The exact same applies, or maybe even more so, in not intervening in those labour relations issues. We do, however, have a role with regard to trying to restore our aviation industry. We have taken a series of measures including, as the Deputy said, the significant public support for workers in that industry as in other sectors, and the management of safe travel systems within Covid-19 to try to make it safe for people to get back flying. I am encouraged that 20 flights left this morning, as the Deputy said. We nee…

I answered some of these questions earlier so I will not read out the full response. To answer a very specific question, however, €8.1 million has been spent to date. I recall the Deputy was Chair of the transport committee when we had a specific session to consider the road. As I recall, there were concerns from local residents around some of the traffic management implications of it. There were also some environmental concerns around the bogland to the west of the proposed route alignment. I hope we can overcome …

No, I do not see obstacles. There is a funding constraint more broadly. The existing NDP included a huge number of different roads. The reality is the funding of those would eat up the budget for the next 20, 30 or 40 years if they were all to be completed at one time. We will have to prioritise and it will be difficult. It is not a question of saying "No" to particular projects but we will have to prioritise certain projects in a very tight funding situation. I think there has been broad agreement in this House ev…

It has to get through planning. The Government has to make decisions on a sequential basis and that has to be the next key issue. Something being in the existing national development plan is not the best way of securing funding. In truth, if one said that all the projects being in the existing NDP means they will receive guaranteed funding, they would break the budget ten times over. As I said, what I believe gives the best guarantee and certainty around funding is a real commitment to support bypasses first. Ardee…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 74 and 80 together. The Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, and I have recently concluded interviews for potential candidates, who were proposed by the Public Appointments Service. All five people we interviewed were eminently qualified, which makes for a difficult decision. We hope to conclude that process within the coming days, and return to the Government and then to the Dáil with details of the appointment of a suitable chair. I am confident that we will be able to get someone …

To answer Deputy’s Crowe’s point, we expect to be able to do it this month. That delay or that sequence of events was unfortunate. It was done at a time when the airport was effectively closed because of the Covid crisis. Now is the time to come back to get that chair in place. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, to answer the question too because she is centrally involved, and to give her perspective on the approach.

We followed the appropriate Public Appointments Service approach here and it is absolutely correct and proper. Unfortunate circumstances meant we had to run a second process but that could not have been foreseen. It was appropriate for us to respond in the way we did. The Public Appointments Service has done a good job. From what I have seen, it carried it out properly. It did take time but sometime this takes time rather than being rushed and I am confident the right approach was taken.

The DART+ programme is critical for our transport future in Dublin and the eastern region. It comprises five complementary projects: DART+ West; DART+ South West; DART+ Coastal North; DART+ Coastal South; and DART+ Fleet. Naturally, there is a sequencing to the delivery of these different projects as each sits within the overall programme framework. It is also the case that the success of some of the projects depends on the early delivery of other projects. Key to the overall programme is the delivery first of DART…

The key initial development is those new ICR units which can fit within the existing train, adding an additional carriage. They are very imminent. Going on memory, they will be coming in 2023. It is not a long delay. The next iteration is the new battery-electric DART trains and they will be a significant improvement and improve capacity. They do not require the full electrification of the line as the battery will kick in where there are not overhead rails. The timeline for that is not certain yet but it will not b…

We have just started a strategic rail review. Included in that is consideration of an upgrade on the Dublin-Belfast line, including new trains and so on. I do not have the specific details here but I will come back to the Deputy directly with information on that.

The Green Party will vote confidence in the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and the Government this evening. I have known Deputy Coveney for some time. He was already an experienced Deputy when I first came here in 2002. After spending time as a Member of the European Parliament, he came back here as an Opposition spokesperson when I was Minister. He was tough and gruelling but he is fair, knowledgeable, committed and sincere in all the dealings I have had with him. I have seen the Minister's work on Brexit. Anyone here …

I want to speak, if I may, about her good name and her good reputation. I recall sitting in one of those seats at the back of the House when she decided to go into government. That same willingness for public service was, I believe, behind her desire to take on this role, one for which she was eminently qualified. I remember her, in those days before she was well known or in the Dáil or the Seanad, taking a lonely path with her partner into the courts to stand up for equal rights and marriage equality when no one e…

In my experience, that is what the people want us to address, not the order of business we see presented tonight.

I am very glad we are back in the Seanad for what I hope is the final phase of the passing of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021. The various amendments accepted in the Seanad on the inclusion of just transition in the Long Title of the Bill, the removal of a definition of climate justice, and the clarification that sinks and removals as well as emissions are at the cornerstone of developing climate neutrality as part of the Paris Climate Agreement are critical. There is one further…

I thank Senator Garvey. If I may take a minute or two - that is all it will take - I would like to thank my officials in the Department, who have done their country proud and the public service proud in the work they have done on this Bill and on the wider agenda. I thank all Members of the Oireachtas. We will work together. This is our common goal. It is does not belong to anyone. I heard each Senator say that. We will now work together to implement this. That will be key. The approach will be collaborative. It wi…

Surely, I will have a chance to respond and press my amendments.

Can I briefly respond to the comments being made for two or three minutes? That would be appropriate.

I will be brief because I realise we are here late at night. We accepted and tabled seven amendments in the Seanad, some of which were from the Opposition but most were from the Government and covered a variety of issues, such as just transition, which was the main subject of the Report Stage debate in the Dáil; and climate justice with regard to accepting what the NGOs said, in that it was better to take out our definition and stick with the wording and provide clarity on the issue of land use, sinks and removals …

I thank the Senators very much. I am happy to continue the debate we had on Committee Stage. I will not be accepting the amendments. I reiterate a point I made on Committee Stage, which is that this Bill is designed to require the State to set out its internal processes and structures to deliver on our objectives under the UN Paris Agreement on climate. It is not going to resolve the range of different issues involved, including this issue of free trade agreements, the issue of the relative roles or powers involved…

This is a significant issue. We lived up to our commitments in the programme for Government. We issued the policy statement that put a hold on the development of any LNG terminals pending an energy security review. That is the appropriate approach to take. I cannot accept these amendments. I do not believe they would be effective. They would need to be redrafted. It is difficult with gas being imported from the UK, some of which originates from fracked gas sources as they come from LNG terminals in the UK. One cann…