I am interested in the proportion of funding given for active travel versus the proportion given for rural and local roads. I am in favour of funding active travel but the specifications being given to councils are completely off the wall and are making it more expensive to deliver infrastructure projects of short duration. I have raised this issue previously and the officials have come back with standard answers. This matter needs to be looked at by the Minister or a Minister of State.

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. He is correct regarding the allocation to the council but my point is that €3.5 million was given for active travel. I do not have a problem with that allocation; the problem is how it is being spent. He mentioned the departmental guidelines, which is where the issue arises. The specifications and stipulations set out in those guidelines are completely off the wall. To give one example, I was calling for action from the council on Triogue Way 25 or 26 years ago. One sect…

On the overall funding, if the Minister of State has more millions of euro, he should send them down to Laois, because they are needed. The cost of repairing roads has been increasing by 15% per annum. I do not have a problem with the €3.5 million for active travel; if he has another €3.5 million, I would welcome it. The problem is the specifications and what we are getting for the money. That is the point I am making. Does a footpath really need to be 13 ft wide? Ten-wheeler wagons were drawing in concrete at Trio…

While there have been some moves in regard to e-bikes in the context people being obliged to wear high-vis vests and helmets and a bans for under-18s, all of which are welcome, the number of serious injuries and fatalities continues to increase. In 2021, there were 173 hospital presentations and 309 in 2025. The signs are that it will be worse this year. Existing laws, including the new ones, are not being enforced. People continue to ride on footpaths and are not wearing helmets or high-vis vests. Those under 18 a…

They have to be able to pursue them.

The current situation regarding assessments of need cannot be allowed to continue. It is a national scandal. Children with special needs who are vulnerable cannot even get assessed to get proper services. Some 23,000 assessments of need are overdue, having exceeded the statutory timeline. The average duration it takes to get an assessment of need is 27 months. That is the average. Some people wait up to three years. That is not acceptable. In Laois-Offaly, the figure averages in the region of 900 overdue assessment…

Households were never under pressure like this before. Middle and low-income households that coped in the past are under increasing pressure. Domestic home heating oil's sky-high cost is a huge contributory factor. In Laois, 41% of households are totally dependent on kerosene home heating oil and do not have an option. We have tracked prices, which have skyrocketed by 79% or more since last autumn. One political party claims that they went up 50%. I am not too sure where the data is coming from but the hard facts a…

My question relates to the impact of electricity demand from data centres on the public network. What studies have been carried out by the Department to determine the impact on householders and any additional costs to the public in general? It is not a case of arguing against all data centres. There will be data centres, but the proliferation of them in this country is high and they are having a significant impact on the grid and on costs.

Significant work is going on to upgrade the network and it is badly needed, but there is a cost to it. The Minister outlined the 190,000 jobs, but very few of them are in data centres. The point I am making is that almost a quarter of the available supply is being used by data centres and there are reports it could grow to more than one third and more. That puts huge pressure on the network. It puts a huge amount of pressure on EirGrid and ESB Networks to upgrade the grid and put significant investment into it. I a…

There are a number of issues. We are trying to construct 50,000 homes per year and there were reports again this week that the supply of housing is being hampered by the supply of water and electricity connections. There is clearly a pull factor and the Government has to take into consideration that there have to be jobs in other sectors and homes have to be built. There is pressure here every day with people talking about it. We are putting pressure on the Government about it. The Government is under pressure and …

The debate we are having here is a very important one. It is probably the most important one that is in the Dáil this week for the simple fact that energy, how it is charged for, how it is priced, who has access to it and who generates it will be a key issue as we move forward. By any standard, we are in an extraordinary situation because of the extraordinary number of data centres we have compared with other EU countries - ten times more, on average. We must take into account that a lot of American states are now …

The Deputy is okay. I refer to the fact that we are here having to put down motions like this to try to counter the moves being taken by the Government. It is a sad day that this has to happen. As a member of the defence and national security committee, we have been around this and it is clear what is being mooted here by the Government. Neutrality was never more important, given the instability in the world, the level of conflict and the warmongering by imperial powers and former imperial powers. Despite being a r…

The TDs on the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael benches will be whipped to vote by the decision of the 15 members of the Cabinet and that is democracy out the window. If the Government is going to do away with neutrality, it needs to bring it before the people.

The issue that I am raising relates to back yard dwellings and the new regulations that were announced over the summer. Regarding the regulations, back yard dwellings may work in a certain number of limited cases. I am not going to come in here and knock them, but it is only a certain limited number. There are already issues arising regarding the size of a dwelling, with the main one being that they are counted as class 3A buildings. One is allowed to build 45 sq. m, but if there is an existing small garden shed, g…

It can work for a limited number of dwellings but there are problems there. I raise these sincerely and I am appealing to the Minister of State and to the senior Minister to resolve this.

To summarise it, the key issue is fairly straightforward. If you take any county outside the Pale, very few houses would not have some structure there already, such as a garage, greenhouse, store or whatever. That is the problem. It is going to be a shed or it will be the cabin or modular development. I know they do not have to be modular and can be a different type of self-contained structure. They will work in certain cases and I welcome that, but they are not moving at the moment. There is no one moving on them …

With regard to housing estates, there is the proximity to existing dwellings on tight housing estates with small backyards. Those are the three things I ask the Minister of State to bring back for me.

We are going through an epidemic of domestic abuse and violence. In 2025, the Garda had over 67,000 calls in relation to domestic abuse. Seven women were murdered last year, and in many of those cases, it was by a family member, a partner or somebody known closely to the victim. This year, in the first six months, matters have got even worse. Eight women have been murdered to date. Two were killed within a few short days of each other just over a week ago: Jamey Carney in Kerry and Adina Constantin in Portlaoise, w…

I will finish on this point. The council bought a site nearly three years ago for an eight-unit refuge. There was a lack of progress, but an approved housing body, AHB, Tuath Housing, has been secured to put that in place.

I ask the Minister for justice, the wider Government and Cuan to treat this with a sense of urgency, allocate the capital assistance scheme, CAS, money for it and get the scheme up and running as quickly as possible. I think the Tánaiste will agree it is an important issue.