Results 761-780 of 16,182 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: The significant investment that has gone into special education in recent years has been with the sole purpose of making sure children have places and that when they are in school, whether it is in special schools, special education classrooms or mainstream classes, they have access to the support that is appropriate to them. That is why we have more than 23,000 SNAs and thousands of new...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: We all acknowledge the importance of credit unions in our towns and villages, for many reasons. While I am not aware of the particular cases Deputy Lawless mentioned, I can certainly raise the matter directly with the relevant Minister.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: I join with the Deputy in commending the members of our fire service, An Garda Síochána and all of our emergency services on the fantastic work they do in protecting us and keeping us safe. A huge amount of work happened under the previous Government. That has continued into the term of this Government. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has engaged with the...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. He and I live in commuter towns. The populations in such towns have grown significantly in recent years. What is most important is that the services respond to those increases in population and that we forward plan insofar as is possible. In recent years, particularly this year, 15 new special classes have been sanctioned for County...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: We have made great strides in recent years to make sure that we can allow for those who are Gaelgeoirí to access content in order that they can engage with services in their native language.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: I will ask the Minister to come back to the Deputy directly on this. I do not have a clear answer, but I certainly think we are all keen to build on the progress that has been made. Obviously, this would be part of that.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: We need to be open to anything we can do to support those who have addiction issues but also to prevent young children from going down that path. As the Deputy rightly mentioned, the new Gambling Regulatory Authority was introduced following significant work by our colleague the Minister, Deputy James Browne. It is important that the authority should be open to looking at all forms of...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: As a result of the actions of this Government, and because we have not spent every single penny we have, it has meant that over the years when we have had significant challenges - be it Covid-19 or the war in Ukraine and the implications these have had in terms of the cost of living - we have had money to give back to people. In last year's budget alone, there were €2.2 billion worth...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: Let me assure the Deputy that this is not being rushed. This issue has been discussed for ten years. It was agreed in 2023 that the first tranche would start in 2025. It is important that this proceeds. It will benefit our students and that is why we are doing it. Teachers agree with it, unions agree with it and students, who have come out very clearly in support of what is proposed,...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (15 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. I acknowledge the work of Cara Darmody in highlighting the very important issues he mentioned. Supporting people, particularly children with disabilities, is an absolute priority for this Government. A total of €3.2 billion was allocated for disability services in the budget. Almost one third my Department's budget is focused on...

Ceisteanna ó na Comhaltaí Eile - Other Members’ Questions (15 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for raising what I know is an absolute priority for him and his constituents. He is absolutely passionate about achieving an outcome and delivery above all else. Housing is the number one priority for this Government. Making sure we can deliver housing for every citizen who needs it, be it in urban or rural areas, is the number one priority. That is why we are...

Ceisteanna ó na Comhaltaí Eile - Other Members’ Questions (15 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: What is absolutely key is delivery and that we look at problems with fresh eyes and in a new way and make sure those who are responsible and able to deliver are very much part of the solution. That is why Uisce Éireann will be part of the various bodies I mentioned - the new infrastructure office established in the Department of public expenditure and the new housing delivery office. ...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: This is across a number of different avenues. Our farmers, business people, those involved in transport and private economy and all of us in our homes need to make sure we are doing every single thing possible to contribute to the overall reduction so that we can achieve our targets. It is something we are committed to doing, as I know the Deputy is.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. This is something that impacts a significant proportion of our population and there are very different reasons people may not have children, choose not to have children, cannot have children or are in different scenarios where it does not happen. It is always open to any individual or group of people to make representations, be it prior to the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: Our job in this Dáil is to ensure any of the rules we adhere to and abide by and any of our taxation measures are as fair as possible. It is our job to make sure anything we put in place is fair and applicable to all citizens. It is about understanding what the potential implications are, what measures need to be taken and what the overall cost will be. The Minister for Finance said...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: I cannot be any clearer on this. The Minister does not have the report. She does not have recommendations. While elements have been unhelpfully published in online articles, the report has not been presented to the Minister. It stands to reason that while this work is being done, the hospital is not going to sit still and say it will wait for everything. It knows it needs to change its...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: It is clear that to meet the 18% forest target set out in our national forest strategy, we have a huge amount of work to do. We need to plant an additional 500,000 acres and, therefore, it is important that we continue to examine all of our lands, invest in research and make the best decisions possible. A huge amount of work has happened and more is under way to address our overall forestry...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: If we are to achieve our overall targets, which we have set out clearly in law, we need to take a number of measures. I have mentioned just some of the reductions we have seen, including in energy or agriculture overall, which includes our forestry targets, and focusing on our environment, overall economy, transport and private sector. The critical issue is that whatever we do - and I...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: I cannot be any clearer with the Deputy on this. We first need to ascertain the facts. We need to ensure that we have absolute clarity as to what has happened, how many people are involved and how we make sure this never happens again. At the same time, we need to ensure that, where families need follow-on care and further information and clinical support, that is provided. The Minister...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 May 2025)

Helen McEntee: I do not think it is helpful for any of us to be discussing certain elements without having the full facts. I appreciate fully and agree with the Deputy that families want all of the facts. They want the information and they do not want it piecemeal. They certainly do not want parts of an unpublished document being published elsewhere and not coming through the Minister or not having that...