The Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Children & Youth Affairs Anne Rabbitte has called on the government to take immediate and decisive action to address the issues highlighted by this year’s report card from the Children’s Rights Alliance.

The organisation has highlighted failings across a range of areas including housing and mental health services.

“This report shows that Ireland is not a safe or happy place for too many children.  The government’s failure to tackle key issues has been exposed and calls for action have been reignited.  Housing was one of the issued singled out by the Children’s Rights Alliance, and the government’s record in this area is shocking,” said East Galway TD Anne Rabbitte.

“Last November saw a record number of children (3,333) living in emergency accommodation.  It is widely accepted that this environment is completely unsuitable for families.

“It impacts every aspect of a child’s life – it makes it more difficult for them to see their friends, they may have to change schools and even simple things like having a normal meal with their parents and siblings are not possible.

“That’s not even taking the considerable child protection concerns from a child being forced to live in a hotel into consideration.”

The Galway East TD, who also criticised the government for a lack of funding in roads in the east of the county yesterday, said that over 3,000 children have effectively been abandoned by this government.

“The government is also failing in its duty to children experiencing mental health difficulties. At the end of July last year, there were 6,811 children awaiting a psychology appointment.  These are children living with anxiety or depression.  Imagine how frightened they must feel, especially when they are forced to wait months for an appointment with a psychologist.

“I am calling on Ministers Zappone, Murphy and Harris to outline how they will be responding to this report, to rebalance the situation and ensure that children are not being denied their basic rights,” she added.

An East Galway TD has hit out at the government for a lack of investment in roads in parts of East Galway.

Deputy Anne Rabbitte said that she had to drive on the wrong side of the road on Monday, because of the severity of the potholes on a road in the east of the county.

Speaking in the Dáil yesterday, Anne Rabbitte spoke about visiting families in Drim, Loughrea, an area in which the roads are particularly poor.

“Yesterday afternoon I went out to visit people in a place called Drim, Ballynakill, Lughrea County Galway. And on the stretch of road between the R351 and the R353, there’s 130 houses.

“Now in order when I came off the Gort road to go down to meet them in the local national school, I literally had to drive on the wrong side of the road. That I am not telling you one word of a lie.

“Because the potholes on the left hand side of the road were so deep it was unbelievable because of the flow from Slieve Aughty mountains.

“But when I arrived in the local national school, you wouldn’t believe it, there was 53 families there to meet me. It was one of the biggest crowds I’ve walked into on a Monday afternoon at three o’clock in the day. Those families protested in relation to the lack of funding and investment in the roads,” the Fianna Fáil TD said.

Deputy Anne Rabbitt urged the Minister to provide emergency funding for roads which she said was needed for all of east Galway.

Galway County Council are warning of delays on the N63, due to roadworks in Ballygar.

The roadworks will be carried out between tomorrow, Wednesday 14 February and Friday 16 February.

Traffic management will be in place on the route.

Galway County Council apologised for any inconvenience that this may cause.

Meanwhile, roadworks are being carried out from the junction with the N17 on the Corrandulla Road for a distance of 100m. It  is expected to take four weeks.

Galway County Council say traffic delays are expected and that diversion routes will be signposted.

Galway TDs and Senators have repeatedly brought the the issue of traffic congestion before both houses of the Oireachtas.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, the Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport will focus on traffic management and congestion in Galway.

Members of the committee include Ms Anne Graham, CEO,National Transport Authority; Mr. Brian Coll, Institute of Technology Sligo; Mr. Kevin Kelly, Chief Executive (Interim), Galway County Council; Mr. Brendan McGrath,Chief Executive, Galway City Council and Mr. Tony Neary, Vice President and General Manager, Medtronic,Galway.

Committee Chair, Deputy Fergus O’Dowd said: “Successive surveys have shown that traffic congestion in Galway ranks among the worst in the country.

“Tomorrow we will meet with various stakeholders to examine the issues around traffic management and congestion in the city.

“Traffic congestion not only has a huge impact on commuters, but it also has economic and social costs. We will be keen to find out what measures are being implemented to alleviate the problems in Galway.”

The latest report by Daft.ie shows that rents in Co. Galway are rising quicker than any other part of the country, including the six areas in Dublin.

Average rents in Co. Galway are now €767, which is a year-on-year increase of 14.1%, while in the city, the average rent is €1,09 – a 12.4% rise.

Nationwide, the average has risen by 65% since its lowest point in late 2011 and, having exceeded its 2008 peak in 2016, is now 19.2% above the previous high. Having exceeded its 2008 peak in 2016, it is now 19.2% above the
previous high.

In Galway city, rents are 30% above levels recorded a decade ago. Outside the cities, the average is 10.4% above its previous peak.

The average rents nationally is just over €1,200 and Donegal has the third cheapest rents and the lowest year-on-year increase.

A new online treatment programme, set up by expert psychologists and physiotherapists, aims to help those who are managing chronic health conditions.

The Centre for Pain Research at NUI Galway, with the Health Research Board, is looking for people with chronic pain and at least one other long-term condition to take part in a research study.

The study is open to people all over Ireland and will take place over the coming months.

GPs and other health professionals around the country are also being encouraged to refer suitable people to the study.

The Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) trial will provide eight online sessions to people in the comfort of their own home.

Research has shown that having multiple chronic conditions, also known as multimorbidity, is associated with a number of negative outcomes, such as a decline in physical and mental functioning, a decreased quality of life and a greater risk of mortality.

The ACT trial is based on emerging clinical science that demonstrates the usefulness of managing health conditions through mindfulness and psychological wellbeing.

The free online sessions in the ACT programme will focus on values and goals that are individual to each person in the trial.

Participants will be provided with instructions on a range of activity-pacing techniques to encourage more consistent levels of activity from day-to-day.

In addition, mindfulness techniques and cognitive behavioural therapy will help identify both negative thinking patterns and the development of effective challenges.

Dr Brian Slattery, coordinator of the study at the Centre for Pain Research at NUI Galway, says: “We know that psychological therapies provided to people with chronic conditions are beneficial, but can be hard to access. In this trial, we will offer this online programme to people all over the country, with any combination of conditions, to try alongside any existing treatments they are already using.”

For further information and suitable patient referrals, please email painresearch@nuigalway.ie and visit: www.nuigalway.ie/centre-for-pain-research/