I thank Deputy Smith for setting out the proposed amendment. I agree with her that the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act and the provisions therein for public bodies must be followed in a manner which is consistent with the latest climate action plan. That is very important and I fully agree with it. This particular legislative provision was inserted on the advice of the Attorney General in response to recent decisions that could have an impact on the delivery of this much-needed electricity generation …

I appreciate that there are concerns with respect to the impact on the environment, in particular on CO2 emissions, but I consider the proposed amendment to be unnecessary and potentially restrictive given its construction. I have provided sufficient latitude in the Bill on the timing of the alternative assessments that will be required, as it is likely, further to the guidance published by the Commission on Article 24 of the directive that the assessments will be carried out in a phased manner. Consequently, it wo…

I cannot accept the amendment.

The Taoiseach was absolutely right that this Government is committing to protecting and helping every single family and household through this very difficult time in paying energy bills. There is a variety of measures. If they were easy and simplistic solutions that would be great but that is not the real world. In this real world what is actually working is the range of measures the Government is delivering on, such as increases in social welfare protection and increases in energy payments to households. As I unde…

Those 440,000 people have a whole range of different circumstances. Many people go onto prepay because it actually works for them and helps them in budgeting.

It gives them the ability to reduce their bills and to reduce their use by about 8%. That is the experience of what is actually happening. There are complications in this because there is both gas and electricity. Yes, we will continue to look at the rules and regulations that would help them through a particularly difficult period. A lot of people disconnect when they are moving home or ending a tenancy. People are in a whole range of circumstances. To my mind, the critical thing is that people have the money so t…

There is nothing wrong with that as a mechanism to help people out. Furthermore, that €38 million in additional needs payments is a system that works. It is fair, targeted and correct. It is targeting where we need the money most. Provision for that is the right approach to help people through this particular period.

The Deputy is right to draw attention to the need to have clean water systems, which is a critical issue for our country. We need to manage our systems, including our wastewater treatment and our public water systems, in a way that ensures the Irish public and the environment have water that is clean and in pristine condition for bathing or for other reasons. That is not the case at the present time. It is important to recognise the work of the EPA. The report it published last week recognises that there is an issu…

If the standards are not being met, Irish Water will have to go back. I have been to many towns. Our water supply is central not just in the context of our agricultural policy, our forestry policy and our river basins; it is also connected to our housing strategy and our housing policy. If one speaks to anyone across the country about the ability to build new housing, one will find that it is often to do with the wastewater treatment system. In those towns, if that is a cause of the problem and there is expansion w…

The national broadband plan had difficulties in the first two years due to Covid, problems at local authority level, the technical aspect around ducting and so on. Those problems are starting to be resolved and the plan is on track. We will meet our targets for this year. Some 94,500 premises are ready to be connected; 21,100 of those are already doing so. Schools and the broadband connection point centres across the country are in place. We can never be happy that it is fast enough but it is starting to deliver. I…

I will look at that proposal and we will give it real consideration. The story of broadband in this country is not just about the national broadband plan. There is real progress across the country, within those areas and without. We have major investment by Eir, Virgin Media, Siro and other operators, as well as the national broadband plan, which is seeing competition, lower prices, higher speeds and better services. The strategy that works in broadband involves working collectively with industry, being flexible an…

I will start by welcoming the group. I am someone who had a very bad stutter as a young man and boy. I got help at the age of 16 years or so. I occasionally still do stutter. It is sometimes in the middle of a speech here in the Dáil. You know it is coming up and you still have to get through it. I very much recognise the group's role and work. I think the people of this country have shown remarkable strength of character and lived up to the Bible story I often think of, namely that of the Samaritan not passing but…

You have to have the people with you and work with them. There is a revolution happening in this country at the moment. It is a solar revolution. In Kerry and elsewhere, the Deputy can talk to the companies delivering that. They will say that the phone never stops ringing. It rings morning, noon and night, with Irish people waking up to the realisation that using our own clean, sustainable power systems from the sun, wind and elsewhere is the cheaper and better way to go. We are going gangbusters. It is taking off …

I am responding to the Deputy's point on the turf. It is the same story on retrofitting. I had a meeting with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland the other day. Similarly, it told me that Irish people across the country are investing in improving their homes - you do not need to burn things to keep warm - and then people have a valuable, healthy house. That is what is happening. Tens of thousands of people are investing in that way. Similarly, we need to get people to invest in property and in the rental se…

-----both short-term and long-term.

The most important assurance is that the money is available. It is a pity that I did not get a chance to bring in the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The key thing we need to do is a ten-year programme with a figure like the €1.6 billion. That is as well as the money spent on housing, education, health, transport and all the other areas. The public payment of those sorts of sums year in, year out in a systematic way is the only way. You cannot magic it up without having the budget. The key comprises the…

The issue the Deputy raises is real. There is a real problem, but not just in County Wicklow. Many other Deputies would cite similar examples involving Go-Ahead Ireland and other companies in other parts of the country. The Deputy is right that neither Covid nor any other factor is a satisfactory reason for services not being provided to the standards needed. There have been fines applied in recognition that there is a real difficulty, but we need to go further. I will meet representatives of the NTA tomorrow to co…

I will come back to the Deputy with any specific proposals.

I have not spoken publicly in the Dáil on this. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage will have to answer the Deputy's questions when the Bill comes before the House. We have mechanisms here whereby it can be amended or adjusted, and the arguments will have to be made then. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage will, for whatever reasons, legal or otherwise-----

I will certainly pass on the Deputy's comments, but we should debate this in the House when it comes before the House.