I have to admit I feel slightly cheeky taking this matter this evening, given Deputy Ring's contribution to the development of the airport during his time in government. It was a serious contribution and he put in place a lot of supports. It was through his efforts that the strategic development zone was created. It is a matter of enormous frustration that it has not moved on. The challenge to the survival of the airport during Covid was immense. I agree with Deputy Ring that it is a credit to Joe Gilmore, the staf…

I thank Deputy Ring and his intervention is timely. When the Taoiseach was Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, we secured up to €145 million in funding from the European Regional Development Fund to support projects coming from the regional enterprise plans that I previously mentioned. The officials are working with Enterprise Ireland on developing the scheme, with the aim of announcing the first call of approximately €35 million in the coming months. This funding will support innovative enterprise-focus…

Ar son an Aire Dlí agus Cirt, an Teachta Simon Harris, gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta Ó Snodaigh as seoladh an rud seo isteach chuig an Aire inniu. At the outset, let me say that the Minister, Deputy Harris, and the Government are very conscious of the distressing impact this criminal activity is having on the residents and community around the Oliver Bond complex, which the Deputy just described. Everybody has the right to feel and be safe in their homes and communities. The Government is acutely aware of the su…

I again thank Deputy Ó Snodaigh for raising this issue today. I will ensure the transcript of this debate is forwarded to the Superintendent in Kevin Street Garda station. The Deputy will also appreciate that the Garda Commissioner is by law responsible for the management and administration of Garda business. The Minister, Deputy Harris, is assured, however, that An Garda Síochána is fully committed and determined to effectively tackle individuals involved in the illegal drugs trade in the Dublin Metropolitan regio…

I thank the Deputy and apologise on behalf of the Minister for Education, who is in Roscommon today. She has assured me she is working with the Minister for Health to try to progress the issue the Deputy raised. In April 2018, the then Government announced plans for the establishment of 47 new schools between 2019 and 2022, including a new regional solution at post-primary level for the Kilcoole and Greystones school planning area, and the school in question opened in Greystones for the 2021-22 school year. The per…

In fairness to the Department, as I said, it delivered 64,000 school places between 2018 and 2021 during a global pandemic during which construction was closed. It seems that 150 school building projects were delivered in 2022. The Minister, Deputy Foley, in particular has prioritised ample investment in securing record capital budgets. I will ask her office to reach out to the Deputy on the outstanding correspondence and I have no doubt but that she and the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, are working closely to try to …

Gabhaim buíochas le gach Teachta sa Teach a bhí páirteach sa díospóireacht seo. I thank every Deputy, on behalf of the team at the Department of Health. The Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, was here until just a few minutes ago and I assure the House that the Minister appreciates the serious difficulties that are being outlined this evening. I thank the Regional Group for bringing this issue forward. The Minister has noted that the Government is committed to addressing the issue by easing current access issues th…

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Harris, who is attending a Cabinet meeting. The Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science does not place a quota on the number of places on veterinary medicine courses offered by higher education institutions. As such, the number of places provided each year is determined by the institutions themselves in line with their capacity. However, in light of Funding the Futu…

As I said, there are expressions of interest from the four provinces with regard to providing new courses. As the Senator will understand, this also relates to workforce planning requirements. There are significant practical elements and placement requirements as part of veterinary medicine programme provision, including appropriate laboratory facilities to ensure these courses meet the necessary standards of the Veterinary Council of Ireland. Workforce planning requirements for the veterinary medicine sector requi…

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I am taking it on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education, who is currently at a Cabinet meeting and unavailable. The Senator has raised this previously and our colleague Senator O'Loughlin has also raised a number of issues in this regard. For school planning purposes, the Department of Education divides the country into 314 school planning areas and utilises a geographical information system to anticipate school place demand. Information from a range of sour…

I assure the Senator that the Department is in discussions with the patrons and stakeholders of the schools in the area with regard to the immediate need for 2023-24, which the Senator has identified, but also for future needs. The Department is progressing additional solutions for Newbridge and Kildare, including the relocation of Curragh Community College to Kildare town, which will provide significant additional capacity. The Department is aware of enrolment pressures for 2023-24 and will continue to liaise with…

I thank Senator Sherlock for raising this matter because it provides me with an opportunity to outline the position on the proposed review of the guidelines on the use of school buildings outside of school hours and the Government's firm commitment on allowing school buildings to be used where possible for community, educational and recreational use outside of school hours. The Department of Education published the guidelines on the use of school buildings outside of school hours in October 2017. The purpose of the…

I again thank the Senator for raising the matter. As already stated, a review is under way with other Departments. The Department intends further consultation in the near future. The intention of the Department is that the review will ensure the guidelines on the use of school buildings outside of school hours are as effective and efficient as possible. It is the intention that the review will assist this process. The feedback received from discussions with the relevant stakeholders and the results of the survey th…

The Deputy is pretty good at that himself.

Digital infrastructure is one of the four dimensions of the Government's national digital strategy, which was launched in February of this year. A progress report on the cross-governmental implementation of the national digital strategy was published last week. I encourage all Deputies to consider it. As the Deputy will be aware, responsibility for connectivity and the national broadband plan lies with the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications. I agree it is clear that robust broadband infrastruc…

I assure the Deputy that IDA Ireland is not involved in driving jobs back into any city centre. One of the key targets laid out in the White Paper is that over half of new investments will be in the regions. That figure has been achieved according to IDA Ireland's 2022 figures. My Department and the Department of Rural and Community Development are developing a national hub strategy for the period 2023 to 2025. Its purpose is to combine the various national policies and schemes into a coherent and overarching devel…

We are doing that. I have outlined the national hub strategy, which I presume the Deputy is talking about. This will enable remote working and employees working in remote areas. We also secured up to €145 million from the European Regional Development Fund to fund the regional enterprise plans. The Minister of State, Deputy English, and myself are engaged with regional enterprises across the country to ensure we get the kind of development the Deputy is looking at. There is €3.5 million in planning funding for feas…

I thank Deputy Flaherty for raising this. As he acknowledged, the Tánaiste was able to announce very strong annual results for IDA Ireland in 2022 yesterday which showed a substantial increase in growth in FDI employment on the 2021 figures. The growth in employment in 2022 brought the number of people employed in the FDI sector in Ireland to more than 300,000, which is the highest FDI employment level ever. The results showed continued substantial growth in FDI over 2022 despite the difficult global economic envir…

We also met some very successful and hungry companies in the Deputy's area. I look forward to working with the Deputy. As the Minister of State, Deputy English, said, there is potentially space within the regional plan to assist them in acquiring space and in growing their operations.

I commend Lir Analytical. It is a really exciting home-grown company. I certainly look forward to working with the Deputy assisting its work. The Deputy and I had the pleasure of joining the midlands regional enterprise oversight group, which is chaired by Dr. Anne Cusack, along with programme manager Sarah Morgan. There was massive energy in the room where we met, with massive commitment from both the agencies and the various educational institutions. Given that some of the objectives in the plan involve capitalis…