Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald raised the heartbreaking case of nine-year-old Harvey Morrison Sherratt, who died in July. "He was failed by the Government. Harvey's case is not an isolated case. Such failures are shamefully a hallmark of your Government," she told Taoiseach Micheál Martin. Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns also raised the case, slating the Government for painfully slow progress on the issue of disability. "Sixteen thousand children are overdue an assessment of need, essential therapies are non-existent and hundreds of children left in agony waiting for spinal surgery," she said.
Waiting lists for home care for older people and people with a disability are highest in the west and north-west counties - with 1,334 in a queue for the service in this region as figures show an ongoing postcode lottery.
The Trump administration's 2026 budget proposal threatens to drastically cut funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, endangering the stability of thousands of formerly homeless individuals with disabilities.
"My contribution to that conversation has been more about ensuring that the legislation defines the purpose of the assessment and enables access to it, rather than it being a catch-all for everything in the state."
Private equity firms are, more than many other types of investors, laser-focused on maximizing their cash flow, often trying to double or triple their investment over a relatively short period of time.