Ceisteanna - Questions
1. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [10447/26]
View answer2. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. [11871/26]
View answer3. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [71662/25]
View answer4. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [71664/25]
View answer5. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [71666/25]
View answer6. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [4034/26]
View answer7. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [12354/26]
View answer8. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. [13983/26]
View answer9. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. [14261/26]
View answer10. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [14281/26]
View answer11. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [14303/26]
View answer12. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [14305/26]
View answer13. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. [14447/26]
View answer14. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. [14450/26]
View answer15. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [14762/26]
View answer16. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [15023/26]
View answer17. Deputy Catherine Ardagh asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [16741/26]
View answer18. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which he chaired on 8 December 2025. [16762/26]
View answer19. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee for the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. [16763/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 19, inclusive, together.
The delivery and monitoring committee, which I chair, oversees implementation of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. This strategy, published last September, is the Government's plan to advance the realisation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities so that disabled people are supported and empowered to live full lives of their own choosing. The delivery and monitoring committee is part of robust monitoring structures that have been established for the strategy. These structures have been co-designed with stakeholders to ensure oversight and accountability, and will involve disabled people centrally so that their voices can be heard.
The first meeting of the delivery and monitoring committee took place on 8 December 2025. It was attended by the Government Ministers responsible for delivering the strategy, including the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality and the Minister of State with responsibility for disability, alongside representatives of disabled persons' organisations and disability and civil society organisations. To mark the inaugural meeting, a number of additional Ministers attended, including the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the Minister of State with responsibility for international and road transport, logistics, rail and ports, the Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion and the Minister of State with responsibility for small business and retail, and the circular economy.
The meeting of the committee considered a first programme plan of action for the national human rights strategy for disabled people, which covers the years 2025 and 2026. The plan details initial measures that will ensure disabled people experience real progress in their everyday lives. Examples include the roll-out of the new education and therapy service, increased provision of respite and residential services, steps to address primary care waiting lists and the development of a new vehicle adaptation scheme. Respite services play a critical role in supporting people with disabilities and their families, and the value that these services provide cannot be understated. We made a commitment in the programme for Government to continue the expansion of respite services and budget 2026 reflects this ambition. It provides €25 million in additional funding for respite expansion, providing over 10,000 extra overnight and 15,000 day respite sessions. This funding is being used to increase the level of respite provision for children and adults around the country through a mix of alternative respite options. These include in-home respite, after-school and day respite, using existing overnight residential capacity to the maximum extent and providing additional overnight respite capacity where it is needed. The funding will also support the further development of home-sharing, a person-centred and community-based form of respite where a person is supported in the family home as a viable respite option.
Following consideration by the committee, the plan of action was subsequently published. The committee will meet twice a year and future meetings are expected to have a thematic focus on specific issues that will be identified with stakeholders in advance. The next meeting of the committee has not yet been scheduled.
The Government is committed to delivering real and tangible solutions to enhance services to better support disabled people in Ireland. The overall HSE disability budget for 2026 has grown to more than €3.8 billion, a 20% increase on the previous year, delivering increased investment in residential, respite and therapy services. This includes additional investment in the 93 children's disability services which provide services and support for over 45,000 children, an increase of approximately 2,000 children since 2024.
While we recognise there is much more to do, CDNT waiting lists have fallen from nearly 13,000 in January 2025 to just under 9,400 at the end of December 2025. To support this growing investment, the HSE is driving intensive recruitment efforts and a dedicated disability workforce strategy will be developed in 2026. The Government is also firmly committed to supporting disabled people and improving their lives, including through addressing the cost of disability. The Government recognises the significant additional costs that disabled people can face in their daily lives and we are committed to improving outcomes for disabled people by introducing permanent measures. The programme for Government includes a commitment to introducing a permanent annual cost-of-disability support payment, with a view to incrementally increasing this payment. Work on this has begun, led by the Minister for Social Protection, and will include engagement with disabled people with a view to developing proposals for Government. A public consultation is currently open.
Deputies Quinlivan and Quaide and I visited the Side-By-Side clubhouse in Dún Laoghaire run by Acquired Brain Injury Ireland. Deputy John Brady and I met the group previously. It has two specific asks. Some 450 children in the State suffer moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Unfortunately, outside of a small number of specialist rehabilitation centres there are no dedicated rehabilitation services for children with an acquired brain injury. Its proposal is for two community-based specialist interdisciplinary teams for children living with acquired brain injuries which would provide much-needed rehabilitation services to children in their communities, including in their own homes. The other issue relates to €2 million for a brain injury case manager. We saw a lady who had no action in regard to rehabilitation until a case manager was in place but that does not exist everywhere. We need that roadmap for everybody.
With the full permission of his parents, I want to raise the case of 15-year-old Oliver, a young person with severe autism and PANDAS. The State is currently spending approximately €700,000 on a residential placement that independent clinicians have warned is unsafe and unsuitable for him. His parents have documented repeated safeguarding concerns and HIQA has raised serious issues with the oversight of his care. Despite the ongoing engagement by his parents and my office, no clear pathway can be found. His parents are not seeking additional funding. Rather, they are willing to build a purpose designed extension at their home and are simply asking that the existing funding follows their child so he can receive his clinically assessed two-to-one care package safely at home at roughly half the current cost. I would appreciate the support of the Taoiseach in ensuring this case is reviewed urgently at the highest level, so that Oliver's best interests come first.
I too want to raise an issue around residential care, following on from Deputy Daly. The Taoiseach and I share a county and city. To be fair, his office was very helpful in the case I worked on with it over the past two weeks where a person required urgent residential intervention. The problem in a Cork context was that this young adult was diagnosed with a mild disability. To call a spade a spade, there are no residential opportunities for anybody with that categorisation in Cork, irrespective of their condition. That is happening in Cork at the moment. The county is essentially only dealing with emergency cases and cases are being managed on a week to week basis. At best, that is what people are trying to do. There is very little forward planning. I have met all of the service providers over the past few weeks. I am genuinely very concerned about the outlook for full-time residential care. I assume this is replicated in other parts of the country. We need to fund service providers adequately to provide accommodation. I thank the Taoiseach for meeting the Before We Die campaign, which is at the helm in terms of progressing the issue, and I hope he has more interaction with it in the next few weeks.
On world hearing day, I again want to raise the case of James Reardon and Ruth McSkane, who face a bill of €10,000 for hearing aids. I have previously raised with the Minister for Health the case of a lady in my area, Maggie Owens, who is involved with Irish Sign Language and creates great bond with the language in the town of Athy. At a time when some 50% of our population with a disability of working age is not in employment, expenses such as cost of hearing aids are prohibitive. In 2024 the Department of Health set up a working group to develop a national hearing care plan. Can the Taoiseach confirm the status of the report? Can the Government consider the costs which prohibit those from with disabilities from entering employment?
More than 3,000 people signed a petition calling for two new autism classes in Stapolin Educate Together National School. The Department of Education and Youth said it will sanction these classes in terms of staffing but will not provide any classrooms. There are no spare classrooms in the school. The school needs to be able to provide new classes and modular classrooms if the new autism classes are to open. Will two new additional classrooms be sanctioned? Will he speak to the Minister for Education and Youth about this? Cad é a dhearcadh?
In this Chamber, we tend to speak almost exclusively about the right of disabled people to access services, yet many other rights make for a full life, not least the right to employment. Ireland continues to have one of the lowest disability employment rates in Europe. The wage subsidy scheme is designed to close the gap, yet what we have heard from Rehab Group, the largest employer of disabled people in the State, is deeply concerning. It has warned the real value of the subsidy has eroded because it has not kept pace with increases in the national minimum wage. It has also raised concerns about the revised band structure. In practical terms, the marginal incentive weakens at higher staffing levels. That risks undermining the very objective of the scheme. If we are serious about participation, dignity and economic independence for disabled people, the wage subsidy scheme must strengthen, not dilute, the incentive for employers who are leading on inclusion. Will the Government revisit the structure and rates of the scheme to ensure a genuinely supports the expansion of disability employment?
How many children have been notified to the NCSE as needing a special class or school place for September 2026? We now know 351 special classes have been sanctioned. What is the shortfall? It has been reported as being in the region of 1,000 children and 250 extra classes. Can the Taoiseach give a commitment that the necessary places, special education teachers, SNAs and school buildings will be in place for September?
Parents, SNAs and school communities protested over the misguided move by the Government to take a significant number of SNAs from many schools across the country, a decision it had to backtrack on because of the outrage. They want to know they will not be in the same position in a year's time when the same issues happen again. Will the infamous 2014 circular, which they believe should be torn up, be rewritten with the input of the parents, SNAs and school communities so that the same dire mistake is not made again? The Government has committed to withdrawing the circular and rewriting it. Will it get input from the people who matter and know how the circular should be written in a way that guarantees the right of children with special needs and school communities? Will the Government make sure it does not make another mistake in having something written top-down by people who do not understand the issue?
On Saturday, I attended a powerful protest organised by the Affordable Ireland campaign. It was led by disabled people and disabled people's organisations. The focus of the protest was the cost-of-living crisis in general but in particular a demand for an emergency payment for those who have seen €1,400 in cuts savagely implemented in the past budget. A striking feature of the speeches was people responding to the ridiculing that happened in here about the notion that people are making real choices to heat or to eat. People spoke about their lived experience and this being the choice they face.
The Government is talking about a national human rights strategy for disabled people, while pushing people further into poverty with its political choices. When I raised this with the Taoiseach last week during Leaders' Questions, he pointed to an ESRI study that said the lowest income groups benefited most from the recent budget. I actually went and checked the report, which says the opposite. It says that the lower income households were hit harder. Will the Taoiseach listen to those on the street and implement a winter payment?
Táim tar éis é seo a rá sa Teach seo cúpla uair anois. Nuair a thosaíonn daoine le míchumas ag obair, tá seans go gcaillfear an pas saor in aisce don taisteal. Níl sé sin féaráilte ar chor ar bith. Níl sé cothrom. Má táimid ag iarraidh go mbeidh an méid is mó daoine le míchumas gur féidir leo a bheith san fhórsa oibre páirteach ann, bheadh sé i bhfad níos fearr mura raibh siad chun an pas sin a chailliúint. Le bheith ionraic, má táimid ag iarraidh é sin a chinntiú – bhí mé ag caint leis an Aire, an Teachta Calleary, agus dúirt sé go raibh seans ann – caithfimid an brú is mó gur féidir linn a chur ar an Roinn chun é sin a cheadú. Níl sé cothrom go dtarlaíonn sé sin nuair a théann daoine ar ais go dtí an obair. Níl sé féaráilte.
Holy Family School for the Deaf in Cabra is a centre of excellence for deaf education and is in fact the only campus in Ireland catering for deaf pupils from the ages of three to 18 years. This is education for deaf children and young people in the deaf community. It is a special school, providing a very specialised service. It is a wonderful school and they need in-house Irish sign language, ISL, interpreters on staff. I met them yesterday and they recounted to me how they have to hire in interpretation services for the most mundane, the most complex and sometimes the most sensitive of tasks. They also explained how bringing in interpreters piecemeal like that does not work for children, especially small ones, because there has to be a relationship of trust and understanding and so on. They need two of these interpreters in-house. They cannot get clarity from the Department. Will the Taoiseach intervene for goodness' sake? This school needs this service, as I imagine another deaf school in Limerick does.
Across this House we are incredibly impatient and adamant that this committee at the Department of the Taoiseach must deliver for disabled people. Right across the country, every single day, many of us speak to people with disabilities, and families who have children with disabilities who are caught up in not getting access to education, housing adaptations, timely assessments or transport in their communities. There is a cost-of-living crisis as well. There is an incredible number of issues. This committee has to be more than procedural. It has to have real results.
I thank all the Deputies who contributed on this matter. First, Deputy Ó Murchú outlined how he has met representatives from Acquired Brain Injury Ireland on the need for injury case managers-----
-----and two community-based specialists for the centre. I am familiar with the organisation. I will speak to the Minister and the Minister of State to see what the background to this is. I think it has been a very effective organisation and an advocate for people with acquired brain injuries. I am supportive of this but obviously I will have to talk to the Minister and the Minister of State and see where they are in terms of the specific request. I appreciate the Deputy raising the matter.
Deputy Daly raised the case of 15-year-old Oliver. I will take this offline. The Deputy's suggestion sounds eminently sensible to me. The closer to home the child is, the better the sustainable prospects for the child and the family. I will talk to the HSE about this and see what we can do to get to the right solution.
I appreciate Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan's comments about various interventions. I have met the Before We Die group. I am very conscious of the need to join together the disability Department, the HSE and the Department of housing in respect of sustainable long-term residential accommodation for disabled adults. There is a spectrum in terms of dependency and the needs for various levels of support for people to go into a housing situation. It cannot be a case where providers of services tell people to go to the local authority and apply for what will be general support services in time. That is not a sustainable model, in my view. I had a good discussion with parents in this situation. I have put it on the agenda for the next meeting of the Cabinet subcommittee on disability. I have asked the Minister and the Minister of State to come forward with clear proposals on how we can create a more sustainable framework for housing for people with disabilities in the long term. Some will need substantial supports, some will need fewer supports and some will need a sheltered or just a very basic supportive environment. The Department of housing has a funding scheme available. It is about how we pull everything together to make sure that it is sustainable going forward for those who need these housing scenarios. I am familiar with the case in terms of the mild to moderate diagnosis and again, there needs to be flexibility in how that is applied to services. In my view, there should not be a categorical cut-off line in situations to do with disability. There should perhaps be a more subjective view from clinicians. Nothing is that straightforward in terms of disability. The Deputy is right that the emphasis, particularly in the southern region, is on emergency cases at the moment.
I will talk to the Minister about that hearing issue raised by Deputy Mark Wall to see what supports can be provided. Obviously, we have to try to get the waiting times down and get greater access. Audiology has been problematic historically. We need to get more people into training places and recruit more people. It is a key area and it is related to speech as well. There is an inseparable connection between that and speech and language therapy. I will pursue this with the Minister.
I would say to Deputy Cian O'Callaghan that if they have sanctioned the classes, we will have to provide them. The timelines might be problematic but we have to provide a facility for those two classes if they are sanctioned, unless there are other spaces on the school campus that could it on an interim basis. I will talk to the Department in respect of that.
I assure Deputy Quaide that I will ask for a review of the wage subsidy scheme. When we came into government last year, the Department had done its review. The Minister, Deputy Calleary, launched it and I was at the launch. Some employers get good use out of it, but I am hearing that for some it is not turning out the way people might have envisaged. It was never the intention that it would be a disincentive to employing more. I will pursue that. We want to create a tipping point for people to employ people with disabilities. There are certain services where disabled people provide very good services to the community. It is an economic model and a social enterprise. They are not exactly well served by it either. I will talk to the Minister for an overall review in advance of the next budget.
I understand that the number of special classes that have been sanctioned - Deputy O'Rourke mentioned that the number is 351 - is already higher than the number for last year. I think it was about 302 last year. That shows the scale of what is happening. I will get a precise figure for the Deputy from special education. It will be significantly more than that. Our objective is to make sure children are adequately provided for and have a place because that is their constitutional entitlement.
Deputy Boyd Barrett referred to an "infamous" circular. It has been the circular since 2014. Since that circular, the number of SNAs has increased. It was 16,000 in 2020. If we go back to 2014, what was it? It must have been 10,000 or 12,000 and it is now at more than 25,000. It will probably go higher by next September.
I do not know why the Deputy is calling it "infamous". There has been some expansion of SNAs since then. There will continue to be a growth in the number of special needs assistants. There is a new circular being issued. There has been engagement with stakeholders. There is also a new redeployment scheme on which there has been substantive stakeholder engagement and that is imminent and near completion. There is then the workforce planning document on which a lot of work has taken place as well.
What should happen ordinarily on a year-to-year basis is the resources should follow the need and need will change. There will be increased need in some schools and there will be reduced need in other schools. It should not be done every five years. Covid-19 apparently interrupted the NCSE's approach to this. There should always be regular assessment of need in respect of what schools require. That should not be contentious.
How is the Taoiseach defining it?
In response to Deputy Paul Murphy, again, the budget has put in place substantial provision, particularly in terms of our child support payments - record increases in child support payments. In terms of the domiciliary care allowance, there was a substantial increase of €20 again, which was on top of last year's €20 increase. Combined with the working family payment, increases in entitlements and expansion of their access to entitlements, particularly free fuel, overall, there has been a very substantial embedded provision. There is also the 20% increase in disability services.
In response to Deputy Heneghan, an aidhm atá againn ná níos mó tacaíochta a thabhairt d’fhostóirí, níos mó daoine faoi mhíchumas a fhostú agus níos mó deiseanna a chur ar fáil dóibh. Táimid chun é sin a dhéanamh agus tá a lán slite againn chun é sin a dhéanamh agus an aidhm sin a bhaint amach. Is pas saor i dtaobh taistil de a bhí faoi chaibidil ag an Teachta agus fiosróidh mé leis an Aire cad é an scéal agus conas is féidir linn an scéim a fheabhsú.
In response to Deputy McDonald, I will talk to the Minister for Education and Youth in respect of the Holy Family School for the Deaf in Cabra. There had been an issue with the recruitment of Irish sign writers - full-time teaching positions. I do not know whether that is the background to this or not, or whether it is a sanction issue, but it would be much better if schools had permanent in situ teachers as opposed to hiring people in. I will follow it up.
Just for clarity, I am not talking about teachers. I am talking about interpreters.
Sorry, the Deputy is talking about interpreters - point taken.
In response to Deputy McGreehan, the disability committee is very outcome focused. From the get-go, we worked through the school-based therapy scheme. That is now up and running. The recruitment has started. The money was allocated. We are close to finalisation on a vehicle adaptation scheme under the Department of Transport, in combination with the Department of Finance. That will take some time to implement and work up but we are in a position where it will be a very positive outcome. We looked at the assessment of need issue. That committee took decisions on that in terms of legislation and legislative proposals.
In terms of the investment in disability this year, there is an extra 20% in the HSE disability budget to go towards respite and residential support. All of that is coming out of the work of the committee. In terms of the budget, including the whole issue of the domiciliary care allowance, we had a specific disability focus as well from that disability Cabinet subcommittee and from the unit in my Department, which did work in advance of the budget and has done a paper on the outcome of the budget, and will do the same in advance of the next budget.
20. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Taoiseach if he will report on implementation of the well-being framework published by his Department. [10448/26]
View answer21. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Taoiseach if he will report on implementation of the well-being framework published by his Department. [11872/26]
View answer22. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Taoiseach if he will report on implementation of the well-being framework published by his Department. [71663/25]
View answer23. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on implementation of the well-being framework published by his Department. [71665/25]
View answer24. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on implementation of the well-being framework published by his Department. [71667/25]
View answer25. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on implementation of the well-being framework published by his Department. [12356/26]
View answer26. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Taoiseach if he will report on implementation of the well-being framework published by his Department. [14282/26]
View answer27. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the implementation of the well-being framework published by his Department. [14304/26]
View answer28. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the implementation of the well-being framework published by his Department. [14306/26]
View answer29. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the implementation of the well-being framework published by his Department. [14448/26]
View answer30. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the implementation of the well-being framework published by his Department. [14451/26]
View answer31. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Taoiseach if he will report on implementation of the well-being framework published by his Department. [16304/26]
View answer32. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on implementation of the well-being framework published by his Department. [16764/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 20 to 32, inclusive, together.
Ireland's well-being framework is a cross-government initiative to measure progress and policy impact in Ireland in a more holistic way. The framework consists of 35 indicators grouped under 11 dimensions which reflect different aspects of well-being. It is supported by a dashboard hosted by the Central Statistics Office which brings together all of the framework's economic, social and environmental statistics in an integrated way.
Each year Understanding Life in Ireland is published, which assesses Ireland's well-being performance across these 35 indicators. Ireland's framework tracks 35 indicators grouped under 11 dimensions. These dimensions are subjective well-being; mental and physical health; knowledge, skills and innovation; income and wealth; housing and the built environment; environment, climate and biodiversity; safety and security; work and job quality - both paid and unpaid; time use; connections, community and participation; and civic engagement, trust and cultural expression.
The 2025 assessment shows that Ireland's overall performance is positive, in particular in areas including work and job quality, and our social connections and community. Only two of the 11 dimensions - the environment, climate and biodiversity dimension and the mental and physical health dimension - showed a negative performance.
The analysis also highlights there is more work to do. In particular, there are some groups in our society for whom progress is unequal across multiple areas of well-being, including people with long-term illness or disability, single-parent households, unemployed people, younger people in the workforce, households with lower incomes and households in rented accommodation.
To assist expenditure policy-making, we continue to integrate the framework into the budgetary process. The well-being framework was featured at last year's national economic dialogue and is part of the summer economic statement. The well-being framework was also part of the documents and analysis underpinning budget 2026, and this included analysis of the dashboard in budget day documentation and a paper showing how selected expenditure measures in budget 2026 are enhancing well-being was published by Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation.
I am sure the Taoiseach would agree that the way sexual assaults survivors are treated is a key part of well-being in any country, and we have already seen the battle for people not to have their own therapy notes used against them in court.
This week, we are seeing how third level institutions treat victims of gendered violence. I highlighted the medical student who was raped, had image-based sexual abuse used against her and lost her place on the medical course. She tried to get reinstated and, long story short, UCD won that court case against her and are imposing costs. I have spoken to other students who have been victims of sexual assault at UCD. The dignity and respect policy seems to be utterly meaningless - for example, even to have the assailant not be allowed to go into a building where they attend courses. Even something as simple as that is impossible, and in all cases, it is the victim who ends up losing their education.
Another student had to do the rest of their degree online but the rapist, of course, continues on with their degree, affecting their mental and physical well-being as well as affecting how they do in their degree overall.
The Taoiseach has already mentioned the fact that those with a disability are unfortunately in a different set of circumstances. Many of us were at the Affordable Ireland campaign march at the weekend and we heard directly from those with disability about the severe pressure they are under. Unfortunately, as I said earlier, it comes down to heat or eat. These are decisions that have to be made that fortunately nobody in this room has to make. We need to look at the cost of disability in the round and I welcome the review process. That is fine but it is about the people who cannot afford to make payments now. Whatever about not making one-off payments across the board but for those with disability, it could be looked at. I also ask that the Taoiseach looks at the issue in relation to the high cost of hearing aids and that we would see that working group review.
Beyond that, there could be up to 400 trainees for the National Ambulance Service, who could be looking at having to reapply and who are not sure of their jobs. That is a particular issue that needs to be dealt with.
I want to raise the section under quality of water or water bodies. The report outlines that the water body assessment showed that 55.3% of Ireland's rivers were assessed as high or good in comparison to 56.2% a number of years prior. The reason I am raising it is that it is specific to one case in Carrignavar, which is in my constituency. Over the past few months, we have been able to tell people that record funding is going to be given to Irish Water to fix many of the problems that have been historic in nature and were carried over from various local authorities.
The reality here is that our water quality is disimproving in that period, according to this report. I attended a briefing with Irish Water last week. We listened to plans that go out to 2080. None of us in this room will be on this planet in 2080 and Irish Water is talking about improving water quality, in a Cork context anyway, by 2080.
Deputy O'Sullivan might make it.
I have a good chance compared with some in the room. I believe we need to get real here. We spoke about developer-led infrastructure in particular with regard to improving our housing delivery. That seems to be taking a backseat now.
The well-being framework shows the overall national progress on, in particular, incomes, job quality and mental health indicators. However, it makes clear that progress is not evenly felt. Single-parent households, unemployed people, renters and young people continue to experience lower well-being outcomes. We need to have more community-based supports for mental health. I believe in social prescribing. We can do more to support people beyond clinical services. What will be done to provide for initiatives such as social farming and community health projects to support voluntary groups that would reduce loneliness and improve mental health resilience in a practical and measurable way?
The Government's well-being framework is supposed to be a means by which preliminary budgetary decisions can be made. As the Taoiseach might be aware, last month, Social Justice Ireland published an alternative well-being framework entitled Measuring What Matters. It critiques the Government's framework design as not being sufficient to identify and understand disparities, so it took it upon itself to create a more comprehensive picture that reflects the lived experience of different groups. The report states:
The social contract must foster societal wellbeing if it is to last. If it fails to do so, it risks a breakdown in the social fabric and a loss of faith in our democratic institutions.
I could not agree more. The report found that there are significant disparities and inequality across the housing and built environment dimension, as well as the work and job quality dimension, suggesting a deepening gap between the haves and the have-nots. Importantly, in the environment, climate, and biodiversity dimension, the report suggests that progress is reversing, inequality is widening and sustainability is declining. What steps will the Government take in the forthcoming budget to ensure that these trends are reversed and, in particular, that the environment, climate and biodiversity dimension remains a top priority?
I want to focus on the mental and physical health dimensions of the well-being framework and return to the issue of special class places for September 2026. We heard at the public accounts committee last week that the Department of education, and I presume the Minister, intend to bring a memo to Cabinet imminently in relation to meeting the unmet need for special classes. The Taoiseach might let us know if he expects that to be about funding. What does it mean for SNA places? There will be hugely increased demand for SNAs, which was not part of the conversation last week, and we know an additional supplementary budget is coming for those.
Outside the Dáil today, there was a protest by a large number of mostly young people who are newly qualified paramedics. The Taoiseach may have seen that they gathered a petition over the weekend. About 10,000 people have signed it. For the last three years, they have been doing a degree to become paramedics and they have also been working part time for the HSE. When they were brought in through a recruitment campaign in late 2022, into this degree course and into the part-time work, they were given the clear understanding that they would be given permanent contracts. This was reiterated as recently as December of last year. All of a sudden, they have had the rug pulled out from under them and they have been told they have to reapply in a competition for their own jobs. They are absolutely gutted. They are being told, having believed they would be working relatively close to where their children go to school and so on, that they could be sent to another side of the country and not even got a job with the HSE. This is a shameful way to treat these young people. Can the Taoiseach intervene on their behalf?
War is a racket. It is an opportunity for many profiteering companies and individuals to try to rip people off. With Trump's new reckless, illegal, criminal, imperialist war in the Middle East, energy prices are going to rise even higher. In some cases, they already have, so the cost of home heating oil has gone up €80 since last Friday, for which there is no justification. That oil would already have been bought before the bombing started. The Taoiseach said earlier that he was going to raise this price gouging with the Minister for energy and has asked the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to examine any unfair pricing practices. This is like "Back to the Future". We heard all of this when the cost-of-living crisis started five years ago. Ultimately, the Government refused to do anything at all. Report after report seemingly vindicated energy companies and supermarkets, claiming they are not profiteering when it is obvious that they are. The Taoiseach has the power to introduce price controls. Will he use that power?
Nuair a bhí na horduithe dianghlasála i bhfeidhm, bhí faic le déanamh i mBaile Átha Cliath thuaidh agus bhí go leor daoine ag snámh san fharraige. Tá sé sin an-mhaith don intinn agus don tsláinte. Maidir le well-being, will the Department commit to more funding for north Dublin's swimming areas? Regarding Bá Bhaile Átha Cliath, tá an méid pollution atá ann uafásach. Tá a fhios againn go bhfuil a lán airgid ag dul isteach sa Ringsend centre but for the Dollymount Dames, Blue Balls Ireland, and the swimmers at Dollymount beach and Howth and in all the coastal areas that I represent, getting into the water is an escape. Will that be prioritised in wellbeing?
I think swimming should be obligatory and mandatory for everyone in this House. It would take a lot of tension out of the House. It would be very therapeutic for all the Members. Táim an-sásta an-chuid oibre a dhéanamh chun níos mó tacaíocht a thabhairt do na daoine atá ag snámh sa tír seo.
The Taoiseach would want to do something about water quality in Dublin Bay.
Come up to the north side.
Táim an-bháúil le daoine a bhíonn ag snámh san fharraige go háirithe. Níl an t-am agam é a dhéanamh mé féin i rith an gheimhridh ach, le cúnamh Dé, beidh níos mó seansanna agam chun snámh san fharraige i rith an tsamhraidh.
In respect of sexual assault, Deputy Coppinger is not here, but I need the background of the case. I think the assertion was that in UCD, a student lost their place in medicine as a result of a sexual assault, which should not happen. I do not know the background to it but I would be interested in getting the full case. I will ask my officials to contact UCD in respect of this, because the dignity and respect framework should be observed and adhered to and absolute priority must be given to a victim of gender-based and sexual assault. Also, I do not understand how a rapist would be allowed to complete their degree on campus, if that was the assertion. Rapists should be in jail and convicted for such heinous crimes. If I could get the background of that, I will engage with UCD in the first instance because it was mentioned and I would like to hear its perspective on it.
In response to Deputy Ó Murchú, the Minister, Deputy Dara Calleary, is preparing work on the cost of disability and has already initiated a public consultation on that. That is a sustainable way of dealing with the cost that people with a disability undoubtedly have. It is better to do it in a proper, measured, sustained way that is researched properly and evidence-based. That is the approach the Minister is taking. The Deputy has already raised the issue of the hearing, which I have already responded to.
On the National Ambulance Service, I will talk to the Minister for Health to get the full background. If commitments were made to people, they need to be realised. It is a pity because the professionalisation of first responders and emergency paramedic technicians is the one area we have made great progress on. It is a very important area that has done a lot to reduce death and provide early interventions prior to someone being transported to a hospital. It is critical. I was involved in establishing it, in terms of the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council, so I have an interest in it.
Deputy O'Sullivan raised the issue of water quality. My understanding is that overall water quality has improved but there is an issue in Carrignavar. There is an issue on the north side of Cork city in terms of water quality, which is quite poor. We have made a lot of representations to Irish Water. There has been some progress made in some areas. Again, however, Irish Water has internal reforms, which it is progressing in respect of addressing any issues that might pertain to Irish Water itself.
Deputy McGreehan spoke about social prescribing and community health projects. I would be very enthused by those. They are very important. There is a lot more we can do there. The Deputy has identified some areas of the report in terms of single parents being under pressure and the area of mental health, where there is a greater need for not just clinical interventions or primary care and community care-based interventions but also broader supports and strengthening multidisciplinary teams in addition to psychiatry alone.
Deputy Hayes raised the well-being framework. Again, he mentioned social justice. The well-being framework we have is a very comprehensive one. I would prefer if social justice inputted into that framework so that we would have one framework. Maybe this framework is too positive in most of its outcomes. That is the problem; we do not do positivity very well in this country
That was not really the issue.
We are not positively disposed to positivity - I will put it that way - which is fine. I can understand that, too, to a point. We must always strive for better and do things better in some areas.
Deputy O'Rourke raised the issue of special classes. We spoke earlier on that. The Minister will be coming back to us in respect of that. There will be further discussions at Government level.
I have answered Deputy Boyd Barrett's question, which was similar to Deputy Ó Murchú's in terms of first responders-----
Paramedics.
Paramedics, yes.
I would say to Deputy Murphy that war is a terrible thing. I have no interest in war. I would prefer if all issues could be resolved diplomatically through peaceful means. I am satisfied that Ireland's approach to world affairs is one of peace and trying to help other people, generosity and particularly helping those who are furthest behind, which has always been the hallmark of Irish foreign policy, aid and peacekeeping.
