This Bill is about switching or joining Ervia to Gas Networks Ireland and putting control of the pipes under one heading. However, the question is whether there will be any gas in the pipes. As has been said, if there is any breakdown or any shortage of supply coming from the direction we are getting it at present, it is surely only common sense to say the French, the English and all mainland Europe will ensure they have gas before they will let it go west as far as Ireland. We had a golden opportunity to have a Sh…

First, I, too, commiserate with the families involved and with the Carter family for the loss of their lovely child. It is so sad. So many people do so much good work, such as doctors, nurses and the health service. It has to be acknowledged that they do. It is sad to see that trust is being broken in a case like this. We see the same with the child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS. I want to ask the Minister about who in the chain of command is responsible for what. This is a scandal. Is anyone going t…

This review was triggered by complaints from clinicians and staff last October about problems with infections and complications following surgeries. That was almost 12 months ago. It is frightening to think so many children were affected. I am not sure if the number is 16 or 19, but one has died. One is too many. This is serious. We must narrow down who was responsible. The HSE is getting an awful lot of money, and it needs that money, but we must ensure something like this never happens again. We are told not to p…

Sinn Féin is all over the place with the carbon tax.

The Minister will appreciate that we, in Kerry, have serious problems with students finding accommodation in places like Limerick and Cork. What can he do and what will he do in the future? More importantly this year, what can be done for all these students who do not have a place in Limerick and Cork today?

Of course, I welcome what has happened in Tralee. However, I am talking about students who do not have accommodation in Cork and Limerick today. For whatever reason their courses are in those colleges at this time. They are travelling by bus. They cannot drive themselves because they cannot get a driving test in Kerry - it is an impossibility. The leaving cert results come out too late. The CAO offers are too late. The second round of CAO offers is much too late. The lottery system only satisfies some. Some student…

First-year students find it the toughest. Second and third-year students may have accommodation sorted before the holidays. These students are in a scramble and are finding it very tough. Some students from Kilcummin and Killarney are trying to rent an hotel room. Their parents are trying to help them. They are finding it very difficult and the rent prices are being increased by the hotels, which is not fair. We have to do something for these people. While some of them are trying to travel even on the green bus fro…

I need to bring to the Minister's attention the high level of anger, dissatisfaction and frustration felt by many people in Kerry because of two things, namely, the Shannon LNG project and the Killarney bypass. Energy security is being compromised, jobs are being lost and, in the case of the Killarney bypass, road safety is being compromised. Shannon LNG's application to An Bord Pleanála for approval for a gas terminal on the Ballylongford land bank in north Kerry was turned down in recent days. The refusal was pri…

I have no problem.

He made a submission.

He did.

Why did the Tánaiste not make a submission then?

I am stating the facts as well. Wherever the €626 million went, it did not go to the Killarney bypass or the Cork-Kerry economic corridor as it is also called. It did not go there anyway. That is a fact. It has been stopped because TII has been starved of the funding to do the assessments. If the Minister states that anyone could have made a submission, why did Deputy Micheál Martin or Deputy Foley, as a Minister, not make a submission? Why did the Minister, Deputy O'Brien not make a submission to support the Shann…

Where were they? They are allowed to do what they like and at the same time no young lad in Kerry can get a driving test. Does the Government want to keep them off the road as well? There are 23,000 vehicle movements every day on the Killarney route I am talking about. Their safety is being compromised. He kicked up a big hullabaloo the other day saying he was going to reduce speed limits and do this and that. What really needs to be done because the volume of traffic has increased is to bring the roads up to stand…

I will exclude Deputy O'Brien then but I will not exclude the rest of them.

They have also told me that Kerry has not got enough from this Government under the local improvement scheme. Of 676 projects in Kerry, we got enough to do 25.

I am glad to get an opportunity to talk on this very serious matter before us this evening. While I welcome that Sinn Féin is bringing the motion forward, I do not exactly agree 100% that this will be targeted enough to help the people who are in trouble. What I cannot understand is that the Government is agreeing to these interest rate increases, and the Government is saying the reason for it is to curb inflation. At the same time we know that the people affected by this are on the road going to work every day and…

I am glad to have the opportunity to support this Labour Party motion. It is very important because we all know that sport is so important in developing youth and bringing communities together. For many years, Gaelic football and hurling were the dominant games in Kerry but soccer is now coming forth. We are glad to see Kerry FC, which is now in the League of Ireland, doing very well this year. It needs financial support to ensure it develops further. We are glad the Kerry ladies will have an under-17 team starting…

That must be looked at and rectified.

I am glad to get the chance to talk on this very important Bill. I am totally and absolutely against what is proposed. I do not think it is necessary in the first place. We do not have these kinds of demonstrations, that I know of, on my side of the country, in our county. In a lot of places we have practising GPs whom people go to daily. People cannot get to their GPs. How will these zones be marked for people who do not know where those GPs are? Someone could be within such an exclusion zone unwittingly. Are we g…