I ask the Minister for Justice what efforts are being made to improve Garda recruitment. In my constituency, for example, the number of gardaí has reduced from 351 in June 2021 to 339 last month. This is a worrying trend. I understand there are pressures throughout the country. Meanwhile the population, as the Minister will be aware, is growing rapidly. I ask for an update on what is being done to recruit new gardaí and to address the fall in numbers in counties such as Kerry.

This is a question about the timing of the forthcoming budget, whether the Minister could inform the House if a decision has been made on its timing and the factors that are being considered.

I thank the Minister. I welcome his brevity and clarity. I felt that last year the September budget was a positive precedent. September is a month of renewal. A lot of people are planning ahead and the earlier budget helped people to plan for the winter and the months ahead. It should be considered and would be a positive development if we established September as the regular month for the budget. I remember way back coming home from school and there was no "Dempsey's Den" on television because the budget was on, a…

I raise with the Minister the issue of the N22 Cork-Kerry road. I congratulate the Cork team on its heroics last Saturday in ensuring Kerry's safe passage to the all-Ireland quarter-final. We Kerrymen want to become closer to Cork, and we have a fantastic piece of infrastructure in the Macroom bypass. The next section will open between Baile Bhuirne and Macroom very shortly, but the section from Macroom to Ovens and the far side of Macroom, as we would see it, is not clearly a priority at the moment. It needs to be…

I want to raise the issue of the shortage of transmission lines workers and the difficulties this leads to in rolling out the critical infrastructure we need to decarbonise as a country. These workers cannot be sourced within the EEA. They need to be included on the critical skills list but the Department has not responded to requests from contractors who are looking to bring in these very much-needed workers. Can urgency be applied to ensure these critical workers are included on the critical skills list to achiev…

I, too, welcome the opportunity to have this important discussion. During my first term in this House, from 2011 to 2016, if we had had one quarter of the money that is available for the schemes being pumped into rural Ireland at the moment, we would have been very glad. There was not a bob to be got in the first five years when I was here. We are, thankfully, in a far better position than we were ten or 12 years ago. Nevertheless, it is all about ensuring that the money is spent in the right places and is invested…

I want to emphasise how valuable the CLÁR money is and how badly needed it is. I specifically raise the case of Keel GAA and Keel community walking track. It is probably the most dangerous drop-off and collection and parking GAA facility in Ireland, not just in County Kerry. A bad accident occurred there two weeks ago. It has also applied under this year's tranche. It is important that funding is granted to make that facility safe for all users.

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to put my question and the Minister for her response.

I want to raise with the Taoiseach the frequency and duration of outages in the Keel-Inch water mains network. Householders and businesses had a terrible weekend last weekend. This occurs more and more often on the network. The asbestos cement, AC, pipe between the Ballyarkane reservoir and the R561 is badly in need of replacement, but there is no plan by Uisce Éireann to do it at present. There is a terrible network in the Farran-Boolteens area. It could be months before that is replaced. Greater urgency is needed…

I want to bring up the issue of the N22 Cork to Kerry road. The Tánaiste was there when he was Taoiseach, just before Christmas, to open the Macroom bypass, which is fantastic infrastructure. The remaining section between Ballyvourney and Macroom should open in the not-too-distant future. I want to ask about the section from Macroom to Ovens and place it firmly on the agenda because that remaining section of the N22, as the Tánaiste knows, is substandard and for modern purposes it requires an upgrade. I know it wil…

I welcome the Minister's update. The SCEP is wonderful. It has made a massive difference in a huge number of communities and lives and deserves the support of the whole of government. I call on the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to provide its support and adequate funding. Every cent that goes into the programme is money well spent and provides a massive return for communities and for the State in general. I look forward to reading the review. Something is learned fr…

I want to raise with the Minister issues that have been brought to my attention by constituents regarding the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB. There are huge delays with paper registrations, for example. Even though the board will say it is taking seven weeks, constituents are telling me it is taking ten to 12 weeks. There are delays on the phone. I checked it this morning. I was on for almost 20 minutes. The music is still in my head. I cannot get it out of my head. I was listening as I waited for an operator. Th…

The €800-per-month scheme for pledged accommodation for Ukrainian refugees has been quite successful. I know many families who have been housed as a result of the scheme. We can learn from what has happened with it. Will the Government consider expanding the scheme to include other cohorts of people in need of housing, including, for example, those who are currently classified as homeless? Will it also consider reviewing the rates paid under the scheme as an incentive to try to bring units, particularly those on th…

I welcome the strength of the public finances. This is positive news for everybody. Will the Government give serious consideration to tackling the rates of the universal social charge, USC, workers must pay? As the Tánaiste is aware, this was introduced at a time when the economy was in extreme difficulty and the public finances were in a very poor position. Many workers are asking me why they have to continue to pay such high rates of this punitive tax when the public finances are performing so strongly. I feel st…

I wish to ask about back pay for retired nurses. A number of them have been in contact with me and they are awaiting back pay. I wonder if the Tánaiste's good office could help to expedite the matter.

First, I convey my thanks and congratulations to Noel Murphy and wish him and his family the very best for the future. I acknowledge the unprecedented effort that has been made over the past 13 months or so in accommodating refugees fleeing the atrocious war in Ukraine. Tens of thousands of people have been accommodated here. I have been asked by a number of accommodation providers in my constituency to again highlight the fact that those providing accommodation for Ukrainian refugees are not being paid. This has r…

Will the Taoiseach lend his support and the support of his office to the effort to roll out peanut oral immunotherapy for children in this country? Approximately 20,000 children in this country suffer from peanut allergies. As the Taoiseach knows, it can become very serious. Some children can have anaphylactic reactions to peanuts. A lot of work is being done on this by Children's Health Ireland, CHI, in conjunction with Cork University Hospital. A drug has been developed but there is no timeline for rolling out pe…

Baineann an cheist seo leis an mBlascaod Mór. An féidir leis an Aire Stáit aon nuacht a thabhairt don Teach faoin scéal?

Maith thú. Tá na hábhair sin go léir an-tábhachtach. Tá mé buíoch den Aire Stáit. Tháinig sé chuig an oileán, thug sé aird ar na fadhbanna atá ann agus tá a dhícheall á dhéanamh aige iad a réiteach. Tá mé fíorbhuíoch as sin. I thank the Minister of State for that positive and comprehensive response on several fronts to the issues raised. Fair play to him. He came down to Dún Chaoin before, but last autumn he went out to the island as well. In fairness, the Minister State is familiar with that territory. He was ther…

This is very important. We are all only passing through. The island was there long before any of us and it will be there long after all of us. It is incumbent on all of us, especially those of us who are public representatives, to try to improve the retention and preservation of our heritage while we have an opportunity to do so. It is important that we get things right, such as the conservation management plan. This is very important. Equally, it is important that we get a landing facility in place that is appropr…