I thank the Minister of State and the Department for bringing this important Bill to the Oireachtas. I also want to single out the contribution of Deputy Bruton. When the Committee on Environment and Climate Action first convened over 18 months ago, he led on waste and the circular economy and he had a real passion. He was passionate about it, he wanted to contribute and he contributed in a big way. In particular during pre-legislative scrutiny there were some great debates and lines of questioning so I want to sin…

I thank the Minister. I am aware that he met some of the protesters today. They were impressed by his knowledge of the sector and acknowledgment that they are in crisis and that steps need to be taken to stem it. I do not have to tell him that the pig industry in Ireland is worth €1.7 billion to the economy and employs approximately 8,000 people, but he may not know what it is worth in my local area, west Cork, particularly around my home town, Clonakilty, in addition to Timoleague, Leap, Rosscarbery and the area r…

Deputy Carthy is correct. This is cyclical, but pig farmers have never seen a dip quite as serious. The price of feed is skyrocketing and the price of the product is dipping like never before. Farmers expect the price of the product to stabilise and even come back, but the price of feed shows no sign of decreasing. It is a crisis. The proposed stability fund put to the Minister is what pig farmers see as the very least that is needed to stabilise the industry and enable it to survive. That is how important this is.…

Last night, we received the fabulous news that the early intervention pre-school class at Kilbrittain National School will remain open for the forthcoming academic year. This is unbelievably important for this community. My colleague is right to thank and acknowledge the incredibly hard work of the principal, staff, parents and the entire community of Kilbrittain who fought for this. I also acknowledge the intervention of the Minister's Department. I was delighted to receive correspondence from the Minister's offic…

I thank the Minister again for her response on behalf of the school and the community and for her intervention in this regard and ensuring the class remains open. There is also the extra special needs class allocation, which means the pupils in the current preschool early intervention class have a special needs provision. This has shed light, I suppose, on the overall matter of a lack of SNA provision in particular in the west Cork area, particularly in and around Skibbereen. I do not expect the Minister to know ea…

I have spoken in this Chamber many times about the need to protect wildlife and habitats. Our oceans are the greatest habitat of all. Anja Murray writes in the Irish Examiner today that "The world’s oceans contain the last great wilderness on Earth". That is pretty powerful. It is true and we want it to remain true. I have often spoken of the abundance of whales, dolphins and marine wildlife off our coast. We need to introduce steps to protect that wildlife. There are two simple steps we can take immediately. First…

I would like to see a condemnation of the behaviour of the second biggest fishing boat in the world, the FV Margiris which dumped 100,000 blue whiting in the Atlantic recently and was then observed fishing off the coast of Mayo. We need to stop that practice.

Dursey cable car is more than just a form of transport. Fáilte Ireland uses it in all of its promotional material to sell Ireland across Europe. It is also, more importantly, a lifeline for the eight farmers who keep livestock on Dursey Island. Lambing and calving season is upon us. These farmers need to get across to their livestock. It is an animal welfare issue. Cork County Council has taken the decision to close the cable car on 31 March until November. That is almost nine months. Deputy Healy-Rae is absolutely…

Cork County Council should have acted faster on this. It knew that the towers were deteriorating and that corrosion was happening. It should have acted before this. The Minister of State probably knows west Cork as well as anyone in this Chamber. He frequents it often. He knows that Dursey Island is about as far from Dublin as one can get in Ireland. It is on the western periphery of Europe. However, for the people of the Beara Peninsula and the farmers who farm on Dursey Ireland, it is the centre of the universe. …

Kilbrittain National School is located in a part of the world with which the Taoiseach is very familiar. It is a terrific school with two classes for pupils with autism spectrum disorder, ASD, which are an incredibly important resource for those children. What will be an even more important resource at this school is the early intervention preschool class, which will be for children who are four and five years of age and who have ASD. However, the NCSE is proposing to close this early intervention preschool class a…

As the Taoiseach well knows, protecting and maintaining our woodlands and forest cover is a key element of reaching our climate action targets, especially given that Ireland has the least tree coverage of any European nation. That said, I ask that the Taoiseach support the communities in Riverstick, Belgooly and the Kinsale area in preventing the sale of 22 acres of pristine woodland at Ballymartle Woods into private ownership. I visited the site yesterday. It is a stunning location. I got a full tour. It has woodl…

As on previous occasions, farming has always led the way in economic recovery. However, this time around, it is becoming a massive challenge because of the increased cost of farming. I do not just refer to the cost of fertiliser, which has been well highlighted in this Chamber. It is also about the cost of ration, which has gone from €1 per kg to €1.30 per kg.

The cost of ration. As we know, the cost of fertiliser has doubled. In terms of sustainability, farmers are not looking to spread more fertiliser, they are just looking to maintain the level at which they were spreading it. However, it is prohibitive when fertiliser is doubling in cost. Inevitably, this increase in costs does not just impact the farmer; it gets passed onto the consumer as well. As the Taoiseach knows well, farming is the backbone of our rural communities. We need to protect it, intervene and provid…

With the announcement of the Citizens' Assembly on biodiversity, this is an incredibly positive day for the efforts of this country to tackle biodiversity loss and the protection of wildlife. In fairness to the Taoiseach, last week he stated we need to act swiftly and with conviction, and here we are today, announcing the Citizens' Assembly will have its inaugural meeting in April. It is important that we continue the other work we are doing. There is the review of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, the…

I call on the Taoiseach to convene a citizens' assembly urgently on the biodiversity crisis. Across the globe, biodiversity, nature and wildlife are in peril, nowhere more so than in Ireland. Climate change, habitat loss, habitat destruction and illegal poisoning have all led to a point where 54 of all bird species are now red listed, which means they are critically endangered. There has been an 81% loss in wetland species over a 50-year period. We need to act now. We need to convene a citizens' assembly now becaus…

It is first important to describe Desmond Castle, although I will not do it justice. It is a stunning work of old architecture, a 500-year-old castle tower built by the FitzGerald family and located in the heart of historic Kinsale. Kinsale is a terrific town with so much going for it. It is a tourism destination that is well known as a foodie attraction. History is very important to the town. It has bucketloads of history and has been the site of many historic events. Desmond Castle is at the heart of everything h…

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive response, which contained a good chunk of interesting history on the castle's previous uses. I take from the reply that there is a plan to repair and conserve the building, given scoping documents are being prepared. That work should be carried out fairly rapidly because the castle has been closed for four years and people are concerned about its structure. I reiterate the point Kinsale History Society wants me to make regarding its vision for the use of this buil…

I have to raise the issue of the impending missile testing due to take place off the west Cork coast by the Russian army. At this point I have to outline the devastating impact this missile testing will have on marine wildlife in the area. The area in question is known as the Porcupine Seabight. To describe the Porcupine Seabight, it is almost like a chunk taken out of the continental shelf. It is where the continental shelf eventually drops off into the deep. It is a rich and incredibly important area of biodivers…

The Minister of State will not be surprised to hear that west Cork is not immune to youth mental health issues. Young people today amaze me. They are bright, intelligent and incredibly good at opening up and speaking about issues. The level of anxiety out there is phenomenal and it is brought about by bullying, be that physical bullying, cyberbullying, pressures of social media, pressures of school, or circumstances in the home. This is causing significant anxiety, which has been highlighted and further exacerbated…

Tomorrow will mark two weeks since Aisling Murphy was attacked and murdered by a man in Tullamore. While I welcome the fact that two weeks later we are still having this conversation and discussing the issue in the Dáil, we have to ensure that we continue to discuss this issue and focus on the issue of violence against women and that we do not let the cry for help from women right across Ireland just fade into the distance. I ask that it becomes part of everything that we do from now on. It never enters my head whe…