I am delighted the Minister is in the Chamber to respond to a couple of questions on dereliction. In the context of the Government's plans to tackle dereliction and bring back vacant units into use as homes throughout Cork county and city, will the Minister update the House on some of the work he is doing in that areas? Given the crisis we are in, it would be prudent for the Department to give a particular focus to this issue.

It is important to put the matter into context. We are in one of the greatest housing crises the State has ever faced and we need to use every resource we have at our fingertips, including the bringing back into use of vacant units throughout many towns and communities in my constituency and Cork city and around the country. One issue that has not been mentioned much in this House relates to the fact we are facing an international commodity crisis. It is yet to be established what effect this may have on the intern…

Many Deputies in constituency clinics and offices will have experienced the challenges constituents have in respect of securing one-bedroom accommodation. We know the pressures on social housing waiting lists throughout the country and my constituency is no different in that regard. Bringing vacant units back into use for housing could have an effect in this regard, particularly for people who want to downsize. Not everyone would like to sell their home and downsize to smaller units or to move from where they resid…

Where is the Deputy's solution?

I convey my gratitude to the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for attending in her capacity as the Minister of State at the Department of Health with responsibility for mental health and older people. An important issue in my constituency and municipal district has been prominent in the national news in recent weeks and days. It concerns the provision of mental health residential accommodation in the Owenacurra centre, which is due to be closed down by the HSE. Discussions are ongoing on the future of the day-care…

I thank the Minister of State for her response. While I am in Dáil Éireann, I stress the point that the loss of the residential service being provided at the Owenacurra centre will have a major impact in east Cork. It will leave the entirety of the southern side of the Cork East constituency without a residential facility. That is worrying to me as a Deputy for the constituency. I ask again if a budget can be found, either now or in the future, to retain some type of residential facility in the Midleton area. I acc…

I appreciate the opportunity to discuss the reforms that are coming to the local property tax. First and foremost, it is important to point out that this tax is one of the few taxes whereby people can see a tangible difference in terms of what it can do. I come from east Cork and I served as a member of Cork County Council prior to being elected to Dáil Éireann, which was a major privilege. Unfortunately, our local authority is one of the most underfunded local authorities in the country. That was recently confirme…

I thank Deputy Alan Farrell for allowing me to speak during his time. I am concerned about some of the actions announced by the Government yesterday, in particular the initiatives being undertaken to prepare for the return of international travel. This is something for which many people working in the aviation industry have been waiting for a long time. However, I am hearing from some of them that they are concerned about the Government's preparations for the return of international travel on 19 July, particularly …

Ní fheicim an Teachta MacSharry. Tá brón orm for the confusion, and I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. Leanfaidh mé ar aghaidh. I am happy to be here today to discuss many of the aspects in this Bill. It is important legislation regarding planning and development in response to disruption caused by restrictions introduced because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It provides for an additional period for the preparation of development plans required by planning authorities and gives planning authorities the option to extend…

I thank the Minister for being here. I want to use this important opportunity today, before the Government finalises the review of the national development plan, once again to push for the critical infrastructure projects that are badly needed in the constituency of Cork East. It is incredibly important that the Government gives priority to the Cobh access road and the Castlemartyr and Killeagh bypasses. We are far behind where we need to be on the level of road infrastructure required to handle the traffic levels …

I thank the Minister for his reply. I wish to point out a couple of issues to the Minister. The first is the Castlemartyr and Killeagh N25 potential upgrade that could be contained in the NDP review. Killeagh is not included in any of the replies I have received from the Department. All the Department acknowledges is Castlemartyr. I accept that the feasibility study only covered Castlemartyr. As the Minister knows, however, Castlemartyr is much more difficult from the point of view of topography, soil and rock in t…

With regard to the Cobh access road, it is important to take the opportunity to acknowledge that project. The existing infrastructure to access Great Island and the town of Cobh is utterly under-resourced. It is not up to scratch, and the council will say that. The engineers who have been looking at this for the past number of years will also say it. A significant amount of funding is required to deal with that issue. There is a requirement for that to be contained in the NDP because the project will come in at wel…

I am sharing time with Deputy Ó Cathasaigh. An extensive part of the constituency of Cork East is coastal. The communities involved in the fisheries in Youghal and Ballycotton, in particular, have expressed significant concern to me about the level of investment in our local coastal infrastructure. From the standpoint of the aquacultural and marine activity in my constituency, I am concerned about the level of coastal erosion taking place around the existing pier infrastructure at a number of locations in my consti…

I thank the Minister of State for being here dealing with her portfolio and responsibility for the area of aviation. There is no question our aviation sector and the 140,000 livelihoods supported by it before Covid-19 are under serious pressure. The Government must do absolutely everything it can to help rebuild our connectivity, the economic strength of the aviation sector before Covid and to provide the supports that are necessary to enable that to happen. At yesterday's meeting of the transport committee, I went…

Yes. Deputy Cathal Crowe is unable to attend the debate as he is at a meeting of the transport committee to discuss aviation. I am glad to have an opportunity to talk about some of the very significant changes that are coming down the line in terms of the CAP. I speak as somebody from a community that has greatly benefited from the current CAP. We must acknowledge that Ireland is a country with a range of different farming needs. Constituencies such as the Minister's in Donegal are miles apart, from both a topograp…

I ask the Tánaiste and Ministers of State about the potential for a remote working hub or digital working hub in the town of Youghal in the constituency of Cork East. Youghal is a large town, which has struggled for many years to attract employment and industry. The Government should consider this location for a remote working hub.

I thank the Minister of State for his response and look forward to meeting him later today in the chamber of commerce in Youghal to discuss this issue. Is that funding sufficient in the post-Covid era? My position is that it is probably not. It is something Government should give a greater priority to. To the full suite of Ministers and the Tánaiste present, I say that their Department has a huge opportunity to step in with the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, to further invest in remote working centres that have the ca…

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, for his co-operation and above all for his interest. It is great that he will be meeting representatives from the town's enterprise and business sectors. I will put this in context. Youghal is a town that suffered greatly from the loss of manufacturing jobs towards the start of the Celtic tiger, unfortunately. There were 4,000 people working in Youghal in the 1980s and 1990s in manufacturing and low-skill labour. Many of those jobs were let go because people were working …

I thank the Minister of State for being here to have a conversation with us on the issue of mental health. I have said it many times before but, as the youngest member of the Oireachtas, I will say this is obviously a very important issue to many younger people across society. First, I commend the Minister of State on the work she is doing on her own portfolio. It has not been easy to deal with that in the midst of a global pandemic and to handle also issues with older people. Perhaps that is where I will begin; it…

I very much welcome the news that came from the Government yesterday regarding the significant investment to restart and rebuild the economy. In particular, I welcome the €185.4 million that will be invested in rail infrastructure, primarily in my constituency, Cork East. As the Minister will be aware, I worked closely on this with him and his Department and also with the Department of Transport and the Taoiseach, and I thank them most sincerely for their assistance over recent months on this issue. It will help gr…