Gillian Toole (Meath East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith ag an gCeann Comhairle. Táim fíorbhuíoch do mo chairde, mo chlann agus do mhuintir Chontae na Mí as a dtacaíocht dom le mo bheith anseo i nDáil Éireann. I am also very grateful to the team here in Leinster House and indeed my new colleagues here in Dáil Éireann. There was a slight baptism of fire over the past two months. However, that is how we learn best.

To go on with the business in hand, we have an abundance of data and evidence and, most importantly, we have heard the lived experiences and the needs of the people we represent. This programme for Government includes many solutions that can be implemented in the coming months. I believe some of them will address many of these needs in the short term, expressed by people in rural and urban Ireland. The first example I will give is easier access to healthcare. Community pharmacies are available in every town and village or within a short commute. They are open without an appointment for an average of 54 hours per week. Pharmacy teams continuously network with general practitioners, public health nurses, carers, hospital and allied health care teams. Regular medicines usage reviews and minor ailments schemes will improve patient safety and drug budgeting.

Another example is investment in education and training boards and colleges of further education and training. For example, close to me, Dunboyne College of Further Education serves students from five counties. This will ensure the training of students in speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, special education assistance and care assistance apprentices, all of whom are urgently required to support the youngest to the oldest in our communities.

A third example is expanded Local Link transport services. They require NTA community funding to be restored as soon as possible to connect individuals and their communities. That will alleviate isolation and loneliness and reduce carbon emissions. To deliver these few examples from the programme for Government and to mitigate future natural or man-made crises, and we have heard plenty of that in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn, there must be action. We are probably unified across the Chamber in relation to that. There must be inter- and intra-government, local government, State and semi-State corporates. They must all collaborate and co-operate. Silo thinking and silo management styles must end as a matter of urgency and if legislation is required, so be it.

Most of us here are no strangers to acronyms, so I will throw my own two new ones into the mix for good measure - ACE, accountability, cost-consciousness and efficiency, in tandem with FGP, future-proofing, gratitude and praise, for the people who deliver all of these services. As Gaeilge arís, is féidir linn.

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