I thank the Minister. That information is good and positive. I acknowledge the positives. It is great to see there are so many projects in the pipeline but the problem is that they are in the pipeline and we need to get them delivered. The Minister referred to one that is approaching delivering after a painful, arduous process, long predating her own appointment as a Cabinet Minister. We are glad to see that happening. The Minister taught in Carrigtwohill and is familiar with that community. Back when she was in Ca…

I want to ask about the DEIS scheme, which is a very important scheme that has huge benefits for many disadvantaged communities. Because of the budget surplus, we have an opportunity to increase the level of support available to communities that missed out on DEIS in the last round, particularly in areas that have taken on a huge number of Ukrainian refugees, like Youghal in east Cork, predominantly due to the Quality Hotel emergency accommodation centre, which has almost 1,000 Ukrainian people in it. These towns n…

I want to take the opportunity to welcome Aghada National School and my extended relation, Mr. O’Neill, to the Gallery. They are very welcome.

I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 37 and the name of the Member in each case: Deputy Alan Dillon - to discuss policy and delivery of modular school accommodation. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire - to discuss the current crime prevention resources available in Mahon, Cork. Deputies Cian O'Callaghan, Joan Collins and Louise O'Reilly - to discuss the situation affecting workers at Iceland food stores. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd - to discuss the ve…

Minister, I acknowledge the severe gravity of the subject. If you want to take a moment to compose yourself, I can ask Deputy O'Dowd to respond.

That is no problem, given the gravity of the topic. I am sure all present agree it deserved the time. I thank the Minister of State.

I raise the DEIS scheme, which, as the Minister will know, is of huge importance to constituents in my area, particularly in Youghal. We have taken in a very substantial number of Ukrainian refugees, almost 1,000 in the town. There was already significant social need in that area. Is the Government looking at expanding the DEIS scheme further? Youghal very much needs supports for our three local schools that have not received DEIS status - only one got it on appeal - for the students in the local area, our new Ukra…

As the Minister is aware, Youghal is a town very close to my heart. It is where I grew up. It is a town I feel has been dealt an extremely poor hand by the Government, with the loss of more than 70% of our tourism accommodation permanently because of the sale of the Quality Hotel in Redbarn for use as an emergency accommodation centre. While this is something the local community has embraced, I do not feel enough has been done to provide additional DEIS educational supports. I plead with the Government to do someth…

The N25 bypass in east Cork is a huge issue of importance to me. I ask about the appointment of a design consultant. There seems to be nothing happening with it for the last number of weeks. I am getting quite frustrated with the level of progress. It seems to be stuck in officialdom. Will the Tánaiste and the Minister for Transport look into this matter to get the design consultant appointed so we know the proposed routes in the next number of months?

Next is Deputy Durkan.

No. Under the running order, we had a Sinn Féin slot, a Rural Independent Group slot for ten minutes and then another Government slot, with Deputy Durkan being the next speaker. It will then be Deputy Pringle.

I want to ask about and bring to the attention of the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the passport applications that are unsuccessful and the administrative issue that arises where an unsuccessful application is notified quite late in the process. The process does not necessarily allow applicants to amend the errors and there is a lack of an efficient and effective system in place should they wish to correct the errors and get their passports on time, which causes disruption in travel. Do the Department o…

The reason this is being raised is that we all know about the chaos that ensues when something goes wrong with a passport applications. As Deputies, we were all inundated with queries about that and the Minister's answer is perfectly justified in terms of the backlog that is there and that we are dealing post Brexit with people seeking Irish citizenship and passports, as well as the administrative issues around Covid-19 with people not applying. There was a staggeringly large number of people trying to get their pa…

Maybe there is not a backlog as such but the processing times for the applications, particularly for first-time applications, are what I am coming at. I accept there are systems in place and I acknowledge the fantastic and phenomenal work that is being done by officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs to try to cut down on waiting times, and some turnarounds have been as short as a number of days for people we have been dealing with. I am raising those genuine cases where people find themselves having identifi…

I came from the Committee of Public Accounts this morning, where we got a very thorough briefing on issues within An Bord Pleanála by its senior management. The members of senior management told us An Bord Pleanála is only processing 90 decisions per month, when it wishes to process 300. It has just €17.1 million in funding. We have a €26 billion of a surplus in tax revenues in the next two years. I am pleading with the Tánaiste to do something about the funding within An Bord Pleanála, to help it get to its desire…

The next question, Question No. 61, is from Deputy Cairns, who is not present and no one is taking it for her. One of my questions was grouped with it. Somebody from Fine Gael might want to take the question as well. The questions are grouped. The questions pertain to remote working hubs and high-speed broadband, if anyone is offering.

Does Deputy Durkan wish to proceed?

Lean ar aghaidh.

We will proceed to Question No. 65, in the name of Deputy Gould.

I am well aware that-----