I wish to ask a supplementary question on the same matter. I welcome the Minister of State's commitment to youth diversion programmes. As regards youths' encounters with the criminal justice system, however, is the Minister of State aware of the anomaly whereby, under the Children Acts, if a minor is charged with a crime but not sentenced until they pass the age of 18, they will be sentenced as an adult, whereas if that same case comes before the court before their 18th birthday, they will be sentenced as a minor? …

I thank Deputy Durkan. Our other constituency colleague, Deputy Cronin, is also in the Chamber and I expect is about to speak. We have already heard from Deputy Berry so County Kildare is well represented in this debate, as it should be, as the home of the Defence Forces in many ways. I commend the Tánaiste on his work to date on leading this conversation. It is a conversation and not a foregone conclusion on any side of the House, certainly not to my mind. We need to review our defence and security policies. The e…

I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for allowing me to go ahead. I am doing clinics in north Country Kildare later, so I need to progress matters. I thank the Minister of State for being here to take this Topical Issue. I know it is a topic of great interest to her, and she has given great attention to it in her Ministry, along with her colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte. The Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, contacted me today to say that she is also working on it. In any event, the issue is the provision of…

I thank the Minister of State for her reply and for those figures. I acknowledge her and the Government's commitment to this area. I worry about the figures, however. The Minister mentioned in her reply the special classes that are already in existence, namely, Clane, Enfield, Leixlip, Maynooth, Naas, Prosperous and Sallins. Certainly, Clane, Naas, Prosperous and Sallins are areas that have been brought to my attention as being insufficient. They may be there, but they are not there in sufficient capacity and accom…

I will briefly respond to Deputy O'Donoghue's remark as he asked me a question. I do not have a Government car, but I have another car. I do not drive an EV at the moment but I drove a Prius happily for many years. The only reason I got rid of it was that it was destroyed with election posters and cable ties. There were scrapes and scratches on the back of it.

I sold it because it was driven into the ground.

I drove a Prius before many people did.

I do not have a Government car full stop.

I do not at the moment. I would be happy to drive one.

I am in the market for a new car. If an electric vehicle manufacturer wants to-----

Perhaps Deputy Danny Healy-Rae and I will do business after the debate.

I am open to the idea. I test-drove a hybrid petrol-EV model recently. I drove a Prius for many years before many people did and I found it extremely useful. I live in a rural area in Kildare. The only reason I got rid of it was that it practically fell apart after one election campaign too many. It had a good boot for posters. I can recommend it on that basis. Moving on to the substance of the amendments, I welcome the Minister's move to introduce a pause on some of the transitional amendments. It is wise of the M…

Yes.

That is the point.

I will need to use the cameras to get my time back.

I thank the Minister of State and wish her good luck in the new role she has been assigned. I have every confidence she will make a great success of it. I am very pleased we are moving now towards the establishment of a citizens’ assembly. At the outset, I thank my colleagues across the parties on the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice. I also thank my secretariat, the clerk, Alan Guidon, and his team, and all of the stakeholders who come in to us. Almost a year ago, we set out to have hearings on this subject. …

Yes. I think I was next in line.

At the outset I acknowledge the good work done by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and his team, the Minister of State and the Department in introducing this scheme which is badly needed. It has been some years or indeed decades in the making. It is delivering a programme for Government commitment so I acknowledge that and really welcome it. It follows on from the mica scheme where similar relief was provided and extends that to urban areas and duplexes, etc. Initiall…

Yes. The devil is always in the detail and there are a couple of questions my colleagues and I have. My question at the outset is that there are scenarios, and I have come across them myself, where in a multi-unit development one or more owners want to progress works and other owners say they are okay and stand back. How does that get addressed both practically and in terms of within the scheme? I have a second question and I do not know if I will get to it later. How does that work?

I thank the Minister for the outline of the scheme and indeed for the scheme itself which is very welcome. On one of the more positive aspects, as he has mentioned, I was concerned as to the retrospective application where some owners may have gone out on a limb and at their own cost, their own time and dime as they say. It may have been a struggle to do so but they took action themselves. It is very fair and right that they are included and that there is a retrospective application. I welcome that. One of my quest…