I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I accept that the Minister met the stakeholders in the past week and promised to reply to them next week on what he can do for the industry. Maximum pressure must be put on the financial institutions to give extra overdraft facilities to help pig farmers with their cash flow. That will not be enough, however. A package must be provided for the sector. Feed costs are expected to rise by another €30 a tonne in the next month to six weeks. Unfortunately, energy costs still …

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. I will be parochial in my comments and I make no apology for that. My home town of Thurles has an ever-growing reputation as an academic centre. There are four excellent second level schools in the town, two of the very few boarding girls' schools in the country, namely, Presentation Secondary School and Ursuline Secondary School, the Christian Brothers Secondary School, Thurles, where I was educated, and Coláiste Mhuire Co-Ed. We have ever-expanding academic activiti…

Mental health is an issue that we discuss frequently in this House, and rightly so. Drug use and addiction are two of the major contributory factors to mental health problems. In north Tipperary, we have a voluntary organisation, CARMHA Ireland, which offers a vital counselling service to a large number of clients. It is falling between two stools and is failing to get funding from the HSE. It will have to cease its operations very shortly. I ask the Taoiseach to direct the HSE to see what mechanism can be used to …

In the past few minutes I have been sitting in the Chamber the focus has been on the tension between Ukraine and Russia and the huge impact it is having. We think back to stories we heard about the Cuban crisis and the standoff there between the United States and Russia in the early 1960s. In the few brief minutes I have I wish to focus on the huge impact this is having on people's economic lives in this country and on energy costs. What can we do to alleviate the hardship that is happening at the moment and the co…

Youth mental health is one of the greatest challenges faced by our society. I thank the Minister of State for allocating a Jigsaw centre to Thurles. It is operating and is a great help to people experiencing mental health issues. Hopefully, we can extend that service when the Covid-19 restrictions are over to spokes all around the county and continue to develop that worthwhile service. This House is not nearly focused enough on addiction and the role it plays in mental health issues among young people. Talk to a gr…

First, I must say I am extremely disappointed that I must raise this issue in the Dáil tonight. As a Government Deputy, I am disappointed with the Minister's decision to withdraw funding for the N24 from Waterford to Cahir. This is a massively important infrastructure project for the south of the country and, indeed, the west of Ireland. Its importance has grown even greater with Brexit and the importance of the Rosslare Europort for getting produce out of this country. The selection of the route for the N24 has be…

I appreciate the Minister of State's reply but the bottom line is that for 2022, funding is not available for this route selection. The whole road from Limerick Junction to Waterford is of major economic importance for my county. On the section from Waterford to Cahir, Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir urgently need the bypasses this road would provide. As I stated, this concerns the people who have been affected by the delay in route selection. Their land has been sterilised for a long number of years at this stage and …

I also raise the question of funding for the N24 Waterford to Cahir road. This was at an advanced stage of picking a route and the consultants that were engaged to do the work must clearly be disengaged. There are a number of people along those three corridors for the proposed route and they have been told their land will be frozen for another prolonged period, which is just not acceptable. Money has already been spent on surveys and consultancy to get the project to this stage. There is a serious question mark abo…

I thank Deputy Cairns for sharing her time. It is very much appreciated. I also thank the Minister and his officials for arranging to give a briefing to the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and Marine this morning. As has been said, these amendments came out of the blue for the committee. This morning's briefing was very beneficial to the members and we greatly appreciate it. I welcome the amendments relating to small plantations on farms. I welcome that farmers will not need to go through a rigorous procedure …

I also wish to raise the issue of the hospitality sector. There is huge recognition in the sector of the significant support this Government has given it throughout this unprecedented crisis. Some employers were in contact with me this morning who are worried about how the new PUP will affect employees if they have to restrict their hours. A number of requests have been made to me by hoteliers and people in the hospitality sector. They are asking for the restoration of the EWSS employment supports for hospitality b…

The Taoiseach visited Tipperary university hospital, TUH, in Clonmel some weeks ago to open a new modular unit. He was taken on a tour of the hospital. Like many hospitals across the country, it is under huge pressure. When I visited it last Friday evening, it was at 111% capacity. When the Taoiseach was there three weeks ago, they put plans for the St. Michael's unit before him. With that they could provide 33 extra beds at a very reasonable cost, which they envisage as one third of the cost of normal infrastructu…

I do for important things like that, Taoiseach.

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for selecting this issue. Energy costs are rising which is really putting pressure on households and businesses. We have all heard reports of the numerous price hikes that energy providers have inflicted on customers all over the country in the last couple of months. At this stage, people who are living alone and those who are struggling financially are desperately trying to figure out how they will meet their energy bills over this winter. I wish to raise a specific issue that was…

I thank the Minister of State. The reason most of these people were tempted into fixed-price contracts was following promises of reduced costs to them. While I accept what the Minister of State has outlined that much of the increase in electricity costs is outside of our control, it is not all outside of our control and we have made decisions that have impacted on energy price increases. Consumers in my constituency entered into a fixed-price contract. Such a contract is very simple, it means that a person is on th…

Media reports at the weekend indicated that the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, has received an independent report that addresses the importation of peat into this country. The media reports indicate what we all know, that it is environmental, economic and ethical madness to be importing peat into this country. Has the Minister of State received this independent report and if he has when are the recommendations going to be implemented?

I again raise the ambulance service in the mid-west region, a matter I have had to raise on several occasions in the past 12 months. Unfortunately, crews in our area are constantly being deployed to other HSE areas. Deputies elsewhere say the same is happening in their HSE areas. It is evident there are not enough crews on the ground. The HSE is measuring performance on the response time of the crews. I ask the Minister to ask his Cabinet colleague, the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, to get a measurement of the…

I move: That Dáil Éireann shall take note of the Report of the Joint Committee on Agriculture and the Marine entitled ‘Issues impacting the Forestry Sector in Ireland,’ copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 2nd March, 2021. I am sharing time with Deputy Sherlock. As Cathaoirleach of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, I welcome the opportunity to open the debate on the report. The committee held four meetings with stakeholders. Since the publication of the report, we have held a furt…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. The Minister of State has heard the passionate pleas of Members here. The Ceann Comhairle has commented on the remarkable number of contributors to this debate on a Thursday evening. There is great concern for the forestry sector but there is also a great realisation of what the forestry sector can do for rural Ireland. I will mention forestry contractors, who are often forgotten in the debate about forestry. Those contractors have come under significant financial pressure in recent yea…

It is essential that forestry, particularly afforestation, is incorporated into the new environmental scheme proposed under Pillar 2 in the next five-year Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, programme. Last time around, participants in the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, were prohibited from planting their land during the five-year programme. If we are to have availability of land in the next five years of the CAP forestry programme, it is essential that the environmental scheme formulated in the next …

In his budget speech, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, allocated €30 million for new drugs to ensure our citizens have access to the best high-tech drugs available globally. I have made the case that Epidiolex should be reimbursed by the HSE numerous times in the House. It is a life-saving cannabis-based drug that can prevent serious seizures in certain cases. I have been working with the parents of a young girl, Lauren McGrath, for the past 18 months to try to get this expens…