I commend the Minister on the delivery of this Finance Bill. I will start by adding to the comments about the income tax relief that were outlined in budget 2022, and there will likely be complexity experienced by remote workers seeking to make claims for this welcome tax relief. The new tax relief, in the form of a tax deduction, will allow employees who work from home to claim 30% of the cost of electricity, heating and broadband. However, this is to be apportioned on the basis of the number of days worked from r…

We need further action on the upgrading of the R312 from Castlebar to Bellacorick. As the Minister is aware, Mayo County Council received €850,000 this year under the specific improvements grant scheme to progress safety upgrades specifically for the Glenisland bridge replacement and road alignment project. While the new bridge is very welcome and will soon be opened by the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, much more needs to be done to improve the overall safety of the road. The R312 serves as a vital artery to …

I feel obliged to raise the issue of primary medical certificate appeals which are resulting in significant delays and frustration for applicants who require adapted vehicles. Following a Supreme Court decision in June 2020, the Disabled Drivers Medical Board of Appeal was advised by the Department of Finance to suspend any planned appeal hearings until further notice pending legal advice. Unfortunately there is a considerable backlog of requests for appeals due to the suspension of appeal hearings since March 2020…

I welcome the Minister's updates in the House and her ongoing efforts in the recovery of our tourism, with the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, updating us on the aviation sector. Having listened to the contributions of Deputies all over the country, I echo the importance of tourism to the real economy and the constituency I represent. I wish to highlight the continued need to ensure that every effort is undertaken to support our regional airports, including Ireland West Airport Knock, which acts as an increasin…

I want to raise the serious issues and challenges raising farmers’ livelihoods and that of the agricultural sector. Irish farmers are facing some key challenges around the climate action Bill, CAP reform and eco-schemes, as well as in respect of Government supports for the agricultural sector. It is critical that the Government increases funding to deliver proper supports to our most vulnerable livestock, sheep and tillage sectors. I come from a rural constituency where suckler and sheep farming is of an enormous i…

As the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, is well aware, the success of the vaccination programme has afforded us incredible flexibility in the reopening of society. The roll-out of the programme has been a fantastic success. As the Minister outlined, to have that recognised internationally, with Ireland in pole position in Bloomberg's Covid resilience ranking, shows how far we have come since the public health crisis emerged. I thank the Minister for his recent visits to the vaccination centre in Breaffy and the t…

I welcome this debate on the important issues around the early learning and childcare sector. I am acutely aware of the challenges facing many parents, childhood professionals, childcare providers and childminders. There is an immediate need for a major reprioritisation of early childhood in our national ambitions. Its importance must be embedded in the goals of the Government and the strategy statement of every Department. I welcome the programme for Government commitment with regard to continued investment in the…

I seek an update on the restoration of the Gaeltacht allowance paid to teachers and the disparity that exists for those who joined post July 2011. Our Gaeltacht communities in Mayo are an incredible asset to our county from both a tourism and a cultural perspective. We need to ensure that our teachers do not feel disincentivised from taking up employment in these areas. I understand that, in 2017, schools that were previously categorised as Gaeltacht schools were given the option to opt in or out of scéim aitheanta…

I am seeking an update on the new Croí Cónaithe fund to service sites in regional towns and villages, which is a key feature of the Housing for All strategy. It appears that it has enormous potential to service sites in regional towns and villages in Mayo and throughout the country. I would appreciate if the Minister could provide details about this policy and how it will, in practice, increase the provision of serviced sites over the coming years.

I thank the Minister of State for updating the House with that detailed response. Ideally Croí Cónaithe will be a key driver in providing and increasing the availability of developed lands as soon as possible. I thank the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, for two great projects funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage through the urban regeneration development fund, URDF, for the Castlebar historical core and the old military barracks. However…

As the Minister of State said previously, we now need as much detail as possible on the Croí Cónaithe funds. These need to be circulated to the local authorities. He might be aware that the draft Mayo county development plan is being finalised and it would be a shame not to have what sounds like a promising fund featuring heavily in increasingly important county development plans, which local authorities throughout the country are close to finalising. The draft county development plan in Mayo contains several refer…

I am seeking an update on the proposed introduction of the right to request remote working following the public consultation which closed in May. Rural communities around the country have benefited greatly from people being able to work remotely, and it is undoubtedly a trend that some people will wish to continue. We have seen amazing projects come on stream in Mayo, such as the DigiWest hub in Swinford and the Gteic facilities in the Gaeltacht regions, such as, for example, in Belmullet. Many more broadband conne…

As the Minister may be aware, the north-west area of County Mayo has some of the best renewable energy resources in Europe, if not the world. There is a plentiful supply of wind resources, ocean wave, tidal and hydroelectric resources. I am conscious that various tests are under way to map and demonstrate proof of concept in addition to the existing infrastructure in place and currently being developed. However, I want to ensure the Government is doing as much as possible to ensure that these resources are being ut…

I recently took note of the contents of the draft Mayo county development plan for 2021 to 2027, which is currently being finalised. Unsurprisingly, renewable energy features heavily. Mayo has become a natural leader in the development of renewable energy, with Ireland's first commercial wind farm in Bellacorick, County Mayo nearly 30 years ago. That has expanded now into the Oweninny wind farm, spanning more than 2,400 ha. I commend the council officials who put significant effort into the development plan regardi…

I thank the Minister. Enterprise supports to maximise the abundance of renewable energy resources along the Atlantic economic corridor must be prioritised. As he stated, we must incentivise this to secure investment and to ramp up development in renewable energy infrastructure. An important feature of this would be to enable energy to be put back into the grid. It would be unfortunate if we did not prioritise the mapping and plotting of the abundance of renewable energy resources readily available in the west. I kn…

Mayo is one of the counties with the highest number of premises in the intervention areas of the national broadband plan. In fact, it is third after Cork and Galway. It is equally high in terms of the percentage of households within the county which are in the intervention area. As a result, any delay to the roll out impacts our county much more significantly. I have been repeatedly calling for efforts to accelerate the roll out of the project, which is likely to be the most important public infrastructure project …

I thank the Minister of State. There is a real frustration and an impatience among the people in Mayo, especially around the anticipation and the lack of visibility of NBI on the ground. I appreciate that there was over 4,800 households in Mayo who are expected to be connected at the end of this year. What we were listening to yesterday in the committee meeting and again today is that there is now a revised, more realistic plan without any information. What we need now, as public representatives, is to assure our c…

I thank the Minister of State. I will take him up on that offer. I have engaged with NBI and the information has been shared at any request. The delivery of this will be a true game-changer in rural Ireland. The Minister of State is doing everything possible within the Department to get this done as quickly as possible. The importance of this for rural communities cannot be understated. On the likes of the hubs that have been implemented along with the local authorities, there is still a bit of work to be done on t…

I seek assurance that the working group on the defective concrete blocks grant scheme for thousands of affected families in counties Mayo and Donegal will conclude its report, as promised, on Thursday, 30 September. I am conscious the group had previously intended to report to the Minister by 31 July, but I understand this was postponed at the request of homeowner representatives on the working group. The scale of the pyrite and mica crisis is difficult to comprehend in Mayo, north Mayo and Donegal, with many local…

The Tánaiste may recall a commitment in IDA Ireland's capital investment strategy to establish an additional advance building solution in regional locations, including one in County Mayo. I seek an update on the progress in making these plans a reality and where in Mayo this will be located.