I thank the Minister. I am glad to hear of the progress with the five new centres which are greatly needed in our county. When the primary care centre model was developed by the Department of Health it was to provide modern purpose-designed buildings for a wide catchment area with care by a multidisciplinary primary care team. I live quite close to the Westbury primary care centre. I have brought my children there for developmental check-ups. It is fantastic to have a state-of-the-art facility on my doorstep. The o…

I thank the Minister for those words of encouragement. As with everything, rumours circulate on social media these days, including the rumour over the summer that these projects would not happen and that funding for them was questionable. I am glad to hear tonight in the Dáil that they are progressing. Ennis is the largest town in Munster that is not a city and it needs the two new primary care centres on the Tulla Road and the Station Road. Sixmilebridge was once a small village and is now a large town. As Kilrush…

This is a well-rooted Bill. I listened to the response of the Ministers of State. It is good that it will be re-examined in nine months. At this time of year, the end of my back garden transforms from a nice green area to a field with swans and a few ducks. I fully understand the problem. I live only a mile from Clonlara. Deputies McNamara, Wynne and Carey all know how bad things are down there when the Parteen weir spills over and floods the area for six or seven weeks every year. This is still called a 100-year p…

I thank the Minister for outlining the situation. The Livestock Live online bidding system, LSL, has not been fit for purpose so far this month. Back in April and May, when there were blended sales and people in the ring, the system was not under as much pressure but on Saturday, 24 October, the system crashed for about two hours at Sixmilebridge mart, with the result that many of the cattle already in pens in the back yard had to be loaded back onto trailers and returned to their home farms. There was consternatio…

I thank the Minister for his reply. The mart in Sixmilebridge continued and some sales took place, including the sale of my uncles’s yearlings, but too many animals went home in trailers. Many rural farms in Clare do not have a broadband connection, and for those that have it, the connection is rather slow. Given the age demographic of the farmers going to marts, I am sure they will forgive me for saying they would not be adept at going out to their jeeps and bidding on their tablets or iPhones. That would not come…

On this day last week, the General Affairs Council of the European Union met in Luxembourg and agreed on what is now being called a traffic light system. It is a risk-rating system to co-ordinate travel across EU member states. This agreement will mean that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control will publish a weekly map of European regions, as opposed to countries, and use the colours of green, orange and red to categorise the contagion risk of Covid-19 in these regions. On the surface, this would …

As our country continues to deal with the ravages of Covid, I ask the Minister for an update on the status of the Roche Ireland site at Clarecastle, County Clare.

Roche, originally trading as Syntex Ireland, opened its plant in Clarecastle in 1974, before either the Minister or I were born. In 1994, it began trading as a part of the Roche group, but in 2015, having sustained debts and losses of approximately €9 million per annum, it announced its closure. It was a massive blow to Clare and represented an annual loss of €20 million to the county's economy. While there have been extensive efforts to find a new buyer, that has not happened and the plant is now being decommissio…

There is a state-of-the-art scientific laboratory in Roche and the site also has a high grade wastewater treatment plant. The repurposing of these facilities should be considered, even at this eleventh hour. I urge the Minister to ensure that no stone is left unturned in his attempts to attract new industry and employment to Clarecastle. There is an unprecedented global scramble to produce new pharmaceutical drugs. I hope IDA Ireland will consider Clare and the mid-west an ideal location for new pharmaceutical indu…

Budget 2021 is the largest investment of money in the history of the State and it is happening at a time when lives and livelihoods are at risk. I was pleased to see €18 billion being injected into this economy. I am aghast that some in the Chamber would say that that kind of budget lacks ambition, when nothing in our State's history has involved that much money being pumped into the welfare of the country. I think the commentary is riddled with clichés. When one digs deep into how the Opposition would fund a great…

D'oscail Coláiste Eoghain Uí Chomhraídhe i gCarraig an Chabhaltaigh i gContae an Chláir mar choláiste samhraidh don Ghaeilge sa bhliain 1908, ach bhí ar lucht bainistíochta an choláiste é a dhúnadh dhá bhliain ó shin mar thoradh ar easpa maoinithe. I mí an Mhárta na bliana seo, rinne bord bainistíochta an choláiste iarracht airgead a fháil ón gciste um athghiniúint agus forbairt tuaithe, ach theip orthu. Déanfaidh baill an bhoird iarracht nua an mhí seo chugainn agus tá súil agam go ndéanfaidh an tAire a dícheall c…

In less than 90 days, the UK will be outside the EU Single Market and customs union. While the work of Government and the Union to salvage a Brexit deal continues, the message for businesses here at home continues to be to get Covid ready. Unfortunately for small and medium-sized businesses scattered throughout the country, Brexit and Covid are aligning as a perfect storm and bringing all the stresses and calamities associated with that. Earlier this week I met some small business owners and tourism providers in we…

I was working on my contribution yesterday evening when everything changed with the announcement that we are to move to level 3 but I want to raise a few points because the entire nation hopes that we will move out of level 3 in the near future. I am a Deputy from County Clare, which is the home of traditional music and dance. Many groups involved in set dancing, Irish dancing and the other dance forms believe that they fall between two stools. The different guidelines that came out in recent months do not necessar…

No, I want to make a point of order. Eight Sinn Féin Deputies have exceeded the time agreed to be shared. There are Members from the Government backbenches who would also like to talk.

We agreed basic matters such as a reduced number of Deputies in the House, we would wear masks and so forth.

We are apportioning our time by taking four, four and three minutes. The Minister, his Department and, importantly, the very many front-line HSE staff are doing a great job in grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic, which it now appears we will be co-existing with for some time to come. Covid-19 has thrown a major curveball at this country. Ways of life have changed utterly, and possibly forever, and politically we are now dealing with very real and deep issues in our constituencies and communities. I would like to b…

I wish to speak in support of this Bill. There are 55,000 acres of forestry in County Clare. Nationally the sector employs 12,000 people and it remained buoyant during the last recession. It is a sector that should be valued in terms of licensing and felling in order to realise its full potential. I welcome this Bill because it will make the appeals system more efficient and will reduce the backlog of appeals at the forestry appeals committee. It will also align forestry licensing with the planning process and its …

I am sharing time with Deputy Dillon. I thank the Minister for being in the Chamber for these statements on transport. Shannon Airport is on its knees. It is in a full state of crisis which has deepened since February and March this year. The summer season has been a write-off and there is little hope of the aviation sector improving sufficiently for a bounce back in the autumn and winter months. Covid presents opportunities to straighten some practices. An employer told me the other day that he was trying to imple…

Deputy Mattie McGrath looks very at home in the Ceann Comhairle's chair. It is good to see him there. It is a pleasure and an honour to greet Deputy Browne as Minister of State. I am delighted he is sitting in the front benches of Government to lead proceedings. I wholeheartedly support this important Bill. It strengthens and offers protection against money laundering. The Bill gives effect to the criminal justice provisions of the fifth EU money laundering directive and deals with new forms of money laundering, in…

I am sharing time with Deputies Carey and Bruton. It is good to see the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, in the Chamber taking questions. I congratulate him on his new portfolio. The past number of months have been extremely difficult for everyone in this country but there are certain industries and sectors that have been disproportionately hit. At the moment there are 5,809 people on the live register in County Clare and a further 12,000 people in receipt of Covid income supports. The live register figures are alar…