I want to raise the crisis in the taxi industry. Over 2,000 taxi licences have gone after Covid, and thousands of licenceholders have not returned to work. We have circumstances in which people cannot get a taxi or face an inordinate delay when they want one. At the same time, drivers are struggling to make a living. They may be busy for a short number of hours but their business is very quiet beyond those hours. There are increases in running costs. I encourage the Minister to review the taxi advisory committee's …

I thank the Independent Group for bringing this motion. It seeks to go some way towards filling a vacuum left by the Government when it jumped, so dreadfully ill-prepared, to announce a ban on the sale and distribution of turf. The motion seeks to clarify what is meant by "turbary rights"; those can come in different ways and forms and the motion seeks to exempt certain identified groups. It also calls on the Government to work with the industry to look at the standard and performance of turf and its comparison wit…

I want to ask the Minister his views on the current status of the withdrawal of KBC Bank and Ulster Bank from the Irish market, on the closure of accounts and migration of their customers to receiving banks, if he has raised concerns with the banks with respect to their preparedness for this process and if he will make a statement on the matter.

The Minister of State has said that there is a wish that this proceeds in an orderly manner, but there must be concern at this stage that this will not happen and it will not be orderly. In fact, there are approximately 900,000 customers affected. I am sure every one of us knows from being contacted by those affected what their experiences have been. They talk about being put off, not being able to get through and not getting the type of support they want. They talk about their concern and what the future holds for…

If past performance is any indication of future performance, we are right to be concerned here. It is important, rather than expecting that the matter will proceed smoothly, that measures are taken to ensure they proceed smoothly. This train has been rolling down the track and the time is getting shorter. On the commitment in terms of notification periods, continuity of service and protection of vulnerable customers, I am not convinced that the supports, the communications systems and the contact facilities are the…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

That is perfect. I will share with Deputies Kerrane and Cronin, with five minutes each.

We may not use it all. I thank the House for the opportunity to speak on this Bill. I thank Deputies Cronin and Kerrane for co-sponsoring it with me. The Electricity Regulation (Amendment) (Prohibition of Winter Disconnections) Bill 2021 aims to amend the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 to include explicit provision for the Minister to provide policy direction to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, to introduce a moratorium on disconnections of gas and electricity supply to domestic customers for non-p…

I thank my co-sponsors of the Bill for their contributions. We introduced the Bill on First Stage in March last year. We are in a different place now in some respects, in that the pandemic was raging at that time and war is now raging in Europe. However, from the perspective of vulnerable energy customers, we are very much in the same place and, if anything, in a far worse place. I am very disappointed with the Minister of State's response. I will make a number of points in response to the arguments he made in defe…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this very important issue. Private bus operators are a fundamental part of our public transport service. In the way it has evolved over the years, they are responsible for 100% of services in many places, particularly in vast swathes of rural Ireland. They provide scheduled services through the National Transport Authority. They provide school bus transport services through the Department of Education, under Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus in the city, as well a…

I thank the Minister of State for that update. I welcome the joint working group and the commitment to engagement with regard to the issue of the youth travel card. That needs to happen as quickly as possible. I also draw the Minister of State's attention to this matter. It is important to point out that there needs to be movement regarding the 20% fare reduction on non-PSO routes. Operators have told me they acknowledge the progress on the youth travel card. They need movement with regard to the 20% fare reduction…

The initial attempt by the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, on the issue of turf was as poorly delivered as it was designed. His latest attempt is premature, daft, unworkable and senseless. These are words from his Government colleagues. I will not repeat what colleagues on this side of the House have said but the sentiment is the same. Those same Government colleagues will have the chance to act on their words when we vote on the motion tomorrow evening. The Government's handling of this matter has been reduced to a f…

I ask the Minister for Transport if he is considering extending the ten-year rule for taxis in view of the fact that vehicles were underused for the duration of the pandemic; the other actions he intends to take to support taxi drivers who are struggling with high fuel and running costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

The Minister just said that there is no intention to consider changing the ten-year rule now or at any stage in the future, which is a very big statement to make. It is as firm a "No" as one might ever get but I think there is a real case for reviewing it at this point in time. We have had two years with a lot of cars laid up. Cars are maintained to a very high standard. This is not 2011, it is 2022. In the context of trying to manage a transition across the whole of the taxi industry towards electrification, we ar…

I ask the Minister not to close the door completely and to consider an alternative transition. I do not have those figures on the breakdown of vehicles by age but it is certainly something that should be considered if it means that taxi drivers can transition to an electric vehicle more quickly. They have had a couple of years out of action and if they have a vehicle that is now approaching the end of its limit in terms of the ten-year rule, they might not be in a position to transition to an electric vehicle now. …

How does the Minister intend to build a second-hand electric vehicle market here? Has he examined the barriers posed by Brexit to importing second-hand electric vehicles from Britain? Is he considering introducing a scrappage scheme for older, more polluting cars in rural areas? Will he make a statement on the matter?

I appreciate some movements and changes were made to the schemes last July on the back of the work of the group the Minister mentioned. It took away some of the particularly offensive elements of the scheme, for example, the price cap was reduced. Much more needs to be done. The trickle-down economics approach is that those who can afford electric vehicles can get them now and the people who actually need to have electric vehicles, those who are car dependent and will be car dependent in future, can get them at som…

Across the political spectrum there is a commitment to try to deliver as much of this as quickly as possible. The committees dealing with transport and climate have heard from the industry and various stakeholders. The industry tells us is it needs fleet cars and State cars to be electric vehicles. It needs to turn them over as quickly as possible after a couple of years to generate the second-hand market. We hear from importers that Brexit has been a significant problem. That could be addressed if the Government l…

I ask the Minister to report on the energy security review and the action that has been taken to ensure security of supply in light of the war in Ukraine. I note the comments of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, that he would support sanctions on Russian fossil fuels. Those are likely to have implications. What measures are being put in place to assist households with escalating fuel costs?

There are several levels to be considered. The first is the immediate context. We know that coming into the year, there were many amber alerts last year, the CRU security of electricity supply and the programme of actions. We know the Great Island power plant is down for several months. There are real concerns in respect of generation capacity and, obviously, in terms of security of supply, particularly now as it relates to the war in Ukraine. Do the Minister and the Government support the imposition of increased s…