Budget 2027

55. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection his plans to further reform the means test for carer’s allowance, including whether he will consider its full abolition and the introduction of a non-means-tested family carer payment, in recognition of the fact that eligibility for support should reflect the significant caring responsibilities undertaken by full-time family carers. [63776/26]

Road Safety

137. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Transport if he will examine the introduction of a multidisciplinary investigation model for fatal and serious road collisions, similar to the system operating in Finland, bringing together expertise in policing, road engineering, vehicle safety, medicine and behavioural science to identify contributory factors and make recommendations aimed at preventing future collisions. [63674/26]

Departmental Policies

89. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection whether he is considering advocating, as part of the pre-budget process, for targeted employer PRSI relief measures for SMEs, particularly in respect of lower-paid workers, in order to help locally owned businesses maintain employment and remain competitive in the face of rising business costs. [63668/26]

An Garda Síochána

213. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Transport if he will engage with the Minister for Justice; Home Affairs and Migration and An Garda Síochána on the urgent strengthening of dedicated roads policing units; whether roads policing should operate within a dedicated command structure; and whether Garda allocations should better reflect factors such as the scale and length of the road network in each county. [63673/26]

State Pensions

52. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Social Protection if he will consider allowing persons aged 66 years and over who continue to provide full-time care to retain a full-rate carer’s allowance alongside their State pension, rather than being restricted to a half-rate payment; and his views that a carer’s responsibilities and the cost of providing care do not reduce on reaching pension age. [63782/26]

School Transport

260. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether she will review the requirement under the school transport scheme that pupils must attend their nearest school, having regard to ethos and language, to qualify for transport; whether she accepts that this can significantly restrict parental choice of school, particularly where concessionary places are unavailable due to capacity constraints; and if greater flexibility will be introduced under the scheme. [66421/26]

34th Dáil debate — 2026-09-30

Deputy Michael Murphy I am sharing this Topical Issue with Deputy McGrath about the crisis in community ophthalmology in south Tipperary. I have raised this repeatedly in the Chamber in other Topical Issue Matter debates and numerous parliamentary questions. This follows the planned retirement of Dr. Hillary, the community ophthalmologist working out of south Tipperary in August 2024. For reasons unknown to me, three recruitment campaigns have failed to recruit a new community ophthalmologist c

34th Dáil debate — 2026-09-30

Deputy Michael Murphy I thank the Minister of State for his reply. We now entering the third year of this crisis. These figures were made available to me back in December. There are 1,449 children under the age of four, 334 children between the ages of five and 17 and almost 600 adults on the waiting list, yet into the third year of this crisis we are still exploring other options. I was told in January or February of this year about the idea of a blitz clinic but that is still not in place. My

34th Dáil debate — 2026-09-30

Deputy Michael Murphy It is just the costs for Waterford.

34th Dáil debate — 2026-09-30

Deputy Michael Murphy In January of this year, the faculty of pathology at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland published a report on autopsy provision in Ireland, which it described as a crisis emerging. We already see this in Waterford. HSE pathologists have withdrawn from Department of justice contracts to provide coronial post-mortems in Waterford. This will have a devastating impact for families waiting to bury their loved ones in a timely manner. I have two questions. First, the rep