Homeless Persons Supports

96. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the measures he will take this winter to reverse rising homelessness; when the promised and delayed child and family homelessness action plan will be published; and the emergency measures he will take this winter to accelerate exits from emergency accommodation. [68816/26]

Capitation Grants

364. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will increase the capitation grant for schools in the budget. [68003/26]

Naturalisation Applications

543. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if the Government will consider protecting, either fully or partially, Temporary Protection Residence accumulated before the commencement of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2026. [68270/26]

Student Visas

407. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration when the outstanding visa appeals for Palestinian nationals seeking to study in Ireland will be processed, given that third-level courses have already commenced for the current academic year and students risk losing their placements; and the specific criteria or differentiating factors that distinguished the 46 applications from Palestinian nationals that were recently granted visas from those that remain pendin

Health Services

433. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Health the timeline for the implementation of the newly approved Huntington’s Disease Care Pathway, following the approval notification issued by the Huntington's Disease Association of Ireland on 28 August 2026. [67691/26]

Health Services

435. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Health the steps being taken to address the severe delays in neurology review appointments for degenerative conditions, with specific reference to cases where patients with Huntington’s disease have had long waits to see their neurologist; and the specific measures within the new care pathway to reduce these waiting lists. [67689/26]

34th Dáil debate — 2026-10-01

Deputy Conor Sheehan The issue I have is that we are functionally out of capacity. We are running out of emergency accommodation coming into this winter and there is a real concern that the incoming demand will exhaust all the remaining beds. There is nothing in what the Minister said, albeit his acknowledgement that the plan does need to be funded but it needs to be funded properly and it is going to need a significant envelope. Something around 20% of all section 10 funding needs to go into a

34th Dáil debate — 2026-10-01

Deputy Conor Sheehan The Bill is very technical and I welcome the Minister's clarification that Parts 9 and 10 do not apply to private heritage railways. That is very important. There are a few of them around the country. It is important that onerous regulation is not placed on them. In many cases they are privately run and located on private ground. They are mainly volunteer driven and do an awful lot of fundraising to keep themselves going, and I am glad the Minister has clarified that they w

34th Dáil debate — 2026-10-01

Deputy Conor Sheehan There is nothing in the briefing the Minister's Department gave him and which he read out - it is essentially the same as the one read out to my colleagues who asked similar questions earlier - that addresses the crux of my question because the child and family homelessness plan has been delayed repeatedly. It was supposed to come in quarter 2, then in June and then in September. The budget is next week. When exactly will the plan be published? Is there going to be ringfenc

34th Dáil debate — 2026-10-01

Deputy Conor Sheehan I am here to speak in support of this Bill. At the outset in his speech, the Minister mentioned Spain and the housing crisis that is raging across Spain at the moment. It is important to note for context that there is such a terrible housing crisis in Spain because when Spain transitioned from Francoism to democracy, the social housing stock in Spain was between 1% and about 3%. There was a Francoist system of housing which transitioned into democracy. There were the 1990s

34th Dáil debate — 2026-10-01

Deputy Conor Sheehan Since the Minister came to office in January 2025, we have had a 17% overall increase in homelessness, including a 26.66% increase in the number of children homeless. I will ask the Minister specifically about the measures he will take this winter to reverse rising homelessness. When will the promised and repeatedly delayed child and family homelessness action plan be published? What are the accelerated emergency measures he will take to increase and accelerate exits from e