Ken O’Flynn TD

TD for Cork North Central /Member of Irish Parliament

[Ken O’Flynn TD @kenoflynnTD]

1.99 petrol. 2.09 diesel. Nearly half goes straight back to the government in tax.

The taxi driver. The nurse with no 6am bus. The carer. The tradesman. The farmer on green diesel. The pensioner filling a heating oil tank to stay warm.

"The people who get up early in the morning." The people this government bleeds dry.

And the ministers lecturing you on the cost of living? Their state cars are filled for free. On your money. They never watch the numbers spin at a pump.

Tax the country to the hilt and feel none of it yourself.

#CostOfLiving #FuelPrices

[Daily Mail @DailyMail]

As Helen McEntee avoids questions on cover-up of the Garda whistleblowers scandal, this is what her Cabinet colleagues REALLY think, what they say MUST happen next... and why Jim O'Callaghan needs to watch his back https://t.co/slwrOyuXVL

[Ken O’Flynn TD @kenoflynnTD]

A person in Donegal can object to a window in Waterford. No stake in the community, no intention of ever living there.

Homes now take twice as long to build as they did ten years ago. Many that get permission are never built at all.

Our planning system is broken. Overhaul it.

[Ken O’Flynn TD @kenoflynnTD]

12,000+ families in mortgage arrears for the first time in three months.

Over 500,000 energy accounts now in arrears. One in seven electricity customers, more than one in four gas customers.

Many mortgage holders sold to vulture funds pay 6%+. Least able to pay, highest rates. I'm raising it with the Minister for Finance.

[Ken O’Flynn TD @kenoflynnTD]

Today I asked Minister for Children Norma Foley about "What's the T?", a sexually explicit book recommended to kids as young as 15 by a State-funded body.

Her answer? Not her responsibility.

I had to remind her she IS the Minister for Children. She still won't say if she's even read it.

[Independent Ireland @independent_ire]

Independent Ireland wishes Deputy Michael Healy-Rae a speedy and full recovery following the reported assault in Dublin today.

Our thoughts are with Michael, his family and colleagues at this time.

There is absolutely no place for violence or attacks on public representatives. Political differences must always be expressed through debate and democratic means, never through intimidation or violence.

From all of us at Independent Ireland, we wish Michael a speedy recovery and hope to see him back on his feet very soon.

[Ken O’Flynn TD @kenoflynnTD]

Corruption and wrongdoing are intolerable in any institution — especially one entrusted with protecting the public.

The allegations raised by Garda whistleblowers on RTÉ Investigates tonight are deeply concerning. Those who speak up about wrongdoing must be protected, not silenced, sidelined or punished.

Accountability, transparency and the rule of law must apply to everyone. Whistleblowers deserve protection, and allegations of wrongdoing deserve proper, independent investigation. Gardaí deserve safe equipment and administrative authorities must be held accountable for any and all mistakes relating to this matter. This is about the working conditions of the people who keep our streets and communities safe. The intimidatory attempts to silence whistleblowers in this country across our public and government institutions is disgraceful and must come to an end.

https://t.co/kKlL4ehOQX

[Ken O’Flynn TD @kenoflynnTD]

Glad to co-sign Carol Nolan TD's Criminal Justice (Unborn Victims of Crime) Bill 2026 today.

If a pregnant woman is attacked or killed in a crash and her unborn child dies, the law does not currently recognise that child as a victim. This Bill fixes that, while making clear no woman can ever be prosecuted over her own pregnancy.

[Ken O’Flynn TD @kenoflynnTD]

Let me point out the obvious about Skyclarys.

Fianna Fáil put out a glossy graphic today welcoming reimbursement from October 1st. The same Fianna Fáil that has sat in government the whole time these families were failed.

This drug has been available in the US since 2023 and across Europe since 2024. For years, people with Friedreich's ataxia were forced onto the streets to beg for it while Fianna Fáil sat at the Cabinet table with the power to act. You do not get to cause the wait and then claim the win.

And their October 1st is firmer than the HSE's own. The HSE says it is working towards that date, with stock due late September and specialists still to be registered before a prescription can be filled. A Government party is promising families a certainty the HSE will not.

Here is the obvious bit. In this country, if you have a rare disease, you are expected to become a campaigner just to get treated. That is a scandal, and it must never happen again.

I will hold the HSE to October 1st. It must mean treatment in hand, not another poster. To the campaigners, and Craig Coady in particular, thank you. You did what the State would not. If your family needs help with the HSE, my office is open.

[Ken O’Flynn TD @kenoflynnTD]

Great day at #Ploughing26. Find us at the Independent Ireland stand: Row 11, Block 4, No. 208.

Huge numbers joining up. People are worried about how farming and rural life are treated.

Tell us what needs to change. We listen, we don't lecture. #RuralIreland

[Ken O’Flynn TD @kenoflynnTD]

Almost €2m in six months reimbursing nebuliser medicines, yet patients were left short. Whether you got a covered alternative or paid out of pocket depended on your county.

Nobody fighting for breath should face a postcode lottery.

[Independent Ireland @independent_ire]

O’Flynn: Sick children left waiting five months even when doctors say treatment is urgent

Children whose own doctors have classified their cases as urgent are waiting an average of more than five months for elective procedures, while new figures raise serious questions about whether CHI’s clinical priority system is actually delivering meaningful priority to the children who need it most.

Children’s Health Ireland has confirmed to me that 5,765 children are waiting for elective procedures. Its own breakdown, as of 23 July 2026, is stark:

514 children classified as urgent, waiting an average of 163 days
2,322 classified as semi-urgent, waiting an average of 202 days
2,929 classified as non-urgent, waiting an average of 213 days
Look at what those figures actually say.

A child classified as urgent is waiting an average of 163 days, or almost five and a half months. A child classified as non-urgent is waiting 213 days, or just over seven months.

That is a difference of only 50 days between the highest and lowest clinical priority categories.

The figures raise a very serious question: what does the priority classification mean if an urgent child is still waiting almost as long as a non-urgent child?

Let me put it plainly.

A doctor examines a child and decides that treatment is urgent. The family is entitled to believe that the word urgent will have consequences for where that child sits in the queue.

Yet these figures show that children classified as urgent are still waiting an average of five and a half months.

That is not what parents understand the word urgent to mean.

And these are only averages. An average of 163 days does not tell us how long the child who has waited the longest has actually been waiting. CHI has not provided the maximum wait for children in any of these three priority categories.

That is not good enough.

Behind every number is a child and a family. It may be a child living with pain, a child whose condition is affecting their development, or a child whose parents have been repeatedly told that their case has been prioritised.

Parents should not have to guess whether an urgent classification actually means anything.

@kenoflynnTD

[Ken O’Flynn TD @kenoflynnTD]

60,000 people waiting over 39 weeks for primary care therapy.

I asked the HSE three questions: Any assessment of the harm to children?

None.

Is 39 weeks clinically safe?
No answer.

Is 12 weeks still the benchmark?

Wouldn't confirm.

You can't fix a waiting list you refuse to measure the harm of.

[Ken O’Flynn TD @kenoflynnTD]

Energia hiking prices from 12 Oct, some tariffs up eight times the rate of inflation.

Electricity up €87 a year, gas up €142, standing charges up again before you use a single unit.

Bord Gáis, Pinergy, Flogas all at it too. Families squeezed while Government shrugs.

[Niall Boylan @Niall_Boylan]

What’s a transgender and why would be telling children as young as three about a fantasy that doesn’t exist. Just curious

[Ken O’Flynn TD @kenoflynnTD]

Simon Harris calls Trump's $5,000 pledge "peculiar" because he's not sure how America would fund it.

Interesting. I wasn't aware the Tánaiste was privy to the US Treasury.

Meanwhile Ireland has sent hundreds of millions to Ukraine and billions in overseas aid to African countries over the last decade. Plenty of it worthy. Very little of it ever subjected to the same forensic questioning here at home.

One pledge gets called peculiar. Our own spending rarely gets a second look.

Same standard of scrutiny, please.

[Ken O’Flynn TD @kenoflynnTD]

Lovely surprise in the post today. A handwritten thank you card.

In a job that's mostly emails, calls and casework, it's the small gestures that stay with you. A few kind words on paper remind me why this work matters. Whoever you are, thank you back. It made my day.

[Ken O’Flynn TD @kenoflynnTD]

My thanks to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland for responding on the ALCI conference and induced lactation in men. NMBI confirms it has not assessed the evidence on the safety or suitability of that milk for infants. These are questions of due diligence, not hostility.

[Ken O’Flynn TD @kenoflynnTD]

"Well, as Charles Caleb Colton said, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."