I sent it to the Minister.

Deputy Ó Snodaigh and I have agreed to switch over. I will take the first question, Question No. 64, and Deputy Ó Snodaigh will take Question No. 67.

Will the Minister provide a date for new applications for the sports capital grants 2023 and the amount that has been allocated and will she make a statement on the matter?

I would have thought he would be here this evening.

When I raised it with the Minister of State several weeks ago at the committee - the Minister, Deputy Martin, was there as well - he said he was in discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and, following those discussions, he would be able to say when applications would be open for people to apply. The last sports capital grant opened in 2020. It was more than was normally allocated, but that is purely because it was covering multiple years, rather than th…

We still do not have a date for when applications can be submitted. We do not have an amount. As the Minister of State said, there were multiple amounts in 2020, but that was to cover multiple years. I sincerely hope the allocation this time round will be more than previous allocations. I have seen the importance of continuing to enhance sporting facilities in my own town, with the feud, to encourage more young people to get involved in them. Is the Minister of State saying he still does not have a date? Next week,…

We cleared this earlier in the afternoon.

I see that now but we cleared it with the Ceann Comhairle's office.

I want to again raise the collapse of the dental treatment service scheme, DTSS. Hundreds of thousands of medical card holders the length and breadth of the State have no access to dental care. People with existing serious illness and deteriorating dental conditions are being denied access to care. On top of that, 5,000 primary school children in County Louth and 6,000 primary school children in County Meath have no access to regular checkups. We are now into the third year of this. How long does it take to reform …

Three years.

The scheme is not fit for purpose.

Three years.

This motion is very important for hundreds of thousands of families and individuals on low and fixed incomes. We are constantly trying to ensure that every section of Irish society gets some sort of relief during this cost-of-living crisis. We are forced to do this because the Government has been too slow or completely unwilling to act. Last week, we put forward a motion for mortgage interest relief. It was rejected out of hand by the Government. Rents in 2022 were 13.7% higher than in the same period in 2021. The …

What is the purpose or responsibility of any Government worth its salt? It is to look after all of its citizens, including the elderly and vulnerable, and to ensure fairness and that people get their rights and entitlements. Again again, successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments have failed the people. The report from the Attorney General published on Tuesday divides the citizens concerned into two convenient groups, those in public and private nursing homes. However, the report makes no reference to our mos…

Further to Question No. 1 of 17 November 2022, will the Minister provide an update on whether the wide range of alternative options being explored by the Government will be made available in time for the reopening of hotels to tourism in summer 2023, and on the engagement carried out by her Department on the senior officials group, including a copy of or details of the concerns she communicated on behalf of the tourism sector to the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth?

As the Minister said, the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation compiled a report that revealed that more than one in five tourist beds in Ireland are contracted by the State. That is 22% of the country's tourism accommodation capacity, including 15% of hotel rooms, to provide shelter for those fleeing Ukraine and the thousands of other asylum seekers from other countries. The fear is that the tourism season starts in early March and, judging from what the Minister has said, the figures are particularly high outside…

From the start, hotel accommodation was seen as a short-term solution. It is not an ideal medium-to-long-term solution for the families involved. We are six weeks away from when the tourism season starts. The Minister is not responsible for sourcing accommodation, and I am not for one moment saying she is, but she is responsible for the tourism sector. Apart from the OPW's 200 rapid-build homes that may be ready between early April and mid-2023, there does not seem to be a plan, which has been the problem from the …

The Minister of State said earlier that it was important that parents are reassured that their children get the care and support they need. I start by retelling a nightmare story endured by a family over the past 11 days. It is one of hundreds of stories that have happened under the watch of the Government. It is a story about a father and his 16-year-old child. It started on Monday, 16 January when the parent received a call from the school that the child had attempted suicide by overdose. She was taken by ambulan…

The Government states that the average wait for a national car test, NCT, should be 12 days. In reality, 60% of NCT test centres have no appointments available within the next five months. As of two weeks ago, nine testing centres had no appointment available until August. Drogheda is one of those centres. As a result of the long wait, the certificates of roadworthiness of motorists' vehicles will be out of date. A constituent told me she booked her test on 30 October 2022 and got for appointment on 29 May 2023. He…

When will the NCT centres be resourced? Will the RSA adhere to the commitment it has given in its NCT customer charter for free tests for those who face delays?