I have a number of questions and concerns in relation to the provisions of this amendment, particularly as it relates to the price of fuel at the pump. Commuters and those involved in transport are seeing the price of petrol and diesel increasing at the forecourt every day. They are looking to the Government for some relief but they do not see it. Here we have a proposal to offset but as Deputy Doherty said, Sinn Féin had proposals in relation to carbon tax which the Government ignored. While carbon tax is not a hu…

The diesel rebate scheme is an important tool to protect and sustain hauliers and others in the transport sector but it is not fit for purpose and should be overhauled. There is a maximum of 7.5 cent allowed per litre when diesel is greater than €1.43 per litre. Diesel is now at €1.70, as the Tánaiste likely knows, so the limit should be reviewed. We are encouraging hauliers to move towards compressed natural gas and that is not covered under the scheme. Will the Tánaiste commit to urgently reviewing the diesel reb…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. The importance of the State's accident investigative units was highlighted in recent weeks with the publication of the final report into the R116 crash off the Mayo coast in 2017, which was a report and investigation conducted by the Air Accident Investigation Unit, AAIU. This report laid out the extensive investigation carried out by the AAIU and made 42 safety recommendations to a number of parties, aimed at trying to prevent another terrible tragedy. The AAIU has …

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. Sinn Féin recognises the urgency needed to tackle climate change, we back our national greenhouse emissions target and we worked constructively throughout the extensive consideration of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill. It is worth saying that unlike some in government who argued against interim targets, for example, now deemed an essential element of the plan, Sinn Féin argued for them. We agree on the need to act now and on our …

It is not going great.

There is a huge backlog in driving tests ranging from 66,000 up to 100,000 at times. Despite this, the Road Safety Authority, RSA, is intent on letting 34 driving testers go between now and next May. I ask the Minister to intervene to ensure they are not let go. Many of these testers were taken on under temporary contracts in 2017 and 2018. Those contracts have been renewed numerous times. Some of the testers are coming close to three years' service and, according to normal custom and practice, would be entitled to…

I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this Bill. It seeks to amend the National Standards Authority of Ireland Act 1996 in order to "confer functions on the [NSAI] in relation to promoting the use of standard specifications and standard marks to give information about the carbon footprint of commodities, process and practices". Sinn Féin will support the Bill. It is important now and will be increasingly so into the future that we have such mechanisms in place to ensure transparency and accountability. We h…

At the outset I join the Minister and colleagues across the House in expressing my deepest sympathies and those of my party to the families, friends and colleagues of Captain Dara Fitzpatrick, Captain Mark Duffy, winchman Ciarán Smith and winch operator Paul Ormsby. The crew of R116 epitomised the courage, bravery, selflessness and dedication to the welfare of others that are the hallmark of members and volunteers of the Irish Coast Guard and our emergency services. Today we remember them. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-…

It has been merely a number of weeks since we previously debated a motion on energy prices. This shows how important this issue is. In these few weeks we have witnessed yet more price hikes from suppliers but we have seen absolutely no action from the Government to address the crisis. There have been more than 35 price hike announcements from Irish suppliers this year. They are having a crippling effect on families. A dual customer of Flogas, for example, will pay €1,385 more this year than last. This is an unprece…

This is wide-ranging legislation. The transport committee undertook pre-legislative scrutiny over the past few months. Many aspects of the Bill seek to make our roads safer from variable speed limits to regulating e-scooters to giving gardaí more powers to check for uninsured vehicles on our roads. Sinn Féin welcomes these provisions. We support making our roads safer and trying to reduce the number of serious collisions and fatalities on our roads each year. The Bill also contains a number of miscellaneous provisi…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this debate. I thank the Business Committee for scheduling it and Deputy Naughten who was involved in ensuring that was the case. I commend Deputy Naughten on his chairmanship of the Houses of the Oireachtas Friends of Science group, of which I am a member. I do not get to it as much as I might like, but it is a very useful forum. There is a huge opportunity for Ireland in science, research and innovation. There are opportunities in the green, digital, biopharmaceutical and bio…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion. It is incredible that on the day the national development plan was launched, we were told by the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, that there were projects included in it that will never be delivered. That made sense, however, to any of us who read it, given that it provided for €5.1 billion for new roads, €800 million of which was already committed to roads at construction, but there was a long list of 30-odd projects at a cost of approximately €1 billion each. We could…

Do we have the Minister? Is the senior Minister here?

We have not been informed the Minister would not be here. As a matter of courtesy, that should happen. These questions are planned well in advance. There is-----

I would appreciate that the Minister of State hear that. It is frustrating. There is-----

It is a legitimate issue to raise.

It is reasonable to expect from the Opposition. Is it not?

I do not mind moving on. We are here, but I ask the Minister of State in his response to let us know how that will be addressed in the future. The question is to ask the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the action he is taking to prevent electricity blackouts and if he will make a statement on the matter.

The Minister of State did not respond to my request. I will look at what options are available to me. It is not disrespect to the Minister of State. It is just on a point of principle. These things are planned six weeks in advance, more or less. This morning we have news of Equinor pulling out from Moneypoint. DP Energy said in the Business Post at the weekend that if offshore regulations were not in place, it would walk away from Ireland. The Irish Wind Energy Association said the Government has a year to get thin…

Some of this was raised with the Minister of State yesterday by one of his Government colleagues. I am hearing from competitors in the sector that the process was flawed and that the tender and rates that were submitted were never achievable. It was almost like a loss leader, which we are familiar with in retail. It was something in the region of €48 per MW and was not delivered on. The response from Government has been to fall back on Moneypoint and the same company, the ESB, essentially an arm of the State, is wi…