An important survey done by the National Youth Council of Ireland shows that seven in ten young adults have considered leaving this country to go abroad for a better quality of life. As a young person in politics supporting the Government, I want to ask the youngest member of the Cabinet how the Government feels about this specific issue. We know the economy is in a sound and solid position but people are not feeling that in their ordinary lives, particularly the young people who want to access housing and a better…

Given the fact that stamp duty went from 4% to 9% in the period between 2005 and 2007, and collapsed by over 80% when the crash happened in Ireland, we look now at multinationals paying corporation tax accounting for over 30% of Exchequer revenue. Does Government see a danger in this given that 90% of that corporation tax, paying 30% of Government's income in a year, is being paid by just 10% of companies of scale in this country? To me, this is an alarming risk over a three to four-year period. Is Government spend…

I raise the issue of improving Local Link services in the east Cork constituency. I highlight specifically the need for better public transport. Thousands of people across the constituency are concerned about this problem. I also acknowledge that over 1,200 signatures were collected by our office through Councillor Patrick Mulcahy specifically about ensuring there are more fit-for-purpose Local Link services. East Cork is an area that suffers from significant traffic congestion. We need substantial upgrades to the …

I acknowledge the response. I am coming to this with a solution-focused approach. I have seen in Athlone in particular how successful a local town-based bus service can be in providing state-of-the-art public transport connectivity for people living in the housing estates and satellite urban areas near the town. Midleton is one of the fastest growing towns in Ireland. A new town adjoining Midleton, Water Rock, is currently under construction and is expected to have a population of more than 4,000 in the near future…

Sinn Féin is the only party raising money in America.

From their Provo supporters.

I raise the issue of the new community nursing unit in Youghal, a 60-bed unit comprising two 25-bed blocks and, in addition, a ten-bedroom dementia care unit. This is very much needed in Youghal as part of the renewal of our infrastructure, particularly the replacement of the Cois Abhainn building and also Youghal Community Hospital. I would like to ask about the business case. The Tánaiste and the Minister for Health are here representing the Government. Can they find out whether this is being completed? We were t…

Will the Government consider any new measures in the forthcoming budget to support the growth of the indigenous sectors in Ireland and to encourage more retail investment? I do not need to tell the Tánaiste the importance of small and medium-sized companies in this country. When we see the enormous exposure Ireland has regarding our corporation tax receipts, although it is a huge benefit to the economy, there is also a risk if we ignore Irish businesses and do not do enough to support them, foster them and help mor…

I thank the Tánaiste and appreciate his response. Yesterday, we saw some very important information come from the International Monetary Fund that effectively warned Ireland about a level of exposure our economy has when it comes to bloated expenditure and wastage of public money and the risks in our economy, such as the advances in artificial intelligence. They are things the Government cannot afford to ignore. I fear that we are not quite at 2008 levels yet, but we are back in 2005, 2006 and 2007, when the Celtic…

I appreciate the Tánaiste's response. Undoubtedly, the agencies he mentioned, including the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, have done great work. As Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, I commend them on the huge body of work they have done over many decades. Beyond politics and beyond what happens in this House, they are working diligently on behalf of the State across the world and that has to be commended. We have to come to terms with the fact that AI will change the wor…

I ask the Minister about the needs of the east Cork area. East Cork is one of the fastest growing regions in the country. It is expected to deliver 40% of Cork County Council's future housing target growth. We have a population of 50,000 people. There is a new town being constructed in Water-rock, while €1.4 billion is being invested in the new Cork metropolitan area rail corridor. The problem we have, unfortunately, is with capacity for recreational facilities in the east Cork area. We are competing with developer…

I raise the possibility of having nuclear energy in Ireland. As people across both sides of the House will be aware, I am bringing forward legislation to remove the prohibition on generation of power by nuclear fission. I would like to get an idea from the Tánaiste, the leader of our coalition partners in government, of his views on whether this is possible. As we are in the House and it is being discussed by Members on both sides, Ireland now has the most expensive energy market in the European Union. We need to a…

Sometimes I wonder whether Róisín Shortall had a point but I will say this. We have the possibility to follow what other countries in the 27 EU countries have done already by implementing nuclear power. We can look at Finland. The grand committee of the Finish Parliament was in Leinster House two weeks ago. Finland has the same population as Ireland and 40% of its energy comes from nuclear power. As a consequence, its citizens, small businesses and the economy of Finland have the cheapest energy in the European Uni…

The Tánaiste's comments are welcome and the fact that we are having this debate is a healthy thing. Input from all sides of the House would be welcome, and that is why I am proud to bring this forward. We need to discuss dealing with our future demand. We know we are looking at a 45% increase in energy need in Ireland up to 2034. That cannot be delivered by renewables alone. We will be heavily depending on carbon energy to do that. We need to face the fact that Ireland could be fined €3.5 billion to €8 billion of p…

We have a strong economy at full employment. We need to grab the bull by the horns and plan ahead because if you fail to plan ahead, it is much like politics, in that you could end up like the Labour Party - out of government for over a decade and irrelevant.

I will raise an issue of the utmost importance in Youghal, County Cork. Under the HSE capital plan, we were promised that there would be an exploratory look into Youghal in respect of a new ambulance training college by the National Ambulance Service. We need this in our community for the economic investment, the jobs coming from the State and because of how much work was put into this under the previous Government. I am asking the Tánaiste for his support in respect of that. What we also need in Youghal is a bette…

I wish to raise the issue of the Carrigtwohill Community College and the school campus in Carrigtwohill. To give the Dáil a bit of insight in respect of this, this was the largest single school project ever undertaken by the State. It involved the construction of three schools on the one campus, a large secondary school in addition to two primary schools that went in together. There are approximately 1,500 students there at this moment in the town of Carrigtwohill, which was at one point the fastest growing urban a…

I thank the Minister for the response. I want to highlight the Department has agreed the area of circa 1.9 acres to the north of the campus in the Department's ownership can be used as a recreation area by the school on a licence basis. Following on from those comments, I would like to get an insight into how long that is going to take. I welcome it; I really do. I wish we did not have to wait so long to get a reply in respect of that query. I am glad to hear it is progressing. I appreciate that processes sometimes…

I support the work that is done by post offices. In my constituency of Cork East, as in other Deputies' areas, I recognise the social values that they add to communities, whether its people utilising the services in post offices or the fact it is a very important community outlet. I acknowledge that operating a post office is an expensive undertaking but it provides a community with enormous social value. In particular, it is important for elderly people who enjoy using An Post's services. Unfortunately, we have a …

I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case: Deputy Michael Cahill - To discuss the national planning framework and the sustainable rural housing guidelines Deputy Shane Moynihan - Plé a dhéanamh ar stádas DEIS do Ghaelscoil Lir. Deputy Peter Roche - To discuss review of SNA deployment toolkit and eligibility thresholds in schools across Galway East and Ireland. Deputy Catherine Ardagh - To discuss fund…