Earlier this week, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, waved the white flag on the M50. It basically said it is full and there is nothing it can do to address congestion. Commuters are stuck in their cars and wasting their time. The situation is costing our economy, climate and public health. Instead of focusing on the causes of this gridlock, which is a lack of public transport in this country, the Government has chosen this week to launch a transport plan that returns to old vices like building roads and bypas…

I formally second the motion. We all would have hoped that ten years on from the Gender Recognition Act, we would be a lot further along in ensuring that trans people can get the care they need and deserve but progress has stalled when it comes to truly vindicating trans people's right to be themselves. In a country that has proudly made such strides forward in so many ways, it is utterly shameful that we are ranked the worst in Europe in terms of trans healthcare. The national gender service, as Deputy Sherlock an…

I was struck by Kathy Sheridan's piece in The Irish Times last week because it summed up my feelings perfectly. She spoke about the absence of kindness in debates around trans people. I hate to use the word "debate" when speaking about the rights of people. This is a group of people - less than 1% of our population - that amounts to an absolutely tiny cohort of marginalised and often vulnerable people. Regardless of how few trans people there are in Ireland or elsewhere, every single one deserves the respect, empat…

For the past number of years under Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil Governments we have seen what feels like a permanent cost-of-living crisis. People are being squeezed from every angle, be it grocery price inflation, the cost of renting or buying a home or childcare costs, something the Government has been conspicuously silent on since the promise of it costing €200 a month. We know student fees are going to be increasing. Compounding it all, we have the matter at hand, which is energy bills. The Barnardos report during…

Okay.

Understood. I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. However, this needs to be called out and I have asked the Minister before to start looking seriously at ways we can reintroduce some level of regulation of energy prices beyond network tariffs. I am not suggesting that is easy but there are carve-outs in EU competition law that allow for price regulation in order to protect customers. We should be exploring these options and I will provide some context for this request. Under EU energy market rules, our electricity a…

I thank Sinn Féin and Deputies Cullinane and McGuinness for their work on this motion. I pay tribute to the search and rescue crews in our Coast Guard around the country. They do genuinely heroic work and we all owe them a debt of gratitude. It is extremely disappointing that this motion is even necessary and that the Government has put down an amendment to wash its hands of the issue, because it reflects the lack of respect that these vital workers have been shown in recent months. I have been dealing with the iss…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to enable the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities to direct that offers for connection to the electricity transmission and distribution systems be made subject to terms and conditions requiring that specified measures be taken for the purpose of avoiding, preventing, reducing, offsetting or abating greenhouse gas emissions or otherwise in furtherance of the national climate objective; for that purpose to amend the Electricity Regulation Act 19…

I thank the Minister of State.

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

I welcome the fact that we are discussing haulage costs and the SME sector more broadly today. It is an issue that goes to the heart of our economic well-being and our regional development - more pertinently, our balanced regional development - as well as the survival of thousands of SMEs across our country. The cost of moving goods on Irish roads is one of the greatest threats to the competitiveness and, many cases, survival of many of our small businesses, such as artisan food producers in the west, engineering f…

I thank the Minister of State for staying with us to this relatively late hour tonight. I want to raise some issues that have arisen on certain bus routes that serve my constituency. Some routes are new and others have been in place for a while. I am a big supporter of the BusConnects project. The aim of improving connectivity across our city is very important. I have been on the record for years locally, and now here in the Dáil, as a staunch defender of BusConnects. It is precisely because of this support that it…

The Minister of State was just getting to the good stuff there; I see it in front of me in the statement. Obviously, we welcome the increased investment in public transport. It is long overdue and it is great to see it. The Minister of State mentioned - and he can come back to me on this in his supplementary response - that the S6 will move to a high-frequency timetable. I would be interested to know when that might happen. BusConnects has the potential to lead to a much better service, which is why I support it. I…

My thanks to Sinn Féin for tabling this motion on the cost of motoring, which is a serious cost for people. At the outset, I want to lay my cards on the table. As transport spokesperson for the Labour Party, I will always advocate for public transport and active travel ahead of private cars. I am of the view that we should do everything we can to encourage people to use greener, more sustainable modes of transport. That means making sure the option to travel by bus or rail or to cycle is available for everyone, whe…

Deputy Daly has arrived. I am happy to allow him to take his question first.

I am happy to let Deputy Daly go.

We are in the teeth of a climate and biodiversity crisis. An initiative the last Government took was to commission a land use review to understand how to optimise land management in this country. Has the Minister received the phase 2 report of the land use review? Why has it not been released yet? When does he plan to release it?

I am glad to hear the Minister will be publishing it. His predecessor as Minister for the environment described it as the most important project in the previous programme for Government. It is vital that it be released. I am not quite sure why the Minister is holding on to it. It is a report designed to inform policymakers and I am not sure whether the brains trust the Minister has put together are the only ones who should be looking at it. I do not know why it has not gone to the Climate Change Advisory Council. I…

That is encouraging. There are many big decisions coming up that the report could inform. It is there to inform future climate action plans, some of which we have been looking at and reviewing recently at the climate committee. It strikes me it is also relevant to the nitrates derogation negotiations. It seems, based on leaks from the report, that there is talk of intensification of dairy farming in the south east of the country, where we already have huge water quality issues. We have previously discussed the issu…

I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "2024" and substitute the following: "be deemed to be read a second time this day one month.". I commend Deputy Ó Snodaigh on bringing forward this Bill, which I and the Labour Party are firmly behind. I also pay tribute to Ailish McCarthy for initiating the campaign three years ago and pursuing it so diligently over the past few years. This is a matter of dignity and respect for our comedians, who, to be clear, absolutely are artists and are love…