We have no auctions. None.

The Government is leading them to a cliff edge.

Thousands of farmers met in Cork last night and they are really angry. They are correct in being angry because the Government has put its head in the sand and pretended that business as usual will be able to continue and that Ireland will be able to retain its nitrates derogation. That is looking more and more unlikely. The reality is we have had the nitrates derogation since 2006. We got it on the basis we would improve our water quality but we have not done it in 20 years. The EU is probably going to tell us the …

I echo the comments about PLS. Unfortunately, during the previous term the Minister for energy got into a really bad habit of rushing Bills through the committee without proper scrutiny and it looks like the Minister of State is taking up that mantle and doing similarly. As a principle, all Bills should go through PLS unless there is an urgent or emergency reason not to. I do not think that is the case in this instance and it certainly was not the case previously. I ask the Government to stop using that mechanism. …

We will potentially see more of those storms. That is the reality we face because of climate change. We will see more frequent and more severe storms. We cannot look at what happened during Storm Éowyn and consider it as a very difficult period in time. It is something that we need to learn an awful lot of lessons from and we need to see it as a wake-up call. The reality is that our grid is not resilient enough and our infrastructure is not ready. Indeed, our emergency services were stretched to their limits in the…

Uisce Éireann has recently been fined €3,500 for a pollution event that occurred in Cavan. This pollution event resulted in a 2 km stretch of riverbed being covered with sewage fungus and hundreds of brown trout dying. Unfortunately, this is not a one-off incident. If we look, Uisce Éireann is repeatedly fined for breaches of its licence and for causing pollution events. Unfortunately, the paltry €3,500 fine is laughable, considering the damage that is being done. This follows hot on the heels of a major and catast…

It is clear at this stage that the Common Fisheries Policy, as it is currently being implemented, is not fit for purpose. Something that was established 40 years ago to provide for a co-ordinated management of fish stocks has failed. It has failed to protect fish stocks, to protect our marine and to protect Irish fishing industry. Our Irish fishing industry is one that is core to who we are as an island country. It is core to our coastal communities and to our identity. Rather than being part of a process in Europe…

A Cheann Comhairle, this is absolutely disgraceful.

Over 300,000 households are in electricity arrears, while 1 million will see hikes in their electricity bills this month. At the same time, wholesale energy prices have dropped by 75% from the peak of the energy crisis. Earlier the Taoiseach asked where the pressure was on these energy companies. I agree 100% with him. Where is the pressure on these energy companies? That is his job. Families are struggling between eating, electricity costs and heating their homes. I remind the Taoiseach the Government is currently…

That money is just sitting there.

You have not spent that money.

Put pressure on them.

Put the pressure on them.

McDonald's do not deserve it and I know that the cafés in Wicklow will agree that McDonald's does not deserve millions of euros of their money.

Up Catherine.

It is a week today since Manchán Magan passed from this world. I take this opportunity to remember him and reflect on a truly incredible person. In the past week, we have heard people who knew him well tell stories about him and talk about their respect for him and gratitude for the work he did and how he touched their lives. I did not know him. I only met him once at a talk he gave at the Mermaid Arts Centre in Bray. The talk lasted an hour and a half and was about rewilding your mind. He spoke as Gaeilge and as B…

It should be split, Taoiseach.

We said it should be split.

That is not true. We clearly called them out.

In January of this year, Storm Éowyn hit Ireland and left the country reeling. We were not prepared for it and the havoc it wreaked on communities was devastating. Some 750,000 people were left without power and it cost over €300 million to deal with the damage. We were actually quite lucky in that storm because it could have been a whole lot worse. The Climate Change Advisory Council has today been quite critical of the Government's response. At the time, the Government promised it would prepare Ireland for any fu…