Those of us who live in east Galway know what a very special place it is. It is a place which exhibits the very best of rural Ireland and where community really matters. We do not reminisce about the spirit of the meitheal; we experience and live the meitheal every day of our lives. Noel Treacy embodied that spirit and worked throughout his career to protect and nurture it. Noel was born in the village of Clough, across the fields from my mother's family. In fact, from speaking recently to my Aunt Breeda, I learned…

Two weeks ago, I tabled a number of questions to all 15 Departments asking about their use of ChatGPT and other AI platforms. Having received responses from all Departments, I have serious concerns about the inconsistency of approach across them. Some have acknowledged that they are using the platform, others have used it in the past and have ceased using it, while still others are giving discretion to their officials as to whether they use it or not. There is an absolute inconsistency of approach across all of the…

In the context of general flood relief schemes nationally, another scheme the Minister of State is more than aware of and has been exceptionally supportive of is the south Galway Gort lowlands flood relief scheme. The scheme is encountering a major problem because Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, constructed a motorway right through the heart of the region affected and did not build sufficient capacity into the culverts under the motorway. That now has the potential to derail the whole process. The costs asso…

Quite rightly, we have a significant focus on the health and well-being of our young people, in particular in the context of their access to a strong physical education, PE, curriculum. Seamount College in south County Galway is a post-primary school with an enrolment approaching 700 pupils, all of whom currently have no access to a PE facility on site. Despite repeated approaches to the Department of Education by me and the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, regarding the provision of such a facility, we have had…

I am pleased to hear the Minister is considering reopening the town and village renewal scheme within a relatively short timeframe. All my experiences of seeing the scheme implemented throughout the constituency of Galway East have been very positive. In light of the recent announcements regarding the Croí Cónaithe scheme, which sets out to address dereliction and bring buildings back to life to be used as housing units, aligned with and in partnership with the investment that will be made through the town and vill…

I thank the Minister for that update on Loughrea town hall. There is significant potential here to develop something truly remarkable - a 156-seat theatre, an arts centre and a business incubation - that will serve not alone the needs of Loughrea but, indeed, the whole of east Galway. I am very encouraged to hear that the Minister's officials are doing an assessment of that proposal right now. In terms of towns nationally, what sort of work does the Minister envisage happening in encouraging people to live over the…

When does the Minister intend to reopen the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme, ORIS? It has been extraordinarily successful in recent years in supporting communities and, indeed, local authorities in developing new outdoor activity infrastructure projects. This serves two purposes, not alone to embellish and enhance the attractiveness of localities for tourism but also to support the development of amenities that benefit the local community in terms of people's health and well-being. Two particular projects …

In regard to the very successful visit of President Joe Biden, there are times when visits such as this cause us all to reflect on the extraordinary power of our global Irish community. This is something we celebrate, and rightly so. The Minister and I have had a real, in-depth experience of encountering and working with that power and that community in so many different locations throughout this planet. However, we are hopelessly out of step when we seek to support our citizens in electing our first citizen - that…

One of the more effective tools in the Government's housing policy is the residential zoned land tax, which seeks to release land that is zoned for development to housing. An anomaly is arising in a number of local authorities with regard to those that use the zonings R1 and R2, R1 being priority residential zoning and R2 being land that is to be developed only after all the R1 land has been developed. I have been contacted by two landowners in two towns in my constituency of Galway East who have an R2 zoning. Thei…

Again this week we have fresh evidence from Sinn Féin's electoral returns that real reform is needed in the area of electoral spending as committed to in the programme for Government. The main Opposition party finds itself consistently U-turning in its declarations for all major elections in the past decade. Accountability and transparency must be an essential cornerstone of our democracy. It does not seem to be so for Sinn Féin. Currently, it wants us to believe it only spent on average €21 on each of its 230 cand…

The Croí Cónaithe scheme whereby people are supported to refurbish derelict buildings to make them available for homes has been especially successful. An additional concession was made recently to extend that scheme to rural villages and rural locations across the country. Again, that has been successful and a lot of interest has been developed. However, an additional restriction has been placed on that scheme that we should seriously consider removing. That is the restriction whereby, if people take up the grant a…

Last April, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, made a welcome announcement of €50 million allocation for the development of new wastewater treatment facilities in rural towns and villages. Each local authority was asked to make a submission outlining its priority projects for that funding. One such priority project outlined by Galway County Council is for the village of Craughwell. It is a perfect example of the kind of investment needed to allow this what is now essentially a town to grow and expand and to prov…

In light of the decision by the High Court yesterday obliging An Bord Pleanála to revisit the planning application for the Galway ring road in the context of the climate action plan, it is now time to consider urgently the public transport options that are available and are presenting to us right now to ease traffic congestion in Galway city. I am thinking particularly of those commuters, just under 2,000 of them, who travel from Athenry and Oranmore into Galway city every day. In this Chamber, in September 2020, I…

In recent times a number of towns across County Galway have experienced complete water outages or boiled water notices. Irish Water, in engaging with public representatives at national and local level to inform us why the issues have arisen and what is being done to resolve them and to assure us these issues will be avoided in the future, has not been forthcoming. I know from talking to colleagues here that the experience is similar across the country. I urge the Taoiseach to contact the CEO of Irish Water and ask …

All parties in the Oireachtas support the development of the climate action plan which, in turn, provides for the development of renewable energy sources. I refer to two technologies in particular, namely, wind energy and anaerobic digestion or biogas energy. We readily acknowledge that incorrectly or poorly sited wind energy developments can be seriously injurious to people's health and quality of life and indeed to the environment, and consequently we have developed guidelines in respect of the siting of wind ene…

In refusing planning permission, Galway County Council stated the development runs completely contrary to the proper planning and development of this rural area, yet it has been granted permission. We urgently need guidelines to be put in place to prevent this kind of development happening in future.

It is an opportune time to have what is a very important conversation about the future of our country and our contribution to global sustainability. As the Minister of State is aware, a very significant chunk of our carbon emissions arises from our transport sector - just under 20%. There is an extraordinary opportunity presenting to us right now as a country to eat into those emissions and reduce them using public transport. In general, our people are ready to make that change, to effect that modal shift essential…

I am aware from speaking to the Minister that she is more than aware of the value and power of local radio to engender a deep sense of community and solidarity in rural areas. She is from County Monaghan so she will understand this. She has spoken to me numerous times about the power of local radio. Deputy Naughton quite rightly mentioned the power of local radio to disseminate crucial information at times of crisis in rural regions. This became crystal clear to me during the pandemic. On Galway Bay FM, the morning…

I thank the Minister and her officials for the solidarity they have shown with the sector, reflecting the challenges they are facing. I would hope the report emanating from the BAI in that short time frame will confirm the need for a redesign and restructuring of the levy so that it does not impact negatively on the long-term viability of the sector. I thank the Minister most sincerely for the additional funding that will be provided under sound and vision. It is most welcome. From speaking to some people who opera…

We can be exceptionally proud of the work we have achieved as a country in educational attainment. The route presented to my dad for education when compared with that presented to my son is such that it is like two different countries. We have crossed many extraordinary milestones in that regard but there is one remaining milestone to be crossed, which relates to the provision of further education and training. The Minister, Deputy Harris, made a significant announcement this morning on funding the establishment of…