We now have People Before Profit. Deputy Gino Kenny is sharing with Deputy Boyd Barrett. Deputy Barry is not joining us.

After we dispose of amendment No. 1, we will be in a position to deal with your amendment.

There is nobody from the Independent Group to move amendment No. 2, so I cannot deal with that. I will move to the question regarding the motion.

Like other colleagues in the House, I welcome this draft legislation, which fulfils a number of commitments from the programme for Government. There have been a number of references to the 1971 Act. We will all agree it is long overdue and in need of an overhaul. It demonstrates the value of having a senior ministry devoted to the area of higher education and research to bring that focus and energy to the issue. It is comprehensive in its scope, modern in its approach to governance and inclusive with regard to the …

I thank the committee Chairman, Deputy Naughten, who agreed to share time with me this evening. I thank him also for taking on the job of putting this report together. Much of the preparatory work was undertaken in the Thirty-second Dáil and would have been lost but for the decision made by Deputy Naughten to use our Covid time, when we could do little else, to bring together the work and form a report from it. I also acknowledge the huge work undertaken by Deputy Joan Collins, who has unfortunately stepped out of …

I call again on the Cathaoirleach of the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands, Deputy Naughten, to close the debate.

It is important and timely to have this debate on youth mental health, particularly as we emerge from the Covid pandemic. It is a tough time to be a young person. I made what I hope are the majority of my mistakes at a time before social media and before digital cameras were ubiquitous. How difficult it must be now growing up when young people are constantly trying to compare themselves against unrealistic norms that are constantly presented to them. Even though it was there before the emergence of Covid, the pande…

In accordance with Standing Order 80(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time on Wednesday, 26 January 2022.

I join other Deputies in extending my best Christmas wishes to people. Across society, we are exhausted. We have learned more about the Greek alphabet than any of us cared to learn and the sooner we forget it the better. People in the healthcare system are exhausted, as are those in the education system. I will stick to the education system, which is what I know best. That is not to say I do not acknowledge the work of our front-line healthcare workers. They are exhausted from the daily in-and-out of dealing with C…

I have no doubt but that in the climate Act we have world-leading climate legislation setting out ambitious targets. Last week, however, the Climate Change Advisory Council identified a significant gap between climate action policy and climate action delivery, saying there is little evidence of necessary responses in individual Departments. Climate Case Ireland has today warned that the Government faces legal action if it does not publish the State's final long-term climate strategy by January 2022, two years after…

I acknowledge the unfolding circumstances at the Ukrainian border, as raised by other Deputies, including Deputy Berry, earlier today. As with other Deputies, I believe the amassing of troops at that border is deeply worrying. Ireland and the EU should be preparing and they should be hoping for a de-escalation. In that regard, we should be looking forward. We should be preparing a full suite of EU sanctions. These should be authorised and communicated in advance so that, in the event of an attack, they can be trigg…

I understand Deputy Paul Donnelly is sharing time with Deputies Martin Browne, Mythen and Ward.

We will return to the Government and the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan.

I echo Deputy O'Sullivan's comments and very much welcome the Minister of State's commitment to legislating for this. Waterford City and County Council was one of seven local authorities that were reprimanded by the Data Protection Commissioner on the basis the Litter Pollution Act 1997 and the Waste Management Act 1996 did not provide legal grounds for its actions. It is a case of legislation having to catch up with technology and with the GDPR to ensure councils will be covered in this regard because this issue i…

I am raising an issue I first raised with the Tánaiste two weeks ago, namely, water, in particular wastewater around the Copper Coast area of Waterford and specifically in or around the village of Bunmahon. As the name indicates, Bunmahon is at the mouth of the River Mahon. That river is only 25 km long but it manages to achieve a considerable amount along its course. It rises at the top of the Comeragh Mountains and falls as a waterfall into one of the glacial coums that give the Comeragh Mountains their name. I k…

I thank the Minister of State; that is very much appreciated. When I raised this with the Tánaiste, the question I asked was whether we needed to invest more money in wastewater systems. I was amazed when he answered that this year there was an underspend of €100 million. I will give the Minister of State an invitation. If he had €100 million to spend in any county in Ireland, he is more than welcome to come to Waterford to spend it, where it would be well spent throughout the county. There are solutions available.…

The town centre first approach is writ large across the programme for Government. It has since been put at the heart of the Our Rural Future document and Housing for All. Our towns and villages offer a serious quality of life proposition, but only if supported with good public services, a proper public realm and attractive housing solutions. The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Humphreys, announced this morning the first phase of funding for the development of town centre first plans, amounting …

I thank the Minister. We will return to Sinn Féin and Deputy Sorca Clarke.

I agree with the Minister in that remote working has the capacity to be game changing. We have seen it during the pandemic. I am thinking of Dungarvan, Lismore and west Waterford, where people had the opportunity to move down. These three questions are complementary. It was interesting to see them grouped. Deputy Ó Muimhneacháin is asking about the roll-out of the technology. Deputy Dillon is asking about the buildings and the physical infrastructure. I am asking about the people. How do we entice people to move do…

It is difficult because the Minister is being pulled in three different directions by the questions. As well as giving nudges to workers to move down the country, which is vital, the Irish word that stands out to me is "fite fuaite", which rolls off the tongue better than "policy coherence". We need individual policy actors to work together. If we look to get people into our rural towns and villages, we have quality of life in spades, but we need housing solutions and, as Deputy Ó Muimhneacháin suggested, we need t…