I move amendment No. 3: In page 8, between lines 34 and 35, to insert the following: "(6) The Minister shall provide for the laying before Dáil Éireann of a report on the application of the cap on market revenues within six months of the passing of this Act.".

I move amendment No. 4: In page 12, lines 1 and 2, to delete "1 December 2022 and ending on 30 June 2023" and substitute "1 January 2022 and ending on 30 June 2024".

I move amendment No. 5: In page 12, between lines 24 and 25, to insert the following: "(2) The monthly revenue of "producers", as identified in section 6(1) , shall be required to make a details of their monthly market revue and monthly capped revenue publicly available.". This amendment will require the producers to make public the revenue they have made and the amount of money they have to return under the cap. This comes back to the principle of transparency and the restoration of the faith of members of the pub…

I will press the amendment.

I move amendment No. 6: In page 28, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following: "(5) All moneys paid into the account shall be ringfenced and directed towards those most impacted by the energy sector pricing, as per the Council Regulation (EU) 2022/1854 of 6 October 2022.”. The Minister of State referred to this earlier when he said the money gained by the State through the windfall tax will be ring-fenced and will be used in a targeted fashion because that is what the Council regulation directs. That should …

Every element of this Bill has come from this EU directive. We are duplicating and repeating what is in that EU directive to a great extent. I do not understand why the ring-fencing and targeting components of this have not been included in the Bill. It just does not make sense to me that all the other elements from the EU directive are included but not that component.

It is seven weeks into the school term and it appears that there are still more than 200 students in County Wicklow who do not have seats on their school buses. I use the word "appears" because it is impossible to get information from the Minister for Education.

More than 200. It is impossible to get information from the Minister for Education on this matter. I have repeatedly asked her for details in relation to it. The Ceann Comhairle will agree with me on the responses from the Minister. Parents need clarity and an honest response from the Department as to whether their children will get places on school buses at all. Will the Tánaiste direct that either a representative from the Department of Education or Bus Éireann come to County Wicklow to meet parents? They just wa…

Particularly a meeting.

I thank the Minister of State for standing in for the Minister, Deputy Foley, this evening. Three weeks ago, enrolment opened in Greystones for the 2024 secondary school intake. The three schools that opened their enrolments were St. David's Holy Faith Secondary School, Temple Carrig School and Greystones Community College. In five weeks' time, those three schools will write to parents to let them know whether their child was successful in applying to the school. There will be hundreds of students awaiting that new…

I thank the Minister of State. He specified four schools. He mentioned Greystones Community College, which is to receive a new building. That is very welcome and we are really looking forward to it. No date as to when it will be delivered is provided in his response. My understanding is that it is to be in 2025, but that is assuming everything goes well. From experience, it tends not to. On St. David's Holy Faith Secondary School, yes, it is a fantastic facility. Lots of investment has gone into it. My understandin…

I have always tried to be constructive when it comes to climate, the environment and nature. I hope the Ministers agree with that. It is an area I am passionate about and an area where I have spent my entire adult life either working or studying. Yesterday's budget was the most disingenuous ever when it comes to matters of climate and nature. Everyone was so happy to see the headline-grabbing figure of €3 billion for a climate and nature fund. What people did not see was the fine print which indicates that this wil…

Last year, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, said he wanted to halve childcare fees over two budgets. Given that he is the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, with the power to slash fees, there was an assumption that he was serious about that promise to parents. It started out well, with an average 25% reduction last year, but cracks have appeared in the commitment. In June, the Taoiseach cast doubts on whether fees would be cut by 50%. Last month, the Irish Examiner reported the Minis…

When parents are dependent on two incomes to pay rent, a mortgage, soaring energy bills and all the costs associated with having a new baby, they decide that one parent must remain at work. This does not mean that fathers do not want to spend this important time with their newborns, they just cannot afford to. The Government could do something about that. It could commit and do bigger and better for new parents. Will the Tánaiste honour the commitment to cut childcare fees by a further 25% next week? Will the Gover…

I am not talking about the budget in total, I am talking about the childcare element of it.

The Tánaiste can try to muddy the waters as much as he likes but the context that is important here is that the Minister made a commitment to reduce the cost of childcare for parents by 50%. That was the promise and that was the commitment. The question now for the Government is whether it is actually going to meet that commitment. That is the only question the Tánaiste had to answer,"Yes" or "No". In the budget next week will parents be able to rely on the commitment the Minister gave two years ago? Parents need t…

What we have seen is that over the lifetime of successive Governments, the role of parents has been forgotten-----

-----and that the impact of having a new family is forgotten by the Government. Is the Government going to meet its commitment to reduce childcare costs by 50%? All the Tánaiste has to say is "Yes" or "No".

"Yes" or "No".

Will the Government meets its commitments, "Yes" or "No"?