Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I join my colleague from County Kildare in raising a number of issues, particularly with regard to the water outages in west Kildare. It has gone beyond a joke and I encourage everybody to get involved, particularly when we are speaking about schools now having to close their doors. I ask the Minister to come to the House or for the Leader to write to Uisce Éireann on behalf of the House. I know Uisce Éireann sent a reply in the past half an hour to state it is working on it but we have had a number of these works so far this year and they do not seem to be solving the problem that needs to be solved for the people in west Kildare.

I also join my colleague in asking for immediate action regarding the 100 redundancies at Pfizer in Newbridge. It is very dear to me as it is where my late brother worked. I know the community that is Pfizer in Newbridge and how it comes together. It will come together in what it is now facing. It is very important that the people of Newbridge come together and that all of the agencies of the State also come together. I support my colleague on those calls.

The Labour Party is using its Private Members' time in the Dáil to discuss funding home help. Our health spokesperson, Deputy Duncan Smith recently called for the recruitment freeze on home help and other care workers to be lifted immediately. The waiting list for home care support in this country is 6,020 but in July the Government cut home help support by 1.9 million hours. Comparing the numbers of those seeking home help support in the first six months of 2022 to the same period in 2023 we see a 3.7% increase in people needing care. Over the past week I have spoken to a number of carers in the system who because of their age are being encouraged to retire by the HSE. At a time when we have 6,000 people on a waiting list we should be actively asking these experienced people to stay on and encouraging them to continue working in the system. Given our older population, I ask the Leader to use her office to try to get a debate on home care with the Minister in the House.

I am delighted to say that on Tuesday the Taoiseach officially opened the new and long-awaited Athy distributor road. This is the first opportunity I have had to put on the record of the House my thanks to all those from all political parties, community groups and individuals who over many years have been involved in the project. I am particularly proud of the role a number of current and past members of the Labour Party played in getting the road open. It is the right to thank the officials in Kildare County Council who worked so hard to get the road open. I also credit BAM, which got the road open six months before it was due to open. The new road has already transformed my home town. It is giving Athy the opportunity to develop into the modern town it has always deserved to be. It is time to speak about a positive future for Athy. With the absence of choking traffic Athy is open for business. We have great businesses in the town and I encourage everybody to visit Athy in the coming weeks. They will have a new experience and will be able to partake in the great businesses that are in this great town.