To be clear, that 80% grant was done very specifically in response to the immediate price crisis in terms of high fossil fuel prices due to those international factors. It was, therefore, done very deliberately and involved targeted measures that could be done quickly and relatively cheaply such as attic and wall insulation. I do not think householders will be or should be doing those jobs on their own. There are issues around going into the attic to put in insulation and making sure there is still ventilation so a…

My Department engaged with all stakeholders through the deliberations of the working group on the use of peat moss in the horticultural industry. In addition, on foot of a request for direct discussions with my Department, my officials met with representatives of the professional horticulture sector, including the mushroom sector, to discuss the legal position regarding peat extraction and the impacts on the horticulture sector of the diminishing supply of peat. As part of that discussion, the question of a guidanc…

I rarely disagree with Deputy Kenny. I find that he speaks a great deal of sense in this House. However, in this instance, I have to disagree with him. In this instance, we have seen the benefits of a judicial review process, which pointed out that what we were doing was completely illegal. I do not believe any attempt to change legislation that would unwind our commitments under the European directives would be appropriate. We would find ourselves straight back in the European Court of Justice, and rightly so. Peo…

Just for clarity, what I hear Sinn Féin say is that we should not adhere to environmental law----

That is what I hear. I do not believe that would serve the interests of the horticulture industry or this country. For too long we have turned a blind eye to environmental regulations. For too long we have said, “Ah, sure, no one will notice” or, “We will sort that out some other time”.

I believe-----

That is what I heard. We can and we will. We need a horticultural industry. It is very important that we protect those jobs. It is very important that we find alternative solutions. I am confident that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which has key responsibility in this area, will be able to find the peat stocks which we can use in the interim period with adherence to environmental law to be able to see that industry through a transition period. It has to be just transition, but we will not succ…

The first step was the launch of the scheme the week before last. I think it caught the public imagination. We know from our own constituencies and from elsewhere that the public is interested in this for a variety of reasons. It wants to play its part in helping to tackle climate change. It wants better, healthier and warmer homes. It has also seen the shocking scale of fuel bills, with the high prices of gas and oil. This is the mechanism. Deputy O’Rourke asked earlier how we will meet our climate targets. Bill G…

As I said in response to an earlier question, not only were the phones ringing off the hook from the customer side but I have been informed by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science that the new centres of excellence have had a similar experience. One of the attractive aspects of this, as the Deputy pointed out, is that it does not necessarily require a protracted training scheme. Many people might be able to come into the industry for a relatively short number of weeks, go …

It is important tonight that we remember all the families of those who died in the Whiddy Island disaster, which I remember, and in every disaster since when people have lost their lives at sea. It is such an acute loss that never fades or goes away. Our thoughts must be centred on those families. We must serve them by ensuring that we learn lessons from disasters and avoid the same terrible fate befalling other families. I listened to what the Deputies said and to the extensive debate we had on Second Stage, on Co…

While I understand the purpose of the amendment, we cannot accept it because this as an emergency measure and we want to be quick. There is benefit in universality. It is much easier, much quicker and much less expensive. We have the electricity meter or billing system to be able to action this. If we start trying to separate out a number of exceptions, we would be stuck in appeals and a whole range of other processes. This would put back the delivery of this important financial payment to people at a particularly …

I have a similar response, I am afraid. I cannot accept the amendment.

I cannot accept the amendment.

I thank the Senator and I can understand the concern, but I do not think that it applies in this case. None of the funding that has been allocated to this measure will come out of those other energy poverty measures, such as the better energy warmer homes scheme within our Department or several other measures which are also designed to tackle energy poverty. A certain amount of the funding will carry over from the previous year when, due to Covid-19, we were not able to carry out certain body works. However, the re…

We are introducing targeted measures; that is exactly what we did last week. A 20% reduction in public transport fares is targeted and real and will affect people every day. It will be introduced at the end of April and that will make a real difference to people’s everyday lives and their cost of living. The Deputy is right that people are exposed to these high fossil fuel prices, which are due to international factors and it is a signal that we have to rid ourselves of our dependency on that. An 80% grant to put i…

I have the greatest respect for Sinn Féin. We have worked together collectively over the years, so this robust argument is done out of respect. What I have to know is: what is Sinn Féin's position on this? It keeps changing. It says it would stop any increases in the carbon tax now. It will agree to the carbon tax increases that have occurred previously because it knows that is central to the ability of any Government, including a future Government, to pay for the things we need. However, it keeps changing. It is a…

-----who pays most and who are most at risk, that €1.5 billion will be very important for that community. That is why I stand up for it. I still do not have a clear understanding of where the Deputy says the money would come from in a real way, if not in this way.

As the Deputy said, NPHET is meeting today and it will issue a letter to the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. I look forward to seeing its advice. My view, which I am happy to share, is that we should start immediately by removing the requirement for schoolchildren to wear masks in school. It was introduced for good public health reasons, but there are also good reasons for them not having to wear masks, for the health of children in a wider context. I hope that can be done straight away. I have the sa…

I ran out of time before I was able to answer that question. I agree with the Deputy that the transformation of public transport has to be for the whole country. We could introduce a new flexi-ticket within the urban Dublin area, for example, very quickly because we have the Leap card and the swipe-on, swipe-off on the Luas. The difficulty is that we do not have that with the longer distance commuting services. I have to listen to the reality that the officials meet, which is that they have a difficulty in adapting…

I thank Deputy Grealish. He has been raising this issue privately and publicly consistently with me over the past two years. He has raised a very valid concern for the 54 families in a very difficult position. I absolutely understand and see the argument in the case he is making on their behalf. This is a controversial project that has been long delayed like many other transport projects in the country. It is particularly sensitive with regard to habitat issues and climate issues. Three cases for judicial review ha…