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For the past nine months, the world has witnessed the horror of the war inflicted by Russia on Ukraine. Apart from the loss of life and suffering, we have seen the adverse effect on economies and the hardship caused to families by cost-of-living increases. As we know, small and medium enterprises are the backbone of our economy and of particular importance in our smaller towns, villages and rural counties. Many of these enterprises, be they involved in retail, manufacturing, processing or distribution, are being cr…

As the Taoiseach is aware, the Senate and House of Representatives have consistently passed motions unanimously reaffirming their support for the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. All those motions have referred as well to the need to ensure that this international agreement is not diminished in any way as a result of Brexit. They have outlined clearly the parameters of a potential British-US trade agreement. In all engagements with US politicians, be it from the President to members of his governme…

Urgent consideration must be given to a restructuring of the capitation grant for primary schools, with a greater payment per pupil where enrolment is low. There are the same basic costs in maintaining a classroom regardless of the number of pupils in the room. For decades, small schools have played a key role in providing education, particularly in rural areas, but in some instances in urban areas. I refer, for example, to Cavan No. 1 National School in Cavan town, which is under the patronage of the Church of Ire…

It is utterly deplorable that the British Government has made a unilateral decision to abandon the Stormont House Agreement. That was a solemn agreement made between the British and Irish Governments and the political parties represented in Stormont. That agreement had the capacity to make progress in dealing with very important and sensitive issues. Progress on legacy has been delayed for far too long. It is a retrograde step that the British have proposed legislation that is totally unacceptable to replace the St…

I thank the Minister for his reply and I welcome the Government's ongoing strong opposition to this deplorable legislation. It has united all the political parties on this island, all advocacy groups and all groups that have worked with victims over the years. As the Minister quite rightly said, it is perpetrator-focused. It is not victim-centred. We cannot successfully deal with legacy issues unless it is victim-centred. It has to be victim-focused. I welcome the recent statements by the archbishops of Armagh, who…

I appreciate the Minister's very strong words. I commend the work of Joanna Cherry MP, other MPs and Members of the House of Lords in the context of their strong condemnation of the British Government's proposals. The Minister will recall that we had many discussions in private, in the House and at committee regarding the Dublin-Monaghan bombings of 1974 and the terrible bombing at Belturbet in my constituency in December 1972 in which two innocent teenagers were murdered. I, along with families, have campaigned fo…

In the coming weeks, the Government will introduce the €1,000 State financial support towards student fees. It is a once-off payment and is, unfortunately, not at present applicable to those studying in Northern Ireland, Britain or elsewhere outside our State. That is wrong. We have to encourage students to travel to study on a cross-Border basis, particularly in our own country. This needs to be revisited. There is also the welcome introduction of the rental tax credit of €500 to parents of third level students pa…

In 2009 the OPW introduced the minor flood mitigation works. These enabled local authorities to carry out flood mitigation works to address localised flooding. As has been said, these schemes have been extremely beneficial. There is a good return on public investment. They are turned around in a short time. It is a scheme that merits increased funding on the basis that it addresses local issues and also ensures a good return on public investment.

It has been a very successful scheme with a relatively small investment that has brought great benefits to many communities right throughout the country. The Minister of State is encouraging local authorities to submit proposals to the OPW. My local authority in Cavan has a number of proposals with the OPW that I would like to see advanced as quickly as possible. Two are The Maples estate in Cavan town and The Meadows estate in Shercock. Unfortunately, over the past few weeks both those estates endured heavy floodi…

I thank the Minister of State for agreeing to bring those two schemes to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan. I would state very clearly here that Cavan local authority has put forward very realistic proposals on those two particular estates and other projects too. I hope that it would be possible to get clearance from the Department early in 2023 so that the council can set about drawing down that funding and bringing those necessary improvement works to those two particular estates. Other projects have also b…

The different PEACE programmes and the INTERREG programme have been extremely beneficial to communities across the Border region, North and South. Not alone have they been beneficial but they have been essential. They have brought economic, social and community development benefits and many of these areas still need that type of investment. I sincerely hope it will be possible to have the new scheme rolled out as soon as possible because many communities and statutory agencies I am working with are preparing plans …

I thank the Minister for his answer and commend him on his work. He has been driving this programme forward and I thank him for engaging with me so often on this new and exciting PEACE programme that will deliver €1.1 billion in investment across this island, particularly in the Border counties, North and South. I mention some of the suggestions I brought to the Minister on working with the SEUPB, statutory agencies and community groups in my constituency and the Minister has provided for the type of issues we were…

As we are all aware, drug dealing is causing untold damage to individuals, families and communities throughout every part of our island. At one time we thought those activities were confined to major urban areas but nowadays, unfortunately, no area is exempt from such problems. The response to the drugs issue must be multifaceted. Reducing access to illegal drugs has to be a critical component of that policy. Health, education and preventative measures are extremely important. Collaborative work across all areas of…

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I also commend An Garda Síochána and the other statutory agencies on their work in trying to cut off the supply of illegal drugs. We know they are dealing with dangerous criminals and drug traffickers who are part of an international industry. This is not only a national issue. These international gangs are wreaking havoc on individuals, families and communities. The Minister of State spoke about the additional resources to the different specialist units of An Garda Síoc…

I fully agree with the Minister of State and I very much welcome the introduction of the armed support unit in Cavan in 2020. It was a measure that I and other public representatives in the Cavan-Monaghan area had called for. The unit is doing extremely good work. As I said, I fully appreciate it is not just criminal sanction and enforcement measures that will rid our society of the drugs problem. Perhaps this is outside the scope of the Department work but the regional drugs task forces and the drug awareness unit…

A welcome provision in the budget was the introduction of a €1,000 State financial support towards student fees. It is a once-off payment. Unfortunately, it is not applicable to students studying in Northern Ireland, Britain or outside our State. That is wrong. We have to encourage students to travel to study on a cross-Border basis. That should be revisited. There is also a welcome introduction of the rental tax credit of €500 to parents of third level students paying their child’s rent in a tenancy that is regist…

As the Taoiseach is well aware, the economy of Cavan-Monaghan and the wider Border region is heavily dependent on SMEs. These enterprises are concerned about the increasing costs facing businesses. When such enterprises commence, their first export markets are Northern Ireland and Britain, but there are additional costs due to Brexit. There have also been supply chain difficulties in sourcing products for manufacture or addition to manufacturing and for export. In my recent engagements with SMEs, particularly over …

I welcome the Taoiseach's visit and meetings with the political party representatives in Stormont yesterday. It is irresponsible that we do not have a fully functional assembly and Executive in Northern Ireland. Other Members have referred to the cost of living and the huge pressures on families and businesses in practically all sectors of society. The last thing we need is ongoing difficulty with the protocol. The European Union to its credit has shown flexibility. The Commissioner responsible for these areas of n…

I was very glad to attend the event in my hometown in Cavan last week where the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, launched the special funding to assist local authorities to prepare programmes. It was great to have people of all political views from 23 local authorities there representing their communities. There was an extremely warm welcome for the shared island funding. The only thing I heard of was people coming forward with more projects that need more funding, so it is widely welcomed. The T…