I do not disagree with the Minister. I and my party have been wrestling with how to deal with the private rented sector. The Minister has heard my concern over the risk that these well-organised, well-resourced real estate investment funds will take great advantage of this while small landlords do not. At the same time, there is potential for rent increases because we know renovation improvement works are one of the ways to increase the rent in a rent-pressure zone. I am flagging that this needs to be on the radar …

I am taking these questions on behalf of Deputy Matt Carthy. I ask the Minister to outline the meetings he has had and the briefings he has received in respect of the North-South interconnector and whether he has had any meetings in this regard with local communities or landowners that are directly affected by the project.

It is important that the Minister is across this as a project. With a united voice, those of us locally have said the project will not be delivered in the timeframe suggested or in the way EirGrid seems to have outlined. We have almost 20 years of evidence to that effect. From my end, and that of my colleagues, the frustration is that EirGrid does not seem to be listening. My concern is that the Minister is not engaging with EirGrid to advise it on this. The latest correspondence we are aware of concerns an extende…

While I thank the Minister, it seems that we are almost speaking different languages. The Minister made the case in terms of the merits and all-island strategic importance of the interconnector. I do not disagree with that, nor do Conor Murphy and my party. We disagree with the detail of the delivery of the project. To be fair, we have been proven correct for 20 years regarding this. Does the Minister have an update on the process? My understanding was that EirGrid sought a licence from the CRU for ESB Networks, un…

Does the Minister know that to be the case?

I want to ask the Minister if he is aware of the findings of the 2023 report from the Comptroller and Auditor General which states that 39% of carbon taxes collected are not accounted for. Can the Minister account for how his Department spent its carbon tax, the amount underspent or unaccounted for in 2023 and make a statement on the matter?

I thank the Minister for the reply. I am sure he has seen the Comptroller and Auditor General's report which indicated that 39% of the carbon tax increases are not accounted for. The Minister outlined a 73% spend by his Department between 2020 and 2023 and that, in 2023 alone, there was an underspend in the region of €37 million. On the Comptroller and Auditor General's report, let us park positions on carbon tax and the difference between the Green Party and Sinn Féin. Surely we can agree that the issues highlight…

It sounds like the Minister has not read the Comptroller and Auditor General's report because it specifically said it was not properly accounted for. It states that the payments were not recorded in specific carbon tax funding subheads and it was not possible to confirm independently if they were spent correctly. This is really important because, regardless of your position on carbon tax, and I accept the Covid-19 argument, the Minister has made a lot of the fact that carbon tax is being collected to spend on clima…

Will the Minister of State provide an update on the local improvement scheme, the measures this has supported in County Meath and the amount of funding allocated to the LIS in budget 2025, and will he make a statement on the matter?

I thank the Minister of State for his response. The funding is always welcome, but it does not go far enough. If you combine it with other improvement or involvement schemes like CIS, there is significant demand. There are long waiting lists. For those two schemes there is a ten-year waiting list in County Meath alone. In terms of the level of funding, is there a consideration of the significant increase in costs to local authorities in delivering these works? The same applies to communities. Second, is there a rev…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. These popular schemes are oversubscribed. It is important for the Government to keep the issue under close review. In regard to the criteria, the Minister of State identified some of the challenges at local authority level, such as the increased cost of works and the smaller number of contractors available. We need to look at every flexibility that we possibly can. There is demand for this but also a huge need for it. We know that many lanes and non-public roads are i…

Question No. 93 seeks an update on the LEADER programme. What measures have been funded for climate change mitigation and adaptation? What amount of funding was allocated to the programme in budget 2025? Will the Minister of State make a statement on the matter?

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the south coast DMAP. This has been quite some time coming. After 15 months, we finally have a plan for offshore wind on the south coast of our island. It is Ireland's first spatial plan for offshore wind and identifies four maritime areas off the south coast for offshore wind development over the next decade. It is welcome. Offshore renewable energy represents a momentous opportunity not just for Waterford, Cork and Wexford, but for the entire island. It has the potential to g…

I will pick up on the point regarding SOSAD. It provides such an important service in my county. It is very difficult to measure these things but the organisation is living up to its name and saving sons and daughters. It delivers tens of thousands of hours of counselling and support to thousands of people. In my own county, it delivered 4,500 counselling sessions in the past year, while it delivered 10,000 in the neighbouring county of Louth. I echo Deputy Ward's point about the invaluable service SOSAD provides. …

I thank the Minister of State for being here in person to take this Topical Issue. He is familiar with the teams in our area as we share a constituency, which include Balrath Girls and Boys Football Club, East Meath United and Laytown United. Balrath Girls and Boys Football Club alone has around 120 players affected by this issue. When I speak to coaches, they all talk about keeping the girls involved. Many of them are going through a lot in their own lives but there is such a benefit of team sport and giving them …

Deputy Donnelly and I will take a minute each. I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I welcome the commitment regarding the memorandum of understanding. Those girls, their coaches, parents and communities are looking for a timeline in respect of what will happen now and how soon all of this can happen. I played in the DDSL 25 years ago. It is a huge league; there are tens of thousands of kids. We are talking about 400 in this case. Surely, there is a way to get this resolved as soon as possible. It is really…

I too extend my deepest sympathies to Deputy Naughten on the loss of his brother. I do not sit on this committee but Deputy Naughten chairs the Friends of Science Group in the Oireachtas. My deepest sympathies to him and his family at this difficult time. I commend the committee on its work on this. I apologise on behalf of Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire who was due to take this but is unavailable at this time. It is a really important topic. I watched a number of the meetings and discussed with Deputy Ó Laoghaire so…

The heart of this issue is the question of building and sustaining rural communities. Successive Governments, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in particular, have failed abysmally in that. In my own County Meath, people cannot afford houses. The only way many of them can deliver them is if they build for themselves. I appreciate the policy in terms of transport-led development, building on nodes and urban centres, but the rural planning criteria in County Meath are having a devastating effect. My colleague on Meath County…

I am sharing time with Deputy Gould. I thank the Minister of State for his statement. We have been over this ground a number of times in discussing similar legislation. I broadly welcome this initiative as we go into the winter. I do not agree, however, with a number of provisions in the legislation. The assistance given should have gone further this winter. We will deal with that further on Committee Stage, which takes place later today. There are significant shortcomings in the Government's approach. We recognise…

I move amendment No. 6: In page 8, between lines 38 and 39, to insert the following: "(3) Electricity suppliers shall remove any arrears limits placed on prepay meters until the Minister directs otherwise.". This is a straightforward amendment. I am asking electricity suppliers to remove any arrears limits placed on prepay meters until the Minister directs otherwise. This is proposed in the expectation that there will be a disconnection moratorium or ban over the winter period and deals with the issue as it arises …