I fully agree with the Deputy and I commend the town team in Dunshaughlin on the town centre first plan. My Department is engaging closely with Meath County Council across several different projects, including a RRDF application. As a consequence of the TCF plan, I understand Meath County Council and the town team are closely engaged in working on an RRDF application. As the closing date is 27 July, I cannot tell the Deputy if it has come in or not. However, the officials in my Department have a call scheduled with…

Definitely, Deputy. In the context of the discussions we are having with the Ministers of State, Deputies Cummins and Buttimer, we want to make that alignment true to the funding streams within our Department, as well as their Department, such as with the former URDF project. There is a new name for that now on which I have drawn a blank. However, I will say that on the previous occasion, the Dunshaughlin application was not grounded in the town centre first plan but it is now. Some of the feedback we discussed on …

My apologies. If there is regeneration happening there, it can happen in Dunshaughlin too.

I have a question regarding the draft national housing statement in the Deputy's name. I can give the Deputy chapter and verse, because it is the-----

-----same question Deputy Conway Walsh has asked, but I have Question with the reference number 53016/26 on this one. That is what is on the Order Paper as well.

Does the Deputy want to give the big intro again?

Am I answering the question on the housing statement?

In fairness, the question I have and the question the Deputy----

That is on multi-unit housing development.

I can give the Deputy the work we are doing. First, with regard to the draft national planning statement, and I will follow up and email the Deputy with a full answer, that is exactly about restoring population to these areas. Second, the investments I have just discussed with Deputy O'Rourke, and I highlighted an amazing project in the Deputy's own county in Kells, are investing in the RRDF projects to put investment back in rural communities. Through the town centre first plan, working with the Minister, Deputy B…

We had a discussion earlier with na Teachtaí Ó Snodaigh and McGuinness around the draft planning statement, which has been introduced by the Minister, Deputy Browne, and on which the Ministers of State, Deputies Buttimer and Cummins, and I have worked closely with him. It is a draft statement, in which we have tried to introduce a national standard regarding Gaeltacht planning and quotas in Gaeltacht areas. In some local authorities, there are varying degrees of that quota. It is 80% in some counties and it changes…

We published the draft planning statement. We did not pull it out of the sky. I hate using the word "quota". The figures relating to the clause were taken from the census plus 10% in each language planning area. They were based on the number of active Irish speakers. They were not based on nine people not speaking English because of one person. We are open to discussing those thoroughly and constructively. Second, I want people to live in communities that are Irish-speaking where they can raise a family. I want edu…

Our Rural Future is the policy document that, since 2021, has been delivering vital investment and supports, strengthening local economies and improving quality of life across rural Ireland. Significant achievements include the delivery of the national broadband plan, the development of a national network of over 400 remote working hubs and enhanced public transport services through the connecting Ireland rural mobility programme, which is shared by the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, in both Departments. Throu…

All I can say is that if Brenda was in charge of the Mayo team, we would have won many all-Irelands. I absolutely mean that. I wish the team every success. It will be a great week and it would be an amazing achievement. The Deputy is absolutely right. The Minister of State and I have met the GAA demographics committee and we have discussed this with Deputy McGuinness too. I will incorporate much of its work into the new Our Rural Future programme. The GAA has led in what it has done with the demographics committee.…

I agree about transport. We are lucky with Sarah and the team in Local Link. Co-ordination is better, which is something that Deputy McGuinness and the Minister of State discussed earlier around bus stops. We have the same problems with bus stops, which has hopefully just been resolved with the National Transport Authority. On the trolley, it is beyond me, in 2026, why we cannot have trolleys on trains. Irish Rail needs to cop on. I got that email this evening. It was a very distressing situation for that passenger…

Irish Rail is being ridiculous about trolleys at this stage. On the N59 and the draft planning guidelines generally, it is the Minister's intention that they will take effect next year. I have asked my party's councillors and I will ask Councillor Murray as well because our councillors are the best planners and experts on planning to look at the guidelines. That would be a useful exercise for us all to do, for our councillors to examine these guidelines. We will certainly feed that through to our review process. It…

Táim féin agus an tAire Stáit, an Teachta Buttimer tar éis sárobair a chur isteach chun SÍOL a chur ar an mbóthar. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta freisin mar iarArd-Mhéara as a thaithí leis seo. I thank the Deputy for sharing his experience with the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, in relation to urban disadvantage. SÍOL was launched on 8 July. It means "seed" in English. It actually stands for scéim infheistíochta ag obair le chéile, which translates to "working together investment scheme". It aims to target …

Aontaím go mór leis an Teachta. Tá sé iontach an spreagadh chun na Gaeilge a fheiceáil. I spent three summers in Baile na hAbhann in Coláiste Uí Chadhain, so I know the Indreabhán area very well. Tá an Teachta fíor. Freisin tá sé bunaithe ar mhúinteoirí. It is based on teaching, our naíonraí and our Gaelscoileanna. That is why we need more Gaelcholáistí. I have a very strong view that we have to continue this journey through the education system. We are forever in this House kicking social media, but TikTok has a l…

The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I were conscious that the scheme was only capital. We wanted to keep it very simple initially and get the projects rolled out. In terms of the current programme, in the 15 areas, there is a closing date of mid-August. It comes from the local authorities. We will make sure we get money quickly to local authorities. A regular complaint from local authorities in relation to our schemes is that it costs them money to implement them. A total of 5% of the budget will go toward …

I thank the Deputy for his ongoing work on this. It is not back-of-the-envelope stuff. His inputs and those of Deputy Ó Snodaigh are always considered. As he knows, the primary responsibility lies with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The draft statement is, in my view, one that strengthens the planning system’s support for the Irish language and Gaeltacht areas, making it clearer and more consistent by setting out the language criteria which may be submitted with applications for new single…