It is very positive news and I commend the Minister on her efforts to ensure that the scheme kicks in on 1 May. It is very welcome and I appreciate the clarification given tonight about a few aspects of it. Doing the sums, it is for the full 12 months for anyone who benefits. It is €1,680, which is a significant amount of money. It is very pertinent that it is happening now because many children are starting school at the age of five and doing the leaving certificate at the age of 18 and beyond whereas previously -…

I quoted the figure of €1,680 per annum. I assume that in the event of there being bonus payments, the 18-year-olds will benefit from those payments in the same way as any other recipient of the scheme as well should they arise at any particular point. Is that correct?

I very much welcome the news today that the child benefit scheme has been extended to include 18-year-olds in full-time education. This is highly socially progressive and by my calculations, it will benefit those young adults to the tune of at least €1,680 a year. I ask the Minister to outline to the House when people can start benefiting from the changes that were agreed at Cabinet today and any other information she may have.

The Minister will be aware that a major bogus self-employment scandal was uncovered at RTÉ a number of years ago. The issue continues and the national broadcaster has been settling some of the outstanding liabilities with the various State agencies as a result and this is continuing. It is my understanding that many of the workers who should have been classed as employees but were classed as self-employed have not been settled with in terms of their entitlements and all of the things normal employees would be entit…

On my behalf and on that of the people of Kerry and the members of Fine Gael in Kerry, I express my sympathy to Finola and her family, John's sister Mary and, in particular, to our friend and colleague Richard on John's sad passing. When we consider the 35 years that John gave to this House and the almost 42 years that Richard has given, we can say that 77 years' service between two brothers is an enormous contribution that will probably never be repeated. That has to be mentioned today. To put it into perspective,…

This question is about the N86 Tralee to Dingle road. Is it a priority for the Minister? Will he provide the road fatality figures he has available for this road? It was making very good progress a number of years ago when different phases of the road were progressing. In fact, when I was in the Department as Minister of State, I remember opening a significant phase between Ballynasare and Lispole. However, progress has been very slow, apart from a small section in Anascaul. I seek an update, please.

I thank the Minister. I welcome the new bus services as well. They are excellent and it is major progress. With regard to the road, it is very important that we see progress now into 2024. That comes down to the funding being provided by the Minister's Department through TII. It is really crucial that the remaining sections would be allowed to progress and that the tenders would be allowed to progress as well. Whereas, thankfully, in recent years we have not had fatalities on the sections of road we are talking abo…

It is coming up at people's front doors. Our local councillor, Séamus Cosaí Fitzgerald, is constantly raising it with me.

Mr. Tommy Griffin is getting this on the doors at the moment.

It is really important that this is a priority for 2024.

I welcome that. I ask the Minister to please ensure that this road is on the list when the funding is announced. I am not sure when the funding is going to be announced by TII for the national and secondary roads. I presume it is usually around this time of year.

In the next week or two. I ask the Minister because this is really important from a safety point of view and from a wider general economic point of view. It has been a terrible road over the years. Many people have campaigned for a long time. As I said, it is constantly coming up in my office. People talk to me about it when I meet them out in Dingle and along the way. Tommy Griffin is out campaigning at the moment, and he is getting it at most doors. It is very important to people, and they want to see it done. It…

This question is about Irish banks and the deals they are giving to customers in terms of deposits, interest rates, the rates they are charging for loans, transaction charges and other issues. It is important that Irish consumers get the best possible deal from the banks, but that does not seem to be the case on a range of metrics. What engagements is the Minister having with the banks on this and will he update the House on any progress?

I thank the Minister for his response. While some signs have been encouraging of late, it is still clear to me that banks have been extremely slow to react. It is always when it suits the banks that they are slow to react. They are not so slow to pass on interest rate rises to borrowers but for deposit holders, those interest rates rises simply are not passed on to the same degree. Recently, with the entry of Bunq into the market, we have seen quite a flight of deposits because of better rates being offered. It sho…

I thank the Minister. We could talk about this all day. In the very brief time I have, again I ask the Minister to try to keep engaging with the banks to ensure the best possible outcome for Irish consumers. In regard to transaction charges, we have seen the use of cards and non-cash methods of payment have become extremely popular. It is the norm now. However, it has a cost on business particularly in the hospitality sector. The cost of those numerous, small transactions that take place day in, day out in restaura…

Good, I will do the lotto tonight because it is not often we get down to Question No. 154. This relates to the 9% rate of VAT. I have long held the view that to be competitive internationally and within our own domestic economy, the most that should be charged for our hospitality and tourism sector is the 9% rate of VAT. The Minister had a decision to make. His Department does not have easy decisions but I believe it was the wrong decision, quite frankly, to increase to 13.5%. It is effectively a 50% increase in th…

I appreciate there is a range of bills that have to be paid by businesses, as someone who was formerly self-employed and used to pay a VAT bill, I can say there is a huge difference at the end of a period in having to pay €10,000 or having to pay €15,000. Effectively that is what has happened now by increasing from 9% to 13.5% in some cases. I urge the Minister to look at it again. I know that the mandarins in the Department would baulk at the idea of a one-off Finance Bill. They will say that bombs will be going o…

I want to raise with the Tánaiste today the need for oral immunotherapy treatment for children with peanut allergies. It is an issue I have raised here previously. The potentially lifesaving drug for children in those circumstances, Palforzia, is currently not available. Could the Tánaiste's good offices help to progress the situation? While the drug is unapproved, the current advice is for children to carry an EpiPen. That is fine but if one does not have an EpiPen the consequences could be tragic. That approach i…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for allowing me the time. I welcome and commend the ORIS fund. Since its commencement in 2016 it has been really brilliant all over the country. In my home county of Kerry, it has been really transformative for many areas. I commend the Minister on the work she does and the increase in the budget. I ask that as much funding as possible would come to Kerry under the next rounds. In particular, there are a number of strand 1 and strand 2 applications in there. There is one in strand …

This lunchtime, a number of Kerry agribusiness milk lorry drivers continued their picket at the Kerry Group HQ in Tralee. These drivers have served the company very well, some for more than 40 years. The shortest serving was for 29 years. In fact, I never remember a time passing that man's house where I did not see the milk lorry parked outside his house in the evenings. These workers were made redundant just before Christmas. I am asking, and I know the Tánaiste is limited in what he can do, if the industrial rela…