During Covid, the Irish Wheelchair Association took over An Castan, the then HSE-run high support day service for adults with disabilities which is based on Commons Road, Navan. Some 14 adults from County Meath are greatly dependent on the service. It is a vital lifeline and support for those using it and their families. Before Christmas, services for all 14 of them were cut by 40%, from five days to three days. These are adults with considerable needs. It is a high-support service. The Irish Wheelchair Association…

We have had announcements of energy price reductions this week but the fact remains that energy companies are far too slow to pass on wholesale savings. Even with these planned reductions, energy prices here are far too high. We have some of the highest electricity and gas prices in Europe. Almost 275,000 domestic electricity customers and almost 160,000 domestic gas customers are in arrears. The Minister will know that the Society of St. Vincent de Paul took 20,000 calls from people struggling with energy bills la…

Deputy Murphy touched on the fact that performance of the system as delivered by the private sector speaks for itself. It is failing by any objective measure in terms of rates of recycling, coverage of brown bins, the perverse situation with side-by-side collections and the impact of that on efficiency and emissions. The system is failing. I commend the work of the working group set up by Dublin City Council. I know a number of other councillors, including those in Fingal County Council, have supported the call for…

I would like to see the joint committee pick up on this issue. The Minister of State has set it out. For me, it was spelled out that there is an ideological fixation, whether it is in the Department or in the Government, which has resulted in setting out hurdle after hurdle. This is not an insurmountable issue. Based on the performance of the existing service, it is clear it is not delivering, is not going to meet the targets and needs to change.

I thank Deputy Pringle for tabling this motion and for hosting a briefing in the audiovisual room in this general space a number of weeks ago. I know that ActionAid Ireland is an important contributor and works hard in this space. At the Oireachtas climate committee we also heard from Trócaire, Christian Aid and Oxfam, as we do in advance of COP every year. There are many organisations in that development space doing really important work and carrying out really important research and they are an important support …

COP28 reached agreement this morning and while it fell short of saying it, we must agree that the cornerstone of climate action must be based on an end to fossil fuels and a just transition at global and national levels. A report published last week by Dublin's energy agency, Codema, concluded that the poorest communities cannot afford to give up fossil fuels and risk being worse off via climate action measures. They are paying carbon tax but cannot afford to retrofit their homes. Some 16% of households are solely …

In County Meath, we are living with a 12.5% increase in annual rents. Average standardised monthly rents are €1,501 but there is huge variation across the county. Today on Daft.ie, there are no one-bedroom properties in Ashbourne, Ratoath, Dunshaughlin, Dunboyne and surrounding areas. Two-bedroom properties rent at €1,850 in Ashbourne, €2,000 in Ashbourne, €1,800 in Dunsany and €2,100 in Dunboyne. For three-bedroom properties, it is €2,500 in Ashbourne, €2,700 in Dunboyne, €2,500 in Dunshaughlin and €2,300 in Ashbo…

This report is appropriately entitled Act Now. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, is at COP28, engaging in diplomatic efforts on climate change but there is a long way to go there, as we can see from the strength of the fossil fuel lobby. At home, the path is very clear on renewables, albeit not so much in other areas. It is very clear that we have the tools, the know-how and the ability to deliver an energy revolution. We can deliver energy independence and security in Ireland but it seems that the Government cannot get o…

There is no denying that the Government is doing a lot, as is acknowledged in the report. The question is whether it is doing enough to deliver on the targets set out. The answer to that question is clearly "No". The Government is further away from our renewable energy targets this year than last year. There is a serious problem with planning. No onshore projects have come out of the planning process for a long while. There are clear proposals here and I encourage the Government to look at them. There are positive …

Flight paths on the north runway at Dublin Airport have not been appropriately assessed in terms of noise pollution and mitigation. Since the runway opened, more than 138,000 flights have departed and landed. In Ratoath, Ashbourne and surrounding areas, 30,000 people are being impacted. That was never intended to be the case. Will the Government and the Department of Transport ensure that there is appropriate assessment, that there is compliance with planning regulations and that consideration will be given to the …

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Planning and Development Bill. It will not come as news to anyone here that the current planning system is not fit for purpose. Decades of mismanagement, under-resourcing and an utter failure to future-proof policies by successive Governments led by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have brought us to this point. As a result, the State is at risk of squandering our incredible potential in renewable energy among other things, while scuppering any opportunity to achieve an energy sec…

When will the energy security review and the McCarthy report be published? Have they been presented to the Cabinet? How will the environmental impact of proposed energy security options be assessed? I ask the Minister to make a statement on the matter.

It is welcome that we have this comprehensive review. Several proposals it makes are of particular note. With regard to the strategic gas emergency reserve, a report is due in the middle of next year but it seems to be indicated this will take the shape of a State-owned floating storage regasification unit, FSRU, gas reserve. In terms of the assessment of alternatives in that regard, is onshore gas storage an option? If not, why not? Similarly, is it not the case that the Kinsale gas field would serve the same purp…

In terms of the timeline for this later report, will this be a floating offshore LNG facility? Does that require a change in legislation or policy? Are there inconsistencies with the approach taken to Shannon LNG? Does this comprehensive document confirm that commercial LNG is not the way forward but, rather, it should be State-led? On the McCarthy report, does the Minister accept that if we had delivered on the renewables potential and energy generation, the current situation would have been avoidable?

I want to ask the Minister about SRESS. On what date will it be launched? How will this process differ from the RESS auction? What, if any, additional supports will be put in place as part of this process? Are there revised targets for the number of contracts to be awarded to renewable energy communities and for the number of projects that complete all milestones?

This is a really important departure. It is clear that RESS more broadly, as it has been applied, has not been successful in delivering community projects. There is a further priority question on the same issue. Under RESS 1, seven community projects were successful and only four are still in play. There is a question now as to whether all four of those projects will go to generation. One of the major hurdles is to do with connections to the grid. In previous replies, the Minister pointed to the role of EirGrid and…

There is a spectacular opportunity for bottom-up climate action to empower, and power, communities. People are up for it. At the conference last week, I spoke to colleagues in the sector from across Europe. Our energy communities are based on a retrofitting programme. In most other European countries, they are based on energy generation, which creates the money needed to deliver retrofitting. There are two elements to consider. Will there be additional financial support for connections? We need the renewable spatia…

The purpose of this question is to ask the Minister the way the Government is preparing for COP28 and the extent of the State's commitment to loss and damage funding.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. There has been some commentary and critique in relation to the text on loss and damage to be discussed at COP28 in the context of, for example, the role of the World Bank, the extent of the funding and how it may be distributed - in the form of grants versus loans, etc. Is the Minister confident the text will be agreed? It seems apparent that there is significant scope for improvement and that, at best, it will be a compromise. Does the Minister see it as a step in the right direction…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. In fairness, I recognise the part played by him and the Irish officials in advancing the case for loss and damage. That is important. A further issue has been highlighted from an Irish perspective by environmental NGOs and those working in the climate justice space. The Minister will be aware that the report published by Christian Aid and Trócaire, namely, The Cost of Inaction: Ireland's fair share of Loss & Damage finance, points towards a figure of €1.5 billion out to 2030. The comm…