In a functioning planning system, despite our misgivings and frustrations with decisions, we lean on the integrity of the system. That integrity assures us that while we may disagree with the decision, it was made in good faith, with total objectivity, cognisant of all the arguments by all the stakeholders, and employing expertise and knowledge greater than our own. In a functioning system we have confidence in the process, we accept the decision and we move on. That integrity is the basic foundation of the system …

I wish to ask the Minister if he will provide an update on take-up of the transition payment for early years providers, how effective has the payment been in ensuring financial stability, if he expects similar take-up of core funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

I welcome the Minister's answer. I can see that a lot of work has gone into ensuring the financial stability of the early learning and childcare services sector. I have been contacted by many parents in my constituency in Limerick who are extremely worried about the availability and affordability of the early years schemes. It is reassuring that so many service providers have signed up to the transition fund scheme because it gives a guarantee to parents and carers that fees will not increase above those that were …

I thought I had two minutes in this slot.

I thank the Minister for his recent visit to Limerick, especially to King's Island, which is an important example. He mentioned that interest in the core funding is quite high. If I may, I will ask a follow-up question in that regard. I have also received some queries on the topic of core funding mainly in regard to the cohort of smaller services that provide only the ECCE scheme. The Minister has probably been made aware of that. Some of the providers in my constituency have said that they will not be able to incr…

I am substituting for my colleague, Deputy Ó Cathasaigh. Can the Minister provide an outline of the value of the Growing Up in Ireland longitudinal survey for policymaking across Government? When is it anticipated the new cohort will be created and how large will this cohort be? I ask the Minister to make a statement on the matter.

I agree with the Minister that we are all delighted with the new cohort and I very much welcome his answer. The very best form of policy is evidence-based. We can see with the Growing Up in Ireland longitudinal study, which kicked off about 15 or 16 years ago, how important it has been in developing policy and in the operational and funding decisions by the Minister and his predecessors. Governments can often be accused of making policy on a whim. When one has data and the evidence such as in the Growing Up in Irel…

I will be brief. I thank the Minister. I might ask him some supplementary questions in the time available which he might address. If he wishes to expand, he can provide a written answer. Can the Minister tell the House the plans he has to ensure that the Growing Up in Ireland survey data continue to be widely used as we go forward and how the Government and future governments can use the data to inform their work in the future also?

I thank Deputy Matthews and the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I somewhat agree with my colleague across the House, Deputy Canney, when he said that planning has gone from bad to worse to crazy. While I agree with him, it is probably for different reasons because we look at planning differently, but his points were well made. The Minister referred to several new amendments in respect of planning and other legislation relating to his Department. I am worried that we are rushing through legislation without the necessary scru…

I welcome the Bill, the Minister of State's opening statement and today's debate. I certainly agree with him that we should seek to be constructive in our debate on this legislation. Many of the points made have been constructive. I have not seen the amendments put forward, but I am interested to see them. If they are constructive and add to the Bill, we should consider accepting them. I listened to the debate while in my office and I heard many speakers characterise the Bill as being necessary to facilitate data c…

How we have appraised infrastructure projects historically has not been appropriate because we have done so in a very narrow way and applied a short-term view. We often do not take the wider and longer-term benefits of infrastructure into account and we have got it wrong time and again. Projects such as the western rail corridor will not add up if we look at them through a narrow lens. There are multiple broad and long-term benefits of projects such as the western rail corridor. That project, in particular, is a fo…

I am sharing time with Deputy Christopher O’Sullivan. I welcome the debate. I might begin by addressing Deputy Connolly’s concluding point. She indicated we should stop what we are doing, but I am not sure whether she was suggesting we should stop the expansion of the European project. I think that if she spoke to the citizens of Ukraine, Georgia or Moldova, whose very existence is currently threatened, she would find they certainly would not appreciate us calling for a stop. In that regard, I welcome the fact thos…

I move: That Dáil Éireann shall take note of the Report of the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action entitled "Report on Reducing Emissions in the Transport Sector by 51% by 2030", copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 11th June, 2021. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, for joining us here today for this very important debate. The report we are discussing in the House today was published a year ago. I had a query from a journalist as to why it is being debated in the Dáil now and w…

I thank the Minister of State for standing in for the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, who was not available, and for giving us a very thorough response to the report. I am really happy to hear that he and his colleagues across Government consider it a living document. I firmly believe that it has to be a living document and that it will become more relevant as we continue to try to overcome this enormous challenge. There were very positive comments around the national investment framework for transport in Ireland sust…

Two weeks ago, the EPA presented its report on greenhouse gas predictions for the next two decades, the conclusions of which were no surprise to most of us. We have done a lot on climate, but there is still a significant challenge ahead. We have set up the legislative framework, are close to meeting our green targets across all sectors of the economy to reduce emissions and have an ambitious roadmap in place. I agree with Deputy Bruton that we have a lot more to do. I also agree with his statement that the message …

I endorse and echo Deputy Hourigan's comments. This is a matter we should be examining. Regarding district heating, we must get the planning right in this regard. Under the national planning framework, the population of our regional cities is set to increase by 60% in the next 20 years. We talk about the need to plan that increase in population around the provision of sustainable transport options, but we must also plan district heating systems. We must be co-locating industries that generate waste heat with reside…

We are right to talk about data centres and LNG, we must manage the data centres, and I do not believe that we need to build any LNG infrastructure. The Minister is correct in that there is a better way forward. However, we should not ignore the fact that electricity generation accounts for just about 15% of our emissions. The real challenge with carbon emission is in transport and agriculture, which accounts for 60% of our emissions. If we continually talk about the effects of data centres and LNG while not talkin…

I thank the Acting Chair for letting me in again. I recognise that I have spoken a few times. I just have to correct the claim that was made a few minutes ago that I, as Chair of the joint committee, believe we should have more data centres. I said that the proposed moratorium in law is a very blunt instrument. There is an effective moratorium in place as it is. There has not been a data centre connection for the past two years. I just wanted to correct the record on that point. I thank the Acting Chairman.

I welcome the report and commend my Green Party colleague, Deputy Matthews, who put extraordinary energy and passion into the report. He was ably assisted by his colleagues on the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. I welcome the presence of the Minister of State to hear the debate. I recall a conversation with him about two years ago when we were in the programme for Government talks. He might recall that we had a row. We were trying to get the idea of town centres first into the programme f…

Unlike others who have spoken before me, I will speak to the topic, which is the sustainable mobility policy. At the outset, I welcome the proposal from the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to establish and accelerate pathfinder projects. I will speak with respect to my own city and constituency of Limerick and the mid-west region. Before and since entering government, the Minister, I and the Green Party have persuaded many stakeholders of the vision for Limerick and the mid-west of a growing, thriving, sustainable, Eu…