At 10.30 tomorrow morning.

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. The concept of this Bill is contingency planning for if some sort of unforeseen god-awful thing happens. It is prudent from that perspective. It is prudent from the perspective that over the past year I think all governments, not only in Europe, but the world, are more focused on and concerned about energy security than ever before. This is another prudent measure to add to our arsenal and help us with energy security, should anything unforeseen ever happen whe…

I call for a debate on the concept of vacant and derelict homes, particularly after the really positive announcements a few days ago of the €150 million action plan to tackle vacancy and dereliction, which will be provided to our local authorities. I would appreciate a debate because I believe there is a lot of good practice that could be learned from other local authorities around the country that have already embarked on this, a long time before the Government or anyone was advocating for it. I speak about this w…

Next Tuesday.

I propose a suspension until 6.15 p.m.

I raise this matter this morning after meeting Cara McAdam, who is a science teacher in De La Salle College, Dundalk, a couple of weeks ago. She showed me the science laboratory and the rest of the college. There are four laboratories, one of which is in a new part of the building. Two are in a building dating from 1978 while one of the laboratories was built in 1998. I am sure the Minister of State can agree that using science laboratories built in the 1970s and the late 1990s in 2023 is not acceptable. There have…

I thank the Minister of State. As I said, this is just the start of the process of this campaign and the goal of getting these science laboratories updated. As the Minister of State has acknowledged and as I have pointed out, the way we will do this is through the summer works scheme through category 5, which is funding for science laboratories. Obviously, there will be a number of schools trying to apply for that. I would hope that, given the really severe condition of these school laboratories, which have not bee…

To respond to what Senator O'Sullivan said, I do not know whether I would like to be here when I am 70. I do not know, perhaps I would. Who knows? I would have to be here for 42 years if that were to be the case. One of the first issues I raised when I became a Member of the House two years ago was the concept of flexible travel tickets and commuter tax saving tickets. We have had various discussions with the National Transport Authority, NTA, over the past year. The goal of introducing a commuter ticket has fallen…

Does the Senator wish to withdraw the amendments?

Government amendments Nos. 17 to 23, inclusive, are related and may be discussed together. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Government amendments Nos. 25 to 32, inclusive, are related and may be discussed together. Is that agreed?

Amendments Nos. 33 and 34 are related and may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Amendments Nos. 35 and 46 are related and may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Amendments Nos. 36, 43 to 45, inclusive, 47 to 52, inclusive, 54 to 56, inclusive, and 58 are related and may be discussed together, by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I ask again for a debate on the concept of introducing dedicated step-down clinics within the HSE. This would allow people to be moved from major hospitals, freeing up beds and allowing them time to recuperate properly in a step-down clinic. I raise this matter because I come from the town of Dundalk, which is in a Border area. On the other side of the Border, the National Health Service, NHS, in the North is moving services from Daisy Hill Hospital back to Craigavon Area Hospital. Louth County Hospital was dramati…

May I share time with Senator Kyne? We will take four minutes each.

I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. To follow on from the points raised by Senator Dooley, we have ambitious targets, which is great, and I have no doubt that we will get very close to achieving them but we have to make sure that infrastructural Ireland - for want of a better term - the Civil Service or whatever you want to call it does not bog down those ambitious targets and slow that process down whether through the planning process with An Bord Pleanála, through general officialdom or through various different…

I will not use the full six minutes I have been allocated. I am coming in at the end of the debate but there are a couple of points I want to make. I debated this issue only two weeks ago, when a representative of Dublin Bus outlined the severity of the situation in terms of the numbers of public transport workers who have encountered some very sticky situations. I made the point that this is not just an issue for Dublin Bus or in Dublin; it is an issue that is faced by transport workers around the country, whether…

It is great to have the Minister of State in the House. He served at the same time as Senators Boyhan, McDowell, Conway and Burke and indeed with the Cathaoirleach. It is great to see there is a pathway for all of us from this House to very high office. However, we should perhaps follow more in the spirit of Senator Hackett who was appointed directly from here to Cabinet. I am going off on a tangent. I would like to pay tribute to Deputy Richmond's predecessor, the former Minister of State at the Department of Ente…

The last point the Minister of State made was one of the most important, that is, that in his time in the Department his door will always be open for businesses still struggling with some aspects of this. That is welcome and it will be prudent of him in his role because it provides that direct line of access to businesses experiencing this. I will address a couple of points in the Minister of State's response, which was quite impressive. In 2021 alone, there were 27,000 applications, a 69% increase on 2020 and a 47…