-----a version of those for the current challenge. We do not know yet what the take-up will be like. The first of the main banks will be offering it in the next few weeks. We will have a better idea in six weeks or six months. What I can say for sure, though, is that the growth and stability loan scheme will be very popular. It is the follow-up to the future growth loan scheme, which was fully subscribed. This is for businesses that are expanding and want to invest in energy efficiency. We think that scheme will be…

On the planning certainty, the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority will be up and running very soon. We need to make sure we do the seabed mapping as well because it will not be possible to grant consents unless that is done. If we need to find innovative ways to do that, we should.

That is true. When it comes to grid certainty, the Deputy is absolutely right. We need to invest a lot in the grid in the year ahead. I had not heard the point about demand certainty before.

Even though it is 1 a.m., it was interesting to hear something new of that nature. At the moment, we have so much demand and not enough generation. I can see how that could flip very quickly and we would then be wondering why we did not see it coming. We cannot say that now because the Deputy raised it in the Dáil. We have to be prepared for demand certainty. The best way we can mitigate that is through interconnection, so that if there is excess energy being produced, it can be exported. I do not think the connect…

We will need a supergrid. I have heard some interesting ideas around the supergrid and how it could be done. We will also need battery storage, for example, so that we can store energy and then use it at other times.

As the Deputy may be aware, IDA Ireland released annual results yesterday. More than 24,000 net new jobs were created – the highest year on record. More than half of new investments went to locations outside of Dublin. Employment was up in every part of the country, including the mid-west, where it grew by 3.6%. Total employment in IDA Ireland client companies now stands at more than 300,000 for the first time. IDA Ireland is placing an increased focus on sustainability and its current strategy targets 60 sustainab…

I am glad to hear the draft strategy is now a strategy. I know the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, is very enthusiastic about metropolitan rail, particularly around Limerick and Cork. I have been to Raheen industrial park through Regeneron. I hope to see the Eli Lilly plant under way very soon now that the planning permission has been secured. I do not know the exact geography but I understand it would be possible to provide a railway station there as part of the Limerick-Foynes line. That would be a hug…

I appreciate the Deputy’s kind words. I have enjoyed being the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment for the past two and a half years and working with IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and the LEOs to create jobs around the country and improve workers' rights. I have enjoyed working with the three Ministers of State who have served with me in introducing some major legislative reforms in the areas of competition, company law and consumer law, establishing the Corporate Enforcement Authority, reforming the Pe…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue and for sharing some of the stories and experiences he has put on the record of the House. To be very clear once again, absolutely everyone on this side of the House, including everyone in government, accepts that we have a deep crisis when it comes to housing. We have seen a big increase in our population and we have an economy that is growing very fast. New households are being formed every day and we have not been able to build enough new homes and apartments t…

Pay increases for all public servants kicked in in October and have been backdated to February. They have been paid to the vast majority of public servants but I acknowledge that has not been the case in large parts of our health service. I met with the unions during the week. I met the head of the INMO, Ms Phil Ni Sheaghdha, and the head of ICTU and they raised this issue. We agree that it is not acceptable that people who work in our health service did not get their pay increase at the same time as civil servants…

It will.

It is €1,000 per renter, €2,000 for a couple and up to €3,000 for three people renting because renters get it for this year and last year.

I thank the Deputy once again for raising this important issue. I acknowledge that the public service and many private businesses are struggling to recruit and retain staff, especially in Dublin, but also all over the country. Of course, housing is a factor in that - the high cost of housing and rent and the sheer non-availability of anywhere to rent. However, it is also appropriate to mention some of the facts. Notwithstanding all that, there are 2.55 million people at work in Ireland, more than ever was the case …

If the Deputy examines the legislation on the HAP, she will see that it says that once people are in receipt of the payment, their housing needs are deemed to be met, they are taken off the housing list and can only be on the transfer list. That is legislation that we did together in government. I absolutely agree that HAP is not a long-term solution, and I am absolutely in favour of greater State intervention in the housing market. The Deputy may not believe that is the case, but that is the case. I am not sure th…

I want to put on the record of the House that the Government has been advised by EirGrid and the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities, CRU, that the system outlook for energy supply for this winter is similar to last winter. There will be periods when the margin between supply and demand will be very tight. We think that is particularly going to be the case over the course of the next week or two because temperatures will be very cold and the wind will not be very strong. For that reason, demand for electrici…

I appreciate that the figures the Deputy quoted come from an independent source, but I am not sure if they stack up, because 0.9% of GDP is roughly €3 billion. Everyone knows that the budget package was €11 billion and we did other things last year long before the budget, so I think those figures require further examination. The Deputy is right that Dáil is going into recess for a month. I guarantee him that the Government will not be going into recess for a month. The Government will probably take a one-week break…

-----and first thing in the new year. During that month, the second instalment of the energy credit will be paid and 70,000 or 80,000 more people will qualify for the fuel allowance. Pensioners and people on welfare will see those increases in their weekly payments during that month while the Dáil is in recess, although the Government will not be.

I thank the Deputy for raising this question. As he knows, I chaired the ministerial committee on insurance reform. I acknowledge the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, who has responsibility for the sector. For far too long, the cost and availability of insurance has been a big problem for businesses, consumers and community and voluntary groups. We have made good progress on implementing the action plan. I have always said, however, that the success of the plan will not be measured by the number of co…

I am informed that the duty of care legislation, that is, the occupiers' liability legislation, was passed by the Dáil last week as part of an amendment to another justice Bill. That has yet to go through the Seanad and I expect it will then be enacted in the first quarter of next year. We expect the President to sign the legislation to reform the Personal Injuries Assessment Board and turn it into the Personal Injuries Resolution Board within the next couple of days. Once that is up and running, it will change the…

I understand the Dáil agreed last night that the Report Stage debate of the patient safety Bill would be adjourned until January. That will allow preparation of a new amendment which will place on a statutory basis the requirement for all patients to be informed of their right to a patient requested review of cancer screening. The Minister for Health will want to engage with the Opposition on the detail of that and on the issue of audits. It is a complicated area. We are all on the same side when it comes to this i…