It is the role of the Chair to manage the time. We have probably lost more time in the debate by not allowing the Minister to conclude. Is the Minister happy to conclude at this point?

Yes. In any case, I was lost in a reverie of looking out in my mind's eye from a hill in Malahide across Lambay Island-----

I am sure it is. I thank Deputy Alan Farrell. For many of us, where we come from has been stitched into us, even from the perspective of placenames. I am from Butlerstown. It is no great surprise that Butlerstown Castle is one of the heritage sites that would sit in my mind's eye. Knockeen Dolmen is less than a mile from my house. Going there, it is not possible to escape a realisation of being in a landscape that has had humans in it for 5,000 years and more. Where I am living now, the probably more prosaically na…

The Deputy can move all the amendments.

No, they are grouped so the Deputy has seven minutes.

Thank you, Deputy.

The Deputy is over time.

The Deputy will have a further two-minute opportunity.

I thank the Deputy. I need to move on.

Deputy McNamara, we are over time.

Deputy McAuliffe was collecting "isms" there. We should not neglect to include late-stage neoliberal capitalism in that list, which is probably the root cause of that kind of social isolation, more so than some of the even less attractive forms he listed. Before I get going, I welcome the Taoiseach's mention of the sustainable development goals and the fact they were discussed at the Council. This is a big year for Ireland with respect to the goals. We have that voluntary national report to make in July, so I am gl…

I look forward to Deputy O'Sullivan opening his EV dealership in west Cork. I might make a visit because I have not managed to make the investment just yet.

We can get them all right. There is a quote from a guy called William Gibson that has lived in my head quite a lot recently. He said a long time ago that "the future is already here - it's just not evenly distributed". That is very much the case with a lot of what we are talking about at the moment. I see Deputy O'Donoghue nodding in agreement. There is a fundamental equity issue in terms of the cost of fuel and the cost of motoring for low-income families who cannot afford to make the transition to an electric car…

-----as much as any of the cities will not be solved by electric cars. We have to look at that issue. We also have to consider whether we need to incentivise at this point what is a transfer to wealthier people. If you are wealthier, you can afford to invest in an EV. By investing in an EV, you have managed to put yourself onto a smart tariff to charge your car overnight and get electricity at a lower rate. You could have solar panels on the house. You are also getting the tax breaks in terms of VRT and the year-on…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for this opportunity. This is an issue that has been consistently raised at the committees on education and autism. The staffing issues are a big problem. Does the Minister have the pertinent statistics for CHO 5 where I am? As Deputy McAuliffe said, it is not just per CHO. There are individual areas within each CHO, such as west Waterford, where it has been extremely difficult to recruit and retain people to the CDNTs. They are of pivotal importance. This is a huge stumbling block…

Picking up on what the Minister said in his last contribution, it has been extremely valuable that a stand-alone Department was created for further and higher education due in particular to the emphasis it has allowed us to put on further education, apprenticeships and skills. We find ourselves in the European Year of Skills. It is something that slightly surprised the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science when it arrived because it arrived at very short notice…

All of those measures are extremely welcome. We should do anything we can to bring people's attention to the central nature of skills in the development we need in our economy. It was said at the education committee that there is a cultural handbrake at play here that means parents are less likely to support their children going towards a life of apprenticeships, for example. We need to address that. The more we talk about skills and the more we raise the profile of things like apprenticeships within this Dáil the …

The Minister made a very pertinent last point. I have just come from the launch of World Autism Month, which was very close to us here in Kildare Street. As we know, many people with autism are locked out of the workforce. A very pertinent point was made as well on lifelong learning. We have to stop considering our education journey as being finished at 22 or 23. We have to look at that component of education within the workforce, namely, lifelong learning and microcredentialing. The Minister met the Waterford and …

I will begin by asking a straightforward and fundamental question: who is this sector currently working for? Who is it working for socially, economically or environmentally? It is difficult to answer that question. In considering the social aspect, people have pointed out the importance of sheep farming and upland farming within our communities. I was at a meeting of the Comeragh Uplands and Communities European Innovation Partnership, EIP, Project recently. I was not quite the youngest person in the room but I was…

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