I would like to join others in wishing the Minister well on the birth of her child. I wish her and her family the very best. I should say that I have a conflict of interest here because I have two brothers working in the pub industry, one in Bandon and one in Bantry. That helps me when I am speaking here on behalf of businesses because they and others have gone through quite a great deal over the past year and a half to two years. I support the extension of this Act for six more months to allow outdoor drinking whe…

To reply to Deputy Lowry, he must realise that Deputy Mattie McGrath is ill at present. He has reason to be critical of the Taoiseach and certain hospital closures in Tipperary previously. The Deputy must have forgotten that. I start by thanking every worker in the ambulance service, in west Cork and throughout the country, who has had to work under immense pressure in a failed ambulance service. The service is untouchable as the HSE and this Government are covering up what I call a shambolic situation that, unfort…

Farmers are under immense pressure at the moment. The prospect of having to reduce their herd could well mean the end for them. Many farmers in west Cork have come to me in recent months and I will give one farmer's example. This farmer farms with his wife and two young sons. They milk 75 cows on a fragmented and average-quality farm to the best of their ability. They have invested heavily in infrastructure to ensure more than adequate slurry storage and excellent infrastructure for the animals. This is spread usin…

I move: "That Dáil Éireann: recognises: — that as the second winter of the pandemic approaches, we are now contending with a cost-of-living crisis on multiple fronts; — that the Government’s climate action policies are having a profound socio-economic impact on everyone; — the key EirGrid report (operator of the national grid) warning that Ireland could face electricity deficits for the next five winters; — the EirGrid prediction that low availability of power plants in Ireland was likely to contribute to the energ…

I remind the Taoiseach that he signed the statutory instrument that imposed penalty points on the great fishermen and women of this country in his short time as acting Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine in 2020. At the same time, he was negotiating a disastrous Brexit deal for the same fishermen and women. The statutory instrument he signed has made each and every one of our fishermen liable to become criminals, in many cases whether they are guilty or not. We now find out on Committee Stage that there i…

That would just sell them out more.

The situation is catastrophic anyway. The Taoiseach is not answering the question on how much an appeal should cost.

On Saturday, 23 October last, at the Michael Collins Centre on the Timoleague Road, Clonakilty, owned by Tim and Dolores Crowley, all Oireachtas Members from across the political divide met the Michael Collins 100 committee. The purpose of this requested meeting by the national non-political committee was to help with its urgent search for a site for a Michael Collins statue in our capital, Dublin. Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the death of one of the greatest politicians this country has even known. It …

The rainy day fund, known as the national surplus exceptional contingencies reserve fund, is supposed to be an economic buffer. There is currently no money in the country's rainy day fund because it was raided last year due to pandemic expenses. Let us not forget, pensioners in this country did not receive one extra cent from this so-called rainy day fund. There are far more needs now than there will be years down the line, for example, the fishing crisis. This Government gave away 25% of our pelagic quota on Chris…

Rural communities are the most at risk of energy and transport poverty. That is according to a new study from a variety of universities which claims that rural residents in Ireland are most at risk due to a lack of access to national heating infrastructure, a high risk of power cuts and the fact they live in older homes with poor insulation. Transport poverty issues are linked to the lack of nearby goods, services and jobs, as well as poorer services when it comes to public transport. Rural villages across Ireland …

There is a serious shortage of special needs assistants, SNAs, in schools in west Cork. In the past week, schools in Ballydehob, Caheragh, Schull, Maulatrahane, Dreeny and elsewhere have urgently required SNAs. Despite announcements in budget after budget that extra SNAs have been agreed, nothing is happening for these schools on the ground. This is an urgent situation that needs addressing as many of these children are being treated shockingly. Some must go home early from school daily as proper help is not availa…

The Minister has no answer to the question I asked.

He does not want to answer the question I asked on behalf of the parents and children of west Cork.

Stop turning the issue into a political football.

I thank Deputy Harkin for introducing this Bill, but it looks like the Government will kick the can down the road again. The Minister of State spoke in the Dáil several times about his support for credit unions, but what the Government is doing shows no support for them. I met representatives of the credit unions in Skibbereen, Bantry, Clonakilty and Bandon in west Cork. They are fighting for their survival, but they will not survive. The Government will squeeze them out of existence. It is almost as if the Governm…

While at the European Council, I hope the Minister of State took the opportunity to discuss the fishing crisis in this country, which has long been overlooked here by successive Ministers. As I have said before, having a dedicated Minister for the marine appears to be off the agenda. We certainly need a focused new-style leadership for the fishing industry in this country. Our greatest resource is surrounding us and we are handing it away to every European country that wants its quota. There is an opportunity to ge…

I intended to start on a different subject than the one I am going to start on but changed my mind on listening to Deputy Leddin. In fairness, some people have to educate the people in the Green Party seeing as Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are lying by the wayside allowing as much hurt to be inflicted on the ordinary people of rural Ireland as is possible. Carbon tax hurts only the people of rural areas. The Minister for Finance states in his document that carbon tax will encourage change. It is not encouraging change…

The recent budget slashed €88 million off the allocation for regional and rural roads. These local and regional roads are the arteries that connect many parts of the country and are highly trafficked routes. These roads represent 96,000 km of the total 101,000 km of our public road network in Ireland, carrying over 54% of the traffic, but have remained chronically underfunded since the financial crash. Poor quality roads can be a major cause of concern to communities, directly impacting economic development in our …

I thank the Tánaiste for his reply. The budget slashed €88 million from regional and rural roads for the coming year. Every time the Tánaiste and his colleagues make announcements on roads, west Cork is always omitted. I remind the Tánaiste that we pay motor tax down there too. He should not think we are going around without taxing our vehicles in west Cork. The funds should come back there as they do everywhere else. I asked the Tánaiste a question a while ago. Before he, the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Eam…

They are not agreed. I would like us to set some time aside this week to discuss climate action and the difference in the opinions of the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach on the culling of cattle in this country and the effect this will have on rural Ireland and agriculture, particularly dairy and suckler herds. The experts on the quango special advisory council put in place by the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, are making it clear there will be a cull of cattle in this country. The Ministe…