I agree that the strategic development zone, SDZ, around Ireland West Airport Knock has real potential. Perhaps we will have a chance to discuss it a little more tomorrow, when I will be in the county. We have seen the success of the zone around Shannon Airport, and I think something similar could be done around Knock. I am told that the preparation of the planning scheme for the SDZ is a function of Mayo County Council. Further to the making of the scheme, the planning authority must grant permission for any devel…

The Deputy is right that we need a whole-of-government response to this issue. There is a real opportunity here for Ireland to move within a generation from being an energy importer to being an energy exporter using offshore wind, onshore wind and solar to produce electricity, while also using offshore wind to produce hydrogen, a dispatchable fuel that we can use to replace gas and petrol and diesel in some cases. That would give us energy security and price stability. Even if climate change were not happening, the…

I thank the Deputy. As I mentioned earlier, I had a chance to meet with the six farming organisations yesterday and had a good discussion on this. While most sectors are seeing an increase in the prices farmers are getting, it is pretty much wiped out, if not entirely wiped out, by the increase of input costs, particularly when it comes to energy and fertiliser. The Minister, Deputy McConalogue, was in Brussels this week discussing with his European partners and the Commission what we could do to provide farmers wi…

I thank the Deputy. I join her in commending and congratulating the workers involved in taking that case. The outcome from the Labour Court is clear. We are working on amendments to the Bill. I engaged with the Attorney General on it yesterday. The difficulty is that a mandatory service charge is not a gratuity or tip. It is compulsory. If you do not pay it, the restaurateur or publican can call the gardaí. That is the fundamental difference between a mandatory service charge and a tip or gratuity. We are looking a…

I thank the Deputy. I join him in utterly and unreservedly condemning the attack on Garda Scott in County Cavan the other day. The House is united in horror and condemnation of that attack. An attack on the Defence Forces or An Garda Síochána is an attack on all of us because it is an attack on the State. In relation to Garda resources, we have more gardaí in Ireland than ever before and the Garda budget is larger than ever before. That does not mean we do not need to increase it further. We do. I hear what the Dep…

This is a long-running saga and has been going on for far too long. I am a big fan of the ESB as a company but it has not covered itself in glory when it comes to this issue. A decision has to be made by ESB. It has to take a case to the court or demolish and remove the wind farm. It is one or the other. It is a decision for that company but it has to resolve this quickly.

I am not aware of the practice and neither is the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. We were chatting while the Deputy was asking his question. Perhaps the Deputy will send me a short note on this issue, maybe a page or two, and I will ensure the Minister for Finance receives it.

I am afraid I do not know. I will make inquiries with the Minister for Health and ask him to respond directly to the Deputy regarding this issue. When it comes to any surgical procedure, there will be adverse events, no matter what the procedure, and they do not all necessarily translate as negligence or harm.

That is definitely the case.

I completely understand what the Deputy is saying, as does the Government. The prices of diesel and petrol have soared in recent weeks. We saw increases as a consequence of the pandemic but we are now seeing further increases on top of that, as a result of the war in Ukraine, that had not been anticipated or predicted by anyone. We will have to respond to this. When it comes to business users, as was mentioned, they can reclaim the VAT, but they cannot reclaim the excise charge. That is one of the things we must ex…

I want to say on behalf of the Government that today we stand in solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Ireland is militarily neutral, but in this conflict Ireland is not neutral at all. Our support for Ukraine is unwavering and unconditional. At this moment, in a European nation not too far from here, families are leaving their homes, children are being bundled into cars and martial law has been introduced in the face of an unwarranted and unjustified attack. This is an act of aggression, it is unpreced…

Events are happening very quickly, as the Deputy will appreciate, and the Taoiseach, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and I need to speak today. I think it is fair to say we are all united in our abhorrence of what is happening in Ukraine, and Ireland will not be putting any selfish or economic interests ahead of a response that is required. We will support whatever sanctions are necessary, including those that would disrupt the banking and financial services that are used by Russia…

It is here, and the Taoiseach raised it previously. I have never said anything about it. For a long time, the Deputy's party has been soft on Russia. As recently as three years ago, Sinn Féin described the expulsion of a Russian diplomat as a violation of our neutrality. I welcome that on this issue Sinn Féin has finally come to its senses and finally realises what Putin is and what the Russian regime is.

My understanding is that waiver is in place as of today. There are a small number of Irish citizens in Ukraine. We need to make sure that they can leave if they choose to do so and we also need to make sure that their families can get out if they need to do so. There is ongoing engagement today involving the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, and the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, to make whatever arrangements are necessary to enable the family members of Irish citizens to leave Ukraine if they ne…

I agree that we have the benefit of a Ukrainian community here in Ireland who are an important part of our country and have served us well, not only during the pandemic but also before. We are keen to make sure the family members of Ukrainian citizens who have settled here in Ireland are also assisted to leave Ukraine if they need to do so. It will be complicated. We have a very small mission on the ground in Kyiv. Our ambassador and staff are currently in a safe location so what we can do is relatively limited. Ho…

The lights are not going to go off. The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications has signed off on the commissioning and construction of nine new gas plants in Ireland in the coming years. We acknowledge that natural gas is a transition fuel that we are going to need over the next 20 or 30 years while we decarbonise the country and the economy. If the crisis and the war in Ukraine do anything, they expose once again our vulnerability to fossil fuel dependence. Even if there was no climate crisis, we…

Thankfully, we do not import very much gas at all from Russia. Roughly half our gas supplies come from our own source north of Mayo and the other half comes from the UK, mainly via Qatar and the North Sea. Thankfully, we are not particularly dependent on Russian gas in this country, but obviously if the gas were to stop flowing into eastern Europe, that would have an effect on the price and that is very likely in the period ahead. I know the site in Tarbert in north Kerry well. At the time, I remember meeting with …

The Deputy is correct that these are emerging technologies, but they are not that far away. There is enormous confidence that we can do what we want to do off the west coast, which is a floating offshore wind plant plugging into Moneypoint and Tarbert where the grid connection exists and where we can store wind energy in the form of battery power and hydrogen. It is not our intention to close Moneypoint or Tarbert until we are ready to do so. I do not like the fact we are burning coal in Moneypoint, I do not like t…

The Deputy makes a very reasonable point around the cost of food. Like him, I do not believe food security or food shortages are going to be a problem, in Ireland anyway. However, if what is happening with energy prices continues and if what is happening in Russia and Ukraine unfolds, then there is a real probability that the price of food will go up here in Ireland and in western Europe. We have benefited from cheap food for a very long time. I think the price of food is going to go up, and the question is how we …

The disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme provides relief from vehicle registration tax and VAT on the purchase and use of an adapted car, as well as an exemption from motor tax and an annual fuel grant. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, is very aware of the importance of the scheme to those who benefit from it. He is also aware of the disquiet expressed by many in respect of difficulties in accessing the scheme. Accordingly, he is now committed to a comprehensive review of the scheme to include a broader rev…