While I am on my feet discussing this issue, it is important also to discuss morale within An Garda Síochána. I speak to many people around my own age - I am 27 years of age - who have come through the Garda training college and are going into the force. Another issue that is important in rural Ireland is garda transfers. Many members of An Garda Síochána come to me confidentially to try to get some advice and help. They feel that is the wrong thing to do, that it is a mistake and an error. There is a culture of fe…

I thank Deputy Troy for allowing me to use some of his time and the House for allowing me to speak. This is a very important issue to me personally. We must remember the prelude to why this came about through the good work of the previous Minister, Michael McGrath, and now with the Minister, Deputy Chambers. I recognise my constituency neighbour in the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. During the current Dáil, we saw the widescale withdrawal of commercial banking from communities across the country. Many Members of…

I want to add to the comments that have been made by Deputy Buckley in relation to the ongoing works. I want to acknowledge the assistance of the Minister of State and his Department. It has been very helpful to all three Dáil colleagues who are here with us in the Chamber: myself, Deputy Stanton and Deputy Buckley. In the limited time I have, I want to raise the need to progress the other areas that were put forward during Storm Babet as having a high risk of flooding. In particular, we need to see schemes progres…

The Minister's Green Party colleague, the Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan, has continued to oversee what is nothing short of a farcical situation when it comes to national roads funding, with just 34% of projects having gone to tender under pavement improvement schemes involving road safety and realignment and new national road schemes in this calendar year. We signed off on a capital plan in February 2024, three months later than is normally the case. This has been a continuous issue for the Minister, Deputy Ea…

Improvement projects cannot be funded. That is what is going on.

The non-alcoholic beer sector is experiencing very substantial growth of approximately 18% per annum in Ireland and there has been a 50% increase in production. This is wonderful news but the industry is looking for support from Government to bring about further increases in the sector. Will the Government look at supporting this area in budget 2025? It is key to encouraging safe drinking in Ireland. Those who do not want to consume alcohol may like to enjoy a non-alcoholic beer. This is a good thing for rural Irel…

I recognise this is a very difficult matter and some family members are in the Gallery. They are very welcome to Dáil Éireann today.

I will take this opportunity to congratulate Jack Chambers on his appointment as deputy leader of Fianna Fáil. I wish to ask about the N25 scheme in my constituency. The Tánaiste will know that it is important to my home town of Youghal, given the local need to have a bypass built for Castlemartyr and Killeagh. We have had three years of paperwork being passed around and reports being done. People are anxious to see diggers on site and a design consultant appointed. Will the Government update the House on the work …

I wish to ask the Minister about the OPW's delivery of the Midleton flood relief scheme. There is an urgent need to expedite the delivery of this scheme before another disastrous flood event takes place. Will the Government look at trying to speed this up with the OPW and Cork County Council so that we can get works that are urgently required under way? I would highly encourage the use of the Arterial Drainage Act as an effective mechanism for delivering this flood relief scheme in an urgent and proper fashion rath…

As a formality, I have to ask Deputy Smith to move the motion.

Deputy, please. You have ten minutes to reply.

Deputies, please.

The Tánaiste is over time.

I wish to raise an issue that is very important to people across the north Cork area including in Fermoy and Mitchelstown. Unfortunately, I am meeting a huge number of people who are retired or who have complicated healthcare needs and who want access to GP services across the north Cork area. In north Cork, we have two primary care centres but they are under serious pressure because of a lack of GP services. My siblings all work in the healthcare setting, in pharmacy, and others are studying medicine. Indeed, I am…

I thank the Ministers for being here. I congratulate them on their new roles. I thank especially the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, for remaining in his current role. I ask this question around the increased cost of business, ICOB, grants which were made available, about their uptake, particularly in the area of County Cork, and if this information can be provided to the House, please.

I thank the Minister for that information. These, along with other measures, are extremely welcome. The costs on businesses are of great significance. When it comes to energy prices, that is something which needs to be urgently tackled because we are out of sync with the rest of Europe when it comes to the cost of energy per unit price. When one also looks at the profits which are being made within those utility firms, this is something which needs to be taken up by the consumer protection agencies we have here. Co…

Members of Cork County Council are well able to fire a torpedo up here to give out about Oireachtas Members and Ministers when they are not happy but that level of money being paid out is entirely unacceptable. It is not the fault of the Minister or the Department officials when other local authorities seem to be doing this without any concern or issue. It needs to be on the record of the House here that this is not acceptable and needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Businesses are closing on main streets …

I want to raise the national catchment flood risk assessment and management programme, CFRAM. Storm Babet caused major devastation in my constituency, in Cork North-Central and Waterford. A number of the places in my constituency that were flooded as a result of the storm, including Castlemartyr, Mogeely and Rathcormac, had flood management plans in place. There were also plans to carry out relief works in these areas. However, they are caught up in what is referred to as tranche 2, which is another delaying mechan…

I was waiting but the Ceann Comhairle took my joke. I join Deputy Flaherty in welcoming his guests. The issue we are discussing is of huge relevance at the moment. In my constituency of Cork East, whether in the local villages, towns or out in the countryside, time and again I meet small employers. I am not talking about the companies with between 50 and 100 employees. I am talking about the cafés, butcher shops, hairdressers, barbers, publicans or restaurateurs. The report coming back is unfortunately not good. It…

I thank the Minister of State for being here this morning. I wish to raise the issue of speech and language services that is affecting the east Cork area. We have wonderful healthcare professionals working across the healthcare service in County Cork and Cork city and in other services in west Waterford which are used by people in my constituency. However, we have problems around resourcing. Unfortunately, one of these areas is speech and language therapy. Speech and language therapy is of huge importance to younge…