The plans the Minister of State has announced in the strategic plan for the NPWS are to be welcomed insofar as they constitute a commitment to expanding funding and service to meet the need for an agency that is fit to play its part in our collective response to the biodiversity emergency, as the Minister of State has put it. The establishment of the new directorates within the NPWS is welcome because we need less of a fragmented approach to biodiversity in order that the different sectors have a focus that is dedi…

I also thank Deputy Cian O'Callaghan and the Social Democrats for bringing the motion before the House. It gives us the opportunity to speak for the thousands of families that the failed policies of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael over the years have locked out of housing. Tipperary has witnessed a house price increase of 14.3% year on year, according to the latest daft.ie report, but it does not stop there. If a family looks to get out of the stranglehold of the rental market, the cost of a three-bedroom semi-detached h…

I appreciate that the purpose of this Bill is to reduce waiting times and the costs that are associated with claims for malicious injuries to a member of An Garda Síochána in the course of their work. It must be noted that current backlogs in the High Court have resulted in some cases taking as long as four years to progress from the initial phase to its conclusion. When legal proceedings go forward in this way, it typically results in higher costs, and further pressure on the services provided by the court. Howeve…

I thank the Minister of State for discussing this matter with me today. I am talking about the funding needs of the great service that is provided by the Irish Community Air Ambulance. As the Minister of State will be acutely aware, the service provided by the Irish Community Air Ambulance has saved many lives and prevented injuries sustained by people from becoming life changing. Whenever one speaks to people who have been involved in accidents or who have been seriously ill and were assisted by the air ambulance …

I appreciate that the Minister of State is taking this matter on behalf of the Minister. The reply written for the Minister stated, "I reassure the House that the Government is strongly committed to supporting the strengthening and reform". We are being told the Minister did not even respond to the service for a couple of months when it asked him first, although he did eventually come back to it. The importance of the Irish Community Air Ambulance service cannot be overemphasised. Out of 500 calls last year, consid…

I want to start by congratulating those who were elected in the Assembly elections over the weekend, especially my Sinn Féin colleagues. There are 524 vacancies across the 91 children's disability network teams, CDNTs, at the moment and that is out of 1,982 so-called approved positions. That means one third of positions in CDNTs across the country are vacant. It is more or less the equivalent rate for the CHO area which includes south Tipperary. At the same time, families of children who had preliminary team assess…

For example?

The SDLP did as well.

The number of people who are either locked out of homeownership or even locked out of rental accommodation is genuinely staggering. Leaving the statistics aside for the moment, all Deputies know from the calls they get to their offices that there is a fundamental problem with the availability of accommodation. No family type is immune to this, be it families with young children, single parents with limited means or single people. We have heard sad and horrific stories from them all and have tried to assist them in …

Climate action is vital and we all have our part to play. Considerable efforts must be made. However, everybody must be supported to help make those changes and the regressive carbon tax falls short in that regard. I thank the Rural Independent Group for giving us the time to discuss this issue. Is the carbon tax designed to take into account energy poverty? The answer is a simple "No". Yet the people who suffer from energy poverty are the very ones who are paying disproportionate amounts of their incomes on carbon…

In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, fuel supply insecurity and price hikes, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, wants to ban the sale of turf from September. Since that came out, it has been one long fiasco after another. After showing complete disregard for the 9% of rural households in this country who depend on turf to heat their homes, it quickly went to the Minister making outlandish and dismissive statements like "we won't jail your granny" and unworkable suggestions relating to population limits. All this …

It is appropriate that we are discussing carbon budgets following the publication of the UN climate report, which was released on Monday. It was a worrying report that sought to reinforce the need for swift and meaningful action to be taken to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions across the globe if we are to survive the 1.5°C threshold, but there was a note of hope that we could all play our part in this ambition if our roadmaps were right. To be clear, carbon budgets set out our targets and are adopted by the Oire…

I am due to speak.

I was to swap with Deputy Ó Snodaigh. His office was to contact the Ceann Comhairle.

For too many years the electoral register has been based on an outdated method of being compiled while also falling short in inclusivity for sectors of society that are traditionally under-represented in electoral matters. This Bill seeks to address some of those concerns, which is welcome, but there are areas in which it could be improved further. The modernisation of the register is welcome. We are all aware of the issue of the names of deceased persons being on the register, while at the same time, names that ha…

Thirty seconds. Answer the question.

I also thank People Before Profit-Solidarity for bringing the Bill before the House. The recent attacks on Irish neutrality that we have heard from certain Members of this House are examples of how some people get their priorities and, indeed, their ideas about Ireland’s role in this world wrong. The main priority in this current situation must be to bring the war in Ukraine to an end. Indeed, that should be our focus when it comes to every armed struggle and conflict across the globe. When it comes to Ukraine, end…

Earlier today, I spoke on the topic of neutrality. At the risk of repeating myself, I have to say that a peaceful resolution to all conflicts must be our main focus. The scenes we are witnessing can easily make us question everything, but a resolution that involves the withdrawal of Russia must be the main objective. The scenes we have witnessed were unthinkable for the 21st century, but here we are, faced with a tyrannical regime that is hell-bent on imposing an agenda that seeks to impose its dominance. It cares …

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle. For those who may not know, I live in Cashel, County Tipperary, a town with an amazing heritage, location and people. I was involved in a zero-waste pilot programme from 2017 until July 2018. Its aim was to reduce waste by 25% through a number of different initiatives involving the community. It had a particular focus on ending the bad habit of using single-use products when alternatives could be found or, indeed, having those products repaired or recycled to become of use…

Recent legislation which aimed to provide emergency support to members of the haulage industry was somewhat welcome. However, a substantial portion of the sector has been excluded. This week I have been contacted by Gleeson Concrete, which operates in Donohill, County Tipperary, as well as north Cork and Limerick. They are reliant on their hauliers but pointed out that while some delivery fleet personnel in the industry hold a haulage licence and will benefit from the emergency measure, the majority of Internationa…