We have two and a half minutes each. Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach agus tá an ceart aige i gcónaí. I compliment Sinn Féin on this motion. It is a very important one because of people with disabilities and people who are unable to access transport. When we talk about equal access and opportunities, we must bear in mind that these people are completely hindered. I support the bones of the motion from that point of view. As a Deputy for rural Ireland, I want to say that we have no services. Fares h…

The Minister cannot answer it either.

I thank the Leas Cheann-Comhairle for selecting this Topical Issue tonight. It is raining cats and dogs and we had huge rainfall Sunday night of last week in many parts of the country, including in south Tipperary. Thurles town was badly affected as were Cahir, Cashel and Tipperary town. It was unprecedented rainfall. I must mention the lack of maintenance of our roads with the cuts to personnel. I have to single out Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and the National Roads Association, NRA, before it. They dev…

It is late at night and we are all tired but this is balderdash. TII did the hydrological studies and everything else and it did not put in big enough culverts. We argued, as did farmers who knew the area and its topography, but it did not listen. Now we have a problem because it will not do maintenance. It cannot just develop a project. People cannot just build a house and forget to clean the chutes. We have this folly every time we ask a question about flooding. We hear about climate change. It just does not cut …

How many drug support workers are there in County Tipperary, what supports are available for young people there, and what actions is the Minister of State taking, along with the Garda, to deal with the growing drug and mental health problems, which are intrinsically linked, in Clonmel and across the rest of Tipperary?

Every town and city in the country has been plagued by drugs, but the drug crisis in my town of Clonmel, which is a fine town, has almost gone out of control over the past 18 months. This is sad. We have no mental health supports. We do not have one long-stay bed. Crack cocaine and heroin are openly available on the main street and its curtilages and unfortunate souls are seen begging, falling over, out of their minds, being physically or verbally abused and fighting among themselves. They are destroying themselves…

I accept that good work is being done up and down the country, but we do not have the resources. We have to try to break the cycle. It is sad when more and more young people fall back into drug use after going through rehab. The housing and drugs crises are inextricably linked. This is a well-known fact and is accepted by all who review this matter. We must try to impact schools, which are doing their best. After 17-year-olds and 18-year-olds leave school, though, they seem to be left to the mercy of the waves. The…

I am raising once again the savage impact of soaring energy costs on businesses. A family-owned supermarket in a small town in County Tipperary that employs 50 people has seen its energy bill rise from €7,500 per month to €18,900 per month, an increase of 152%. That is savage by any measure. Even with the welcome scheme the Government has announced, the temporary business energy support scheme, TBESS, the bills will still be €7,000 per month more than they were. Small businesses cannot carry this cost. Jobs and fam…

The Deputy may not name people who are not in the House.

I am delighted to be able to comment on this Bill. I do not know if I have ever addressed the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, in this format discussing legislation. I wish him well as an Aire Rialtais and thank him for his co-operation and courtesy. Any time I contact him, or whenever anyone in my group does so, we get a reasonable response. That is very much appreciated by us and by all Members of the House. I wish him, agus a chlann go léir, well. This legislation is very important. I have been very critical. I…

It is Thursday. Go raibh maith agat. We have seen some quite successful court cases recently related to gang terrorism and everything else, and we have seen the latest developments concerning the witness protection programme associated with Dublin's gangland. Is there any chance that the Minister will pass on the idea of exploring similar arrangements regarding the murder in 1996 of Sophie Toscan du Plantier? The matter has been going on for so long that it is embarrassing to our country. It is important that it be…

I was not sure, as the clock went off. I hope the lights are not going.

I hope the power is not going.

Perhaps it is being spared.

It used to be WikiLeaks. SIPO needs to be given more power. It has power to regulate. As Members of the House, we make returns to it, as do councillors and public representatives. In fairness to SIPO, I have met it with my group and it has given us advice and a better understanding. I do not know how many years it is in place, but it did not exist when I was first elected. It is important to meet with SIPO, which it is willing to do. I thank the officials from SIPO for coming in, meeting with us and explaining its …

I too support this Bill. I thank and compliment Deputies Ward, Mitchell and Martin Kenny for bringing forward this legislation this evening. It is an honest effort by Teachtaí who have experience of what is happening on the ground. I mean no personal criticism but I sometimes wonder whether the system here is capable of understanding this massive problem with taking and dealing drugs, which is found across all strata of society including among professionals and everybody else. This brings misery to ordinary citizen…

I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward the motion. It is very important that we debate these issues in a sensitive manner. I appreciate the Minister's bona fides. The jury is out as to how it will end up, but it is obvious that the scheme is not fit for purpose. I do not know what is wrong with our departmental system that we cannot come up with sensitive and timely schemes. The six-month requirement is as if people were on six months’ probation, and if people were not there longer than that, they are ou…

I have a representation on behalf of an applicant for a driving test in Clonmel. The response to the person's query states that the application has been reviewed, that the person applied on 3 September, requested a test centre in Clonmel, and the waiting list in Clonmel is currently 18 weeks. It states that, based on the estimator tool, the person replying expects the applicant to receive her invitation to book a test in the week commencing 9 January. This system has been made complicated. She applied and waited fo…

Why would it not, with all the hot wind he is blowing?

The Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, and the Taoiseach are behaving treacherously in respect of Irish neutrality. They should be ashamed of themselves. I listened to Deputy Cahill, my colleague from Tipperary, and Deputy Flaherty and their lovely grand talk. I do not want it to be raining down on top of them but what is going on is scandalous. The Government has abandoned the people in this globalism and dragging us into a crowd we should not be in. Does it have any idea of the impacts of this quarrel? I spo…