I do not expect the Minister to have the figures in front of her because the question is tangential to the one I tabled. Could the Department come back to me with the occupancy figures for the buses and whether they are full, three quarters or half full? If we are trying to get value for money for the taxpayer, the closer to full occupancy we can get, notwithstanding public health guidelines etc. the better. A fuller bus is more cost efficient to run. Another matter I want to raise is tangential to what I raised in…

In accordance with Standing Order 80(2), the vote is deferred until the weekly division time tomorrow evening.

I remind Members that other Members are hoping their questions further down the running order will be reached. I ask Members to stick to the timeframes.

Thank you, Deputy. The time is up.

Thank you, Minister. We are well over time on this question.

Thank you, Minister.

I start this contribution by saying that I fully agree with the points raised by Deputy Ó Ríordáin on the need to tackle this issue within our schools and in respect of employment equality. I have known teaching colleagues during my career who have not felt that that they could be open about their own identity. This is certainly something that needs to be addressed. I join with everybody else in the House in wishing people a happy Pride week. If Deputy Donnelly suggests that the weather may not play ball and that t…

I thank the Minister of State for the opportunity to discuss this matter. I understand that neither the Minister for Education, Deputy Norma Foley, nor the Minister of State, Deputy Josepha Madigan, were able to take this matter. Tramore Educate Together National School has been in existence since 2014. It was mooted as far back as 2008. My first teaching post was in an Educate Together school. Many Educate Together schools are developing schools. It takes a significant amount of energy to get these schools off the…

There is more information in the answer the Minister of State has given me than was made available to the school, so I thank him for that because the school has been kept in the dark on this. Something I find frustrating about this whole process is that one of the first things I asked for when the Government was formed was for the forward planning unit in the Department of Education to do a desktop survey on Tramore and to assess the school needs there and the school lands that were at that time available for sale …

I thank Deputy Pringle for bringing this Bill to the House. He may be disappointed at the Government's approach. I accept that. However, I think it is useful for him to have sparked off the conversation and to have prompted a Government response on this. The Deputy will not be surprised to hear that I am inclined to agree with the approach of the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan. We are doing a large job of work around the Electoral Reform Bill. There are already things written into that such as the pending elector…

The Deputy is well over time.

It might work as a chairing technique as well. By agreement with the Independent Group, the next slot is being shared with the Rural Independent Group. I call Deputy Nolan.

The response to the war in Ukraine dominates the agenda of this European Council, and rightly so. We would fully expect that. I have just emerged from a Dóchas briefing in the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, where it was spelled out in real and very stark terms how the impact of the conflict in Ukraine extends far beyond just European borders. The UN Secretary General António Guterres has said that the war goes far beyond Ukraine and "a sword of Damocles hangs over the global economy - es…

We have had one of them every day in my house for the past ten years.

The second report on Ireland's well-being framework was published at the beginning of this month. It mirrors very closely the OECD Better Life Index, which is excellent in many respects but largely silent on questions of language and culture. Does the Minister see a role for a specific dimension within the framework that could deal with language and culture, as is the case in corresponding New Zealand and Welsh well-being frameworks?

I understand there is only one measurable indicator in the cultural expression dimension. I want to give the Minister the Welsh context as a counterpoint because I believe there is scope for this to be improved and strengthened within our well-being framework. Some of its measurable indicators are the percentage of people who agree they belong to an area; the percentage of people who volunteer; the percentage of people attending or participating in arts, culture or heritage activities at least three times a year; t…

I know it is an iterative process, but it is certainly easier to get in at the ground floor on these things. If we establish the space for this particular dimension of our well-being framework, I believe we can expand from that. I try to explain this idea to economists, who do not very often pick up on it. I try to explain to them that if they do not understand that the progress of Oulart-The Ballagh in the Wexford senior hurling championship plays quite a large role in my father-in-law's sense of well-being, they …

I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 37A and the name of the Member in each case: (1) Deputy Bernard Durkan - to discuss the retention of a teacher at Kilshanroe school and Maynooth education campus, County Kildare; (2) Deputy Ciarán Cannon - to discuss underfunding of Galway County Council; (3) Deputy Kieran O'Donnell - to discuss plans to address crisis levels of overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick emergency department; (4) Dep…

I thank the Deputy and assure him that, though Waterford is smaller than Dublin, we have taxis there. I am sure the Minister of State would need one if she was to get back-----

We have not provided for an extra contribution.