It has been just over a year since Storm Babet visited severe flooding on communities in east Cork and west Waterford. If we had not been reminded of this by its anniversary, the flooding in Spain will certainly have reminded us in a very visceral way. Replies to freedom of information requests show that detailed information is being shared with local authorities ahead of heavy rainfall events but this is not being shared with the general public. Does the Taoiseach agree that, if this information is available, it i…

That is fine. I understand the time constraints.

I love the library. When Tramore library closed for extensive refurbishment that ran over a couple of years, we missed it badly. My kids love the Dog Man series of books. While they might not be on the reading list of the Minister, they are great books. They cost €13 a pop, however, and the kids finish them in approximately one hour and say, thanks Dad. Getting into the library drives down that cost, obviously. I wish to ask the Minister about the Little Library book programme which is designed to get people in the…

That is no problem. I am fully in support of this programme. It is fantastic. I am a Dad, but I was also a teacher in a previous life. Bringing school kids to the library and establishing those links is so important in terms of literacy and encouraging kids to read for fun. It has so many benefits in their later life, not only in their progression in literacy but in their access to so many other resources as well. We are talking about an initiative that saves money, builds community and gets kids reading - so much …

The national planning framework should be a cornerstone of our planning process underpinning the national development plan. It is absolutely vital to achieving our climate commitments, not just in the development of offshore renewables, which is pivotal in getting to our 2030 targets, but also about stitching in transport-oriented and transport-led development to make sure we can drive down our transport emissions as well. I represent a regional city. The NPF should absolutely be putting balanced regional developme…

There are three items of real importance in my constituency of Waterford that should come across the Minister's desk in the Department of public expenditure. The first concerns the PPP project and engineering building that was promised for SETU in Waterford. We have been awaiting a decision on it for months. The second issue also concerns the technological university sector, namely the decision on professorial roles. If we want technological universities to function as centres of research, they are critical. The th…

We have five speakers in the next Sinn Féin slot.

This question relates to climate finance. COP29 is being termed in some quarters as the finance COP. We have big work to do in terms of setting the new collective quantified goal. I ask for a sense of the direction our climate finance will be taking domestically and how we propose to direct it to communities most in need as well as how we propose to influence the direction travel of climate finance not just here in Ireland but at COP.

I congratulate the Minister on his appointment to a very key role at COP29, namely a senior COP presidency role co-leading negotiations on climate adaptation. While that is somewhat tangential to what we are discussing here, it is also very closely related. One of my key concerns relates to how we treat climate finance, the €225 million that we are making available and the need to keep that separate from our overseas development aid. We should make it supplemental to overseas development aid and not be counting bot…

I am sure we can amiably agree to disagree on this point. I want to chase that 0.7% goal that we have set out. I know we are chasing a moving target in that our GDP is increasing and we have substantially, in real numbers, very much increased the type of funding we are making available through overseas development aid and climate finance. That said, I would like to keep the accounting separate, even if they add up to reach somewhere close to that 0.7% target, which is the North Star that we need to be heading towar…

I thank the Deputy. We are over time.

Deputy, we are over time.

Deputy Ó Murchú, we are late for the next speaker.

I thank the Minister of State. That concludes statements to mark World Mental Health Day: Making Mental Health a Priority for Everyone.

Seanad Éireann has passed the Electricity Costs (Emergency Measures) Domestic Accounts Bill 2024, without amendment.

I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 37 and the name of the Member in each case: Deputy Joe Flaherty - To discuss the inclusion of students who stammer in the reasonable accommodations at certificate examinations guidelines. Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh - To discuss the impact of the removal of hedgerows. Deputy Patrick Costello - To discuss antisocial behaviour in the Dublin 8, 10 and 12 areas. Deputy Neasa Hourigan - To discuss access to na…

I thank Deputy Durkan for taking the Chair to facilitate me in speaking on this matter. We are into open season on hedgerows again with hedgerow trimming or cutting, however we want to term it. It is also about hedgerow removal, which obviously has far more long-term consequences and a greater environmental impact. During the closed season, the Department of agriculture engaged in a review of the environmental impact screening thresholds, which essentially was about how much hedgerow you are allowed to remove witho…

It is interesting to note what is omitted from the answer the Minister of State was given by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. It talks about the size threshold for screening and chooses to neglect to mention that up to 500 m can be removed without any application for screening or any application to the Department. I also find interesting the figure of 11,000 km given for the new native species hedgerows. I could raise the issue of imported hawthorne and the issue of fireblight but I will not go i…

I move: That Dáil Éireann shall take note of the Report of the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands entitled "Report on Energy Poverty 2024", copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 24th June, 2024. I am taking this as Leas-Chathaoirleach of the committee. The Cathaoirleach, tragically, is burying his brother, John Naughten, today. It is a sad time for the House. Not only has Deputy Naughten suffered a bereavement, I have just heard the Minister, Deputy Pete…

I will have a go and-----