I reassure the Deputy that this process has been accelerated for some time, going back to December 2019. There were information sessions in January and there was a public forum with Involve Autism, which I met, and other relevant advocacy groups. There was also extensive consultation with some of the schools. The Department will also determine whether other accommodation options are available and can be identified. The NCSE will also continue to liaise with special schools in the area where places may since have be…

Site visits will be arranged if necessary to ascertain any potential for extensions with three other special schools. It is always the aim of the Department and the NCSE to accommodate every child who has special needs. As I have said consistently this morning, I am determined to eradicate this lack of provision. I do not want it to be the case in the future that there is a perennial issue of an absence of places for children with special needs. It is simply not good enough and it should not happen. We have suffici…

In her opening remarks, my colleague the Minister, Deputy Foley, set out in detail the approach the Government is taking to reopening our schools. We have listened very carefully to the contributions in the House tonight. It is useful for me, as a Minister of State, and my colleagues in government to hear from Deputies of the concerns they are hearing in their communities. While the school system is a national one, it is rooted in local communities. I know the truth in the statement that one size does not fit all. …

With respect, I think this is a matter for the Chair, for the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

I cannot deal with the transport issue, but I can tell the Deputy about the July provision. If there has been an issue with a constituent in Galway, I ask her to give me the details in order that I can look into it. This year, 243 schools and a total of 24,000 children across the country, an increase of 9,000, have availed of the July provision. Many of these children have complex needs, including autism, Down's syndrome and other severe, moderate or difficult behavioural issues. The latter is something I have been…

I move: That, notwithstanding Standing Order 215(1) or (2) of the Standing Orders of Dáil Éireann relative to Public Business, the following Revised Estimates for the Public Services for the year ending 31st December, 2020, be presented to the Dáil and circulated to members on 24th June, 2020, being a date later than that prescribed for the presentation of Estimates: Vote 32 — Business, Enterprise and Innovation ( Revised Estimate ). Vote 38 — Health ( Revised Estimate ).

I am pleased to make the annual sectoral adaptation transition statement to the Dáil on the steps taken by my Department in 2019. As part of the Government's climate action plan and in accordance with the national adaptation framework in October 2019, my Department published two sectoral adaptation plans, one addressing biodiversity and the other on built and archaeological heritage. My Department also has responsibility for implementing several mitigation measures in the climate action plan, including those relati…

Deputy Niamh Smyth raised a number of issues. On the documents, they are effectively organic and they will be continuously updated taking into account some of the changes mentioned by the Deputy, including the EU Green New Deal and Covid-19. I welcome all the very extensive provisions delineated in the programme for Government. It is really comprehensive around biodiversity in particular and heritage. Deputy Smyth mentioned built and archaeological heritage as well. Deputy Niall Collins mentioned De Valera's Cottag…

Yes. There are departmental capital grant schemes under which the committee could make an application. My officials can meet and liaise with them in regard to their application. The other places mentioned by the Deputy are not under my remit but they would be subject to the guidelines of the roadmap in terms of reopening. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan mentioned local arts centres. That area is covered as well. There is additional investment there in terms of the €5 million I announced yesterday separate from the Arts C…

I will try to work backwards and answer all the Deputies' questions. Deputy O'Rourke mentioned Tara, Brú na Bóinne and Skellig Michael. My Department has responded to climate change risk to our built and archaeological heritage with a comprehensive adaptation plan, which I outlined earlier. This aims to reduce vulnerability to developing risks and monitoring climate change impacts. As a result, climate change adaptation will be built into all heritage management plans and policies. The Deputy's second question rela…

It is a challenge and we are fully aware of it and dealing with it all the time. One of Deputy Mairéad Farrell's questions relates more to the cultural capital scheme, which runs up to 2022. It would be worth looking at that to address some of the matters she is talking about. The Minister of State, Senator Kyne, will be in front of the Covid-19 committee tomorrow to discuss Gaeltacht issues. The Deputy also mentioned mapping. The National Monuments Service recently won an innovation award for its map viewer and ot…

I thank Deputies for their contributions. Deputy Feighan acknowledged the work being done on peatlands and the bogs. I acknowledge his contribution. Deputy Carroll MacNeill mentioned built heritage. Along with the historic structures fund, this year's funding for historic buildings came to €4.3 million which will fund 449 projects with the aim of carrying out repairs to buildings to protect them over the coming decades. A significant amount of work is being done. Protecting our historic buildings from damage due to…

The Deputy asked a number of questions and I will do my best to answer them in the two minutes available. On retrofitting, the built and archaeological adaptation plan helps reduce the vulnerability of built and archaeological heritage against climate change. On funding the retrofitting of heritage buildings, we are piloting a scheme this year to allow local authorities to grant aid maintenance and minor repair works as part of the built heritage investment scheme in order to build resilience in our historic buildi…

I will do my best. My Department has done a significant amount of work to maintain departmental leadership in this space. The Deputy referred to electric vehicles. The National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department has been a leader in deploying electric vehicles through its fleet by piloting the use of commercial electrically operated vans in the Wicklow Mountains and Killarney national parks, with a view to reducing its diesel fleet as resources permit. It installed e-charging points at Glenveagh, Connemar…

The Deputy has a good memory. I had a meeting with the Minister, Deputy Bruton, and the German minister on climate change in general. Most of the matters discussed fell under the remit of the Minister, Deputy Bruton, but I dealt with the biodiversity aspect. Under the EU Green New Deal, member states must ensure that at least 30% of the EU's land and marine areas are protected by 2030 and that 10% of these are strictly protected. For Ireland, that will mean a doubling of the protected area on land and a trebling of…

Targets are necessary. Some 14% of our land is already designated, which is quite substantial. We have 440 SACs, 150 NHAs and 154 SPAs. One quickly gets used to anagrams in this Department. We will look at the EU targets. It is recognised that in order to meet the needs of the EU strategy at least €20 billion per year should be unlocked for spending on nature and that a significant proportion of the 25% of the EU budget dedicated to climate action will be invested in biodiversity and nature-based solutions. We shou…

I thank the Deputy. Unfortunately, I will have to disappoint her and say it is allowed all year round for road safety purposes and that I do not have any discretion. The dates for the cutting of hedges are set down in primary legislation under the Wildlife Act 1976, as the Deputy knows. Section 40 of the Act prohibits the cutting, grubbing, burning or destruction of vegetation with certain strict exemptions from 1 March to 31 August. There is provision in the legislation for some restricted exemptions from the proh…

-----I will just finish the sentence - such as hedge cutting and clearance for safety purposes along public roads.

The Deputy is answering her own question. Roadside hedge cutting is always allowed for road safety purposes, so the question is a bit of a paradox.

To be clear, the Wildlife Acts dictate when hedge cutting takes place, which is September to February, and the Minister, which is me at the moment, has no discretion. Roadside hedge cutting is always allowed for road safety purposes and other hedge cutting is allowed for agricultural and forestry purposes.