You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Will Deputy O'Donoghue declare if he has been a beneficiary of money from providing accommodation?

Does the Deputy have something to declare?

I thank the Ministers for staying here for the entire debate. We often have Private Members' debates where Ministers are not in a position to stay for the whole thing. I was struck by a comment made by my colleague Deputy Gannon earlier. The Deputy asked about what would happen if he was sitting in the Minister's seat and the Minister was sitting in his during the current situation. What I hope the Minister would do is what we are doing, which is raising the matter and jumping up and down. On the basis of his contr…

We asked the Taoiseach about the Greystones media campus. This is a €300 million project, which will be Ireland's largest production facility. It is a joint venture between John Sisk & Son Limited and the Irish Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF. It was to start opening in 2024. The diggers were on site and cleared a few trees but there has been no activity on site for at least the past nine months. Can the Taoiseach give an update on that project and can he also outline what kinds of safeguard the ISIF has put in pla…

On 3 October I brought to the attention of the Department of Education that there will be a shortfall of at least 72 secondary school places in the Greystones area. We have had a number of interactions with the Department since then. The latest was on 8 February when the Department told us it was working on plans to accommodate those children. We have since seen two additional classes allocated to the town. However, there are still between 22 and 30 children who do not have a place for secondary school in September…

Where to start? Speaking as someone who has worked and studied in this area since I was 17, the debate so far this evening has been incredibly difficult to listen to. When we have the Chair of a committee talking about the sole purpose of a river being to drain water away from farmlands, I wonder whether we need to have an ecological education programme within the Houses of the Oireachtas. We heard from a number of parties this evening. I want to specifically refer to Sinn Féin because that contribution today was a…

It is not agreeing with us; it is agreeing with the independent advice.

This week, we have heard proposals from Government on the expansion of the school transport scheme, which is really welcome. What we have heard this week from the Minister will do nothing to alleviate the problems that rear their heads annually, like clockwork, in August and September, for many areas across the country. Our constituency in Wicklow is hit particularly badly by these issues and a number of students still do not have the bus service that they were promised. We are seven months into that now. The issue…

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to exclude the requirement to publish the addresses of candidates standing for election to County Councils, Dáil Éireann, Seanad Éireann, the Presidency or the European Parliament; to amend the Electoral Amendment Act 2009; to amend the Local Government Act 1994; to amend the Electoral Act 1992; to amend the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act 1947; to amend the Seanad Electoral (University Members) Act 1937; to amend the European Parliament Electio…

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

Today was an historic day in the European Parliament, where we saw the nature restoration law passed. Unfortunately, it is disappointing that two of our MEPs, one from Sinn Féin and an Independent, voted against it. The reality is that what they are voting against is to restore nature and to bring our natural environment back to a point where it is not on the brink of collapse, which is what we are seeing at the moment. Some 81% of habitats in Europe are in poor condition and many of our species are on the verge of…

That is where I am from.

I said everyone except-----

Do you need that pat on the back?

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, for coming in today. One of these days the Minister for Education will come in to respond to these Topical issues. I look forward to that day; it would have been nice if it had been today. Today I am raising the issue of school transport particularly for County Wicklow. The applications for the 2024-25 year will open shortly. Last year there was absolute chaos in Wicklow when it came to the school transport system. Hundreds of students were left behind when it came to sc…

With no disrespect to the Minister of State, my questions were not answered at all. I know it is very difficult for him because this is not his remit or his area. We need the Minister for Education to come in so that she can provide direct answers to direct questions that have been presented. I asked two questions. First, what is the Minister doing to ensure the chaos we saw in Wicklow last September, and indeed in previous Septembers, does not happen next year? Second, how can she give confidence to parents in Wic…

That was in September. The review has not been published.

The Climate Change Advisory Council has warned that Ireland is unlikely to meet the targets of its first carbon budget for the period from 2021 to 2025. That will make meeting our climate targets after 2025 so much more difficult because there will be an awful lot of work and catching-up to do. That means Ireland now faces the prospect of multibillion euro fines under compliance costs applied by the European Union from 2030 onwards. While this Government excels at climate rhetoric, we do not, unfortunately, see goo…

The independent experts say-----