Is ceist thábhachtach í seo, go háirithe do Choimisiún na Meán atá díreach ag teacht ar an saol i gceart agus anois táimid ag déanamh cinnte de go bhfuil ualach breise anuas air. Measaim gur thuig Coimisiún na Meán go raibh sé seo ag teacht mar bhí sé á phlé le blianta. Bhí an coimisiún réidh don chuid is mó de. Tá an coimisiún ag obair san earnáil seo cheana féin ach táimid ag tabhairt rialacha breise dó ó thaobh a leithéid d’obair a dhéanamh i dtíortha Eorpacha eile agus ag rá gur ghá dó cuidiú le haon fiosrúchán…

Ar dtús báire, níl i gceist agam cur i gcoinne an Bhille seo. Fáiltím roimh na cuairteoirí atá thuas staighre. Bhuail mé le roinnt acu cheana féin agus muid ag déileáil leis an ábhar seo sa choiste. This Bill comes before us as the Royal Hibernian Academy celebrates 200 years since its foundation. I take this opportunity to congratulate it on that achievement. Its foundation was no whim of a British king but the result of arduous campaigning by Irish artists who demanded the chance to exhibit their work annually in…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 4, line 17 after “cited” to insert “as Acht Leithghabhála 2023 or, in the English language,”. Each year I raise different things about the Appropriation Bill. I am sorry to tell the Minister that this one is even more left-field. Everybody will remember being in school. I only just spotted that the Title to the Bill is "An Bille Leithreasa". Every year we vote to stick the moneys down the toilet. Going back to 1923 it says, Mar a luadh i dteideal na hAchta Leithreasa, 1923: Acht chun…

I am happy to withdraw the amendment in the knowledge that it is correct and that we are not flushing all our money down the toilet.

It is funny how language is very important.

This is especially the case with legislation. A tradition had been built up, so I did not expect it to be changed. However, we sometimes need to look at the language in our legislation in order that the public can understand it.

How many members of the public understand what the term "appropriation" means, what its consequences are or how important this Bill, which passes each year, is? I remember, because I have been in the House for long enough, how there was no debate on some previous Appropriation Bills. It is good that there is, and there has been in the past. I will come back to the other points I want to raise when we get to the Schedule. I will withdraw the amendment.

I expected that the amendments would be ruled out of order because I cannot do anything with moneys. That is the prerogative of the Minister for Finance. The problem is that over recent years, €2 million has just been floating around. There is no oversight in this House in any shape or form. That money just goes to the Secret Service. I have had this debate before. There is no other funding. It is tiny when we consider the scale of what we are doing here, so I will not delay the House too long. If it is money for i…

It is not listed.

I understand and I am around long enough to understand this. It is somewhat strange that the figure is still at €2 million, which it has been for about five years. In years previous, while it may have been even longer than five years, it was quite a small figure but, as the Minister has said, in the overall scheme of things it is not that big. This expenditure was not always under the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform and it has moved but it is never down as coming under the committee which …

Tacaím go huile is go hiomlán leis an Teachta Farrell maidir leis an easpa infheistíochta atá á dhéanamh laistigh den Ghaeltacht go háirithe maidir leis an infreastruchtúr agus ní díreach an infreastruchtúr ó thaobh bóithre ach an t-infrastruchtúr eile atá de dhíth chun a dhéanamh cinnte de go leanann an pobal ansin ag maireachtáil i gceart. Níl ach nóiméad go leith agam chun déileáil leis an mBille an-tábhachtach seo. Is trua a laghad ama is atá agam. Pléifidh mé leis na leasuithe atá agam nuair a thiocfaidh muid …

That is a lie.

You are lying to the Dáil.

Sorry, a Cheann Comhairle, but when-----

-----somebody starts up here and tells an untruth to this House-----

------it is a lie is anybody else’s terminology, but in this House we have to call it "an untruth". It is an untruth that I objected to the houses that the Minister is talking about.

It is an untruth. It is a lie.

I am very concerned that the EPA and Department of environment officials who visited one of the most toxic nuclear sites in the world believe there are "no significant matters" that should cause concern for Ireland. This was their response to a Guardian newspaper report this week which cited crumbling buildings, cracks worsening in a reservoir of toxic radioactive sludge, and the ongoing leakage of a soup of radioactive magnesium alloy filings dissolved in water, which is likely to continue until 2050. The exposé a…

Táim buíoch as an deis labhairt ar an gceist seo. Ar dtús déanfaidh mé déileáil le ceisteanna maidir leis an nGaeilge agus an Gaeltacht gur chóir go mbeadh sa Bhille seo, An Bille um Pleanáil agus Forbairt, 2023. Rinne mé sracfhéachaint ar an mBille mar ní bhfuair mé an deis an Bille ar fad a léamh i seachtain amháin. Tá an iomarca leathanach ann. Tá 700 leathanach agus 120 eile anuas air sin mar mheamram míniúcháin. Tá ceisteanna ann, áit nach bhfuil forbairt amach anseo ó thaobh ceantar Gaeltachta ach go háirithe…

It could cost you €20,000 or something to fix your extension because a tree next door has uprooted. That is the scale of it. In other cases these people have little to bother them.