I thank Deputy O'Meara for raising this important issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport. While the Minister has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport, neither the Minister nor his officials is involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The statutory obligation for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally rests with the National Transport Authority, NTA, which works with the public transport ope…

The Deputy makes a very good argument for this, and I fully appreciate where he is coming from. Something that might help to strengthen the Deputy's case is the fact that the young adult card scheme was broadened in 2022 to include eligible services operated by commercial bus operators on an opt-in basis. Individual commercial operators chose to participate, and the NTA then compensated them for the agreed discount and the fare that was forgone, effectively. This was done to ensure that young people benefited from …

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan. I thank Deputy Geoghegan for raising this important matter and providing the opportunity to give clarity. I hope the Deputy gets that clarity from the comments that the Minister has asked me to make on his behalf. I am aware that this matter has been discussed by the Committee of Public Accounts and that the Department has responded in writing to a range of queries from the PAC. First, I would like to set out the legislative position regarding a…

I thank the Deputy and fully agree it is a very complex area. We need to make sure we are getting this right. There is a long-standing process around age verification of unaccompanied minors seeking international protection in place. That process will continue to be the practice until the new International Protection Bill is enacted and all of the relevant measures behind it come into force. On behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, I thank the Deputy for giving us the opportunity to have this discussion on th…

The Deputy will be glad to know I will not say "dry summer" or "flooding".

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is obviously a really important issue for the people he represents and it must be very frustrating for them. The Deputy will appreciate the supply of public water and the provision of water services in general are, as the Deputy alluded to, matters for Uisce Éireann in the first instance. Uisce Éireann has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels. The Minister has no function regar…

I cannot because the process is only at the initial stages. A case for the mains rehabilitation works in the Adrigole area is currently under consideration by Uisce Éireann. It has not made a determination on that. Only when it makes a determination on that will it be possible to move forward with a timeframe. The frequency of bursts is taken into consideration when it prioritises water main rehabilitation projects. We have outlined that there have been 18 bursts in a short period of time. That will be taken into c…

Where?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. I welcome the Deputy's remarks at the start of his contribution that he is not against renewable energy measures. As he will be aware, the Programme for Government 2025 - Securing Ireland’s Future has reaffirmed Ireland's targets of 80% of electricity demand to be met by renewables in the near term, with plans to move to net zero by 2050. The deployment of renewable electricity, includi…

I take this opportunity to reaffirm to the Deputy that the Government and, in particular, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage are absolutely committed to working towards the publication of a national planning statement on solar energy development. That is in line with our programme for Government commitments. We are currently undertaking a scoping exercise in that regard. It is at an early stage, but work is under way. This work will include all the appropriate public consultations and the need…

I acknowledge the work of Deputy Whitmore in bringing forward this Private Members' Bill on the subject of just transition and her and her party's commitment to this topic. I also commend Sinéad Mercier and the unions, which I know worked with Deputy Whitmore on this. I thank Deputy Gibney for her intervention. This time three weeks ago, I was the Minister of State with responsibility for digitalisation, so I am particularly interested in what Deputy Gibney said about AI. In line with the national climate objective…

The Bill is being opposed.

I thank the Deputies for their feedback. As set out in my opening statement, the reason the Government is opposing this Bill is due to the fact that we have already set up the commission on an administrative basis, and we want it to get on with the work we have tasked it with and we then want to review that to see whether it is working. At that point, once we have the review, we will be making a decision around a statutory footing. Also, the landscape in which we are making this decision has seen significant develo…

I thank all of our Senators who have contributed today, in particular Senator Clonan for bringing forward this Bill forward. It is great to hear that his son Eoghan is in the House. I am sure it is an important day for him. I reassure Senator Flynn that I dropped into that event the Ceann Comhairle is hosting today for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. It is a really good initiative. I welcome the opportunity to speak to the House to reassure its Members that this Government is fully committed to …

I thank the Cathaoirleach for his warm wishes. I welcome everybody in the Gallery, and particularly Seán Keane, a transition year student who is working with me this week, and who is here to make sure I do a good job on this Commencement matter. At the outset, I wish to say I am taking this on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Foley. The Minister thanks Senator Scahill for raising this really important issue, and offering me the opportunity to respond on her behalf. Since 2016, as the Senator is aware, the access and …

That is a really worthwhile idea to explore. Based on the evaluation, and the Senator read out some of the statistics that came from that evaluation, AIM is now being extended on a phased basis as funding becomes available. As a first step in this extension, since the beginning of September last year, all AIM-targeted supports have been available to ECCE children beyond the time they spent in the ECCE programme. It is intended that over time all children with additional needs in early learning and childcare service…

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. I know it is very dear to her heart. It was her own secondary school that she attended. It is very commendable that as a past pupil, she is here in the House and enabled to advocate for and represent her community and her former school. I will take this opportunity to welcome students from St. Joseph's College to the Seanad. I hope they find this debate an interesting one. Their school was in this situation a number of years ago. Thankfully, the Tánaiste opened a brand-n…

I thank the Senator for outlining that situation in relation to the primary school and safer routes. That is obviously a big programme the Government is investing in. We want to encourage more children to walk, cycle or be dropped safely at their schools. I am very disappointed to hear that any delays with the secondary school might be having an impact on the primary school. I will raise that directly with the Minister for Education and Youth. Surely, there is a way we can make sure that whatever footpaths will not…

I thank Senator Kyne for tabling this important issue. The Minister for Transport has responsibility for overall policy and Exchequer funding in relation to the national roads programme and he has asked me to take this matter on his behalf. I start by saying thank you to the Senator for his strong advocacy on behalf of Galway and Connemara over several years. He read out a huge list of areas where progress is happening, projects that are being delivered and funding that has been in place. This is down to strong loc…

I thank the Senator for his understanding on this. I appreciate that the response does not answer the question of when it will start. As he outlined, it is a very complex project but it is something the Government is absolutely committed to. It is important to note that €10.5 million in Exchequer funding has been allocated this year alone for the national road network in Galway city and county. For example, Galway County Council received over €5 million for capital protection and renewal, over €3 million for new ro…