I have only taken the Chair-----

I appreciate that. That is why I am trying my best. I just took the Chair.

I am doing my best to be fair.

Brostaigh, le do thoil.

I wish the Minister and Minister of State well. It is a mammoth task. We have to get real. The idea of the left here is that we cannot have private contractors or developers. If we do not have private developers involved, we will not build the houses, full stop. I would love to be back in the 1940s and 1950s when the county council had manpower and built the houses, but those days are gone. We have to get over these ideologies, stop objecting to housing being built and encourage the voluntary sector. I am a member …

I ask the Minister for Health to review the current situation within the National Ambulance Service where emergency response vehicles have been removed from the off-duty paramedics. Such vehicles are now perceived to be a benefit-in-kind, which is a strange situation that will have a huge impact on response times. As they are bad enough at the moment, I ask the Minister to make a statement on the matter.

The National Ambulance Service is badly broken and the Government must intervene here to try to ameliorate this situation. It has been doing a wonderful job. The paramedics are not, as the Minister said, driving an ambulance or patient-carrying vehicle - we know that - but they are normally the first people to arrive to an accident or incident. In many cases now, when they are driving their cars, they have to pass the scene of the accident or emergency to pick up the ambulance and come back. That valuable time is l…

I would accept this if it was about some other group of employees but these are dedicated, vital, fast responders. I salute the first responder groups - there is one in my own community - that do excellent work here. They do the work of the HSE and in some cases, they are supported by these particular paramedics who have these cars. They train with them and support them every which way. It is a reassurance that they are in an area. They have the blue lights so they can travel quickly to an incident or accident. If …

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on this topic. I think of my late mother, Mary, who reared nine of us, six boys and three girls. She was a powerful woman who instilled all of the values that I carry with me today. Indeed, I think of people like Carrie Acheson, iar-Teachta Dála, who was here for a short time in the 1980s. She was a powerful woman and a visionary. I think of Helen Ní Craith, a wonderful visionary who decided to build a naoínra in my little village of Caisleáin Nua. I was delighted to be ab…

I am delighted an Aire Stáit is here. Clonmel, a once bustling, proud and thriving town - Cluain Meala, the vale of honey - has been left to deteriorate in recent years. Last year, it had the highest vacancy rate in Tipperary at 18.6%. This has deteriorated further in recent weeks and months. The entire area of Market Place is boarded up and there are numerous prime retail units on the main street that have been boarded up and left to decay. Is mór agus uafásach an rud é sin. The town faces major challenges. I have…

Chuala mé an Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, an Teachta James O'Connor, cúpla lá ó shin. I heard the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach talking about Youghal town centre. All the towns are struggling, but Clonmel has been under siege. The then CEO, Joe McGrath from Nenagh, took over when the county was amalgamated. All the directorships of roads, planning and finance went to Nenagh, and all the money collected in Clonmel from the parking goes straight to Nenagh. You could eat your dinner off the streets in Nenagh town centre. The in…

I will be as brief as I can. This is a huge issue. I welcome the statements but the numbers are being manicured and we are just not getting them. We want to keep Templemore because it is a wonderful centre. In south Tipperary, Carrick-on-Suir has three gardaí and two sergeants, but it used to have 14 gardaí. The Clonmel Garda district covers Carrick-on-Suir, Mullinahone, Kilsheelan, Cashel, Cahir and all the villages. The superintendent told me he would have eight gardaí on a good day. Are you telling me the crimin…

I, too, will quote Pádraig Pearse. As he said, a nation without its language is not a nation at all. Dhein mé mo dhícheall i gcónaí chun cúpla focal a úsáid. Ní raibh aon Bhéarla ag mo sheanmháthair. Bhí breac-Ghaeltacht sa Chaisleán Nua, mo bhaile, until 1957. Thosaíomar ranganna Gaeilge agus bunaíodh Gaelscoil Charraig na Siúire 20 bliain ó shin. Ní sé san áit céanna anois ach tá naíonra ann. Is dream é a bhí ag Helen Duggan and it is flourishing. I cannot believe the way it is. Tá naíonra eile i gCathair Dún Ias…

I thank the Minister for his engagement on this, including with Councillor Máirín McGrath and me, and with Deputy Murphy from Tipperary South. This project has got so far. It is small money in the overall context to keep it alive and to have it progressed from the stage it is at now. This very important route goes from Waterford to Rosslare right up to Foynes, including all the towns and villages in counties Tipperary, Kilkenny and Port Láirge it passes through. I support my colleagues. Deputy Cullinane was speakin…

Ar an gcéad dul síos, déanaim comhghairdeas leis an Aire, an Teachta O’Brien, agus an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Canney. Gabhaim buíochas leo as labhairt liom faoi bhóithre Thiobraid Árann. I ask both of them, but particularly the Minister, for an update on the Tipperary town bypass. Can it be fast-tracked because people have literally been waiting for it for decades? We were a long way down the road with the N24 back 15 years ago and now we are at it again. We would love to see the bypass included as part of the footp…

I thank the Minister for his very in-depth reply. It is a long way to Tipperary and I hope one of his first visits will be to Tipperary town to note the anguish, trauma, noise and pollution that are experienced daily owing to hundreds of trucks travelling bumper to bumper. The people of Tipperary town are wonderful. Some years ago, 5,000 of them took to the streets with March4Tipp, along with Jobs4Tipp and County Tipperary Chamber. Tá siad ar fad ag lorg an bhóthair nua. We need it. The people need the infrastructu…

Tá spiorad iontach ag na daoine in Tipperary, daoine óga agus daoine aosta. It is a wonderful town with wonderful people. It has got many knocks over the years but there are many community and voluntary associations in the town. I could name them. They include Knockanrawley Resource Centre, the Canon Hayes Recreation Centre and the MooreHaven Centre. There are also sporting clubs, which is huge. All the people want is to get the heavy traffic amach as an mbaile, out of the town, and let normal traffic and normal co…

After Storm Éowyn and recent snow storms, bushes and trees are overhanging roads everywhere and wires have collapsed down on top of ditches. The Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland, FCI, has asked me - as have many other people because it is common sense - to extend the hedge-cutting season for at least a month in view of the ferocious damage that has been done by overhanging wires. It is a threat to the health and safety of road users as well. Hedge cutting is supposed to finish on Friday. The …

That concludes statements on the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

I welcome the Minister to the House.