I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, for coming in here today. I am very grateful because I know he has a hectic schedule as a constituency Deputy and as a Minister of State. I do not have anything against him but I am not too happy that the line Minister is not here to answer my Topical Issue. For three consecutive weeks I have tabled this Topical Issue and I only got an email as I sat in my seat here to inform me that the line Minister is not available. I would have pulled my Topical Issue if I had …

I appreciate the Minister of State's reply. The problem for everyone in County Clare at present is that this is very much in a state of flux. When the Government announced that these were going to be transferred to Clare County Council, it was like the announcement of a divorce or a relationship split. Immediately, Shannon Group took its eye of interest off the Shannon Heritage sites. They have been neglected. I do not mind saying that here because that is the sad reality. The roof of the iconic 15th century castle…

Before becoming a Member of this House, I was a teacher. Every morning, I would begin by doing a short Irish lesson. I will give this Chamber a short Irish lesson. The word "Tory" is a derivative of the old Irish word "toraidhe", which means robbers. I was watching Sky News earlier and I saw the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, grovelling. He was on his feet defending a party in 10 Downing Street. That is not the real issue, however. For so many people on this island, regardless of what tradition they come fr…

Amendments Nos. 1 and 2 are related and may be discussed together.

I ask the Acting Chairman to help me with the timing-----

-----and let me know when the four minutes are up.

I am sure Deputy Cowen will tell me to sit down shortly. We are here to talk about just transition and the word "just" needs to be focused on. It means fair and equal and just transition is good but it is not geographically fair or equal. If you look at a county like Clare, which I represent, over a number of years we have had an incremental winding down of operations at Moneypoint and the winding back of coal burning operations. There is no just transition for people in Clare and for those who have worked in that …

The Garda Síochána (Compensation) Bill 2021 is very positive legislation and I fully support it. Essentially, the Bill is aimed at decreasing the length of time it takes for disposing of a Garda compensation claim from initial application to award by providing for clear time limits in respect of each stage of the process. The new process is also aimed at ensuring that avenues for settlement and resolution are available at the earliest possible stage and that cases do not end up before the courts and are not necessa…

I think it is relevant.

What Commissioner Harris has brought to An Garda Síochána is a different style of policing. He came from the PSNI which has a more robust form of policing: it is not policing by consent that we have had here for the past century. When the PSNI drives through a community, their vehicles are armoured and protected, which is not the case with An Garda Síochána, who tonight are out training local sports teams involved in the community. They rely on that community engagement to be able to solve crimes and gather evidenc…

I hope the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, can take this question. The current wind energy guidelines date back to 2006. They are grossly outdated. A new set of guidelines, which was to be adopted on the eve of the 2020 election, is still on the desk of the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan. How long more will they be there? We need them operational. We have seen best and worse practice over the past two years without updated guidelines being there. Could I also say that some of the conditions attached to planning, for…

I welcome the review of and report on the Defamation Act 2009. The review was a legislative priority of the Government when it took office in 2020. It is important that the Government and State strike the balance, referred to by other speakers, between our competing sets of rights as individuals protected by our Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. Following the review, the Cabinet has to work on a new set of defamation laws for Ireland. There are issues to be dealt with in this regard. Among t…

The Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach has completed its consideration of the Consumer Credit (Amendment) Bill 2022 and has made amendments thereto. The Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach has completed its consideration of the Insurance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022 and has made no amendments thereto.

In his contribution, the Taoiseach referred to DEIS and the overhaul that system had about six or seven weeks ago. It was positive and progressive. These reviews happen every few years and the previous one occurred in 2017 or 2018. Therefore, the model the Department of Education uses to determine deprivation and the need to intervene in a school context is based on Pobal and census figures dating from 2016. The review is good and welcome, and most schools in County Clare and around the country that have had their …

With regard to the health aspect of this agenda, I wish to raise the incessant overcrowding and trolley usage at University Hospital Limerick, UHL, week in, week out. There is yet another inquiry, and I expect its outcome will again indicate that far too many people are funnelled through the same hospital system. When the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, visited the hospital on 17 February last, he stated UHL was doing too much heavy lifting in the mid-west. Surely, the answer to this is not just withi…

Brexit has served to remind us in County Clare and along the western seaboard how geographically peripheral we are in the Continent of Europe. It is obvious now that we are a long way from Dublin, but we are also a long way from Britain and the countries on mainland Europe. In 2015, a national aviation policy was launched which is now totally defunct and no longer relevant as we come out of Covid and continue to grapple with Brexit. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, has indicated that in the coming weeks he will initiate …

As with many Deputies, a large amount of work in my office involves dealing with medical cards and people who are struggling to get a medical card approved or have a decision on appeal. As we are halfway through our budgetary year cycle, I ask that in the autumn the Government consider providing that when someone has a cancer diagnosis he or she will automatically qualify for a medical card. There must be no ifs or buts. I often have to ask individuals who are already distraught and stressed to the gills to get for…

There are five secondary schools in Ennis, County Clare, and they are very pressurised. Over the years, many children applying to them were refused and had to try another school and then another. These days, a common application system is operational and works well. The problem is there are children in second, third and fourth year in other schools who could not get into a school in Ennis and it was not their first choice to go elsewhere. They tried to attend their local secondary school but the constraints of the …

The war in Ukraine rightly dominated the agenda of the European Council. Many people are wearing the colours of Ukraine today and many have asked about my tie. Conveniently, it is my old Clare County Council tie. Once the yellow and blue of Clare were the colours of war and battle. They were the colours that Brian Boru wore as he went into battle.

They instilled fear in the enemy, but these days, the yellow and blue of Clare are the colours of welcome, love and peace. As of census night last Sunday, 1.5% of the entire population of Clare is Ukrainian. We have one third of all Ukrainians in Ireland. Up until last week, we had more Ukrainians than the entirety of Britain. We are very proud as a county and community for the role we are playing. We are militarily neutral, as everyone says, but that does not stop us from having a position. It does not stop people…