I thank the Minister for her response. I would be interested to know if she could forward to me information on the school planning areas. She mentioned there are 314 of them, and I ask her to forward the details of the east Cork one to me at some stage. We know that many schools now have got extensions to extensions, and they are at capacity. My concern is that in five, six or ten years' time we will be in real trouble because of the massive and very welcome growth in housing in the area. I ask the Minister to ask …

I thank the office of the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue and the Minister of State for being here this evening. The Port of Cork plays a key strategic role in the economic life and development of the south and south-west regions. It is recognised as a port of national significance, tier 1. It is the Government's position that these ports are considered to be of national significance and must be capable of the type of port capacity required to ensure continued access to both regional and glob…

I thank the Minister of State for a very positive response. I welcome the fact that the derogation has been granted temporarily in recent days for the import of melons, which I also mentioned in my presentation earlier. I also welcome the fact that it remains under consideration. I urge the Minister of State to deepen that consideration and make it viable. I understand that the cost of building a customs inspection facility is approximately €1 million and the cost of kitting it out is approximately €500,000. The to…

I support my colleague with respect to funding for this road. Is the Minister aware of the congestion in Mallow town where large vehicles are clogging up the main street and causing major pollution? Is it the Green Party's policy now to ensure we have pollution in towns such as Mallow? Why did the Minister give €7 million back to the Exchequer last year when he could have given €1.2 million to Cork County Council to advance this scheme to the planning stage? Does he agree that the delay in the project last year has…

The Minister gave back €7 million.

It was needed in Mallow.

The figure is €100 billion.

Five months ago, we experienced the consequences of climate change in a devastating way in east Cork with Storm Babet, which led to businesses, homes, roads and so on being devastated. I have two questions. First, how much extra funding has the Department provided to Cork County Council to date for the repair of roads damaged by the flooding? Second, what plans has the Minister to provide further moneys this year and next?

I thank the Minister for his response. Will he provide some figures for how much additional funding has been indicated to his Department? He spoke about a downward revision. How much is that? Did he say that the council had already received €13 million or €30 million? I am not clear on that, as I could not hear him properly. The Taoiseach told me in the Dáil recently that a special allocation had been made from the Exchequer to address the damage done in Donegal. Does the Minister intend to ask for a special alloca…

I acknowledge that the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, visited Midleton. Many of the rural roads in question remain virtually impassable. I have driven on them myself and they are in an awful condition. They will require additional funding. Has the €13 million been handed over to Cork County Council? Does the Minister not agree that there is a significant gap between €13 million and €50 million? The council does not have the funding to do it. This was an exceptional event. What plans does the M…

The Tánaiste will be very familiar with the N25 between Carrigtohill and Midleton and the fact that, thankfully, thousands of houses are being built in Carrigtohill and Midleton. The condition of that road is atrocious. The old Amgen site is still sitting there and cannot be used. The volume of traffic is increasing massively on that road and it is very dangerous. Why did the Minister for Transport hand back €7 million last year and the year before and underspend €150 million in both years when work like this is cr…

The work the Minister is doing in this area is extraordinary and really important. In the town of Youghal in my constituency, which she knows well, I am told there are 102 vacant properties on the main street. I am not aware of any town team being established there. We probably need to accelerate the great work the Minister is doing to bring more towns up to speed. I agree with my colleague, Deputy Matthews, on the importance of having people living in properties that were retail properties in the past but are no l…

I welcome the Minister's choosing of Kanturk but we have had this debate before. Cork is about three times the size of other counties but it had just one town included. Every other county had one town included also. In future, the Minister might regard Cork as having three divisions, which it has, and include three towns rather than one, thereby ensuring funding equality based on geographical size. County Louth has one town and Cork has one. That is not really fair in many ways. Maybe the Minister will consider thi…

I join my constituency colleague in calling for the expediting of the flood relief schemes in Midleton, Castlemartyr, Killeagh and Mogeely. Scientists are saying that the fact the tide was out on the day means we missed a bullet, but I am worried about sea levels rising. The seas are rising all around our coast. What we saw with Storm Babet was a taste of things to come. What policies is the Government putting in place to deal with sea levels rising and not lowering again?

That is true.

I congratulate the Minister and his officials on bringing forward this important legislation. I was seized by the importance of this legislation on 13 July 2022 when representatives from IBEC appeared before the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The Chairman, Deputy O'Reilly, I and others were taken by the importance of the UPC Act and Ireland becoming part of the court. This is probably among the most important work we will do for the State in the long term. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle put her fin…

I thank the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue and the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, for being here and for actually waiting until he himself is present. I know the Minister of State visited east Cork and I thank him for coming down. He saw at least some of the damage done to some of the roads in the area, which was absolutely horrific. I understand Cork County Council submitted an estimate of the damage which was something in the region of between €50 million and €60 million. In h…

I thank the Minister of State for his very positive response, and also for visiting the area around that time, as other Ministers did. That was really welcome. The Minister of State touched on a number of issues in his response. One is the issue of safety. If roads are in a very bad condition, and if they are crumbling, falling away or subsiding, safety is a huge issue. I ask the Minister of State to stress that when he is talking to people in his Department about this. He also mentioned the economic and social iss…

Will the Minister confirm that planning permission had been granted for the new school in Curraheen? Will he tell us what the estimated cost of building that new school was? Does he agree that there is a great need for a new school in Curraheen, Cork, and that the old building is completely out of date, outmoded and not fit for purpose?

We are aware that people from the Traveller community, and especially young people, experience very high rates of unemployment. I want to give the Minister an opportunity to tell us how the Department is supporting young people from the Traveller community to become apprentices and so to become gainfully employed.