Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have a few matters I would like to raise with the Leader. He will be very familiar with the place I refer to first. Just seven miles from Galway city, a friend of mine from Corcullen contacted me to ask me to highlight that they have had no broadband service since the storm two months ago.I had to read the message twice to see if this could be true. Many places in the country were not affected or got off lightly but I find it astonishing that there are still people without broadband as a result of the storms, including just 7 km from Galway city in the case of my correspondent. They have been on to Digiweb and various local and public representatives who say that nothing is being done by Eir to replace fallen lines. It is one thing if people are depending on broadband for their ordinary entertainment but if they depend on it for their work and business, then it is an even more serious matter. It would be no harm to ask the Minister for communications for an update on this. Is it possible that there are still people without broadband because the necessary repair works have not been done by Eir? As my correspondent puts it, we have been placed in a digital world, but when it fails, no one gives a hoot. She asked me to bring it up and I am happy to do so.

I also raise the announcement by the Minister for integration about the extension of the accommodation recognition payment scheme. I have heard from people who are concerned about the impact of this on Ukrainian people who have come to live in homes because people availed of this scheme. In the usual Government way, it is presented as this being extended by another year. The bite in it is that there will be a reduction in the monthly payment in a subsequent draft order from €800 to €600. When we consider not just the shelter that Ukrainians had in people's homes and the link with the community, the solidarity and support that this brought them, is there a plan to assist and care for the 37,500 people who have been involved in this, with about 20,000 claims for the payment, in what could be an impending crisis in their lives? I am in touch with owners who are receiving the grant and they say they do not want to turf people out. If they do, those people are going to migrate elsewhere, which will put pressure on the availability of student accommodation in other places. The question that many people have is whether there is a plan that addresses the personal needs of the people who will be most affected, namely those who will be asked in some cases to leave their accommodation, and whether the effect that this will have on the rental market has been thought through.