I thank the Minister. When the protocol was introduced, it was quite positive. It was at a time when we were at an all-out crisis at UHL. The figure of 72 patients between Ennis and Nenagh hospitals is a combined figure. I would love to hear a figure for Ennis in particular because, in the first month following the protocol, we were still down to single-digit figures for how many were coming in there. We would love to be transformative but there is a huge caveat: this cannot be at the expense of those waiting for d…

I do not blame the Minister for the woes of the mid-west health crisis. I blame certain decisions taken by previous governments, particularly the 2009 decision to reconfigure acute hospitals in the mid-west region to deliver centres of excellence that have never materialised. If someone had said 12 or 18 months on that we were working towards excellence that might have been credible, but we are now 14 years on. The Minister is doing a damn good job in trying to build capacity but it has to be admitted on the Dáil r…

I wish to raise the issue of the huge potential of offshore wind energy to bring Ireland to a more carbon-friendly place and to make sure we meet our international obligations. This will be very lucrative in its construction phase. We heard many people on the airwaves over the Easter recess saying that the Irish ports are not configured at this time to be able to build or tow into place the infrastructure required, particularly for floating offshore wind platforms. What would the Minister say to that? We are also q…

It is interesting that the last question was about water quality. The Government has a pilot scheme in place of €50 million to provide sewerage infrastructure to unsewered rural villages. In County Clare, two projects have been put forward: Broadford in the east of the county and Cooraclare in the west of the county. Both projects are essential in villages which have no infrastructure and cannot grow. They very much want to play their part in future housing provision, bringing people back and revitalising rural are…

County Clare has played a major role in welcoming Ukrainian refugees and international protection refugees. According to the recent census, 3% of the population of the county are from refugee countries. They have come in and they have been warmly accepted and received. A major problem, however, is that the international protection accommodation services body, IPAS, which is co-ordinating all of this, is not picking up the bills. Some hotels in County Clare are owed moneys going back as far as October or November. Y…

I have been following this for a number of weeks and I know that Ukraine once again will dominate the agenda next week when the Taoiseach is in Brussels. I will make a few points in that regard on the domestic front first of all. Ambassador Filatov continues to be an enemy of the Irish State, not just of the Ukrainian state. He is an enemy of our State and has been for many months. His conduct and his disdain and disrespect for the bodies of State in this country are absolutely deplorable. I know the Government too…

This question relates to rewetting of bogs and what it might look like in a county such as Clare. There is huge concern because we are hearing it is proposed that up to 90% of drained organic soils would be rewetted, reducing livestock production by 30%, with 875,000 ha brought back into forestry. Overall, this could result in 20% of the State's land being taken out of production, which is a huge concern for rural Ireland. I ask the Minister of State to give some clarity on what is intended.

Most people embrace science and understand that we need to respond to climate change. I have switched to organic farming. I used a train and bike to get here today. However, we want to ensure that the seismic changes we are making as a country are not punitive to rural Ireland. Proposals have come out in recent months about cow culling, penalising car ownership and tapering back the likes of Moneypoint power station in Clare. The measures need to be timely. It should be more carrot than stick when it comes to rural…

On the topic of Ireland's Competitiveness Challenge 2022, how does the Government propose to deal with the lack of housing, especially where workers are concerned? Foreign direct investment is flooding into Ireland. Companies are advertising jobs but are unable to recruit people because of a lack of housing in certain areas. Shannon town in County Clare is one. It is a constraint we never had heretofore, but suddenly the barrier to taking on employees is the lack of housing in the locality. Would the Taoiseach perh…

I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach and wish her and all female Members of this House a happy International Women's Day. I wish a happy International Women's Day to my wife Maeve, my mother Irene, my little girl Eve, who is at home, my sisters and especially to Mary and Sonia who are in my office. They tell me they always have the television on the Dáil channel. I do not fully believe them, but they are mighty workers. They do much in the constituency of Clare to support and help vulnerable, marginalised people and…

Will the Minister positively consider the reopening of Cratloe and Crusheen railway stations in County Clare?

I am an avid user of the rail system. Shortly, this morning I will get on my bike, I will go on the train and I will return to County Clare. The railway system is linear, as the Minister will be aware. It only benefits certain communities that are on the railway line or approximate to it. In the case of Cratloe and Crusheen, it is frustrating for these communities to see the train pass them several times a day. The station in Crusheen was built in the 1860s. Cratloe was built in 1859. Crusheen closed in 1976 and Cr…

There is quite a large population in the area when looking beyond the immediacy of both of those villages. There is significant demand for this service. This service, pre-Covid, was Ireland's fastest growing railway line in terms of usage, edging close to 600,000 in late 2019. One of the two factors that I suppose deters some people from using it is the line speed. There are commuter trains on this. They do not have Wi-Fi. They are rather slow. If people get in their car, they can get from Limerick to Ennis far qui…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for allowing me some speaking time on this. I fully support what my colleague has said. The wait time is extremely punitive in counties in the west such as Clare. Many of the people affected are youngsters whose parents bought them a car so they could commute to college and work. A lot of them cannot find accommodation and now they find themselves criminalised in a way because they cannot drive solo with learner plates as they need to be accompanied. We want testers on permanent co…

I echo some of what Deputy O'Rourke said. This has been a common theme at the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications. I too would like to see the Irish Coast Guard Volunteers Representative Association afforded the opportunity to meet the Minister and contribute to matters in this area. We have heard repeatedly that volunteers feel there are inadequacies regarding the hierarchy of the organisation. It was very unusual, on the day the top personnel of the Irish Coast Guard were before the committee, that we…

I echo much of what Deputy Carey has said. This is a beautiful Augustinian abbey founded by Domnall Mór Ua Briain in the year 1195, who was king of Thomond. It is a fabulous building and it is almost a millennium old. It is, unfortunately, being damaged every weekend by antisocial behaviour, with people smashing beer bottles off headstones, cider parties; you name it, there is every kind of shenanigans going on there. It is grossly unfair to people like Christy Leyden and his committee who keep that place tidy but …

I also thank the Minister of State for his engagement today and for his frankness on this issue. I can think of one major building in Dublin that will shortly, probably, have its CCTV infrastructure removed. I daresay that the Chinese Communist Party might take more joy out of watching the shenanigans and the goings-on on the River Fergus than they might in this Chamber. Sometimes it can be more enlightening. On a serious note, there is an issue here. I cannot see any GDPR, funding, planning, conservation or protec…

At the moment there are 47,000 L-plate drivers awaiting a driver test and there is a huge delay, as we all know, at the Road Safety Authority, RSA. The wait is 19 weeks on average nationally, but in County Clare there is a 35-week waiting period. That is all the more punitive for younger drivers in rural areas. Because of the cost of living away from home and the lack of accommodation, many of them live at home and drive a car their mam and dad bought them to get to college. This is totally punitive. One of the req…

Like others here, I welcome this very important legislation. Credit unions are the bedrock of all communities. I am still a member of the Irish National Teachers Organisation credit union, Comhar Linn. I would love to have got more money off it over the years but I suppose that is the way that credit unions work. They are fantastic. What credit unions can provide in moneylending facilities to any workplace or community is incredible. This legislation further enhances the governance structures of the credit union sy…

Shannon Heritage sites like the iconic Bunratty Castle are major cogs in the economy of the mid-west region. In the summer of 2021, the Cabinet decided it would be best to devolve these sites away from the auspices of the Shannon Airport Group and have them managed by the region's local authorities. Councils like Clare County Council in my constituency are eager to make this a success and to play their role, but they have asked the Government - the Taoiseach is aware of this request - for a subvention in the region…