I thank the Minister for his detailed response. He addressed most of the points I raised. If he does not have time to respond further, he might take the following point away as a consideration. Management companies will play a central role in this, which is set out in the draft legislation and the scheme. There are still several legacy issues with management companies around the country. Some have been convened and some have been incorporated. Some operate well and some, unfortunately, operate in a dysfunctional ma…

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, for taking this Topical Issue. My question relates to the availability of school places in north Kildare. As the Minister of State is aware, north Kildare is in the heart of the commuter belt and has a growing population. As always, there are growing pains. This is not new, but it does remind me of the early noughties when we had this situation before in 2005. Some 20 years later, I had hoped it would not recur, but unfortunately it has. If I look around my constituenc…

I thank the Minister of State for his response and his kind words and acknowledgement concerning my work in north Kildare. Laois in his own constituency is experiencing similar growing pains, which the Minister of State advocates on regularly. I am aware of the projects the Minister of State mentioned and there has been investment in a number of schools in north Kildare. If these were all new projects about to come on line, I would look forward to a future with them open, but many of them are already up and running…

I welcome the progression of this legislation through to Second Stage. It is great to see it coming along before the end of this term. I take a moment to commend the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, for his determination and diligence in stewarding this Bill to the stage of publication and Second Stage. I know he has made it his priority since he took up office and I salute him on that. As Chair of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, I was very happy to work with him on it. We have engaged and published a r…

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, for taking this Topical Issue matter. I have been in touch with the Department for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and have spoken to the Minister, Deputy Simon Harris, directly and know he is engaging on the issue and recently met students involved. I acknowledge from the outset that the Government is engaging on the matter. The issue I raise relates to Maynooth University in my constituency of Kildare North. It is a very successfu…

I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I acknowledge that the Minister has engaged on the issue. I appreciate the Minister of State's response that there is no Government money at involved. With respect, I do not entirely agree with that. The university is publicly funded. I accept that the funding for the project came from another source. The university receives funding from a variety of sources. A publicly funded university has reneged on its commitments to students. Even worse than it being public money, i…

My question relates to the position of Irish citizens in Russia. What advice is being given to those people in light of the mobilisation and continued deterioration of conditions?

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I probably will not need it and will try to be efficient with my time. I thank the Minister for the update. There are three categories of information regarding the situation of Irish citizens in Russia. One is the degree to which consular assistance remains available onsite and on the ground. The Minister mentioned the embassy presence continues. What practical assistance can be given to citizens in that situation? To what extent are they susceptible to mobilisation? What is the l…

That has answered the question. I thank the Minister.

I move: That Dáil Éireann shall take note of the Report of the Joint Committee on Justice entitled "Report on meeting on 27th April 2021 on the topic of GDPR", copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 22nd July, 2021. I thank Deputies Pringle, Costello and the other members of the Joint Committee on Justice, of which I am Chairman, who have engaged in producing this report, some of whom cannot be present today. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, for taking the debate and Deputy Buckley and the …

She is the hardest-working Minister in the House.

I thank the Minister of State. I agree with Deputy Pringle that she is a very hardworking Minister who is performing a number of duties in this House at the moment, not least her own. Well done to her on that. It is noted. I thank all Deputies who took part in the debate and the members of the committee, as well as Deputy Buckley, who I know speaks on behalf of Deputies Daly and Martin Kenny. I thank him for bringing those views into the room today. I also thank the tireless staff of the committee, in particular th…

Exactly. We will be inviting plenty more over after this. I thank the Minister of State and all the Members who participated in this debate. I am glad I had the opportunity to have this debate tonight.

My question relates to the reliability of bus services in County Kildare. However, before I get on to the issue of buses, I should just share with Members present that, ironically, I almost missed my question because my train service was delayed on the way in this morning. The 8.20 a.m. from Sallins is repeatedly late. Not only does it delay that train, but that connects to the Hazelhatch train, which does the inner shuttle. It means that a trainload of commuters can be left stranded when it is late. I would apprec…

The difficulty here is that there were issues with services, and the 120 in particular, pre-Covid and pre-Go-Ahead. In fact, it was considered by the regular commuters on the bus that the service would improve and there was a bit of excitement about it. I replied to some representations at the time saying that there was light at the end of the tunnel because a new operator was coming on board and the service would improve. That was the assumption. There is great frustration and disappointment that rather than impro…

That is a very good idea. It makes perfect sense to do that, rather than having some casual labour being brought in for a route here or there and being let go again. Having an apprenticeship model as a career path is the way to go. Perhaps the Minister can point the NTA towards that because the driver shortage is across the board. I will share a few examples with the Minister. I have had multiple representations to my office over the past year. One example concerns a local business that has taken on a Ukrainian ref…

Does the Minister not have a response?

Will the Minister ask the NTA to look at that? If people know it is coming, they will wait.

I am sharing time with my colleague, Deputy Cronin, and we send our best wishes to Deputy Durkan. Deputy Catherine Murphy supports the motion as well. We in Kildare tend to work together on these issues, which is a good and collaborative way to finish out the term. It is very much a team effort. The points have already been outlined. Gaelscoil Chill Dara, which took a long time to get established, campaigned for many years to have this second level Gaelscoil established in Kildare. The current mayor of Kildare, Cou…

I thank the Minister of State for the update. As has been said, the refurbishment works are overdue and need to progress. While they will be welcome when they do take place, these works are really a sticking plaster. Some clarity on the long-term plan is needed. It is not a bad idea for the school to occupy the site of the old post-primary school but, as I have said, it is not suitable in its current condition. It would need a significant upgrade either through knocking it down and rebuilding or through a complete …