly with representatives of the thoroughbred and sports sector?

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of equine farming. A variety of items are available in the suite of seven measures under TAMS. I understand that grant aid is available for horse stocks under the animal welfare and nutrient storage scheme and the young farmer capital investment scheme. That said, I will talk to the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, and the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, about the issues the Deputy has raised this morning to see whether more can be done.

Each year, the Heritage Services division in the Office of Public Works carries out a programme of international and domestic marketing actions to promote all heritage visitor sites in its management and care.

The megalithic tombs of Loughcrew are an extraordinary part of our national heritage which are particularly vulnerable and require careful conservation and management. Unfortunately, in recent years there have been increases in reports of damage to archaeological monuments including Loughcrew Cairns.  As a result, promotional efforts relating to Loughcrew will focus on reminding people of the importance of protecting this significant heritage site and, indeed, all of our country’s unique archaeological and architectural heritage sites, many of which are extremely vulnerable.

This messaging strategy follows on from the ‘Protect our Past’ campaign run jointly by the OPW and the National Monuments Service of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in 2021 which  focused on raising awareness of the value, importance and uniqueness of Ireland’s archaeological heritage together with conveying the key messages for appropriate visitor behaviour at vulnerable heritage sites to ensure their survival in the landscape so that they can be enjoyed by present and future generations.

It is also worth noting that only one of the cairns at Loughcrew is in State ownership and that is accessible to the public at all times.  This is one of the largest tombs in the complex and it is aligned to sunrise at the Spring and Autumn equinoxes and at these times people gather there to see the first rays of the sun.  The monument attracted in excess of 28,000 visitors in 2019, but like many such sites, visitor numbers were negatively impacted by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

This is not something we need to raise.

How do we raise it? I have written to all the agencies and got no or little response. It has been very vague. This man needs justice.

I cannot comment. I have not seen the letter, to the best of my knowledge, but I think-----

The Taoiseach got it.

I am not saying I did not. I get thousands of communications on an ongoing basis. It is not appropriate for me to comment on something of which I do not have detailed knowledge.

I can show the Taoiseach the details.

We cannot engage in generalisations about An Garda Síochána or others.

There has been huge investment by the Government in primary education. I have heard many positive announcements by the Minister, Deputy Foley, in my constituency. There is one outlier, though. Tubber national school dates back to the 1870s and is absolutely hemmed in and crowded. It is on a triangular site with two very busy roads straddling it. It has no space to expand. On certain days of the week, the teachers ask the pupils to leave their schoolbags at home because they cannot fit in the classroom. I was a teacher for 16 years. I am alarmed by the conditions in the school. The Department of Education urgently needs to come out to inspect it. This needs to be green lighted for a new build on a new site that the school and diocese have acquired.

I welcome the fact the Deputy has raised this issue. Obviously, movement and progress is needed on it. He said the diocese had acquired a new site. The most significant thing in terms of a new school is that the site has been secured. I will speak to the Minister for Education but the fact that the site has been secured facilitates the progression of the project. If one does not get a site, sometimes it can go on for far too long.

I ask the Taoiseach about the appalling situation in Ukraine. Will the Government and our EU partners give consideration to how best we can assist with Russian soldiers who are conscientious objectors to what is happening? Many are fighting a war they do not want to fight and are involved in situations where they are killing men, women and children that they do not want to kill. Could this concept be explored by our Government and our EU partners to see whether there is something we can do to help?

The most effective route to resolving these issues is for Russia to call off this war, de-escalate and end it and to withdraw from Ukraine. The European Union stands ready at all times in terms of a humanitarian response and to facilitate people, such as conscientious soldiers, who have no truck with this war and want to disengage. One will find that the European Union, through all of its agencies, will be facilitative and help out in that situation.

Which regulations?

The Affordable Housing Bill 2021.

The Bill has been passed. That is not the issue here-----

The houses are built.

The houses are built. People want to buy them.

This week marks national eating disorders awareness week. I raise with the Taoiseach the damaging impact social media is having on the self-esteem and mental health of our young people, in particular when it comes to eating disorders. Only a few months ago, the Facebook whistleblower, Ms Frances Haugen, reported that Instagram targets pro-anorexia content towards young girls who show a vulnerability of low self-esteem and negative body image.

The Instagram algorithm is basically selling these young people an eating disorder. Ireland is the European hub for almost all of our social media companies. We have responsibility to address these issues adequately in the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022. What is the Government doing to protect our young people from the dangerous manipulation of social media companies?

That legislation is on Second Stage in the Seanad and represents the most effective way in which we can respond to this very serious issue. In parallel with that are the ongoing programmes in education in terms of building up self-esteem and self-respect among children at the earliest ages. There are a variety of psychologically-informed programmes that can help children to withstand pressures both in-person in yards and so on when meeting other kids in social environments and now with the growing threat from online content.

I also wish to raise the issue of Ukraine. Our people are extremely concerned and worried about the safety and welfare of the people of Ukraine. There would be huge public support for terminating diplomatic relations with Russia and sending the Russian ambassador home. The fast-tracking of Ukraine’s entry into the EU would also be greeted with great relief and support among all people.

I have articulated our support for the acceleration of Ukraine’s membership of the European Union. I made it very clear that in respect of diplomatic channels, our primary concern is not the ambassador but rather Irish citizens who will need our assistance both in Ukraine and potentially Russia as well.

We should not understate the seriousness of that in terms of helping people who right now are very vulnerable and need our assistance. We are getting representations from Deputies and Senators in respect of individuals who need our help right now. That is why it is important that we work in concert with our European Union colleagues on that front and work together in unity.

What has been done so far by the European Union has been very strong. I understand people's anger at the Russian ambassador. The more fundamental point, however, is the importance of the well-being of our citizens and enabling them to be supported.

The Government's retrofitting scheme is geared towards homeowners but there is very little thought given to and even less protection for renters in private rented accommodation. If a landlord decides to retrofit his or her property, he or she can ask the tenant to move out. One might ask where the tenant will go. When that work is done and the BER rating has improved in the property, however, the landlord is then exempt from the limits in the rent pressure zone, RPZ, and can hike up the rents.

Although by law the landlord can invite the tenant to move back into property, if he or she has hiked up the rents, the tenant can no longer remain in that property because the rents have been hiked up. At the minute, property websites are advertising this loophole as a selling point for properties. Threshold and the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, have said this could potentially be a big problem with this scheme. What is the Government going to do to afford protections to renters in private rental accommodation under this scheme and address the problems it may pose for them?

The first point I will make is that the retrofit scheme is very positive. It will provide very significant resources to households generally across the country in terms of insulation and reducing energy costs for ordinary people over time. It will take time to get to critical mass.

A raft of protections have been introduced legislatively by the Minister, whom I will alert to this issue. I know he is aware of it and I will discuss it with him.

Ba mhaith liom aird an Taoisigh a tharraingt ar an bhfeachtas atá á reáchtáil ag Aontas Máistrí Poist na hÉireann, nó the Irish Postmasters’ Union. Bhuail mé le hionadaithe an cheardchumainn i bPort Láirge an tseachtain seo agus cé gur luaigh siad na fadhbanna atá acu, luaigh siad freisin na réitithe ar na fadhbanna sin. Tuigimid go léir an ról tábhachtach agus lárnach atá ag oifigí poist inár bpobail tuaithe agus i bpobail uirbeacha araon, agus an caillteanas ollmhór a bheadh ann dá gcaillfí an gréasán sin. Tá dúshlán le sárú ag na hoifigí poist ina múnlú maoinithe agus aithníodh na dúshláin sin go maith i dtuarascáil Grant Thornton. Tá an ceardchumann ag moladh go maoinítear an tseirbhís trí choimeádán nó retainer, rud a ligfeadh dóibh réimse níos leithne de sheirbhísí Stáit a chur ar fáil. An rachaidh an Rialtas i dteagmháil leis an gceardchumann chun réiteach a fháil ar mhaoiniú do líonra na n-oifigí poist amach anseo?

Bheadh an Rialtas sásta déileáil leis an gceardchumann ó thaobh na ceiste seo agus todhchaí na n-oifigí poist. Is léir go bhfuilimid sásta seirbhísí a leathnú amach. Mar aon leis sin, tá dúshláin an-mhór ann don todhchaí. Níl aon amhras faoi sin. Tá fonn orainn níos mó seirbhísí ón Stát a chur ar fáil, go háirithe in áiteanna iargúlta ar fud na tíre, agus táimid sásta déileáil leis an gceardchumann chun na ceisteanna sin a phlé.

As mentioned last week, the programme for Government focuses on how we can improve services and be more responsive to citizens. As the Taoiseach may be aware, the turnaround time for applications and renewals for passports at the moment is totally unacceptable.

When I came into the Oireachtas 20 years ago, we had a drop box in Leinster House that empowered Deputies and Senators to facilitate urgent passports for members of the public. Some 20 years later, that box is long gone. It can take months, never mind weeks, particularly for young children and new applications. Indeed, anecdotal evidence suggests that depending on who you know or what mobile telephone numbers you have, the turnaround time can be a little bit better but for the vast majority of us, it is disgraceful in the extreme. The process to become a UN envoy seems clearer to the public than managing to get a passport for a child, to visit a sick relative or to go on a modest holiday.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. An extra €10 million was allocated for the passport service in the budget, which was an unprecedented investment in the service. Passport service staff numbers have increased by more than 300 since June of 2021 and additional staff will continue to be recruited, which will bring the staff numbers to more than 900.

The service is back in the 1980s.

No, it is not.

It is.

At the beginning of this month, the capacity of the passport service's public offices in Dublin and Cork increased-----

It is a waste of money for a service that is not working.

Is the Deputy going to listen?

Will the Taoiseach answer the question for a change?

I would if I got a chance.

Do not give me the waffle; I have been around for long enough. It is throwing bad money after bad money for a service that is going down.

Will Deputy MacSharry please let the Taoiseach respond?

It was the Taoiseach who took out the drop box too, which was a typical civil servant-led move.

I have nothing further to add.

Clearly.

The Deputy is not prepared to have a bit of common sense.

The Taoiseach will be very much aware of the devastating flooding in County Wexford on 25 December last. In south County Wexford, hundreds of acres of cereals were destroyed. At the time, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine committed to look into this issue and seek the names of the farmers and lands involved. To date, absolutely nothing has happened. There has been a wall of silence from the Minister and the Department. Can the Taoiseach bring some clarification to this issue?

I will discuss that with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. I hear the points the Deputy made in respect of that issue. The Minister is actively considering this and we are working on it.

I recently raised the issue of the lack of an autism spectrum disorder, ASD, unit in Carrick-on-Suir and to be honest, the discussions I have had with the Department on the matter since have been unsatisfactory. There seems to be an attempt to overestimate the number of spaces available at neighbouring schools.

I want to talk about Sacred Heart Primary School in Roscrea, which had an exceptional review of its mainstream special needs assistant, SNA, allocation in October of last year. The school made this request because in summer 2020, it knew the allocated SNA resources for its mainstream classes were not adequate. Despite numerous emails to the visiting special educational needs organiser, SENO, who carried out the review, the school has heard nothing back since. That has been going on six months into the school year. As a consequence, the school has had no SENO in place since 24 September 2021. As the Taoiseach will appreciate, this is a huge loss locally for the parents and children within the school community. To keep a school in the dark in this way is unacceptable. I am hopeful something can be done to address this immediately. I certainly hope this is not the trend being experienced by other schools and parents around the country.

As the Deputy is aware, the NCSE allocates special needs assistants to schools. Record numbers of SNAs have been allocated again this year. The range of resources for special education continues to significantly increase year on year. I will refer the Deputy’s case, as well as the issue that he has raised, to the NCSE for a response.

As I have done several times before, I wish to raise with the Taoiseach today the issue of funding for the local improvement schemes in Kerry. As I said, I raised this several times last year. I even got the Deputy Chief Whip, Deputy Griffin, interested in the scheme as well. We have had a new list since 2018, which includes applicants since 2007. We got 19 roads done last year. At this rate, it will take 34 or 35 years to complete or to exhaust this list. These are public roads, not private roads like the Department of Finance has said. There is no gate on any one of them. People on these roads pay for everything, from motor tax, to property tax, to income tax. They are ordinary working-class people, people who are going to work, farmers and elderly people who require carers and home help to visit them. Other counties have been allocated funding in proportion to what is on the local improvement scheme list.

The funding was doubled from €10 million to €20 million. The Deputy should acknowledge that.

It does not do much good to double it from eight to 19. That is what happened last year.

It might be useful if the Deputy could send me on the details about how, from his perspective, County Kerry seems to be disadvantaged in relation to other counties. I would like to see the figures.

I wish to bring up the issue of public liability insurance and not for the first time. I want a timeline on when the duty of care legislation will go through. I also want to know if there have been any successes in the office for increasing competition in insurance, particularly in relation to public liability. This is because there are just not enough players in the industry. We are now at a disaster situation. I know that majority of leisure, entertainment and children's entertainment companies, particularly people who are operating bouncy castles, are operating without insurance at present. This is because they cannot get insurance. I am engaging with Insurance Ireland myself. I am also engaging with the Government. We really need to deal with this because it is an absolute disaster. This is the case for community centres, community groups and for businesses. Local authorities will not be able to carry out events. This is a huge issue.

The Deputy's time is up, but he is passionate about the issue of bouncy castles.

First, a whole range and raft of measures have been introduced to reduce insurance costs. I will not go through all the details here. In fact, an update and progress report will soon be published by the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming. Motor insurance has come down by 10% but the bulk of other insurance costs have not yet come down. This is notwithstanding the changes that have been made in the legal system around awards and other measures that have been introduced. Legislation is under consideration. Some legislation about occupier's liability and so on is before the House at the moment. A range of legislative measures is being taken and of course, the PIAB legislation is being piloted by the Minister of State, Deputy Troy.

The inhumane system of direct provision sees companies like Aramark make millions in profits, running what are essentially open prisons for asylum seekers. This is fitting, perhaps, because Aramark also makes money by running for-profit prisons in the US. They have treated those who are in direct provision here appallingly over the years, by serving up terrible food, by intimidating those who speak out and, in one case, by locking the common room on Christmas to prevent families from having a celebration for their kids.

The National Gallery has awarded Aramark a €7.5 million catering contract. Staff, artists and the community have protested against this. Will the Taoiseach join me in expressing solidarity with those who are opposing this? Will he act to ensure that the contract is withdrawn?

First, public procurement is a matter for all of these agencies. It is not for the Oireachtas to decide every individual contract. There is a broader issue, if people wish to reform the procurement process itself. I think we are entering into a new situation if individual Deputies are to decide who will win individual contracts from State agencies. That is the road on which I am not clear that we should be going down, quite frankly. It is not open to the State. For example, local authorities have to go by EU procurement rules. The State has to go by EU procurement rules in respect of all of these issues across the board, from construction, right across.

The Taoiseach thinks that it is fine.

I did not say that-----

That is the implication.

The Deputy will spin it whatever way he wants to spin it anyway.

Deputies, please. That concludes questions on promised legislation.