I know the topic of post offices is close to the Tánaiste's heart. Closures of post offices tend to be associated with rural towns and villages but two offices have closed in my constituency of Dublin South-West in the past two years, one in Templeogue village and the other, very recently, in Rathfarnham village. In fairness, these closures were not the fault of An Post. In Templeogue, the shop housing the post office shut and An Post could not find a replacement operator. In Rathfarnham, the postmaster, whose fami…

Like the last speaker, I am a member of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly and it is one of the most worthwhile and valuable things I have undertaken in my time in the Dáil. Like previous speakers, I want to generously congratulate Michelle O'Neill on her appointment and election as First Minister and Emma Little-Pengelly, as her deputy First Minister. It is almost an understatement to call it a unique day for nationalism on this island and it is one the deputy First Minister embraced with great dignity and a…

I thank the Minister of State for his presence and for this Bill. I am old enough to remember that it was the late Séamus Brennan as Minister for Transport who introduced penalty points. He just got tired of people pussyfooting around the issue and putting obstacles in the way of bringing in something pragmatic. He went for it and introduced it. It had a dramatic impact on driver behaviour and, more importantly, road casualties. I have become aware as a public representative, as no doubt the Minister of State and C…

Okay. As it is not in the briefing note I got, the Minister of State might come back to that in his answer. As a constituency TD, most of the complaints and requests I get for traffic-calming measures are for within residential estates, which means it is the residents in those estates who are speeding. It seems to be impossible for the Garda. I have never seen gardaí police speeding in a housing estate. I have seen them on secondary and primary roads but there seems to be no mechanism to police estates or even to s…

So we are not talking about the speed limits in Dublin being reduced to 30 km/h universally. The Minister of State might elaborate on what he has in mind there. The drugs measures, drink driving and penalty points have been mentioned. I did not mention them but I support them and there is no point in repeating them. The public wants more police in cars with cameras on secondary and major roads. They see the lack of that as a major contribution to the increase in fatalities. This worthwhile Bill will not work as eff…

I thank the Minister of State for being present to take this matter. As he knows, Citywest, which is in my constituency, was meant to be a planned and phased, mixed and relatively modest residential development area. In fact, an area plan was advised for it just over ten years ago. The decision by the previous government to introduce strategic housing development areas, which essentially ran a coach-and-four through normal planning regulations and protocols, and overrode local area and county development plans, has…

I thank the Chair for the additional latitude, which I appreciate. Some of the items the Minister of State has brought to us are really good news. The first is that Transport Infrastructure Ireland is considering a Luas fleet renewal. It is not overdue, but it is welcome, as is the fact that it is looking at increasing the number of trams assigned to the Luas red line. I would encourage the Minister of State to bring feedback to the Minister and tell him that would be really worthwhile. I certainly support it, as I…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to contribute to the debate. One of the comments Deputy Smith made reminded me of what I was going to say about how separate and apart the Defence Forces historically were as an institution. That was facilitated and seen as necessary. One of the positive outworkings of this process is that is now seen as being archaic. The Defence Forces are definitely coming under increased scrutiny and oversight, not least because of the abuses revealed by the Women of Honour …

Despite significant international pressure for a ceasefire, Israel continues to conduct intensive military operations in the Gaza Strip. The death toll, as we know, is in excess of 25,000 people, approximately, including many children and their mothers. While the sympathy of the international community sided universally with Israel following the horrendous events in October, Israel's response has already passed the point of exhausting international sentiment. The Irish Government has been right to pursue a common E…

The Ceann Comhairle will be very glad to hear that I kayaked the Dodder in my younger days. Innovation, research and design are subjects I know are close to the Tánaiste's heart and are also at the heart of our health system. New drugs represent not just hope for patients but the pinnacle of research and intellectual endeavour, not least here in Ireland. The Tánaiste is aware of my personal interest in this area of new drugs and rare diseases, as chair of the cross-party Oireachtas group on the matter. Can the Tána…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill and welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, to the House to listen to our contributions. When my parents moved to a parish called Ballyroan in Rathfarnham, it was the last development before the Dublin Mountains. Tallaght was a village. When we were on a journey down the country, we gave the famous children's catchcry, "Are we there yet?", when we got to Tallaght village, which was very much set in the country. In the subsequent 50, 55 or 60 years, a huge amount …

It is close to midnight, and I very much appreciate the Minister of State coming to the House to take this question of behalf of the Government. As the Minister of State will probably be aware from his own constituency, continuous changes as part of the BusConnects project and changes in bus schedules continue to be rolled out by the NTA. Some of them have rolled out in my constituency. I was alerted to the potential impact of some of these changes recently, notwithstanding the public consultation that took place a…

I thank the Minister of State. I would be very grateful if he could go back to the Minister, Deputy Ryan, to tell him this. I say this particularly in the light of one of the points the Minister of State made regarding what the Government has been doing with fares to encourage people to abandon their cars and use public transport. I refer particularly to young people. One of the comments I did not read out or complete was from a parent who said that we are coming into exam season for these students. They want a pub…

A waste of time.

In his capacity as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue visited the Glenasmole Valley in my constituency last year to highlight quite rightly the threat that out-of-control dogs can pose to livestock. While both of us recognise that the vast majority of dog owners in this country are very responsible and while welcoming the measures announced by the Minister today regarding possibly extending the list of restricted breeds, I also acknowledge there has been an increase in attacks by dogs…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for selecting this and I thank the Minister of State for being in attendance to take the issue. The Minister of State and I have often spoken about this. We both know that the public wants to play its part in mitigating climate change. Everyone wants to help sustain a planet that can sustain our children and grandchildren and future generations. The more people are included and involved in projects by the Government and by local government that help to create an environment like th…

I thank the Minister of State for the comprehensive reply. Stakeholder buy-in is critical. Who are these stakeholders? Obviously, these include the local people who live in the area and use the roads. I refer in particular to parents, who are under pressure in the mornings. One of the things that happened was that school drop-off points were eliminated. Those school drop-off points that had been there were lost as a result of the construction of the cycle track. Public representatives, including Deputies and counci…

I thank the Minister of State.

Following on from the Minister’s very welcome introduction of the new well-being and counselling initiative for primary schools earlier this year, which has been warmly welcomed by the education partners and the sector as a whole, will she update the House on the structures under the initiative, including the employment of counsellors, how the process is working and being advertised and when it will be in situ ?

I welcome the reply. This is a very radical and dynamic innovation on the Minister’s part. It will be one of a number of things for which she will be remembered. It represents a shift in the funding mechanism of the Government, for example. I have long believed that every Department has a role to play in well-being and mental health so it is not only the Department of Health’s funding that goes towards these initiatives. Deputy Foley is, I think, the first Minister for Education to allocate a significant portion of…