The Deputy is right and that is a real difficulty but we have done everything to try to support the taxi industry. In the relevant negotiations, the Minister for Social Protection made an exception by allowing people in this industry to have an income while on the PUP, and also to cover the expenses. I absolutely recognise that that does not apply to people above a certain age limit but unfortunately for the Department of Social Protection, it could not go to the step of having different age limits for different se…

I am happy to put on record that the taxi industry provides a vital public service. It will start coming back. It is slow at the moment, as it should be. We do not want a complete return immediately. We can all see this staged, step-by-step process of bringing life back and of people starting to travel again. People are nervous initially and that is understandable after a year and a half of restricted movements but the way we are doing it is working. It has broad public support. The number of Covid cases continues …

The Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 provides a statutory power to the NTA to establish a fare structure for public passenger transport services. Following the establishment of the NTA in 2009, the authority has responsibility for the regulation of fares charged to passengers in respect of public transport services provided under PSO contracts. Bus Éireann is responsible for setting passenger fares relating to its commercial Expressway bus services. The NTA does not have a role in the setting of fares for servic…

I agree with the Deputy. That is a very good example of an anomaly where the fare system is not based on similar distance. Bus Éireann, like all transport companies, is going through its own challenges in managing Covid but when coming out of it, we want it to come back stronger, both in the work it does on Expressway and on the PSO services, and in the work it does in supporting education and other services for the Department of Education. In that regard, there is a lot of work to be done in standardising fares, s…

I understand there is a lot of good work going on in Waterford in terms of it setting itself as an example of a sustainable city. It needs to grow as a capital of the south east in that way, and part of that is recognising that places like Tramore, which now has a population of almost 15,000 and is, as the Deputy said, a dormitory town, are inextricably linked to Waterford in so many different ways. It makes sense to include it in the Waterford metropolitan area transport strategy. As that has not concluded, it sho…

It is appropriate that Deputy Canney was the last speaker because I want to say to him that I absolutely respect every Deputy in this House, their integrity in putting forward amendments and their representative role in trying to strengthen the Bill. However, I will not be accepting this group of amendments because I believe the Bill has real strength and these proposals would not strengthen it further. That is not to disrespect any Deputy and what he or she seeks to do or achieve. These amendments revolve around t…

With the leave of the Ceann Comhairle and the leave of the House I would like a few minutes to answer the variety of points.

God Almighty. Two minutes. I absolutely accept the conviction of Deputy Smith. The corporations will have to play their part too and no one gets out of this. We also need the corporations: we will need the income, the jobs and the tax revenue to pay for our social services. We will go to those corporations and say that if we are going to run data centres they will have to be zero carbon too just like farming. No one gets out of it. No one gets by it. I am sure those corporations will want this. They will want to be…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. Prior to introducing this proposal, I thank all our officials who worked tirelessly on the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021. They are a credit to our country. I move: That, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders or the Orders of the Dáil of yesterday, No. 6 d, motion re an instruction to the Select Committee on Transport and Communications in relation to the Air Navigation and Transport Bill 2020, be taken now without debate and any division demanded …

I move: That, pursuant to Standing Order 187, it be an instruction to the Select Committee on Transport and Communications in relation to the Air Navigation and Transport Bill 2020, that it has power to make amendments to the Bill which are outside the scope of the existing provisions of the Bill, in relation to: ( a ) amendments to strengthen the national aviation safety regulatory framework for aviation activities of the Irish Coast Guard (IRCG) and align it with European aviation safety regulations. It is propos…

I thank Deputy Cairns for raising this matter. As it happens, I know Kealkill well. I used to bring a lot of people up to the stone circles in Kealkill which are stunning and the school is just below that site. I know it well. That route to Cork is the one that everyone uses. It is a kind of rat run because it does not go through any town and is a relatively straight run all the way. It is similar to Belgooly, which I also happen to know through friends. They are both small villages off the main road but with a lot…

I will come back in then.

I do not know how big the school is. I would be interested to know the numbers.

Okay, it is quite big.

They are not just coming from the village of Kealkill; they are coming from the wider area.

On the Pearson's bridge side.

I will make this point because I absolutely agree with the Deputy. We need to reduce the speeds and try to define the village as such. The roads serve the village and people who are driving through should realise they are going through a village area. There is also the issue of the wider road network in the area, however. In my mind, we want to be able to make it safe for our children to walk and cycle to school. Sometimes that will be a longer distance. It might be two or three miles. That is not every case and pe…

If Cork County Council wants to take Kealkill as an example, I would very much support and encourage that and use it as a test case. As I said, if we saw that working in Kealkill, we could apply the lessons in Belgooly or other places that are very similar.

I thank Deputy Flaherty for raising this issue. I recognise how vital telecommunications services are to citizens for so many aspects of their daily lives including remote working, studying and staying in touch with family members. These services have proved essential since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and given the restrictions imposed nationally. Having local facilities such as libraries and hubs in place to facilitate digital access in towns and villages will be important in the gradual return to norma…

Based on the Deputy's earlier contribution, my understanding is that the local authority is looking at supporting ducting to connect the Eir network and that the local exchange is fibre-enabled. In a sense, this looks like a public-private partnership, in that Eir is a private company coming together with the library and the hub, which is on a former commercial premises. Supporting the local authority in getting that ducting to the building would make a lot of sense for the local authority. Going back to what I was…