Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I put to the Tánaiste a truly disgraceful situation that exposes the consequences of the Government's failure to properly fund our schools. Parents at Darver National School in County Louth were contacted this week and told that the school could no longer afford basic hygiene supplies because Government grants had fallen so far behind rising costs. The principal was forced to ask every child to come in with their own hand towel and roll of toilet paper. This is the Ireland the Government has created. It is an Ireland where primary schools cannot afford toilet paper, where principals are left pleading with parents for essentials that no school should ever have to ration and where families are picking up the tab for the Government's neglect. It is an absolute disgrace. Will the Government urgently look at the inadequate capitation our schools are getting? This school applied through all the channels for emergency funding and was refused. This principal did not want to have to send out this email but this is exactly the situation the Government has put this school in and, unfortunately, other schools like it.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I have heard this raised a couple of times. I would certainly like to hear more in relation to this. We have increased our funding levels to schools each and every year. We increased our capitation funding in the budget this year. I have never before heard the idea that children have to bring their own toilet roll to schools. This needs to be explored and we need to understand more comprehensively the rationale behind the sending of any such email to parents. That is not a widespread practice across our schools.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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No money.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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It is not widespread. Are there schools in Donegal or Wicklow asking people?

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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They-----

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Hang on a second. Do not shout me down.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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We are doing a bake sale next week. We are doing a fundraiser next week.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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You need to allow the Tánaiste to speak.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is here long enough. He asks and I get to speak.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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You asked me a question.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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That is how it works.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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You asked me the question.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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It is a democracy. Remember that. The Deputy asked me a question and I will answer it how I wish. The answer I wish to give is I want to understand exactly what happened in relation to that situation from the Department of education because the practice the Deputy referenced is not widespread. Nor is it reflective of this Government's commitment to investing more in education, most particularly when we saw an increase in capitation funding for all our schools in the recent budget, quite rightly so, because investing in education is key to our economic success.

Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Almost 50,000 people in this country suffer from Crohn's disease or colitis; I am one of them. Will the Government support my Bill for a no-wait statutory card for those people? I am working with a Kildare woman, Maria Crowe, in relation to this. The Tánaiste and other Members will be familiar with the need for a statutory card. Many organisations have a non-statutory card but people are refused the use of toilet facilities again and again. This is so common, it is unbelievable. It is time we legislated for this and brought in this statutory card. I hope the Minister for Health will support this card as well.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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As a Crohn's sufferer, I have a conflict of interest here as well. I will talk with the Minister in relation to this matter. More broadly, and I say this to be helpful, while there is sometimes a need to change laws, and we will always consider constructive Bills that Deputies like Deputy Wall bring forward, sometimes there is just a need for a bit of common sense in making sure there is clarity in relation to the use of toilet facilities and the likes. As always, the Minister will constructively engage. Sláintecare is bringing us on a journey that is trying to overhaul a lot of the structures in place around long-term illness and so on. That work is under way but I look forward to considering the Bill.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Met Éireann has issued a status yellow weather warning for ten counties, with temperatures expected to fall to -3°C in parts of the country. People are now facing freezing conditions with some of the highest heating bills in Europe. The Government had a clear opportunity in the budget to target energy credits to those who need them the most. Instead, it decided to scrap them outright leaving vulnerable households afraid to turn the heating on. It is as if the cost-of-living crisis was forgotten about and ended by Fine Gael as soon as the election was over. The budget was a disaster for those already struggling to get by but the Tánaiste should not take my word for it. Social Justice Ireland, the ESRI and the Parliamentary Budget Office have all concluded that the budget is pushing more people into poverty. Will the Government reverse its decision to push more people into poverty? Will it bring in a targeted energy credit to help those who need it most?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I make the point that the budget, by any objective standard, was a progressive budget. It was a progressive budget that helped those with the least the most. That is how progressive budgeting works. It is there in the ESRI SWITCH model and the likes as well.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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It shows the worst-off are worse-----

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I have outlined very clearly what the Government is doing to help those most in need. I appreciate the fact the Social Democrats have brought forward a proposal around targeted energy supports. One crowd here wants a universal support, another does not want any supports and the Social Democrats wants targeted supports. If this is a united left, I would not like to see them divided.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Will the Tánaiste answer my question about poverty?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I answered it at great length from the Deputy's coalition colleagues.

Charles Ward (Donegal, 100% Redress Party)
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Once again, the Government has waived pre-legislative scrutiny on the defective concrete Bill. On 14 June 2022, the Taoiseach said, we will get on with it. With that attitude, 205 homes have been partially built in Donegal; 579 have works ongoing and 43 homes have been completely abandoned. There are 3,000 applications, most of which are stuck, including mine. I have been stuck in this scheme for five years and cannot progress. I agreed with the Minister, Deputy Browne, that scrutiny on caps, rates and amendments would be waived if nobody was left behind but amendments have also been pushed through without public debate. We roll with the headlines; billions are being spent on a scheme that people cannot access because it is too hard and is worthless. It is all figures but nobody is getting on it. A sum of €1.4 million has been spent on a security hut but 43 taxpaying families have been abandoned. As Minister for Finance, will the Tánaiste include in the upcoming Bill the 43 homeowners and deliver side-by-side building for vulnerable families so that nobody is left behind?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate the Deputy's strong mandate to represent people in this House on this issue. I respect the fact he engages with us on this regularly. I will point out that the figures we cite are not just headlines. They are a genuine commitment to provide from the Exchequer an extraordinary, quite rightly, sum of money to try to assist people with this issue. I accept there are challenges that we are all trying to work our way through constructively, including Government Deputies, such as the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue. That is why there are commitments in the programme for Government and legislation is coming forward. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Browne, to specifically come back on those homes the Deputy mentioned.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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I attended the launch of the Religious Freedom in the World report this morning. It is shocking reading. It estimates that two thirds of the world's population live in countries where practising their faith can cost them their livelihoods, their freedom and their lives. The report states that all faiths are under pressure in different parts of the world. I welcome that the war in Sudan was raised in the Dáil this week. It is a catastrophic event leading to the brutal murder of so many innocent civilians. Nigeria is also witnessing a surge of violence, especially against Christians. Armed groups, such as Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province, ISWAP, have carried out large-scale attacks on churches, villages and religious leaders. In just one month in two states in Nigeria, thousands of people have been displaced, 1,100 Christians were murdered and 20 clergy were killed. Will the Tánaiste and the Government use all the international leverage we have to try to end the murders that are happening and bring about peace in these regions?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Yes, we will. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Religious freedom matters. It matters in our own country too. Sometimes, there is an effort in what is sometimes called the progressive agenda to try to exclude the conversation on this, including parents who want to send their child to a school of a religious ethos of their choice, which is that parent's choice. I welcome the publication of the report today. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, probably as we speak, is raising at the issue of Sudan at the Foreign Affairs Council.

Ireland specifically asked that Sudan be tabled as a substantive item at the Foreign Affairs Council today. I will also ask the Minister to take up the issues the Deputy referenced relating to Nigeria and other parts of the world.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I am not sure if we are witnessing a heave in real time in front of us, but there seems to have been a shift of numbers.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I raise the importance of our economy and funding of public services, and a particularly vital public service referenced in the programme for Government. I do so from the seat in Dáil Éireann that I first pursued and held in 2011. While doing so, I offer some words of acknowledgement and thanks to those who have allowed me to be here and to discharge my duties. I thank the many communities of Dublin Central for their support, kindness and respect over many years and say to them how proud I was to represent them. I thank all of the staff at the finance and budgetary oversight committees and here who make this more than just a place to work. They make it a Parliament that we are proud to serve in. I thank them again for their support and courtesy during my tenure here. I thank my own team, who have worked so closely with me over so many years to allow me to do my work as a Minister and a representative of Dublin Central. I acknowledge that this is a complex and tough week for them, and I thank them for all they have done for me to allow me to do the work I have been trusted and privileged to do.

The particular matter I want to raise is the relationship between our economy and public services. I am confident and certain that whatever progress we have made in recent years in our economy, which I believe is real, will only be built on and further improved by the Tánaiste as Minister for Finance. As he is doing that, I ask that he keep one public service in particular in mind and that is our libraries. I am proud of the investment we have made through our local authorities in recent years in the funding, and opening, of new libraries. They are cradles of decency. They are beacons of light in a world in which things are changing so much. We should be proud that we are in a country that values them, invests in them, that recognises the value of reading and that recognises the value of a place that offers both solitude and community at the same time. I ask the Tánaiste that the reaffirms the support of the Government to continue this investment and in his time, and in the many budgets that await under this Government, that he and his colleagues continue to prioritise that, and prioritise this vital public service upon which so much depends.

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for his support in the many committees I have appeared in front of that he has chaired and the relentless but always fair way in which he has discharged his duties. I wish everybody in this Dáil happiness, health and success in representing their constituents.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Thank you, Deputy Donohoe, and I wish you the very best in your new position.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I never quite thought there would be a day when Paschal would ask me to spend more money but it did come on his final day. I really want to thank you, Paschal - Deputy Donohoe - for this question. It is fitting on your last day in Dáil Éireann that you are talking to us about borrowing, but now about borrowing books instead of borrowing money. When I walked into what was your former library yesterday, I thought I had taken a wrong turn and walked into a library, such was the collection of books you have built up there. Thank you for your support for our various library projects around the country during your various Ministries. They include projects in Kinsale, Virginia, Macroom, Trim, Castleblayney and Thomastown, so many of which you visited and all of which your fingerprints have been involved in.

Can you believe it is 5,364 days since you stood and made your maiden speech? That day you talked about diversity, stability, addressing the banking crisis and creating jobs. In the subsequent days before you ever became a Minister, you contributed frequently, thoughtfully, philosophically and with immense knowledge and understanding. You have stayed entirely true to your values over those thousands of days. I cannot help thinking of your time as a Trinity student and the famous quote in the Long Room that states, "I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library." I think that might be a vision that you share. However, as you address this Chamber for the last time and depart the Dáil, I was trying to think of how best to define you and your great contribution to our country. I turned to one of your favourite authors, and from a book you gave me a couple of weeks ago by Timothy Snyder, in which he states:

A patriot ... wants the nation to live up to its ideals, which means asking us to be our best selves. A patriot must be concerned with the real world, which is the only place where his country can be loved and sustained. A patriot has universal values, standards by which he judges his nation, always wishing it well - and wishing that it would do better.

Paschal, you have been nothing if not a true patriot.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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I wish the former Minister, Deputy Donohoe, all the best.

The Government is developing a new diaspora strategy. The Coventry Irish Centre has been supporting Irish immigrants since 1953 and it continues to do that in welfare, health, befriending and helping people with passports. It has supported 500 survivors of residential institutions since the 1990s. However, it has no permanent home and has had to move five times since 2015. In the new strategy I ask the Tánaiste to include a provision whereby all of the great work the centre is doing with survivors, and sometimes with the elderly Irish community in Coventry and all of the west Midlands, can be supported so it can have a permanent home.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. While I do not believe I have had the pleasure of meeting with the Coventry centre, I have had the pleasure to meet with many centres working in the UK. I share his view that they are doing incredible work. I visited one in Camden Town in London relatively recently and I am aware of the work it is doing with survivors of residential abuse and mother and baby homes. It is incredible work. I will ask, in the context of drawing up the new strategy, our embassy in London to see what we can do to assist, and I will come back to the Deputy.

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister for housing issued a directive to local authorities to rezone land. However, there is an opportunity for developers to abuse this. They could buy land that is not currently zoned for housing and sit on it to wait for a change in zoning. The Coldcut site, which is owned by Dublin Bus members, is up for sale. This site is over 10 ha. It straddles north Clondalkin and Palmerstown. Many local soccer clubs use this facility. The all-weather pitches are always extremely busy. I attended a public meeting this week with Collinstown football team, Palmerstown Football Club, North Clondalkin Running Club and Clondalkin autism parents. They all want to see these lands remain as an amenity for the people of north Clondalkin and Palmerstown. There will be a public protest on Sunday morning. I am aware that South Dublin County Council is very interested in this site but it could be outbid by a private developer. Is there anything in the directive to local authorities to rezone land that could prevent developers from land hoarding and sitting on land, givne once this amenity is gone, it is gone forever?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I take from his contribution the depth of feeling there obviously is in his community in relation to this and all of the sports clubs, autism families and others that he highlighted. In light of his raising it I will ask the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, and the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, to take a specific look and to come back to him with an informed view on this. The Government has taken a number of measures to prevent land hoarding, as the Deputy called it, including the residential zoned land tax. We are also going through a process of meeting with chief executives of country councils individually, that is, myself, the Taoiseach and the Minister for housing. I will arrange that we meet South Dublin County Council shortly. I will come back to the Deputy.

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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I wish the best of luck to Deputy Donohoe. He is the standard to which we all aspire in Fine Gael. I thank him for all of his support.

Skerries, Rush, Lusk, Garristown, Balrothery and Oldtown are all principally served by Balbriggan Garda station. Balbriggan is the youngest large town in the country. It is the most culturally diverse town in the country, yet we have not had a permanent superintendent at the Garda station for well over a year. I hope the Tánaiste will be able to give me some news as to when we will see that appointment. It is vital for the community. North County Dublin is a rapidly growing area, and a permanent superintendent appointment is essential.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I could not agree with the Deputy more. I have been with her in Balbriggan. It is a great town but I know how fast growing it is and how important this appointment is. Indeed, she has chatted to me about it in recent days as well. I have made inquiries. I am informed that, as we will recall, the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024 changed how the Garda fills its vacancies at senior ranks. It now runs the competitions for the vacancies. This was a major legislative reform and necessitated a temporary pause in promotion competitions for certain ranks, namely superintendent and above, until the Act was commenced and regulations signed. That happened on 2 April. As a result of that, a promotion competition was run for the rank of superintendent. I am assured that that competition has been undertaken and will enable the filling of outstanding vacancies. I expect the vacancy to which the Deputy has referred, a new superintendent for Balbriggan, to be filled imminently or very shortly.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I want to raise a big issue in north Dublin, namely the Oscar Traynor Centre. I also want to raise the Northside swimming pool, which has been closed. The Oscar Traynor Centre is a grassroots football centre built by people in Coolock and Kilmore. Why and how was it effectively handed over to a professional club when local clubs have been effectively cut out? Hundreds of young girls and boys cannot use the centre now. Why was it sold for a fraction of its valuated price? I would love the Tánaiste to look into this. I was in Kilmore recently, where a playground had been burned down. These young children have been cut out of the sports centre.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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It is very fitting the Deputy should raise this because while we have been in the Chamber the play-off draws for the World Cup have taken place. I believe we will face the Czech Republic - that is the "check" I have been thinking about most in the Department of Finance today - with a possible home final against Denmark or North Macedonia. That is just the latest soccer information. The Deputy is right, and that is the backdrop against which he asks his question. While we all cheer on our national team and we are all so proud of the progress made, including by Troy Parrott, and the Hungarians being as sick as a parrot, we need to use this as an opportunity to make sure we continue to invest in and support grassroots football and sports facilities.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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How many Troy Parrotts will not develop because of this?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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That is exactly the point I am making. I will make immediate inquiries with the Minister for sport, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, about the Oscar Traynor Centre and will ask him to talk to the Deputy directly.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Once again, I wish Paschal Donohoe, setting aside our significant political differences, the best on a personal level. I know he is a reader of books, and one book I know he has read, because we have talked about it, is by Thomas Piketty about the growing inequality in wealth in the world. The Deputy might therefore be interested in, or indeed maybe supportive of, my appeal to the Government not to increase income inequality affecting in particular some of Paschal's constituents in Dublin city, where there is significant concern among council residents, and a protest next Monday outside the Dublin City Council offices, about plans to increase the proportion of income council tenants will pay in rent from 15% to 18%. That would be a significant jump for, it should be remembered, some of the lowest income households in the city and in the country. The assumed income of certain categories of employee will also be increased significantly from, for example, €500 to €750 in the case of taxi drivers. The cap on subsidiary earners will also be increased. This will mean significant hikes in rent for some of the lowest income families. Eighteen per cent of a tiny income is a lot; 18% if you are a multimillionaire is not a lot. This is a cost-of-living hike for some of the lowest income families in Dublin city. It will affect other places too. The income thresholds have not been raised. I emphasise that this is the reason this is being done. We used to have people with higher incomes in social housing. Now they are excluded from housing lists, segregating the lowest income households and meaning the rental revenue coming back to local authorities is lower. The lowest income people should not be asked to pay the bill for that.

I ask the Government to intervene on this, stop the rent hikes on council tenants and start to raise income thresholds for social housing eligibility.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. Both he and Paschal would be disappointed if he did not point out their significant political differences while doing so in such a courteous way.

I am going on my memory here but I believe we did increase the income thresholds for social housing in the previous Government. I acknowledge that we probably need to do more on this over the lifetime of this Government. I see it in my constituency where incomes have risen, thankfully, but, as a result, sometimes people can miss out on eligibility and, therefore, there can be a poverty trap there. I will talk to the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, about his plans on this and specifically the issue Deputy Boyd Barrett raised in relation to Dublin City Council and its decisions on rents.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I call Deputy John Paul O'Shea.

Michael Murphy (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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I notified the Ceann Comhairle's office on Tuesday that I would take this question, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Is that in order?

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Yes, go ahead.

Michael Murphy (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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On Monday of this week the High Court quashed a section 5 declaration applying to Dundrum House Hotel. This site is no longer planning compliant, yet we maintain a multimillion-euro IPAS contract with a company whose shady business dealings are before the High Court. There is no accountability, no transparency and no due diligence. This is not about IPAS; this is about the taxpayer and the people of Dundrum. Since we have entered into this contract, we have lost a golf course. Some 780 members can no longer drive a golf ball on the golf course. We lost all the ancillary activities as well. This is about standing up for the proud people of Dundrum. More importantly, it is about standing up for the taxpayer. I ask that this multimillion-euro contract be brought to a halt.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue in the House, as he has done on many occasions. I will not, for understandable reasons, comment on matters that are the subject of a commercial dispute before the courts. I understand that the Minister for justice, Deputy O'Callaghan, has agreed to meet with the Deputy next week to discuss the broader matter he raises on behalf of the people of Dundrum. When I have been in his constituency I have met many local kind, decent people who want to have a conversation about this issue.

It also raises a broader issue. As we form our new national migration policy, which we must do because immigration is a good thing but so too are rules and structures, we need to move away from the reliance on hotels and private facilities, which is causing real difficulties and challenges, particularly in rural Ireland. We will ensure that the Deputy has a meeting with the Minister for justice next week, and I will continue to engage with the Deputy on this.

Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I wish the Tánaiste well in his new role. I also thank Paschal Donohoe for his service as Minister for Finance and in other roles. One of the last reports he published as Minister, and one of the most important, is the Future Forty report, which sets out the long-term direction for this country. Part of that is the demographic challenge, whereby we will grow from having about 860,000 people over the age of 65 now to potentially 2 million in 40 years. What is critical in that is that we have a healthy older population during that time and that we keep older people active.

With that in mind, I refer to budget 2025 and the commitment in the programme for Government to consider the introduction of tax relief for gym membership and other particular measures to provide supports to encourage greater activity among older people. I would be grateful to know the Tánaiste's views now, as Minister for Finance, on the proposal for a tax relief for gym membership in the programme for Government.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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In my new role I must be even more disciplined in commenting on various tax changes and the likes. I have been watching Paschal do this for a few years. I am committed to the programme for Government, of course, as is the Government. The sequencing and advancement of various initiatives in the programme will be a matter for individual budgets. The Deputy is entirely right: this was put into the programme for Government because of his view and the view of others on the importance of helping keep our population fit and healthy, particularly as we age. Future Forty is a great gift to all of us as policymakers across this House. It is a treasure trove of various scenarios and the like that may unfold over the time ahead and it will help us plan better. Specific timelines for specific tax measures are a matter for future budgets but we do intend to honour what is in the programme for Government.

Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)
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I too wish Deputy Donohoe the best and echo his call for investments in libraries. I have raised the issue of Cork city library. We have been waiting four years for a new-build library. Perhaps that is one the Tánaiste could invest in. It would be crucial and would be part of Deputy Donohoe's legacy.

The issue I want to raise is relates to the census. I welcome the decision to include questions on sexual orientation and gender in the next census. For the first time, a hidden part of our population will become visible in official State data. This census data matters because we can measure the health, economic and housing disparities faced by gender and sexual minorities.

However, it comes with challenges. There are concerns in the community around confidentiality. There is a fear of disclosure among older members because of the history of criminalisation by the State. There are also issues with accuracy and under-reporting that will result. It is also regrettable that there is not going to be a question on sex characteristics to include intersex people.

I would like to see the Government take four actions. Research needs to be carried out early next year to better understand these complex issues. There must be concrete steps to ensure that the census is confidential at an individual level. We have to ensure that the new questions are inclusive of intersex people. Finally, I urge the Government to pass the disregard Bill to disregard historical convictions for men, which has been co-sponsored by six Opposition groups.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am glad the Deputy reminded me of that Bill because we should try to make progress on it. I will seek an update on that. On the library issue, we have a public library strategy 2023 to 2027. We are genuinely committed to continuing to invest in our libraries. The evolution of our libraries has been a source of collective national pride at a time when other countries are reducing their investment in and funding of their libraries. Some are even closing down libraries.

It might be useful for me to arrange for the Deputy to have a briefing with the CSO or officials as appropriate on this. The census is a highly important moment in gathering data. We need that data to help us develop services and plan for our future. I have been learning about this recently. The CSO has gone through a very extensive process with an advisory group but the questions the Deputy raised are valid. I do not have the expertise on the floor of the Dáil to answer them accurately. I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, who has responsibility in this area, to come back to the Deputy and arrange for him to have a briefing and direct answers to his questions.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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I too wish Paschal Donohoe the very best of luck for the future. We managed to disagree agreeably most of the time. I want to recognise the contribution he has made to political life. I ask him to consider taking a lead from his former leader Leo Varadkar in terms of the work that he has done as an ambassador for the reunification of our island. There are many issues that are facing us that can only be tackled on an all-island basis. There are some wonderful books and academic papers that he can refer to in all of that.

The issue I want to deal with today is the lack of child psychology services in Mayo. In 2023, there was a two-year waiting list, which was totally unacceptable. Now, there is a three-year waiting list. That is not good enough for the for the children of Mayo. We are told that it is due to a range of factors. I want more psychologists in there. I want to end the ridiculous situation whereby if a child psychologist or anybody else goes on maternity leave, we wait until they are on maternity leave to then try to recruit. I am deeply concerned about the number of young people who are dying by suicide in Mayo and then even their families and the communities around them cannot get child psychology services.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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When the Deputy asked Paschal to follow Leo's lead, I thought she was going to ask him to write a book.

Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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He can write a book too.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I think it would be a very interesting one, but that is for another day.

The Deputy raised a very serious matter about the wait times for psychology services in County Mayo. She also highlighted the very serious issue of death by suicide in her county. I will ask both the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, who has responsibility for mental health, to come back to the Deputy directly specifically on child psychology provision in County Mayo.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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I want to raise an important industrial dispute with Dublin Fire Brigade over the proposed implementation of a new computer-aided dispatch system. The membership of Dublin Fire Brigade have overwhelmingly voted for industrial action up to and including strike action over it. Effectively, there is a proposal to bring all fire brigades in the country under one dispatch system. However, the problem with the proposal is that it will not include Dublin Fire Brigade's ambulance fleet, meaning that the fire brigade side would be included but the ambulance fleet would not be included and it would fragment the existing resources. There has been no consultation with front-line firefighters on this and they make a strong case that splitting fire and ambulance services into two dispatch systems creates a clear risk to both public health and firefighter safety. It is an integrated fire, rescue and ambulance service and it is necessary that it has one dispatch system to reflect that. I do not know if the Tánaiste has come across this issue or if the Government can intervene on it.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Murphy for raising it. I have been around long enough to know that disputes are generally resolved by engagement and consultation so I would encourage everybody to engage intensively with Dublin Fire Brigade, which does an incredible public service, and indeed with the ambulance service. I know that from quite a while back, in my memory, these issues with ambulance and fire brigade provision in the city of Dublin have caused points of friction at times in industrial relations. I really urge the State side and the union sides to engage to try to find a way forward. The use of technology is always a good thing, but I take the point about the particular situation in Dublin with a fire brigade service and an ambulance service and the need for alignment. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Browne, whose Department has responsibility, to come back to the Deputy on it.