Has there been any discussion at the Cabinet committee on social affairs about the future of our local employment services? Their representatives were in front of the Oireachtas committee on social protection this morning. The current model, which is very holistic and supportive of jobseekers, is under threat not just because of a new tendering process but a new financial model that is being put in place, post tender. These are predominantly not-for-profit companies but they are being asked to tender on the basis o…

I welcome the Housing for All plan. However, as a Mayo man, and for many of us on the west coast, this plan is a misnomer in the context of some of the families in my county, including my friends, neighbours and members of my family, who have to look at the weather forecast to see if it is safe to sleep in their houses tonight, or any night, as a consequence of pyrite. That process is coming to a conclusion and I acknowledge the Minister's commitment to it. We urgently need definitive decisions on that to begin to …

I acknowledge the great work the Minister and his team are putting into the review, which involves a very detailed process. Nevertheless, this is an opportunity to signal the rebalancing of our economy towards the Atlantic economic corridor. There are a number of key projects in this regard. I refer to the western rail project, which is ready to roll. The project was recently reviewed by Dr. John Bradley and shown to be economically feasible. The Athenry to Claremorris extension is ready to go and would be a key in…

First, I wish to query the status of supports that have been provided to Irish-language schools, an tacaíocht atá ar fáil do scoileanna Gaeilge chun Gaeilge a mhúineadh. Second, I ask the Minister for an update on the consultation on the leaving certificate specification. We had a very good discussion with her at the coiste na Gaeilge before the recess. Táim ag iarraidh a fháil amach an bhfuil aon athrú nó aon rud ag tarlú. I wish to find out whether there have been any changes to that process or whether there is a…

I thank the Minister for her comprehensive reply, which shows there are significant supports available. She mentioned the context of the €20 million budget to support policy on Gaeltacht education. We need to be careful about where that money is being spent and whether it is being spent effectively in all Departments. As she knows from her engagement with Coiste na Gaeilge, there is considerable concern at this time in regard to the ongoing assessment of the draft leaving certificate specifications for Irish. If we…

For policy in this area to be effective, it is essential that it goes from reámchscoile to ollscoile, that is, from preschool right through to university, and there is consistency around the standards. I ask the Minister once again to have a look at the consultation process within her Department and to engage with An Gréasán do Mhúinteoirí Gaeilge, which has commissioned very comprehensive research among its members, who are the people at the coalface. Time is needed to allow the junior cycle reforms to bed in and …

Ballycroy National Park was established in 1998. The visitor centre at Ballycroy was opened in 2009. At establishment, it had 11,000 ha of some of the most rare and precious bogland in the world and that was to be at its heart. There was never any difficulty with the name Ballycroy National Park. Ballycroy is a centre and a community. It was the people of the area who campaigned for the visitor centre in the first instance. It was they who put their land up and who are the guarantors of the land we are supposed to …

The make-up of the national park and the percentage of parishes within it has not changed much with the addition. It was always thus and it was always fine when it was called Ballycroy National Park. There was no demand for the other parishes to have their name attached to it. I acknowledge that the Minister of State is not the line Minister. I ask him to go back to question the process. We need to know who is responsible and who has the power to take such decisions. Finally, the Minister of State said that the nam…

Is deas a bheith ar ais anseo i Seomra na Dála. I welcome this Bill because it brings up to date legislation that is far too old and irrelevant to where our island is at today. Deputy Berry's comments were very true. I suspect he and I might have the same source in terms of how big our island actually is, apart from the bit we can see. This Bill is a step in the right direction in terms of putting the legislative framework in place. It could, however, be more ambitious. I am also concerned that the various provisio…

I commend the unit on all the work and co-ordination it does. One of its responsibilities is liaising with the Parliamentary Budget Office. Is the Taoiseach intending to strengthen the role of the Parliamentary Budget Office in terms of the advice that it gives, particularly as we come towards budget 2022 and the national development plan review? Would the Taoiseach envisage replicating the Parliamentary Budget Office model in other areas?

It is important to acknowledge that the vaccination programme has been successful and is taking on massive momentum. However, we should also look at the impact of the pandemic on young people, about which I spoke to the Taoiseach last week. We must also look at long Covid. I ask the Taoiseach, if he gets time in the coming weeks, to watch last night's episode of "Panorama". Long Covid is having an effect on previously healthy people. The Cabinet sub-committee should put some work into the impact of the pandemic on …

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for choosing this issue and the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, for being here this evening. The latest figure I have is that there are 119,253 people waiting for a driver theory test. There are nearly another 100,000 people waiting for the actual old-style driver test but tonight I am going to focus on the theory test. For the past number of weeks my office, as I assume the office of every Deputy has been, has been inundated with complaints from people who cannot get detail, who hav…

I thank the Minister of State for the detail. When is it intended to get to 50,000 tests per month? I know the RSA has statutory responsibility for this but will the Minister of State address the service matters and the lack of service with the authority? Is there any way we can put up numbers regularly on the RSA website of how many people are awaiting tests and how many are being done? The Minister of State indicates there were 28,945 tests done in June and the start of July and that number should be more widely …

Nearly two months after the cyberattack on the health service, would the co-ordination committee be an appropriate forum for the Department of Health to present its response plan to address the full consequences of that attack in order that the Taoiseach can provide the public with an update on the delays in treatment and administrative responses caused by this attack?

I welcome the motion from Dublin City Council but it is behind the Government on this issue in that the Government funded a €150,000 study by the Four-Day Week Ireland campaign last year. That study will be interesting, particularly in light of the Iceland report. What role will young people's organisations play in the social dialogue unit? What focus will be on the issues of youth unemployment and education? Has the lived experience of young people during the pandemic, which has been particularly severe, featured …

I thank the Taoiseach for his very comprehensive response. There is obviously a very significant amount of work under way. I commend the Taoiseach on driving it forward. I also commend the team of the shared island unit. The Taoiseach announced the dialogue on health this week. Would it be worthwhile for the unit and the dialogue to consider the shared experience of Covid on the island and how our shared response could have been much better if there had been more co-operation across the island? The Taoiseach will p…

I want to know the current position on the CE supervisors' pension claim. I know the Government put a proposal on the table recently. I want to see an update on that. There has been very negative feedback to the proposal. I also want to ascertain the Department's plans in this regard.

As the Minister of State said, the Labour Court in 2008 made a recommendation which would nullify the Government view on the State not being the direct employer of supervisors or assistant supervisors. The Minister of State knows an incredible amount about the schemes and we have discussed them this morning. Every scheme is dependent on the commitment, dedication, talent and skills of the supervisor and the assistant supervisor. Without those, CE would not be the very successful scheme it has been. As the Minister …

I welcome that there is engagement. That is important but the Minister of State should be under no illusions about the frustration and anger of the supervisors and assistant supervisors with the proposal on the table. Many have told me they feel that they have been boxed into a corner, that this offer will be put on the table and if they do not take it, they will be told they were made an offer and did not take it. That is adding to their anger and their frustration with the manner in which this issue has evolved i…

I have raised concerns about the request for tender with the Minister for quite some time and she is responding. However, the difficulty is that the document out as part of the current process reflects many of the fears we expressed that the request for tender will not capture the very unique and holistic nature of the local employment service. Are there plans to change the next request for tender in light of that feedback?