The Minister of State provided a welcome update regarding one of the elements of this issue, namely, the CPC. I would like to hear from her regarding the requirement for transport managers to be resident in the EU. There is a specific Irish context in terms of the North, the Good Friday Agreement, and the way people live in one area but commute across the Border to work in another. That is an anomaly that still needs to be addressed. I have not heard anything from the Minister of State on that issue.

I am thankful for the opportunity to raise this matter. I do not think there is a Deputy, Senator or councillor who does not know what prompted me to table it for debate. I do not know of a measure to gauge the frustration and anger that exist but I suggest that both are off the scale. The number of people who have contacted public representatives, providers, particularly Eir, and the Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg, is unprecedented. I appreciate the challenges of Covid-19 but the customer service…

It is important to put on the record that the scale of the problem has not been properly reflected in the figures that have been made public. Last night, for example, RTÉ reflected on the number of complaints that ComReg dealt with, which was 1,062 over a three-month period. It also had a number of other queries. In fact, only a fraction of the people who have problems and issues with these providers ever go to ComReg. Earlier today, Eir told us it deals with the massive number of 230,000 calls a month. We know the…

People are anxious to hear the advice the Government will give for those living abroad who are thinking of travelling home for Christmas. The approach for travel into and out of Ireland must be guided by the public health advice. The emphasis should be on adhering to the public health advice, advising against all non-essential travel, continuing the excellent work of keeping Covid-19 numbers down and avoiding the risk of importing cases but we also know that people have sacrificed a great deal this year. For some p…

I am sharing time with Deputies Gould, Mythen and Ó Murchú. I commend my colleagues, Teachtaí Mairéad Farrell and Doherty, on bringing forward this very important legislation. My party was forced to propose these amendments to the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015 following recent behaviour by Fine Gael politicians, in particular, which has brought to the fore the flaws in the current system. We have witnessed the former Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Brian Hayes, walk out the door of that Department…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this topic. I welcome also the establishment of the Department and the focus on third level and higher education. The third level experience presents people with the opportunity to broaden their horizons and gain additional skills, and it is transformative in its nature. A central theme needs to be around access and ensuring that all people, particularly people from disadvantaged backgrounds, have access. I am thinking in particular of access programmes and postgraduate entry. …

I wish to again raise the issue of testing and tracing for passengers arriving at ports and airports. Could the Minister please update the House on the type of testing that will be put in place? Will it be polymerase chain reaction, PCR, or another type? What will the cost of testing be? How many tests will each major port and airport be able to carry out daily? What will be the timeframe involved? There is some indication that testing will start today at Cork and Shannon airports. When will testing be up and runni…

It is an unfolding situation. Many people are looking towards Christmas and want to know what testing regime will be in place. How does the Government plan to advise people on foreign travel for the Christmas period? Some 1.2 million people travelled through Dublin Airport during the Christmas period last year. That is a significant number. There is a demand for people to come home to Ireland and for people to travel abroad to their home countries for Christmas. What advice can the Minister of State give to people …

Coming back to the challenge at Christmas, the testing capacity will not be in place to test everybody who arrives in the country if the testing capacity is 150 per day. At this stage, if someone is planning for Christmas, is the Government maintaining the position that people should seriously consider planning for a different type of Christmas? Is the Government suggesting that people should give serious consideration to whether they need to travel at all if they have an alternative to stay where they are? If very…

I ask about the enormous backlog of people waiting for driver tests. The Road Safety Authority, RSA, has indicated that more than 93,000 learner drivers are waiting to sit their tests. The problem has been deteriorating over the year and has increased by 70% since June of this year. What measures are being taken to address this?

There is no quick fix for this, it looks like we will have at least another year of these extended delays. A total of 18 additional testers have been hired. Has the option of extended working days, including testing on Sundays, evenings and early mornings, to expand the capacity been considered? To what extent has that been explored, and how quickly will the Minister of State's deliberations with the RSA or the RSA's investigation into expanding capacity be concluded? How soon can we expect to see a new regime in p…

I want to come back to driving instructors. I have been contacted by driving instructors over the past number of weeks who have been refused entry to driving testing centres. Yesterday, I was sent a video to my phone from the west of Ireland, showing female and male driving instructors in rain that was falling horizontally and they were outside with a collapsable chair and an umbrella. That is what they were left with. They had no access to toilet facilities, warmth or sanitisation facilities. It is absolutely disg…

There is a better solution than what is in place at the moment.

An estimated 150,000 heavy goods vehicles use the British land bridge every year to move goods between Ireland and the Continent. My question is about the preparations the Department is making to enable that movement of goods to continue given the challenges presented by Brexit.

The Minister of State will be aware that there was a significant reaction from the haulage industry to the IMDO's report. Hauliers contested the conclusions that were drawn in it, particularly in regard to ro-ro capacity. They also pointed out that we do not have daily ferry connections. When I raised this issue previously with the Minister of State, she said that individual hauliers should contact ferry companies to try to stoke up demand. I take it from her reply that the ferry companies are responding to this de…

I attended a webinar last Friday, which was addressed by the Minister, and this was, understandably, one of the significant issues that came up for discussion. I welcome the Minister of State's further elaborations in that regard. Where are we at in terms of preparations for the checks and controls that will be required on our side, including the three-step process? What action has been taken to ensure hauliers are familiar with those processes in advance of 1 January next year? What engagement has the Minister of …

During the previous Priority Questions, I raised the issue of a route the NTA part-funded and also provided school bus transport. There is a solution on the table that will serve the rural communities of Skreen, Walterstown and Kentstown and will also provide for those schoolchildren left without school bus transport since September. Will the Minister support the proposal from Flexibus? It will serve a rural community and those schoolchildren left without a service.

I raise the issue of the appointment of Ms Geraldine Feeney to SIPO.

I know the Business Committee has already met so there will be no other opportunity to raise this. Does the Tánaiste believe it is appropriate to appoint a former lobbyist for the National Association of General Practitioners to SIPO, which has responsibility, in the first instance, to investigate allegations of the leaking of confidential documents to that organisation? Does he not see this as a complete contradiction and complete conflict? Does he believe it is appropriate? Will he intervene on it?

In terms of standing over whether it is inappropriate, will the Tánaiste withdraw the nomination?