Is the heat too hot in the kitchen for the Deputy?

The heat is too hot in the kitchen for him. It is a fact.

The Minister did not notify anybody that he was coming to Tipperary.

Yes, you did.

Did I?

I do not know.

I too want to be associated with the comments on that retirement. I thank all the staff who look after us here on both sides of the building and around the building. They have always been more than helpful and courteous. I am a big supporter of An Garda Síochána and community alert, and a big believer given my own village of Caisleán Nua na Súire had the second community alert group that was set up in this country. In that vein, I want to pay tribute to deceased Garda Sergeant Niall O'Halloran, who fought a huge ba…

We are truly in an energy crisis. Families face paying €400 more for their electricity and heat this winter, according to analysis carried out by Charlie Weston of the Irish Independent . It is quite obvious, and Deputy Kelly raised it earlier. The crisis deepened last week when Energia announced a third rise for 200,000 residential customers. The crisis must be addressed in the forthcoming budget, not only for households but for everybody who travels to work or school or for business and industry. I am mainly conc…

Someone needs to expose the farce that is going on with the ring-fencing of carbon tax money. It is not happening. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, has a waiting list of two and a half years. In Spain, electricity taxes are being cut temporarily and windfall grants for energy are being supported. Italy has injected €1.2 billion into its energy system to reduce bills. In Greece, the government is planning to offer energy subsidies to the majority of households and the French Government is consideri…

Last week, I raised the issue of felling licences. There should be no such thing as a felling licence for 50 ha. When someone plants any other crop, be it miscanthus, barley, wheat or potatoes, it can be harvested. This situation is farcical. I will keep raising it. We have an energy crisis. We also have heaps of timber, but we are not allowed to cut it. This would not happen in a kindergarten. The Minister of State introduced legislation almost a year ago, but it was useless, toothless and fruitless. We must allow…

The Tánaiste ignored my question. It is a major issue and we need it resolved.

We need legislation.

There is a crisis in the pig industry because of a lack of exports of pigs to Northern Ireland. A company called Karro is the main importer there. In July and August, 12,000 fewer pigs were exported to the North. There is an animal welfare issue because producers cannot get staff. Their eastern European staff left during the lockdown, and now they do not have the staff. This is a crisis, but the Taoiseach, who was in south County Tipperary last week, and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, who was in…

Hear, hear.

Hear, hear.

The Tánaiste will be well aware of the situation in Tipperary town regarding a bypass of the town. I understand the review of the national development plan is under way and is due in the coming days. We dearly need to have funding in there for a relief road for the town - a bypass or else as part of the N24 project. We need to relieve the town. The Jobs4Tipp and March4Tipp campaigns, along with the County Tipperary Chamber and everybody else, brought 5,000 people onto the streets nearly two years ago. They need to …

I am glad to speak on the Maritime Area Planning Bill 2021, which seeks to provide a legislative framework for a new streamlined development consent process for activities in the maritime area, including offshore renewable energy. The Bill also provides for the establishment of a new agency, which is the bit I do not like, the maritime area regulatory authority, or MARA. I remember “Mara” used to be referred to on “Scrap Saturday” and that was P. J. Mara, God rest him, a friend of mine. I hope this will not be anot…

I am objecting also. I want the Taoiseach to arrange for a debate on felling licences for forestry. We are talking about building houses. Merchants cannot get a stick of timber. The price of timber has increased by more than 100% and it is just not working. We need legislation that will empower people to cut their forests in the same way as you harvest any crop. When you set a crop of wheat, you are entitled to harvest it. It must be the same for forestry even though it involves a 30-year timespan. This nonsense of…

Home care is a disaster.

I found out from the reply to a parliamentary question tabled to the Minister for Health that €3.84 billion extra has been spent throughout Covid. The people of Carrick-on-Suir, east Waterford and south Kilkenny are bewildered as to why St. Brigid's Hospital was closed in the middle of a pandemic when all this money was being thrown around like confetti. I am asking the Taoiseach to meet the action committee, which he has not done, and to meet Councillor Kieran Bourke and other councillors in Tipperary. The Taoisea…