I thank the Minister of State. The rising cost of electricity is probably the biggest concern, especially with some of the retrofit innovation. Heat pumps are probably our largest concern. They are so tied to the ESB. This is particularly the case when we cannot feed power back onto the grid. We are doing so in a very minimal way at present. That is really an issue. The sooner that link with ESB is tidied up to be able to feed power back in through the grid, it will be a massive help. The cost of power when it come…

The Minister of State pointed out something to me outside the Chamber that I had not realised from listening to the media which is that this can be done bit by bit. That can be done without doing other parts of the retrofit. That is very good.

I am delighted to welcome the Minister of State. He is a hard-working Minister and well known to this House. I have discussed this with the Minister of State already and am delighted he agreed to come to the House to flesh out the figures and the details. There has been a concern that there are not enough places in some of the courses at present, or qualified staff to teach these apprenticeship courses. It seems to be an issue. They are the two big concerns I am hearing. I am well aware of how the apprenticeship sc…

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive answer. Undoubtedly, he will work on this as hard as he can to try to speed matters up. I appreciate that.

I agree with Senator Mullen on his final point about wastewater. I concur with his statement on the infrastructure being provided by the Government to upgrade the water system. Long may it continue. I raise the issue of training centres and apprentices schemes through training centres. I believe there is a backlog in quite a number of these schemes due to the non-availability or a shortage of teachers. While I intend to submit a Commencement matter on this issue, I also ask the Deputy Leader to inquire about the nu…

I welcomed the Minister of State on the way up the stairs here and to the Upper House earlier on today.

He is. I re-emphasise what the Minister of State has stated which is the importance of the Bill and its passing with as much speed as possible. We have discussed it at length and there has been quite vigorous conversation and debate here on it on previous occasions. I and my party, Fianna Fáil, are fully behind it and we wish its swift passing through the House today, if possible.

I welcome the Minister to the House. It is a great pleasure to have him here. I thank Senator Wilson who started on my behalf. I was slightly delayed on the way in. As the Minister is aware, every three years this legislation has to come to the House to be passed. Without it, these Houses could not function. That is the primary reason this Bill is here today. I hear what some of our colleagues on the Opposition benches are saying, the concerns they have and the good points they make about secretarial allowances and…

Like Senator Casey, I commend the Minister on this legislation. It is productive, constructive and exceptionally brave legislation. I give credit where it is due. It is easy to knock things and to look at the negatives. Many people comment on things they are not happy with and are not as happy to give credit where it is due. Well done, Minister.

I want to raise an issue you broached in this Chamber, a Chathaoirligh, on many occasions. I know it is close to the heart of the Acting Leader as well. It is six months since we enacted the long-promised legislation on councillors' pay that had been bandied about for some time. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party dealt with it head-on, and we implemented the recommendations on pay that were contained in the Moorhead report. However, allowances and expenses remain to be addressed. The Association of Irish Lo…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Seanad. I will not delay him. This is a very good Bill and I fully support it. I have spoken to many Irish-speaking people in the midlands and quite a number of people have corresponded with me on the legislation. Is the aspiration of filling 20% of new posts with Irish speakers achievable? Is there a pool of people there whom we think can fill these posts? Does the Minister of State think this could detract from teachers, especially in Gaelscoileanna and maybe on to seco…

Cathain a mbeartaítear Céim an Choiste a thógáil?

I raise the issue of the upcoming carbon budget. There has been some coverage of it in national media recently and it will be a worthwhile project as part of our programme for Government. I come from a very successful farming region in the midlands. We need assurances the agricultural sector will be afforded adequate funding. Farmers will have to pull their weight on this but they will need the funding to go hand in hand, leading to sustainable means of production. There will also be new opportunities in the areas …

I fully support the general thrust of this Bill to limit gambling. As Senator Carrigy has said, they have not canvassed anybody and certainly have not talked to me about this matter heretofore. The argument that the lottery has a monopoly, which is the case in Ireland, has passed me by somewhat. On altering certain freedoms concerning gambling and the lottery in Ireland, I would say it is a given that more people are addicted to the lotto and scratch cards than to gambling on lotto numbers. I would have no problem …

I will not delay the Minister of State, Deputy English, as he is very busy. In fairness to him, he made it to the House by the skin of his teeth. Businesses have been in contact with me about an issue that the Minister and I briefly discussed previously. One such business is a bus company that has not been able to employ drivers in Ireland, either north or south of the Border. It is looking to employ some people from Malta. It can take 14 drivers from Malta, who are originally from the Philippines and who have the …

I thank the Minister of State. It is good that the figures he outlined are significant. However, there will be a heavy squeeze coming in the next couple of weeks, probably more than his office is seeing at present. We should anticipate and deal with it head-on, instead of waiting until it comes to a bottleneck. I again thank the Minister of State because I know he is working hard on this.

The Minister of State referred to 100,000 people in unemployment and 100,000 people on the PUP. As he knows, the people driving lorries and buses during the pandemic were some of the busiest people in the country, and we have seen with our neighbours next door that there is a demand for them at present. I would be very sceptical that too many people on the PUP or on the unemployment list at present are going to be of any help in this regard, unfortunately.

I rise to talk on a subject that was flagged to me at the recent Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers, IPAV, annual general meeting. I use its information quite often. The property price register has been a great tool since its inception. It is a fount of information on when a property was sold, the area in which it was sold and how much it made. It is a great comparative tool, particularly for auctioneers carrying out their work. It helps to track prices because you can see the price of anything that …

I would like to raise the issue that has been mentioned here today, namely, the mica crisis. I totally support the campaigners who are beginning their protest at Convention Centre Dublin and marching to the Dáil today. I have had experience with the pyrite remediation scheme. It worked very well. It was introduced with a level 3 assessment from an engineer, which was a visual inspection. From there, the programme rolled out. The mica redress scheme is being assessed completely differently, as we are aware. In fairn…

If I was any nearer to the stage I could sing and dance.