Good try.

Before I call on an Teachta Gibney, I want to issue a fíorfháilte to my guests from south Tipperary, who are in the Gallery.

I am delighted the Minister of State is here. I compliment him on his appointment and I wish him well. I have been working with him on many issues. I look forward to engaging fully. We have a rail service from Waterford to Limerick. It is wholly inadequate. I get on the train in Cahir and change at Limerick Junction. Cahir train station is not open. People cannot buy a ticket. Níl aon leithreas ann. Is baile an-lárnach agus an-mhór ar fad é Cluain Meala and it is the same way. The station is there, and buses are al…

I welcome this legislation and I welcome the Minister to his position. I saw how steadfast he was against big industry and big business at the time of the gambling Bill. I fought with him on that Bill but he had the resolve to stick with it. I thank him for meeting and engaging with us, and for the briefings. The Minister has a monumental task. I have said it to him privately and I will say it again. The Custom House has to be dismantled. It was levelled in the War of Independence. I do not mean to hurt anybody but…

I, too, welcome the students here tonight. I am pleading with the Government. Since last Sunday week there has been nothing but uncertainty. It is not fair. Many students and their families struggle to afford the student contribution charge even with grants and other forms of support. The cost of living makes it nearly impossible. This is in the programme for Government. Why did the Government put it in there if it is going to do the exact opposite? Reducing the student contribution fee back to €2,000 from €3,000 w…

I want to ask the Minister about the ongoing delays in issuing ACRES payments. Farmers signed up to these schemes in good faith. There are delays in payment even in cases of full compliance. The issue is an inability to pay. I want answers as to what the Minister is doing about it. What is the reason for the delay? Is it merely that the Department does not have the funding to pay the farmers? This is totally unacceptable. I expect a good response from the Minister.

The Minister calls ACRES a flagship scheme. I wonder about that. The ongoing and completely unacceptable delays in the issuing of ACRES payments is a matter of deep concern to farmers across the country. It is just not fair. Farmers who entered this scheme did so in good faith, on the understanding that they would be paid in a timely manner. Yet, here we are, halfway into 2025, and thousands of farmers are still waiting. I must be the only person in the country meeting farmers who are unpaid in County Waterford, Co…

It is not good enough.

I accept the Minister's bona fides. He is a farmer. I am a businessman. No one could operate in this manner, with farmers still waiting for payments from 2023 and hearing every excuse in the world. A man expected to get €5,000 of a corrective payment and he got €300. As I said, a dodgy salesman or a man at a fair who would spit in your hand would do better than that. In this day and age, this is shocking. I accept the Minister's bona fides but I want to know how many farmers are still waiting under each stream of A…

This is a massive issue. I have discussed it with the Minister. For decades, we were waiting on planning guidelines for wind turbines, and here we are on the new craze of solar panels. We cannot blame farmers when they are being enticed to set aside land for long-term leases. The best of land in the Golden Vale, in Rathgormuck in County Waterford, and in east Cork is being taken up. This scéal is scary. There are farmers with 500 or 800 cows ceasing production. There will be a food shortage if we do not have some b…

I am taking this question on behalf of an Teachta Barry Heneghan.

This policy has been a linchpin and a source of very important funding streams and supports for farmers for decades now. However, there comes a time when things need to be tweaked. That is why Deputy Heneghan asked for the geographical breakdown. We in Tipperary and other parts of the country have seen the conglomerates who get phenomenal payments under this scheme. There should be more balance shown towards the west and areas with poorer land conditions. There should be more supports for agritourism and different …

The Minister makes a comparison with my neighbouring county and the Leas-Cheann Comhairle's county, Kilkenny. We will be working other matters out on the field of play at the weekend. I hope it will be a good game, and may the best team win. On a serious note, I accept those figures, but inside them, and to get to those averages, there are massive, phenomenal payments for big conglomerates and stronger farms. I am talking about balance, not only in my county, but also through the west and to ordinary farmers. It is…

I strongly oppose the first and third motions but I think I can support the second motion. With regard to the first motion, I cannot support any proposal that forces Ireland to accept an EU-wide list of so-called safe countries. This is yet another example of Brussels removing our ability to make independent decisions as to who comes into our country. It is a one-size-fits-all policy that undermines our sovereignty. What is worse, it opens the door to even more migrants appealing decisions with no accountability. W…

This is a timely and sensitive motion. The programme on RTÉ shocked everybody. Many people knew of the many changes in nursing care and the methods of care in our nursing homes. I salute the many hundreds of small nursing homes and some quite big ones in Tipperary, in particular St. Martha’s and Bramleigh Lodge in Cashel and the many others I could name. They do an excellent job but they are under fierce pressure. There is discrimination against them. The HSE-owned nursing homes have bigger subventions than the sma…

I am glad to see the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is here. Cluain Training and Enterprise Centre in Clonmel is a wonderful institution for young and old but mainly for adults. It has pottery-making facilities, a workshop that repairs tools and many areas of art and design. It is a fabulous centre for young people and I congratulate the board, under Seamus Leahy and Gerry Flynn. They are brilliant people. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, was good enough to visit recently. We need to have secure and continu…

I believe it is a very retrograde step to remove a jury from this situation in the High Court. Juries have proven their worth in the justice system over time. The Minister had a different opinion himself when he was on the Opposition benches. I would be very concerned at what he is doing here. We all know that defamation is very serious. I was a victim myself of it one time and it is a frightfully expensive process to engage with. For a person who is defamed by a media outlet or something like that is frighteningly…

I, too, support this motion. I would question some aspects of it but the theme of it is very important. Are we going to abandon our forefathers and foremothers, people of our heritage? We had the Éamonn Bulfin Legacy Pipe Band from Argentina in Tipperary at the Liam Lynch national commemoration cúpla bliain ó shin. I thanked An Post because it obliged by giving the band a tour in there and allowing it to play in there. It was a wonderful occasion. I refer to our Irishness, culture our heritage, "tír gan teanga, tír…

I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach for allowing me to share time with my colleague in south Tipperary, Deputy Michael Murphy, on this issue as it is of concern to both of us. Management of the Tipperary ETB shared devastating news with the local training initiative co-ordinators, LTIs, at four centres in south Tipperary. It informed them that due to budgetary constraints from SOLAS, the LTI programmes will cease at the end of this existing term. This is shocking news. Tipperary ETB made it clear that it has receiv…

I am disappointed to hear that. There is clearly a misunderstanding because there are students who have enrolled for courses in September. That is inaccurate information that Tipperary ETB has supplied to the Minister of State. I will quote the comments of a student, who said the course made them come out of their shell a lot. The student said it is the best thing they have done and went on to say that everyone was friendly and the work was fun. The student said that the course helped them to become more confident …