Hear, hear.

Fáilte ar ais, a Aire Stáit Noonan. I often wonder who listens to the words of TDs. In fairness, at the different times the Minister of State has been here, he has listened. He has been compassionate and showed empathy. However, this is an important question for departmental officials in particular. I certainly do not want to go down the road of bashing officials. They are hardworking officials who try their best in the main. I know that some officials took time out yesterday today and yesterday to prepare the answ…

I thank the Minister of State for the response. He is correct in saying that the legislation states that, within 12 months of the legislation being enacted, the Minister of State has the discretion to increase it by up to 10%. It is important that I point something out. Even at this early stage of the scheme, while the officials' interpretation is that there is no robust data, there is human data. There has been trauma for ten years. There is anguish. Families are struggling. People want to see light at the end of …

I thank the Minister of State for coming here this evening. In 2020, a husband and wife started the process of assessing their house, which they knew at the time had defective blocks. One year later, the young woman - a wife and a mother to three children - sadly passed away. This has been a very difficult and traumatic time for this family, and in the midst of their grieving they still have to contend with a house that is slowly falling down. In the words of the husband, "This is an awful weight hanging over us." …

I thank the Minister of State for that response. Looking within that script and from listening to the feedback, there seems to be pathway. The issue at the moment, however, is that there is a communication deficit. That is where the difficulty lies. Going back to the original 90:10 scheme, when we all hoped that was going to be the vehicle for helping and assisting people to get out of this situation, communication was an issue then too. Communication is the issue all the time with regard to the difficulties in whi…

Ar dtús báire, ba mhaith liom mo chomhbhrón a dhéanamh le teaghlach John Bruton, lena bhean chéile Finola, lena triúr iníonacha agus lena mhac, lena dheartháir Richard, agus lena dheirfiúr Mary. Déanaim comhbhrón leis na daoine uilig ó Chontae na Mí. Fear díograiseach, cróga, ildánach agus ionraic ab ea John Bruton. John was an honest man and at the heart of everything he did was loyalty. I came across this level of loyalty in 1999. I have to be careful here because I have Frank Feighan to my right and Kieran O'Don…

He said Frankie would be all right. That is my personal recollection of John. I remember his support in 1999 and his advice, his wise counsel and his wisdom at a very important time, when I was very much in a hurry in politics. When I think back to many of the stories my father-in-law, Tom Enright, has told me about what went on in this House in terms of the machinations and pressure votes that happened during very difficult times, maybe this is not the occasion to share them. John Bruton and my father-in-law, Tom …

I want to raise an issue in regard to child, adolescent and adult counselling in Donegal, which was the subject of much debate in the last month or so. I acknowledge the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, and I met with her on this issue. I wish her well in that regard. Next Thursday, Tusla is meeting with the HSE and, hopefully, we can make progress on that. An issue was raised by Councillor Johnny McGuinness from north Inishowen. He met with his council colleagues yesterday evening and met with fa…

That was very helpful and I will come in very briefly with regard to Georgia. I know my colleague, Deputy Howlin, and our team in the European Union affairs committee engaged with Georgia a lot.

George, the ambassador, is on everybody's speed dial at this stage. I know Georgia is at a different level to Moldova and Ukraine in terms of its pathway but it is making an enormous effort, both at political and civic level. We have met many representatives in Tbilisi. Are we at a positive place with regard to a possible embassy in Tbilisi?

On a point of order, many other Members digressed.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle as an seans a thabhairt dom labhairt sa díospóireacht seo ar an ábhar tábhachtach seo. I give the Ceann Comhairle advance warning that I will digress in the second part of my speech.

In the interest of continuity-----

And consistency. I welcome the Minister of State and his officials to the House and thank the officials who are not here who have been working on the planning Bill. It is an enormous piece of work and an enormous amount of time went into it. It is a timely review that irons out the kinks, for want of a better word, or contradictions in the existing legislation which led to a lot of judicial reviews and court challenges. This is important, timely and necessary legislation. Resourcing must follow the plans in this le…

Gabhaim buíochas agus táimid ag smaoineamh ar na daoine uilig, ar an ngirseach óg san ospidéal agus ar an bhfoireann ó Choláiste Mhuire, agus ar na daoine ar fad a bhí ar an líne tosaigh ar an Déardaoin seo a chuaigh thart. Is laochra iad. I would like to acknowledge the brave men and women of An Garda Síochána who brought last Thursday’s unprecedented event to an end. They put their lives on the line in order to do that. There will be a review and recalibration of how we do things in this country on a national bas…

Last Thursday, brave men and women stood together for us. It is up to us, as parliamentarians, to stand together for them, because they stood up for us in a big way last Thursday.

I want to acknowledge the accession status of Georgia. We have to be very vigilant because Russian aggression has not stopped. My colleague, Deputy Ó Murchú and I were out near South Ossetia. There was an innocent man killed by the Russian army while he was going to church on 6 November. We are pushing, supporting and encouraging democracy in Georgia, and that is the pathway and the journey the Georgians have been on. I want to acknowledge the Georgian ambassador, who has been working tirelessly. I think every Depu…

I am delighted the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is here as I know she is very much on top of her brief. This is evidenced by her presence throughout the country, including Donegal where she has visited a number of facilities in her time as Minister of State. I raise this issue on behalf of the Special Needs Parents Donegal Network Group. Public representatives met with them yesterday and had a very good meeting. No doubt the Minister of State will have received the information in the brief from her colleague…

I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate her honesty. It is a sign when a Minister of State deviates from his or her script. It shows a bit of respect to the people who raised this issue. It is a very dignified thing to do; she is talking from her own personal interactions with officials and she has obviously thought about this issue. There are ways forward. I thank the Minister of State for agreeing to look at these recommendations seriously and discuss them with her officials. I join the Minister of State in a…

I do not wish to go over the ground covered by the Deputies regarding the LIS but I acknowledge there will be extra funding. I emphasise the quality of work that has been done by local authority staff on the ground. It is top class. More funding in that area is very important. In a similar vein, the Minister has been more than supportive of my county through the outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme. I was up Errigal Mountain with my family this summer. Thousands of people are going up that new footpath. That in…