My question relates to the fair and transparent distribution of moneys State-wide. I point out that the south east has 9% of the population. Where can we see €900 million within the Government's capital tracker? We cannot see it. The dashboard is useless in terms of showing where money is being spent. In the lifetime of this Dáil, the university sector in Cork has received €300 million but we in the south east have received nothing. I ask the Minister to commit to a new reporting standard and a new dashboard in ter…

This Bill makes amendments to the Credit Guarantee Act and supports the needs of businesses to access additional finance in response to the economic difficulties resulting from the Ukraine war. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment and this is something we have been flagging and requesting to be done as quickly as possible. The State-backed Ukraine credit guarantee scheme proposes to provide low-cost working capital of up to €1 million to SMEs, primary producers and small mid-caps…

We all understand the importance of the home care model for preserving people's dignity and giving them independence to live as long as they can in their own home, particularly those with additional care needs. We want to preserve people's independence and keep them out of the acute hospital system as long as possible. However, there is a crisis in the sector, as the Ministers of State acknowledged. The first point to note is that people are living longer and their needs are becoming more complex as they age. We mu…

It is good to see the three Ministers with responsibility for enterprise here this morning to take questions. My question relates to any expanded scope that is being offered to Enterprise Ireland to support indigenous industries financially, particularly those facing energy bills that are well outside the proposed additional increase of €10,000 in energy supports.

There is an urgent need for financial supports across the SME trading sector. I have raised previously with the Tánaiste the need for specific sectoral supports. I highlight the food processing sector, which is in real trouble, and food retailers. I recently wrote to finance Ministers regarding a south-east food processing company whose monthly bill has gone from €8,000 to €48,000. Just last night, I was in discussion with Associated Craft Butchers of Ireland. More than 650 butcher shops are facing increases in the…

I thank the Tánaiste. I welcome the news of the Ukraine enterprise crisis scheme. I hope the company to which I referred will be able to access funding under the scheme. There are incredible challenges right across the business and SME sectors, particularly for companies such as food processors which are using large amounts of gas or electricity and whose business model has been completely destroyed. We need to have a clear strategy in terms of what we are trying to do. I accept, as I am sure does every other Membe…

Exceptional times require exceptional measures, and there is no doubt we are living through exceptional times. As for exceptional measures, it looks as though the Dáil has to afford exceptional powers to the Minister, given the Bill seeks to disapply the Planning and Development Act. This is necessary safeguarding legislation to protect against unwarranted development and citizens' rights being trampled on by planning developments. It is being proposed to reflect the significant concerns relating to energy supply a…

I count 51 days to the end of the Taoiseach's premiership. Many commitments were made to Waterford and the south east in that time but one is paramount, namely, 24-7 cardiac care. We are just weeks away from a formal handover of the second cath lab in Waterford and we have no bed allocation other than the existing allocation within the hospital to service that cath lab. In essence, we are getting a Rolls-Royce with no engine. A 12-bed day ward was promised. I have engaged with the HSE for almost two years. We have …

It is no good without beds.

Be factual. You cannot run a service.

We are still asking.

You cannot run a service without beds. The patients need beds.

That is a ridiculous statement to make about beds.

That is what I want to hear.

I welcome the Government's proposal to expand the spending limit of €500 million to the tourism sector before the end of the year. I can promise the Minister it is extremely badly needed. In her opening address, the Minister highlighted that tourism has been Ireland's most important indigenous labour-intensive sector, generating substantial export earnings and tax revenues, and nobody would disagree with that statement. She also spoke of it being woven into the fabric of Irish cultural and social life and the criti…

My question relates to the South East Technological University, SETU, and the quantum of capital funding that the Minister hopes to announce to deliver on the aspirations to halt the brain drain, to create new courses and to deliver new buildings and new capital structures in SETU.

It is now 11 years since Fine Gael promised Waterford a national university. It also promised this to the south east in 2011. Since that time no investment has been made on the campus in Waterford Institute of Technology, WIT, despite the fact that the Government and the Higher Education Authority, HEA, blocked any developments and this ended up at the Committee for Public Accounts as well. The Minister told us that the technological university was the only show in town for many years and that it would be enough to…

I might remind the Minister there was never a need to buy additional land in Waterford. We already had three sites with planning permission that could have been developed. I have seen how Government can walk through walls since I have come in here. I saw it when Deputy McHugh moved forward the public private partnership, PPP, for the Munster Technological University MTU. I have seen two buildings now delivered at €106 million each to University College Cork, UCC, and another €56 million given to the MTU in Cork and…

It is just a structure.

It is just a structure.