I thank the Minister of State for his engagement on this matter and his public statement last week asking for the RSA to come back to him with further information on reducing these waiting lists. This is a particularly acute issue in Cork. We have more than 4,000 people waiting for a driving test in Mallow, 11,500 people waiting for a Wilton driving test, and more than 2,000 in Ballincollig and a further 2,000 people in Skibbereen waiting for a driving test. That is more than 20,000 people waiting. The Minister of …

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, for his continued engagement. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, who is also from Cork, is well aware of the situation in the county. I agree with the Minister of State that we have many no-shows and this unfortunate. It is important that the RSA comes back and offers young people the opportunity of late cancellation appointments. I know people who have cancelled in the past number of days and late appointments would have been accepted on that basis. That progress …

I ask the Taoiseach about the N72, the main artery road from Waterford to Killarney. There is a section of that road in Meenskeha near Cullen in my constituency of Cork North-West in respect of which funding is sought from the Department of Transport and TII. We have received an allocation this year for phase one of €2.5 million. That has been completed in recent days and the money has been drawn down by Cork County Council. It is looking for more funding to do the phase two element. Cork County Council executives …

I ask the Taoiseach for an update on the M20 Cork to Limerick project. Limerick City and County Council published a transport solution for the project in March 2022 and subsequently published updates in February and November 2023 and June 2024. The dual carriageway will comprise over 100 km of safe shared active travel pathways connecting communities from Blarney to Patrickswell, encompassing towns in my area of Charleville and Buttevant and villages like Ballyhea and New Twopothouse. There will be transport hubs, …

As this is my first opportunity to speak in the Dáil, I wish to say a huge thanks to the people of Cork North-West for putting their faith in me and voting me in to this House for the next five years. I look forward to representing them as best I can. I also wish to take this opportunity to thank my family, friends, neighbours, relations and all the Fine Gael family who supported me throughout the campaign. It is very much appreciated. I wish to ask the Minister for sport for an update on the sports capital grant a…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. It is great there will be further investment in the wider sport area in the lifetime of this Government, especially in 2025-2026. On the sports capital allocations, it is good that appeals from County Cork have been dealt with and a number have been successful. The ones that were unsuccessful will be able to bid again in 2026, as the Minister of State said. It is important this round of funding is completed and that we prepare for the next round of funding, which is i…

It is good to see that a date has been set for spring 2026 for an announcement of the next round of funding. A lot of clubs that were not successful this time around will be waiting in anticipation. They will have the opportunity to prepare now in terms of planning permission and getting themselves in train to prepare for the application process itself. It is a tough application process, there is no doubt about it. It was reviewed previously and I welcome the fact the Department is going to review it further with a…

Could the Minister provide me with an update on the 243 bus service from Newmarket to Cork city? The NTA published a consultation on this in October 2023 and there was good feedback from the community regarding it but we have been waiting for the NTA and Bus Éireann to make an announcement on the proposed service. Many people in my area are looking for an enhanced service. There is an enhanced proposal but the NTA has not finalised it. We are looking for an update on that as quickly as possible.