I hear what the Senator has said. I will relay that back to the Minister and to the office. The information I have been given is that the local authority performed works which, as a consequence, created or contributed to this issue. It therefore falls back to the local authority to address that. I hear, however, what the Senator is saying. Is it a safe routes to school scheme?

Perhaps the Senator might consider engagement with my own Department of Transport on the safe routes to school programme. There might be another way to progress the matter there. The Senator should continue to engage, which I am sure he will, with Cork County Council and with the Department of Education. If he would like to talk to me separately about the Department of Transport scheme, perhaps there might be an opening there.

Is there a speaker or a heckler? Or are there both? You are not ready to be one speaker instead of two hecklers.

Sorry, we have hecklers in chief and speakers in chief. Which one is it?

You might clarify your own policy.

That is not what you said six months ago.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle agus leis an Teachta. I thank Deputy Stanton for his kind comments. Indeed, I worked well with him when the shoe was on the other foot, when he was in ministerial office and I was a backbench Deputy. I thank him for the courtesy he extended to me at the time and his helpfulness in dealing with my queries. I hope I can reciprocate. I had the opportunity to visit County Cork on one of my first ministerial outings on Monday of this week. Granted, I was not in the Deputy's…

I thank the Deputy for the information he has provided in response to me. The problems in Castlemartyr appear to be causing an issue with the 31X proposal, if I understand correctly. The proposed new bus route between Midleton and Youghal will travel through Castlemartyr. Is that the issue?

The proposed route will have to go through it and that is the difficulty. As I understand it, the Deputy's proposal uses the existing greenway infrastructure, which would avoid the bottleneck pinch point at Castlemartyr. That is clear. It is not so much that it is being said that it is not possible but that it is not desirable, which is naturally slightly different. I hear what the Deputy has said. The view of the Department is that the 31X provides that connectivity alongside the other services that are being roll…

I look forward to working with the Deputy in this brief. He is Sinn Féin's spokesperson on transport and I know from the justice committee, where we worked together well, that he will be diligent in that regard. I look forward to continuing that relationship now that we are both in new roles. I extend my sympathies to the families of those who sadly lost their lives over last weekend and the past night or two. I am sure everyone in the House will agree that one fatality is one too many. However, this is a complex a…

I hear what the Deputy is saying. He stated that local authorities could not get funding from the Government. I want to hear about that if it is the case. I am surprised to hear it, as there has been a significant allocation. Some €658 million was allocated in the past year, 90% of which was directed towards maintenance and renewal work. That allocation was a €32 million increase on the previous year. On 31 May, an additional €30 million was allocated to local authorities, which I had confirmed yesterday, to tackle…

I listened with interest to and take on board the Deputy's comments. I am not sure it is entirely fair to suggest that local authorities are saying they cannot get works done. A staggered approach is taken and it is not just a case of being given the money and tar to fix a road. Rather, what is the collision data, what are the risks and what is the opinion of the local engineer, who is closest to the ground? Are there planning reasons for the issue? Are there other junctions? These works should entail a degree of d…

That is exactly what we would want to see. The Deputy mentioned interagency co-operation. A strong example of that was the recent implementation of an initiative by my predecessor, the Minister, Deputy Chambers, who signed a ministerial order on 21 June just before leaving this role to allow the sharing of collision data between agencies. Now the Garda and the Road Safety Authority can share data with each other. That was always the case but it was complicated by GDPR; that issue has been corrected. This was a comm…

I thank Deputy Durkan for the question. As he has said, there have been significant developments in this matter overnight and in the last couple of days which I very much welcome. My Department has been monitoring this industrial relations dispute for several weeks and I have been closely engaged since being appointed to this role this day last week. It is important to state that neither I nor the Minister, Deputy Ryan, have any statutory role or powers to exercise in this dispute. The industrial relations mechanis…

I thank Deputy Durkan. I would expect no less than a watching brief from my constituency colleague and will take on board the points that will be wisely made by him. I agree with his comments that this is critical, which is why I particularly welcome the intervention of the Labour Court, not just to hear the parties on request but to act on its own volition under the aforementioned section 26(5) procedure. In terms of those affected, it is important to point out that EU Regulation EC 261/2004 ensures that when a fl…

The Deputy is quite right that we have enjoyed relative industrial peace in this country in recent times and that is to be welcomed. It is a sign, largely, of a successful economy but also of empowered workers and unions and good relations between employers and employees. Thankfully, that has been the case, by and large, in recent times, notwithstanding the current dispute. The Taoiseach stated on Tuesday in this Chamber that there was only one way this could end. The only way any industrial relations dispute can e…

People understood at the local elections.

I thank the Deputy for his Topical Issue. As the new Minister of State at the Department of Transport since last Thursday, I am delighted to have the opportunity to address the House on this matter and engage on the Deputy's issue. The matter is as close to the Minister of State's, Deputy Butler's, heart as to the Deputy's and is of interest to the south-east region, public representatives and wider business and local communities. Waterford Airport is owned by Waterford Regional Airport plc and, as well as general …

I thank the Deputy. A couple of matters arise. He characterised this as not quite a six-year delay, but a five-year delay from 2019 to 2024. It is fairer to say that it is a six-month engagement, given that a business proposal was received by the Department in December 2023. Elements were missing from that, which required revisiting in April 2024 and further information was received at the end of May 2024. In actual fact, if we look at timelines, it is a six-month engagement. As the Deputy said, and I echo his sent…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle.