On a point of clarification, either the Minister is confused or the whole country is confused. He is telling us that what was announced today by the now absent Taoiseach, who has gone missing, is not true and is not really a fact at all but a figment of our imagination. The restaurants will be open.

No, we need absolute clarity. We cannot have a senior Minister coming in and saying that what the Taoiseach announced only an hour ago is not true.

No, I want clarification, please.

The Minister is a man with deep Tipperary roots and I know he is looking favourably at trying to get Tipperary town bypassed. I compliment Patrick O'Callaghan, a home-grown Tipperary man, on the 75 jobs announced this week, half of them in Tipperary. I ask the Minister to look at the bypass plan prior to the review of the national development plan. Spending €2 billion to €3 billion on the M20 from Cork to Limerick is a waste of money and damages the environment. We should carry on and bypass Charleville and Butteva…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing my colleagues and me to switch around. We thought there was a second round of speaking slots. These Bills are being rushed through. It is always near the end of the term that they come into the House. The Wednesday night guillotine, with all Stages being taken, is not good enough. This Bill has serious implications for every man, woman and child in the country who wants a house, including the many noble people who need a house from their local authority. They are entitled to…

I ask the Minister how much money was provided by his Department to Tipperary County Council in 2020 in respect of the rental accommodation scheme, the long-term leasing scheme and the housing assistance payment.

It is very disappointing because HAP payments from Tipperary County Council went to 1,178 tenancies in 2019. In 2020, it was more than 1,800. The total cost in 2019 was more than €6.8 million; in 2020, it was €7.1 million. The housing leasing scheme is only one third of that, according to the figures the Minister of State has given. That scheme, which offers tenants long-term security, is not being promoted or advanced by most local authorities. It could and does provide longer term security for tenants of ten or 2…

I respect the Minister of State but he must have been listening to the Tánaiste at his Ard-Fheis last weekend. In the past five years, there has been a complete failure by the Government to fund local authorities building houses. In 2016, there were only 320 local authority new builds; in 2017, there were 1,014 new builds; in 2018, 2,022 new builds; in 2019, 2,271 new builds; in 2020, only 2,300 new builds; in 2021 so far, there have been 1,995. The Tánaiste at the Ard-Fheis last weekend must have been in cloud cuc…

I have the facts.

There is absolute chaos in driver test centres around the theory tests. I have been raising this issue with the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, for months in this House. Four people turned up at the Clonmel test centre last Tuesday morning, from Cork, Dungarvan, Cahir and Clonmel, and it was locked. I have been digging and the staff in my office, Ms Triona O'Flynn and others, have done great work on this. The office in Clonmel will only open for two days on 24 and 26 June and on 1…

The national maternity hospital project was first announced in 2013. That is now eight years ago. Like the national children's hospital, the real scandal of the development are the skyrocketing costs. In 2018, the original cost was in the region of €150 million. In 2017 and 2018, the costs had risen by over 100% to an estimated €350 million. In 2021, last Friday in fact, we were told by the Minister for Health that the building infrastructure costs have been priced at €500 million. Further commissioning costs, incl…

I have been asked to raise this issue by Mr. Stephen Fitzgerald of Aqua Splash. Aqua Splash is based in Dromineer, Nenagh, County Tipperary, and has just reopened after the lockdown. The insurance runs out next month. Not one insurer will renew its insurance; it has tried outside insurance companies that are regulated here in Ireland and they also refused. It has just got over the lockdown and now it is back in business. This is the fifth year running that it has had considerable difficulty with planning and insura…

I welcome the provision in the Bill that sorts out the situation whereby students were being asked for all kinds of bingo numbers for deposits. That is being outlawed in the Bill and it is the one good thing about it. I am worried that the rest of the measures are futile. I admire the Leas-Cheann Comhairle every time she speaks from her knowledge and experience. I agree with her that we get only futile efforts in this country that involve talk and more talk. I was on the housing committee for four and a half years …

Hear, hear.

On behalf of the Rural Independent Group, I am seeking time for a debate on the serious warnings by the Irish Postmasters' Union of the inevitable collapse of the post office network and up to 200 branch closures in the near future if the Government does not intervene. We have had report after report and investigation, but the Government is not supporting the network. It is directing business away from the post offices, all of which are sole traders. We badly need a debate on this matter. We are told that by July, …

Not agreed.

I return to the sad and scandalous closure of St. Brigid's hospital in Carrick-on-Suir. The Taoiseach told me in this Chamber four months ago that he would meet with Councillor Kieran Bourke and his Fianna Fáil colleagues in Tipperary County Council, the following morning if necessary. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, met with district councillors from Carrick-on-Suir ten days ago and she put the question to them whether they would put any of their loved ones in the hospital. A petition is being organised by C…

It is on her doorstep.

Tá ceist mhór agam i gcomhair an Aire Stáit. What was the delay in putting Ireland's application forward? The big question remains as to the delay at the European Commission and why we only looked for €1 billion. I was always taught as a little buachaill óg going to the shop to look for more than one could get and take one's share then. Denmark, which has a similar population to Ireland, is receiving an allocation of €1.6 billion, which is almost double the allocation Ireland is receiving, which is €900 million. Be…

Good man.