I propose to take Questions Nos. 45, 52 and 53 together. Fish counters are one of a range of indices used by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) to contribute to the scientific and management assessments of salmon stocks carried out each year. Details of data from counters, the verification of that data and where counters are located, based on maximising the use of technology and optimising geographic distribution in the management of salmon stocks, are operational matters for IFI in which neither I nor my department ha…

Ireland’s current Long-term Strategy on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions was approved by Government on Tuesday, 25 April 2023 and is available on gov.ie While a comprehensive draft was prepared in 2019, publication was deferred in order to reflect the enhanced ambition brought about by the 2020 Programme for Government. That enhanced ambition includes: • a legally binding national 2050 climate neutrality target; • provision for a 51% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030 compared to 2018 levels; • national Carbo…

I have looked at this issue and the local area in detail. The historical train station is 1 km or 2 km from the village of Killucan and there is no housing adjacent to the station. This is one of the issues the council must consider. If we do put a station, where will we put it on such a route? What are the housing plans for the area? It would be hugely beneficial if we connected the two and made sure it was not a station removed by any distance from the main housing centres.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 54 and 55 together. The Conservation of Coarse Fish Bye-Law No. 806 of 2006 referred to by the Deputy relates to measures concerning the catching and retaining of all coarse species including perch. The Bye-Law is in force for the last 17 years on a National basis. As recently advised by my officials at a meeting of the Angling Consultative Council of Ireland, a review of Bye-Laws in force for 10 years or more and their application will be commenced shortly. It is intended that Bye-…

Local authorities are currently not in a position to use CCTV to monitor illegal dumping. In order to address data protection concerns, Sections 22 & 33 of the Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 require that the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) prepare and submit to me, in my role as Minister, for approval, draft codes of practice for the purpose of setting standards for the operation of CCTV and other mobile recording devices, in order to deter environmental pollution and facilitate th…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 80 and 104 together. As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport.  The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure in the Greater Dublin Area, including BusConnects Dublin. Noting the NTA's responsibility in the matter, I have referred the Deputy's question to the NTA for a direct reply.  Please contact my private office if you d…

As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport; however, I am not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally. In addition, I would like to advise that the NTA also has responsibility for the collection and publication of statistics relating to public transport. Therefore, in light of the NTA's…

This Government is just as concerned about protecting Irish householders in what is a very difficult time. We all absolutely accept that those households, in respect of their gas and electricity bills, are facing huge increases which have a huge impact on every family across the country and we are determined to protect them and to help our country through a difficult time. It bears repeating that the causes of this lie in international factors as well as our dependence on fossil fuels. This means that it hits parti…

In European legislation, those were the years set out in which we would apply it. We follow European law and we did it. In the area where we had room to manoeuvre-----

-----in the setting of the rate, if you check what every other European country did-----

Come back and show me a country that set a higher tax rate.

That speaks volumes, compared to the words we heard earlier.

The key problem has been in getting drivers at Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, Go-Ahead and other private operators. Every bus operator will tell the same story. To address this challenge and help close the gap, we engaged with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and secured agreement for 1,500 work permits for drivers who are needed across the country. Deputies will have seen Dublin Bus's major advertising campaign, which I understand has been successful. Private operators, Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann are s…

The House will not be surprised that I agree with Deputy Leddin. It is an either-or. We could go with a roads-based sprawl development, and Limerick could spread out into Clare on an unsustainable roads development system, which has not worked for Limerick. Limerick should be much bigger. Limerick needs to grow and needs to be much larger, and I believe it can grow around a sustainable transport system. If you try to do both, you will undermine the sustainable option.

I thank the Deputy for the question. Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1854 on an emergency intervention to address high energy prices came into force in October 2022. This regulation seeks to address windfall gains in the energy sector through a temporary solidarity contribution based on taxable profits in the fossil fuel production and refining sector and a cap on market revenues of specific generation technologies in the electricity sector. The general scheme of the energy (windfall gains in the energy sector) Bill 2…

The systems we have in place, including the CRU, are designed to protect consumers exactly in the way the Deputy outlined. In recent years, where there were instances of bill amounts not being correct, refunds were given to the customers involved as soon as the errors were discovered. The CRU's regulatory context, like those of so many of our other regulatory bodies, has been dramatically increased in the past two years to ensure that it has the capability of overseeing that function. This Government's role is, fir…

We will look at every option, but whatever we do must be within European law. We cannot enact measures-----

We will look and see, as I said, at what other governments have done. We must ensure that what we do is within European law. To answer the Deputy's first question, I met representatives of every one of the 13 supply companies we have over the past year of this crisis, and paid particular attention to what they were doing to protect their most vulnerable customers. People at risk of being cut-off are those we must favour first. We must ensure these companies' billing and customer relations systems treat people in a …

As I said, if there are any instances of that happening, where a bill has not been received, it is the job of the regulator to ensure that those companies do meet their commitments and statutory requirements, which the CRU does regulate.

In May 2021, the Government published its policy statement on the importation of fracked gas. This policy sets out that, pending the outcome of the review of the security of energy supply of Ireland’s electricity and natural gas systems, it would not be appropriate for Ireland to permit or proceed with the development of any LNG terminals. Until the review has been completed, this is and remains the Government's policy position. The review is focused on the period to 2030, but in the context of ensuring a sustainab…