In my constituency there are two projects, the Mallow relief road, which I have discussed previously, and the N25 upgrade. Millions have been spent on both of those projects to bring them to design stage. Properties on the routes have been sterilised and houses cannot be sold. Property owners were left in the lurch when, for no reason whatsoever, both projects were stalled, even though the Department of Transport, I understand, handed back €7 million last year to the Department for public expenditure and reform. Wi…

I thank the Ministers and the Government for the reaction to our community in east Cork. It was fast and really welcome. Many people have lost everything. The issue I want to raise relates to spending. Many cars were damaged on the streets because of this unprecedented flooding. Many valuable cars were damaged, some beyond repair. Some had no insurance cover. Will the Government provide some form of assistance there? Cars are very valuable. Also, there are some private bridges and some private property, apart from …

This question is related to the previous one, except it is looking into the future. I acknowledge the Minister of State's work and interest in this area in the past and most recently as well. The implementation of the Midleton flood relief scheme is a matter of great concern to people in the region. They are concerned that what happened last Wednesday, when a rain bomb landed on east Cork, west Waterford and other areas and caused such devastation and damage, will happen again. They want to know what progress has b…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. It is optimistic. He might let me know when he expects shovels in the ground, as that is what people want to know. There are also proposals with respect to interim measures. At least two bridges in the Midleton area - Water-rock Bridge and Moore's Bridge, although there are others as well - are severely damaged and could collapse into rivers, causing further problems. There seems to be uncertainty as to who is responsible and can actually pay for their repair because …

I thank the Minister of State. I acknowledge his personal commitment to this particular area and the problems that have occurred, as well as the commitment he has just given that interim measures will be financed with haste and without any major red tape and bureaucracy. Will the Minister of State comment on the need into the future - I hope we will not see it - for a more robust early warning system? We had a situation where this rain was anticipated. If people had been told clearly and quickly to get their stock …

This question concerns the Department’s solar photovoltaic installers registration form, and the lists that are generated from that form. I am interested in the safety, the competency, and the training and certification of the people who are installing solar photovoltaic, PV, in farms. Will the Minister tell me where these courses that are acceptable to his Department are; what institutions provide the courses; and what certification is involved?

I thank the Minister for his reply. I have been searching for the registered installer list of actual installers on his Department's website. I can only find the accepted solar PV registered installer list, which lists the companies. It does not list the actual individual electricians. I cannot find it. Will the Minister tell me if there is such a list in his Department? There are two forms that are required to be filled out and one of the forms mentions the companies and the other mentions the installers. I put it…

The SEAI lists 12 institutions across the country that provide courses. There is no such list on the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine's website that I can find or maybe the Minister could point me in the direction of it and I would be grateful if he would do so. Would the Minister agree with me that if somebody installs solar PV on a farm and that person is not competent or qualified, that they can actually cause terrible damage and even danger to farmers and to animals? What is the Minister and his D…

Midleton town and other parts of east Cork have experienced utter devastation over the past while. I have never seen the likes of it. Hundreds of homes, businesses and roads were destroyed. The bridge in Water-rock and Moore’s bridge need to be replaced. Walls have been knocked down. In Gleann Fia, Mogeely, 30 houses were ruined. Killeagh, Youghal, Castlemartyr, Rathcormack and Midleton were affected. Estates in Midleton, including Willowbank, Tir Cluain, Beechwood, Banoge and Water-rock, were damaged, beyond repai…

I again thank the Minister for her response and acknowledge the Cabinet decision today and all of the work that has been done, but there is more to be done. Hundreds of cars were destroyed beyond use on streets and in garages. One man told me that he could have lost €800,000 worth of stock. We need to start thinking about that. Midleton needs to be underwritten because, as my colleague has said, insurance is not possible due to floods. People are excluded from flood claims. We need an early warning system because t…

During his budget speech, the Minister for Finance said that the residential zoned land tax was "an important initiative to activate suitably zoned and serviced land for housing." He also went on to say that he was "extending the liability date of the tax by one year to allow for the planned 2024 review of maps to take place and to afford affected people with a further opportunity to engage with the process." Does this mean that land that has been zoned can be unzoned or rezoned? How will this work in practice? The…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for selecting this matter and I thank the Minister and Minister of State for being here. A number of years ago we did not know about Japanese knotweed but now we do. We know how dangerous it is and how expensive it is to remove. In some instances and in some countries, people cannot get mortgages if it is on a site. Invasive species such as this are becoming more prevalent because of the movement of people and global warming. I want to draw the attention of the House this morning t…

I thank the Minister of State for his response and acknowledge the work that is going on here. While he said the ant has not been found in the wild in temperate climates such as ours, it has actually been found in Finland, Spain and the UK. It has been found in imported soil and dealt with but the risk is still there and we have to be extremely vigilant. As I said earlier, Japanese knotweed was something that we knew nothing about until recently. It came in to the country as an ornamental plant but it spread very q…

I want to ask the Minister if he has considered a retention payment to encourage personnel to remain in the Naval Service, given the fact that there is an issue with the number of personnel. As part of that, has he looked at the single pension scheme which, RACO told us today, seems to be the trigger for a lot of people leaving the Defence Forces? Has he considered a specialised instructors allowance in order to retain people in the Naval Service?

I thank the Minister for his response and encourage him to continue with the work of advancing the suggestions and proposals he put forward. Can he give us any idea as to when the Commission on the Defence Forces recommendation that the naval seagoing tax credit and the Naval Service seagoing commitment scheme be replaced with a less complex seagoing duty measure? Could he also give any idea what is happening with the working time directive implementation? Can he provide an indicative timescale as to when that migh…

I thank the Minister for his response, the work he is doing and his commitment to this. Would he agree that this is now urgent? For example, the number of people who were approved last year for the seagoing commitment scheme was 32, something the Secretary General of the Department of Defence told us last week. These schemes are extraordinarily complex, and hard to understand and qualify for. Could the Minister give us an indication that he is minded to change the single pension scheme and revert to the pre-emergen…

Would the Tánaiste agree that it would be important to try to find out why personnel are leaving the Defence Forces? Is he aware of the quantitative analysis carried out by RACO which states that 78% of respondents did not receive an exit interview? There is very little attempt being made to find out why they are leaving.

Some 78% have not received an exit interview.

I thank the Minister of State for being here. This question relates to any recent meetings he has had with An Post and any proposals or plans that body has to make changes and improvements into the future. I will also be bringing up the issue of publicity post in my supplementary questions.

I thank the Minister of State. As I said, I am interested in the issue of publicity post. It is something I have raised with An Post. I am sure the Minister of State is aware that there are 272 separate delivery zones across the country. I am not sure when they were put in place but they seem quite archaic and arbitrary. Some of them cross county bounds and some businesses tell me they find them quite difficult to use. I have suggested to An Post that it should make them smaller, more targeted and more focused so t…