My final question is about the UN resolution which expires on 10 July 2021, which is not far away now. Can the Minister give us an understanding of whether this resolution will be extended and whether there is agreement that it should be extended?

I asked the Minister a question last month about the amount of funding that Irish Water has received and he told me it received €1.4 billion. I am interested to know the amount of this funding that has been drawn down to date this year by Irish Water, his expectations for the drawing down of further funding by Irish Water and a breakdown of same, and to give us an idea of where the money is going. Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy Malcolm Noonan): Since 1 January …

I thank the Minister of State for his response. There does seem to be an issue in that many people feel that Irish Water has a shortage of money. All the questions before now have been about housing, and I am sure the Minister of State realises that in many parts of the country housing development is frozen in many towns. In Mitchelstown in my own constituency, and in Midleton and Castlemartyr, no new houses can be built now because Irish Water does not have the infrastructure, and maybe does not have the funding e…

I recognise the huge investment and amount of work being done by the hard-working people in Irish Water but that does not take away from the fact that there are towns such as Mitchelstown, Midleton and Castlemartyr in my constituency and maybe other towns around the country that are frozen and locked out of housing development because of a lack of infrastructure. Will the Minister of State prioritise those? Has any analysis been undertaken on towns like that across the country where they are locked out. I know the …

Does the Minister agree with the report of Chambers Ireland, made available last year, which states that, if all vacant properties in towns, villages and cities around the country were made available, 18,000 new homes could be activated? Does he agree that this would require incentives and a carrot-and-stick approach? I am sure the Minister of State knows, as I do, that there are small villages all over the country in which 20 properties may be lying idle. Dealing with this requires an incentive on one end and some…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue matter and I thank the Minister of State for being here. Every year we have pressures in east Cork with regard to second level school places. Thanks to the work of the departmental officials, the education and training board and the principals of the local schools, it has been resolved every year, but every year it becomes more pressurised and it takes longer. I am sure the Minister of State will appreciate the stresses and worry that occur in families wh…

I thank the Minister of State for her response. I note the three points she made. She spoke about availing of unused capacity. However, all the schools are full and they all have waiting lists. She also suggested extending capacity. Some of the schools cannot do that because, physically, it is very difficult for them to do that. Two of the schools will probably need a brand-new campus because they are old and already stretched to the limit. I would welcome a new school but that will take some time to be delivered. …

What steps is the Minister taking to advertise and promote these hubs in various areas so people know about them and know how to use them? Will she be getting a report on the usage of these hubs in time? Has she asked for that and is it happening? Will students, who have had a tough time this year, be able to use the hubs for college work, in particular? The Minister asked about places where there is very poor broadband. I draw her attention to the town of Cobh in my constituency, where broadband speeds are extreme…

Again, I ask the Minister to comment on the need for such hubs in towns and villages. We have them in remote areas, which is excellent, but, as I said, many towns like Cobh have weak broadband and many people are discommoded because of it.

In light of the changes that have occurred in recent times with Brexit and the challenges associated with Covid, what are the Department's priorities in respect of the review of the national development plan?

I thank the Tánaiste for his comprehensive response. When does he expect the national development plan review to be completed? He referred to capital infrastructure. Does he envisage that the plan will include areas of the country that have been left out of development up to now, including towns that have not seen any major growth in employment? With the roll-out of broadband, will he be looking at towns such as Youghal in County Cork, in my constituency, with a view to increasing employment there? Will he encourag…

I thank the Tánaiste and welcome his reply. I draw his attention to the need for Irish Water to be given more resources. There should be a focus on speeding up some of its work because many development plans, especially in my area, depend on Irish Water getting its act together and putting infrastructure in place. I would be concerned that any other plans could be stalled because of the challenges that it faces.

Has there been any analysis of the hard cases for whom JobPath has not been able to secure employment? Has the Minister any figures on this? Has her Department had any engagement with the Open Doors Initiative or the Irish Association for Social Inclusion Opportunities?

Question No. 30, in my name, is identical to Question No. 8 and I cannot understand why they are not grouped. With regard to the additional places that are being made available, what policy, if any, does the Minister of State have to include people with disabilities and those from disadvantaged areas, migrant backgrounds, the Traveller community and so on? Does he have any breakdown on the gender issues with respect to community employment and Tús schemes? How many men and women are in those schemes?

I acknowledge the work and the courtesy of the staff in the offices around the country. They are great. A change has been made in PPS numbers. In the past, wives and husbands were linked with the same number. The only difference was that "w" was after the wives' number. That has been changed, thankfully and properly, and everybody has been given their own individual number. However, many women do not know this and I have a case of a woman applying for her driving licence who was told the PPS number she had, with "w…

Has the Minister had any engagement with opendoorsinitiative.ie with respect to employment purposes?

It is the Open Doors Initiative which works with disadvantaged people to help them with employment purposes. Has she engaged with it on a departmental level?

I wish to raise the issue of zoos and aquariums. Some eight institutions in Ireland are involved in the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Fota Wildlife Park in my own area is a hugely important resource. It had more than 62,000 visitors last year. It serves very important conservational and educational purposes. Some 18,600 students visited in 2019. I want to support the proposal for an injection of capital funding. On top of that, there are more than 60 licensed zoos and aquariums in Ireland. As…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for selecting this matter this evening and the Minister for being here at this late hour to take the debate. As the Minister will probably be aware, there is an urgent need to provide better road access to Great Island and the town of Cobh in Cork East. I doubt the Minister has been to Cobh recently but it is a most beautiful town and setting. On a fine day, it is like costa del Cobh. It is really lovely. The population of the Great Island is 15,000. Cobh is one of the biggest t…

I thank the Minister for his response. I am aware of the strategic access report requirement at the first decision stage in the project appraisal work. I am also familiar with Government policy. A tier 1 port is being developed in Cobh, which is hugely important. I invite the Minister to visit the area and drive the road, or be driven along it, in order that he can have a look at it. It is frightening and the volume of traffic is very high. I hope the cruise liners return when the pandemic ends. This project will t…