I appreciate that. My last question concerns CRSS. I thank the Minister for naming it after me. It is a great name for a scheme. I welcome the scheme. It will be fantastic. It is one of a range of brilliant measures in the budget to support businesses. I must commend the Minister and the rest of the Cabinet on that. I hope there was an error in a couple of printed press articles that stated that the turnover cap for businesses that apply for the scheme was €2 million. Given that the restart grant figure is €25 mill…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, and thank Deputy Ó Cathasaigh for letting me go first in this slot. First and foremost, I commend the Ministers, Deputies Michael McGrath and Donohoe, on bringing this budget to the House. It covers so many aspects. They listened and they mirrored what most industries, sectors and parts of society were looking for, and I commend them on that. There is so much to cover that I will need more than the eight minutes' speaking time but I will focus on a few important issues that were f…

I will bring it down a notch. First, I am here to tell the Minister again what a great place west Cork is. I take every opportunity to tell her that. After listening to the other contributions, I am fully aware that west Cork is not unique in its richness of culture, music and arts, but the reason I raise it is that it is part of us. It is important to everything we do. We are not paying lip service, but genuinely and constructively are trying to contribute to and support an industry that is, undeniably, on its kne…

I am here behind the Minister but I have his back, so it is okay. He need not worry. I very much welcome the plan. It is unprecedented in scale and funding of €600 million. We have never seen the likes of it previously for a winter plan. Clearly, the Minister's fingerprints are all over it with, I believe, close to five million hours of home care. That is huge and it is significant. It is something previous Governments and previous Members, including Opposition leaders, have been calling for consistently, and that …

I congratulate the Minister of State on bringing this Bill before the House. It is urgently needed on two fundamental fronts. First, we need to promote afforestation, biodiversity, habitats and rewilding and without this urgent legislation, that cannot happen. The second front, which has probably gotten the most airing here today and rightly so, is the need to save the timber industry which is coming to a crashing halt. On rewilding and the planting of trees, the programme for Government, contrary to what has been …

I thank the Minister of State for sharing time with me. I represent west Cork, home to Castletownbere Port, which is Ireland's premier whitefish port. At the outset, it is important for me to say that I am not happy with elements of this statutory instrument. It would, however, be misleading for me to say that I felt there was a realistic possibility of a replacement statutory instrument at this stage. I will take this opportunity in the Chamber to outline some of the problems and issues I have with this statutory …

At this range I hardly need a microphone, but it is great to get this opportunity to give my views on climate action and the Minister's approach to it. When we talk about climate action I firmly believe we need to talk about biodiversity at every opportunity because the two are intrinsically linked. We are in the middle of a mass extinction with an estimated 1 million species threatened with extinction. Among the many findings of a recent World Wildlife Fund report, the most striking for me was the fact that many s…

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton. I will start by describing three serious flooding events that led to widespread devastation in west Cork in the latter half of August. On 13 August, the town of Rosscarbery was flooded, with several businesses and premises affected. There was widespread devastation of the road network in the hinterland of Rosscarbery, in villages or townlands that may not be familiar to the Minister of State, such as Glandore, Connonagh, Leap, Reenascreena and Rathbarry. Entire roads …

I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive response. I am not entirely sure whether she indicated "yes" or "no" in terms of the response to the €5 million repairs that are needed after the recent specific flood damage to national, regional and local roads. The Minister of State referenced the climate action response funding that was recently announced, but I am unsure how much of the damage would be covered under that fund. I very much doubt that it would be covered. The bottom line is that there is a €5 m…

I do not believe for one second that the Ceann Comhairle had a rush of blood to the head. I believe he was acting on news that must have come quickly to him and on the best advice from the Clerk. I would like clarification on Topical Issue matters. I had intended to raise a very important issue on damage done to roads in west Cork due to flooding in August, and I am seeking funding for same. By the looks of it, I will not get that chance tonight. I seek clarification on whether Topical Issue matters will be taken t…

I understood we had four minutes each. I will have words with Deputy Flaherty later. I thank the Minister of State. I commend the Minister of State on the passion she has brought to this role. It is clearly an area she is incredibly passionate about and she has started off in the right vein. The reversal of the €20 million cut was widely welcomed by service users and voluntary groups. Today's announcement of funding of €7.8 million for early assessments has been welcomed by everyone I have spoken to. Every sector h…

I thank the Minister and congratulate her on the work she has done to date and on guiding the ship through incredibly stormy waters. She has done a fantastic job. I thank her and congratulate her on that. I take this opportunity to thank the teachers and principals who have put in enormous effort and work in recent months in preparing their schools for the return of students. I visited the national school in Innishannon some weeks before the reopening. The thought-processes, effort and different ways to figure out …

My contribution should not come to more than six or seven minutes so that should work well enough. I commend the Minister on bringing this Bill, which I will support, to the House. I also thank her for sticking around throughout the debate and listening to our contributions. This is my first opportunity to congratulate her on her new appointment. I am not sure whether the newly appointed Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, is still in the Chamber but I congratulate him as well. This is an important Bill. As has…

Something wonderful is happening in Ireland right now as people start to discover their country for the first time. They are heading to the coast and our coastal communities, our beaches in Inchydoney, Long Strand, Barleycove, and the Taoiseach's beloved Broadstrand. These are great places to social distance and holiday safely but, unfortunately, a small percentage is ruining it for everybody by littering, dumping, leaving behind cans and lighting bonfires in special areas of conservation. This needs to be stamped …

Having missed my original slot, I thank the Acting Chairman for accommodating me. I extend heartfelt congratulations to the Minister on his new position. I know why he sought this portfolio. He deeply desires to sort out the housing crisis. That is his agenda and I appreciate that. The initial soundings and messages from the Minister and his approach in his first couple of weeks in office lead me to commend him. He is grabbing the bull by the horns and getting to the bottom of our housing crisis. It is no harm, how…

I thank the Minister for attending today. I want to speak about an urgent, developing situation at Keelbeg Pier in Union Hall in my constituency. Union Hall is a picturesque, beautiful village between Skibbereen and Clonakilty. Keelbeg Pier is the local pier in Union Hall. It would help if I described the pier because I do not expect that the Minister would have been there before, but hopefully he may visit in the future. On the issue with the pier, Cork County Council is the foremost authority there and is, essent…

I am asking the Minister for a bit of compromise and a bit of consultation. I appreciate that it is a Cork County Council pier, but as I stated, it is the Minister's Department's funding. I ask that at the very least the Minister would reach out to the council chief executive or to the western division manager, whoever it may be, to pause the works until consultation happens and we get some compromise. There are some very good viable alternatives that would separate the commercial aspect of the pier, which we under…

While I am on the subject of piers I will take the opportunity to raise the issue of Dinish pier, which is also in my constituency in Castletownbere. The Minister will be very familiar with it given that fishing is in the Minister's remit. A €20 million extension is under way at the Dinish wharf to allow for larger hauls of fish and so on. It will be a significant improvement but there are fears about the works, including that they may have been paused and that the contractor has not been seen on the site in a whil…

As the Minister knows well, we are in the middle of a biodiversity crisis. Globally, 1 million species are threatened with extinction. This is also an issue at home. It is easy to track the demise of iconic species such as the yellowhammer or curlew, which is at the brink of extinction as a breeding species, but there are big gaps in the data on biodiversity. This is best seen by the fact we know the conservation status of only 10% of our species. What are the Minister's plans to provide additional supports for the…

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply and I appreciate that he gave an overview of the work of the NPWS. I am glad he referred to the National Biodiversity Data Centre in Waterford. The centre plays a key role in data collection but needs to be financed on a long-term basis and not by means of the ad hoc , year-to-year funding model that obtains at present. It has incredible expertise. It is usually involved in citizen science and is very good at getting people involved. For example, the nationa…