I thank the Minister for being in the Chamber. These are important changes to planning legislation. The Bill essentially changes the substitute consent regime provided for in the old Planning and Development Act 2000 and streamlines the substitute consent regime so that it becomes a more efficient process. I am glad that the legislation provides for a single-stage planning application process under the remit of An Bord Pleanála, replacing the current two-stage process. The Bill contains many technical provisions bu…

Basically, we need some pre-qualifying rules to ensure all this happens.

A very significant amount of public money is involved in this and the homeowners themselves are taxpayers, which is a point that needs to be made repeatedly because it is an issue that got skewed over the course of the campaign. There was a certain maligning in that regard. This €2.7 billion is a massive amount of public money to deal with redress. It is important that there is expediency in all of this and that the money is ring-fenced for redress for homes with defective blocks containing pyrite or mica. There is…

I welcome this legislation and thank the Minister and Minister of State for progressing it so far. It is very positive legislation. I spent 16 years in the classroom. This Bill is good as it proposes to truncate the section 37A process and ensure that schools are fully adhering to the requirement to take in children with special needs. The EPSEN Act did a massively positive thing more than a decade ago. It ensured that children with special educational needs were schooled locally in mainstream education in the envi…

The pharmaceutical company Vertex is manufacturing what is seen as a game-changer drug for people with cystic fibrosis, namely, Kaftrio. Unfortunately, due to a price squabble between the HSE and Vertex at the moment, there are 35 children with the F508 mutation who are omitted from that. They come in the age category of six to 11 years. This is a life or death matter. One of the families I met had a cousin who died last year and they are looking at their own son now this year waiting for this treatment. I understa…

I thank the Acting Chairman. I must not have kept a proper eye on the roster. I thought I had a few minutes left. I was still drafting important lines I wanted to include in my remarks. This is important legislation. I take on board the point made by the previous speaker. It probably is a bit of a Groundhog Day when we have to revisit this every year. I hope that, this year, there will not be a walkout before the vote takes place. This is key legislation. I represent Clare and live in the south of the county, only …

Just a moment, Deputy Naughten. We have a list of speakers.

Amendments Nos. 1 and 5 are related and may be discussed together by agreement.

Amendments Nos. 3, 7 and 15 are related and may be discussed together.

Amendments Nos. 4, 10, and 12 to 14, inclusive, are related and may be discussed together.

Away from politics, I had reason to take my car for a national car test, NCT, last week. I was also in the accident and emergency department of University Hospital Limerick. More is known about my car's service history and performance, which is transferable to the next owner, than is known about the patients in the accident and emergency department at the hospital. Information is not transferable. There is no integrated information system to comprise a GP's notes, a referral and a stay in a different hospital netwo…

I thank the Minister of State for being in the Chamber for this important debate. In the winter of 2009, I had not been long re-elected to Clare County Council. As the Minister of State knows, the role of an elected member varies from day to day, but in the winter of 2009 I found myself falling into line with other residents, homeowners, farmers and business people in my community, sandbagging and piling up sandbags against homes in the community that were at risk of flooding. The River Shannon, as it has a propens…

I wish to ask the Minister about Shannon Airport. Its management team has made an application to Government under the Brexit adjustment fund to try to secure European hub connectivity, something that is all the more important since Brexit. I understand it is targeting airports like Paris Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt and Schiphol in Amsterdam. I understand the matter is before the Minister's Department and the Minister, Deputy McGrath, along with the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, is considering this. Will they give any …

I am sharing time with Deputy Bruton. There is an irony in how many young people live their lives these days. They have no problem going online and ordering a pair of jeans manufactured in China or Asia which have to make four or five stops before being courier-delivered to their door. However, the people who are prepared to shop like this are increasingly discouraged from travelling because of carbon shaming and the feeling that if they go on holidays, they are also a cause of the global warming phenomenon. That h…

I thank the Minister of State for being in the Chamber. I have been watching the debate from my office and, as always, she has been engaging and has not just been sitting on the front benches playing on a phone. She is taking notes. She is surrounded by a great team, including Mr. Noel Byrne, and its members are always good in taking on issues when I contact them. The topic of special needs is close to my heart. When I come home from the Dáil, there is someone at home close to me who has special needs. It is a part…

What strategies and policies has the Department put in place to avert a fodder crisis this winter?

I thank the Minister. The €55 million silage scheme he has introduced is a positive development that will put money back in the pockets of farmers. It is also good to see the establishment of the national fodder and food security committee. Year on year, the farming organisations have only been brought to the table at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a crisis is unfolding. That is not good enough. Research undertaken by University College Cork last winter suggests fodder crises may become an …

While the national silage scheme is welcome, there is an elephant in the room in that dairy farmers have been omitted from it. They are again asking whether they will be considered for inclusion. We are heading into late May and the silage season is upon us. Dairy farmers will see their beef counterparts receiving €100 per hectare, up to a maximum of 10 ha. It is a positive intervention but there are many farmers losing out. The multispecies sward initiative the Minister announced in March really did not have much …

I show up every day.

It is important for me to say that.