The residential zoned land tax is due to come into place on 1 February 2025. Is there any case for a further review of it? One-size-fits-all does not help in my constituency of Sligo-Leitrim or in south Donegal. Local authorities need to identify demand and growth centres. We need to have a further review of the residential zoned land tax.

Recently, we have heard very worrying revelations involving the Sinn Féin Party and its knowledge of serious and disturbing child sexual abuse crimes. We now know this party, which operates across the Border from Dublin, knew somebody under investigation for serious crimes involving children was moved from working for the party to working for a charity where the person had access to children. Does the Minister for Justice agree that the Leader of the Opposition should make a statement in the Dáil regarding her part…

I thank the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, and the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne for the work they have done. It is great to see €250 million in this capital grant. I remember the first time my local club got its first sports capital grant back in the late 1980s. We got £20,000 and we were absolutely delighted. That £20,000 made a difference in the area. This is happening in every town and village around the country. It is very welcome. There are a lot of clubs in my constituency of Sligo, Leitrim, north Rosc…

I raise the issue of funding for media and core funding for journalism schemes, which may not have any consideration, and funding for local radio, particular in the context of the public service broadcasting remit. Last month, local radio in my constituency provided absolutely exceptional coverage of the results of the local and European elections. I request that any future proposals on public service broadcasting should ensure substantial ring-fenced support for local radio to allow it to continue to deliver core …

I also congratulate Deputy Chambers on his appointment as deputy leader of the Fianna Fáil Party. He has many links in Dublin, but also in the west, and I wish him well. There is a backlog in the devolved section of the Department of Education as regards modular units for many schools around the country. One school that I am interested in is my local school of Scoil Ursula, Strandhill Road, Sligo, which my daughter attends. The school has been waiting more than a year for a prefab. The current accommodation is unte…

I thought I might have 55 minutes.

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I thank the Minister of State for taking the time to come into the House for this Topical Issue. I am sure many Deputies, Senators and councillors throughout the country will agree with me when I say representations about school transport are consistently among the most difficult issues that come before our constituency offices. The issues centre around pick-up points, spaces, eligibility, concessionary tickets, designated closest schools and roads that are not on the bus routes. …

I thank the Minister of State. Over the years, school transport has been a very complicated issue. The Government and its Ministers have much to be doing. Sometimes people may say that an issue falls outside their remit and is the responsibility of Bus Éireann or some other entity. We need leadership on this issue in order to address the situation. Ireland has changed a great deal. Many people have cars, but if we want parents of young children to continue to work in this robust economy, everything must be done to …

This time last year the Tánaiste generously hosted a very successful Northern Ireland trade event in Iveagh House. This is an alliance between Hospitality Ulster, Manufacturing Northern Ireland and Retail Northern Ireland. Last week, the same trade event was held in Westminster and the Irish embassy generously hosted them in the embassy that evening. On 25 June, the event is again taking place in Iveagh House, and I believe the Tánaiste is hosting. We need to do an awful lot more of this. There are other organisati…

The Department has given funding for transport to address the fodder crisis which has put farmers under pressure. We need to do more. We need to come up with a voucher scheme because farmers, certainly those in the north west who are on marginal land, are really feeling the pain and we need to assist them as quickly as possible.

I thank the Minister and Minister of State for the work they are doing. We have dealt with many evolving issues in the past four years since they took office and I thank them for sitting down and listening, not only to me but to the farmers in my constituency. I appreciate that. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on behalf of the farmers I represent and to highlight the unique challenges that many of them have to face due to marginal land holdings. The constituency I represent which includes the hinterland …

I thank the Minister and the Minister of State for their great work. Many clubs throughout the country are eagerly waiting for the sporting grants. There are far too many of those clubs in my constituency to mention. However, the one area I am very interested in is the large-scale sport infrastructure fund. I represent Sligo Rovers in the north west. I was in Tallaght Stadium last Friday night. The result was not great but the stadium was absolutely fantastic. It was provided courtesy of South Dublin County Council…

There is considerable concern across my constituency of Sligo–Leitrim, north Roscommon, south Donegal and, indeed, many others regarding the lack of available grant funding to apply for an extension of the sewerage schemes in many of our local towns and villages. Some years ago, prior to the establishment of Irish Water, the Department of housing provided significant funding on a yearly basis to local authorities and communities where there were ten to 15 houses on the outskirts of a town and village. Effectively, …

Applications are eagerly anticipated for the large-scale sports infrastructure fund by regional sporting organisations. I am trying to find out when the Minister expects this fund to open. Sport plays a huge role in people's lives and one such sports club is Sligo Rovers Football Club in my area. The Acting Chair will know how important it is to the community. It is a community-based football club with a long and proud history. It is one quarter-owned by the people of Sligo and is supported by people in Sligo, in t…

I thank the Minister of State, and I look forward to the application process. He said that the Government's fundamental aim in its national sports policy is to increase the levels of participation in sport and physical activity across the population. This has a specific focus on less represented groups, including women and girls. A lot of good progress has been made in Sligo, and I want to pay tribute to the women's and men's teams, and the many youth teams there. We have seen a lot of funding going around the coun…

As the Minister is aware, the Government has a plan to reduce the cost of part-time education, which was announced in the budget. He is aware that many people in counties Sligo and Leitrim, and throughout the country, are part-time students. In my constituency, Atlantic Technological University, ATU, which we are very proud of, offers a number of part-time education courses. Often, however, students who are part-time cannot access Student Universal Support Ireland grants. We have to address this to make sure that p…

On behalf of the constituents and the members of Fine Gael in the constituency of Sligo-Leitrim, north Roscommon and south Donegal, I want to send my condolences and sympathies to Finola Bruton, the Bruton family and my colleague Richard Bruton. John Bruton was a man of principle, ideas, honour, integrity and passion. He was also a great man of honesty and fun. I want to talk about my two meetings with John Bruton. The first was in 2002 during the famous Seanad campaign. Anybody who understands a Seanad campaign wi…

The Tánaiste will be aware that last year the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, announced over €50 million for communities across Ireland who opened their village or town to so many people from Ukraine fleeing war and aggression from Russia and the Putin regime. The funding has been allocated across all local authorities based on the number of new arrivals located there. Many communities still have the same concerns about the influx of people. They often highlight the lack of community facilities such as playgrounds, spo…

I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss this very important charities Bill which, as the House is aware, revises and updates the 2009 Charities Act. I thank the Minister of State for taking time to come to the House today but also for his work in this area. We are all too aware of the various news stories over the past number of years detailing various accusations. It is a fact that some people involved in working and volunteering in some charities misappropriated funds and used those same organisations for th…

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, for coming to Sligo last Friday. His trip was very informative and welcome. I also thank him for taking this Topical Issue on the community involvement scheme, CIS. The House, especially those of us who were members of our local authorities before becoming Members of the Oireachtas, will be aware that the CIS was fully embraced and taken up by many people living in rural communities. The scheme involves residents living around a section of public road putting forward th…