Metropolitan rail is important, as it is in Dublin. We have gone to planning and are now rolling out the DART+ West scheme, which will be the first part of the extension, expansion and massive increase in DART services.

I will. We have already invested in new carriages and new DART trains, which will be deployed on the existing network and which will result in an increase on the northern DART line straight away next year when they come in.

I am not aware of the scheduling issue the Deputy referenced.

If he could send me the details-----

I do not know the details. I ask the Deputy to send me the details.

This Government is going to expand and increase the DART capacity in Dublin, as we will with metropolitan rail in other cities.

It is a real concern throughout the country, but that is a shocking case. It is beyond belief that someone could have such an increase in a bill. The energy security framework plan the Government published two weeks ago contains a series of immediate emergency actions we are asking the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, and supply companies to do to manage this very difficult situation, so that customers who get into difficulty for whatever reason do not see an impossible situation which they cannot cope …

I appreciate the Deputy recognising that it is a good scheme. It was designed to be delivered quickly and to help hauliers through a difficult period. It does not cover every haulier, which we were clear about from the start. It is for licensed hauliers. We have done that for a variety of reasons. It has always been the way that we have been able to intervene and provide support where the licensing system has given us a mechanism to control, monitor, implement and introduce a scheme. If we had gone beyond that, it …

As the Deputy knows, the programme for Government has commitments in this area. Our colleague, the Minister, Deputy Martin, did much work in the previous Oireachtas, which informed the programme for Government commitment to examine defects in housing, and particular regard is had to the recommendations of the report of the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, called Safe as Houses. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, established a working group to examine defects in housing. It has been meeting mont…

I am glad the Deputy has raised this issue. Aircoach and other commercial coach operators have, as the Deputy has said, provided an important service through Covid and in ordinary times. They were expanding rapidly, as well as our public service obligation, PSO, services, and will do so again as we return from Covid. There is not an obligation on commercial operators to take travel passes, but many do and they avail of a subvention scheme in that regard. I will follow up on the details. I do not have the specifics …

That would seem to be a matter for An Garda Síochána which is responsible and independent in its allocation of resources. The Government does provide the broader overall financing, but I will ask the Minister for Justice to see if inquiries can be made on this specific case. We need gardaí who are trained properly. I will ask for the details but I believe it is a matter for An Garda Síochána.

Let me be very clear, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland is in charge of delivering the retrofitting scheme. The SEAI now has 22 years of experience, real skill and a significant increase of an additional 100 staff in the past two years, to make sure that they and the industry are in place to deliver on the massive expansion we need to do in the retrofitting area. There has been specific attention since the very start on making sure standards are upheld, operators are registered, there are routine checks a…

I was very glad, in a visit to Cork last week, to meet some relatives of the residents of the centre, to listen with real intent to their heartfelt stories about their relatives, and to hear how this is a home that works and that is central to the lives of those residents. Having returned from Cork, I said I would follow up and do whatever I could do. Further follow-up has indicated it is complicated because I am told there is a fire inspector's report-----

I am just reporting back what I heard having followed it up, and with real concern for the relatives concerned. I do not want to be inaccurate here, but there is a report from the fire officer that says the building is not fit for purpose and that some residents must be moved. It is a complex issue but those residents and their needs must be looked after.

I absolutely agree with Deputy Healy-Rae. He is right that the price of fertiliser has gone through the roof. It is not just the price. There are restrictions on availability given what is happening with Russia. My understanding is that this summer we may have a 30% reduction in the amount of nitrate fertiliser applied. How this is going to work will be critical. The Deputy is also right that the application of lime, especially combined with really good soil analysis, water and grasslands management, and moving tow…

Deputy Kerrane's question is similar to the question Deputy Harkin asked earlier in terms of carers. It is appropriate in the run up to the budget process for us to look at whether such a carer's pension arrangement could be included. I would support it but I think it has to be part of a wider balancing of the income and receipts measures. We will have to work on a strong partnership approach as we go into next year's budget because it will be a challenging time. I encourage the Deputy and various Oireachtas commit…

The regulation of the small public service vehicle, SPSV, sector, including vehicle age limits for SPSVs, is a matter for the National Transport Authority, NTA, under the provisions of the Taxi Regulation Act 2013. In this regard, the Deputy should be aware that the NTA has extended vehicle age limits several times since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, with standard age limits for taxis and hackneys now waived through to the end of 2022, thereby ensuring no operator exits the industry simply because of the need…

While I do not want to be too dogmatic in my response, at the same time these measures were introduced during Covid, correctly to my mind. We are now coming out of it, touch wood and please God, and it is appropriate to return to those standards. We have extended the grants that we introduced for the electrification of the taxi fleet because that will bring real benefits and will help people to make that switch. It is important to look at some of the statistics on the SPSV fleet. There were some 21,000 SPSVs before…

Absolutely, there is an obligation on passengers to pay their fare. There are real benefits to card payments and a lot of customers have moved to them because of Covid. I use a lot of taxis myself and I am surprised that there are still a good number of drivers who do not accept cards. That must be restricting their customer base at this stage because it is so common now for people not to use cash in their day-to-day lives. Certainly, however, customers have to pay their fare and the outcome of the consultation pro…

I thank the Deputy for her question and for the opportunity to update the House on the status of the CIÉ regular wages scheme. As many Deputies are aware, the CIÉ Group has two pension schemes, namely the regular wages scheme and the 1951 superannuation scheme and issues relating to these schemes are primarily a matter for the trustees, the CIÉ Group and its employees. That being said, I understand that the CIÉ group is actively engaged in introducing changes to both schemes aimed at rectifying a significant defici…