I received an email stating that the substitution could happen. I am sorry about the confusion.

What was decided at the emergency meeting of energy ministers of the 27 member states held on 9 September? Will the Minister inform the House as to what actions he intends to take as a result of that meeting?

I thank the Minister for his response. I am aware of the points that were made. With respect to the proposal to reduce gas use by 15%, does the Minister see that happening here and, if so, how soon? How would he encourage that reduction?

Another proposal was to reduce the revenues of inframarginal electricity producers with low costs of production. Does the Minister plan to take that on board as a proposal and, if so, how does he plan to put it into practice?

How many connections have been made to date under the national broadband plan? What are the projections under the national broadband plan per month? The Minister of State has given us the connections on the commercial side. Does he agree that there is sometimes confusion when somebody in one house, who is not in the commercial area, can get a connection and the next-door neighbour outside the area cannot? Does he have any way of resolving that?

What are the Minister's views on the decomissioning of the Kinsale and Seven Heads gas-fields-related infrastructure; the pipeline that is already under the sea and any other infrastructure that would enable gas to come from the now-depleted fields but that might now be used for other reasons?

The Minister has already alluded to our living in very unusual times. I put it to the Minister that we have an infrastructure in place which is an undersea pipeline and associated infrastructure on land which was used to transport the gas from the now-depleted undersea caverns. Has the Minister considered using this infrastructure for floating storage regasification units? These could be used to alleviate our storage issue, which was mentioned earlier as part of the recently published report. Has he engaged with an…

I thank the Minister for his response. This is quite a serious issue and I thank him for taking it seriously. The pipeline is there and the Inch terminal is there. My information is it can be used for floating storage regasification units. I am not talking about using the caverns under the sea at all. The proposal that has been sent to the Minister's Department involves a floating storage regasification unit moored at the end of the pipeline which could be filled on a regular basis as required. It would act as insu…

Yes. They are not needed.

I fully agree with what the Minister has said-----

-----about green energy, hydrogen and so on. That is absolutely fantastic. However, I understand there has been no engagement with respect to companies that want to talk about regasification.

I am sorry. I thought the Leas-Cheann Comhairle called me. My apologies.

I congratulate the Minister and her Department on the introduction of the community centres investment fund, which was inspired. Community centres are the centre of communities and a place where young people, and not so young people, can gather to do community activities that are badly needed. From my previous role in the Department of Justice and Equality dealing with youth justice, I know how important these centres are, but many communities do not have one. What plans does the Minister have to assist those commu…

I thank the Minister for her comprehensive response and the information she gave. Can she tell us when successful applications under the CCIF will be announced and made available? Many people around the country are waiting for them and I note that a number of colleagues have tabled questions in this regard. Does she agree that in many communities that do not have a centre, people find it hard to organise themselves to get together, in a situation where there is a lot of responsibility put on communities? Will she c…

I thank the Minister for her response. A total funding request of €72 million from a fund provision of €15 million is a big discrepancy. We can see there is a large need for this and that great work is being done through the scheme. Will she respond to my question as to when the results of the CCIF applications will be made known? There are a lot of people who are anxious to know. I congratulate her on the work she is doing. I am sure she will have everyone's support in looking for extra funding for new community c…

Yesterday, at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, we heard about the Unified Patent Court system and its potential for Ireland. It could be worth between €500,000 and €1.5 billion per annum. There is a need to set up a referendum here to ratify the system. What is the situation with regard to this referendum? Legislation is required to hold a referendum. Where are we with that? When will we see this legislation?

Today is the deadline for SUSI applications. A small number of students, including students with disabilities, were trapped abroad because of Covid and cannot now meet the residency requirement of being here for three of the past five years. Has the Minister any intention or plan to assist these students? They cannot complete their applications online after they state they have not been here. The system does not allow them to go any further. It is a serious issue for a small number of students, including a number w…

Has the Minister's Department linked with the guidance counsellors in second level schools? Quite often they have links with universities, businesses and trades, as well as parents and students, to drive this on and publicise this whole apprenticeship area, which is quite exciting.

This question relates to apprenticeships. I am curious to know the uptake of apprenticeships by trade, sector and county in recent years. What are the projections for now on?

I thank the Minister of State and the Minister for the work they and their Department are doing in this area. How many recognised trades and professions at present have apprenticeships? The figure in Germany is almost 350. How many are there here? If the Minister of State does not have that information, he might get it to me. Will the Minister of State also comment on the role of the technological universities and their importance in this area? Will he tell me how he is ensuring they will not morph into normal univ…