I want to ask the Taoiseach, as I did a number of weeks ago, about the role of An Taisce in planning. At that time, the Taoiseach suggested there were too many judicial reviews. An Taisce had taken a judicial review against the permission Glanbia had been granted by Kilkenny County Council and An Bord Pleanála, with additional licences from the Environmental Protection Agency. Now it has decided, after an overwhelming result against it in the High Court judicial review, to appeal this decision again in the courts. …

I want a debate on this issue. An Taisce gets €2.5 million annually from various Government agencies and it is causing havoc in rural Ireland. Deputy Kelly asked a question about An Bord Pleanála. An Bord Pleanála sided with the application. It involves jobs and the livelihoods of young farmers are at stake. We cannot have a non-governmental organisation, an NGO, causing this kind of havoc and using taxpayers' money to destroy taxpayers.

We need a debate on it.

Turn off the tap of money.

Turn off the tap.

I am very disappointed with the Minister, mar níl sé anseo. I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, but I used to listen to a radio programme many years ago that was known as "Dear Frankie". The Ceann Comhairle may remember it. It seems Frankie has been put forward to answer everything in here. It just goes to show that the Government has no respect for this House. Members of the Government love to pay homage to the European bureaucrats, and the bureaucrats know it. That is why we are being p…

I was not saying anything personal about the Minister of State.

Hear, hear.

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. The Minister for Housing Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, Deputy John McGuinness, mé féin and Senator David Norris, with the help of Edmund Honohan, the highly respected Master of the High Court, brought forward the Affordable Housing and Fair Mortgage Bill in 2018. The skullduggery and blackguarding that went on inside Fianna Fáil to nobble Deputy McGuinness and stop that Bill in its tracks, from the Taoiseach down, was nothing short of scan…

The situation with pass-through charges or, indeed, standing charges continuing to be charged to business customers by energy suppliers right throughout the pandemic is simply disgraceful. Some hospitality customers in my constituency have been charged up to €26,000 in pass-through charges alone by the energy suppliers. This is shocking money. They appreciate the support they got from Government but 40% of the support is going to pay these charges. Will the Tánaiste talk to the Minister, Deputy Ryan, who seems to b…

It is simply not good enough. It is 13 or 14 months going on now and it has to be dealt with.

I accept that, but this is different.

I am pleased to be able to speak today on Second Stage of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021. I am glad the Minister is here. Táim an-chairdiúil leis an bhfear sin.

I am not. I look forward to a robust debate with the Minister. We understand each other and have no hard feelings, and the same goes for all the members of the Rural Independent Group. Deputy O'Donoghue asked me to ask the Minister when, like "Living with Lucy", the Minister will visit Limerick with him. This is perhaps the most far-reaching legislation to come before the Chamber in the current Dáil. As someone who has grown up, worked and lived in rural Ireland all my life, I am acutely aware of the fondness and r…

In Tipperary as well.

In 50 years' time.

You are not doing it. It is not in the Bill.

One cannot cut the trees. One cannot get the licences.

I would like written answers from the Minister. Why are the HSE and the Department of Health not collating figures on the numbers of people with delayed diagnoses of cancer or misdiagnoses? There are 38,000 people waiting for colonoscopies alone and many of their diagnoses have been delayed. Student nurses were forced to take the AstraZeneca vaccine. The Taoiseach told the Dáil they had to take it or they would forfeit their careers. Now we know it is not suitable for under-60s. What redress is there for those stud…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle and Jill Gray in his office for facilitating this Topical Issue debate. We have been raising this matter with the Tánaiste, the Taoiseach and everyone else. The dogs in the street are aghast about it. Why is there such inertia in the Road Safety Authority, RSA, and the Department of Transport in dealing with this issue? A lady in my constituency has had her driver theory test rescheduled seven times since last October. Just this morning she received an email from the RSA to say that her …