Can the Minister set out the detail of the latest Exchequer figures, which show a record €9.9 billion in gross capital expenditure in 2021, and the way the 2021 figure for spending on our national development plan will compare, and will he make a statement on the matter?

I will refer back to the €580 million underspend. Is any review being carried out of the way public service contracts are processed? I refer particularly to the tendering process and the delay in the acceptance of the contract. In the last six or seven months we have had inflation in the building sector, which has caused its own problem about acceptance of tenders. Is any review being carried out in respect of those contract issues?

I wish to ask about the carryover of projects. Does the Minister believe we can get many of the projects that were delayed completed by the end of 2022? What process is being put in place to ensure we can meet the targets that have been set out?

I send good wishes for Christmas and the new year to the Ceann Comhairle, all of the staff and everyone here. I raise a matter relating to non-EEA doctors who are working in Ireland. Under the current rules, a non-EEA doctor cannot get a stamp 4 residency permit unless he or she has been working here for more than five years. The Tánaiste talked earlier in the week about changing the rules so that a non-EEA doctor can get a stamp 4 permit after two years. That would allow such doctors to get onto specialist trainin…

Will the Minister and the Department consider providing additional supports to assist households with the cost of retrofitting their homes alongside the national retrofitting plan? I ask the Minister of State to make a statement on the matter.

Only 18% of Irish homes secured a building energy rating, BER, of B3 or higher in 2019. A great deal of work needs to be done in this area. We also have an additional problem now in that the cost of all building materials has increased dramatically. Have we sufficient supports in place at this stage? I am aware the Minister of State is talking about further announcements later on in 2022 but we are talking about 500,000 houses being retrofitted by 2030? There are issues about the skill set, the number of people to …

My real concern is that I was speaking to someone in the past week who submitted their application to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, two years ago. It was only in the past week that the house was inspected. We have something to clear up in that particular area. What plans are being put in place to expedite inspections so that the work can start at an early date?

I thank the Minister for the work she is doing in this area and for the schemes that are in place. My concern relates to the need for the upkeep and enhancement of community centres. I note that she has touched on this earlier but there are additional strains out there now such that over the past two years community groups and community centres have not been able to hold fundraising events or social functions and, therefore, there is a significant drain on the funding that they would normally have. I would welcome …

I am raising this issue in the context of a new role for community centres, as mentioned by my colleague, Deputy Stanton. For that new role to be put in place, a large number of community centres need to be upgraded, particularly in rural areas where there is no broadband provision. I know of an area where there is no broadband, landline or mobile phone connection, but the local community centre has a hub in place, which is extremely important for that area. Other areas do not have access to a hub for people to wor…

In regard to the involvement of local authorities, has the Department had feedback from them on the schemes that are in place? I am not satisfied there is sufficient feedback into the Department setting out clearly the local authorities' targets and making sure those targets comply with what the Department wants.

This goes back to the issue of funding and how the past two years and Covid-19 has affected community groups, community centres and sporting organisations. I ask the Minister about the supports provided to the community associations and community centres as a result of Covid-19 and what further work we can do on that. We are going to go through at least another three to four months of difficulties in this area. The Minister might give me some information on that area.

I thank the Minister for all the work that has been done in this area over the past two years and for the funding that has been made available. One of the challenges that we now have as a result of the downturn in business in certain areas is that there will be people who will not go back to the jobs they had had before. Will we open up the area of community employment, CE, and change the rules to make it more adaptable to the changes that have occurred over the past 12 months? Is that being considered at this time…

May I just ask one final issue to the Minister of State about co-ordination of supports? I have come across a situation where there is support from Avondhu Duhallow, which is a very effective organisation, but there are not supports, for instance, from the local authority. Can we look at that co-ordination of supports so that if moneys are granted by one organisation, sufficient moneys are granted, the other organisations involved are made aware by the Department or the relevant organisation that is providing the f…

I will follow on from the earlier debate on the career structure to be put in place for staff in the childcare sector in recognition of their vital work and the value of such work, not only to the economy but also to the development of children. Will the Minister make a statement on the matter? I raise this issue from the point of view of the survey that was done which shows the lack of appropriate career structure, insecure employment and high rates of staff turnover. Will the Minister give his views on that pleas…

I believe that the Minister will agree there is a very high turnover of staff in this area. Has the Department done research on this? What areas has the Department identified? What must we do now to ensure we do not have such high turnover? In his response to me, the Minister referred to people who are highly qualified. They are moving on to other jobs. I have come across people who have qualifications in childcare and who are not going into the sector because it is not attractive to them. It is important, therefor…

On the joint labour committee, which was set up by the Minister of State, Deputy English, will the Minister update the House on the engagement with that at this stage?

I thank my colleague from Cork North-Central for introducing this Bill, which follows on from the Bill that had been originally published by our former colleague John Brassil. Deputy Pádraig O’Sullivan has outlined the extensive work he has done in this area. It is important we give recognition to that and that we acknowledge the commitment he has made. I also thank the Minister of State for her response. This whole area has been in the health committee for well over ten years now, since I first served on the commi…

We did take action on rare diseases.

I am seeking confirmation that the N20-M20 road project from Cork to Limerick will proceed with urgency in view of the fact, as reported in The Irish Times recently, that 62 people have died on this road in the past 25 years. Between 2016 and 2018, 87 collisions were recorded on the N20, seven of which involved the death of road users, and a further 13 collisions led to serious injuries, with the remaining 67 resulting in minor injuries to road users. The route of this project was to be announced in September. Even…

I am concerned that the Minister has spoken about the first half of 2022. It was my understanding that planning for this project was to start in January 2022, in other words, the route would have been identified by that time. Consideration has already been confined to two possible routes with regard to bypassing Mallow and so on. The Minister is now talking about the first half of the year. I am a bit concerned about that. When he speaks about the first half of the year, does he mean January or June? There is a hug…