The Government committed in 2019 to raising the amount of electricity generated from renewable sources from 30% to 70% by 2030. We all know that wind and solar generation are the best way to reduce emissions with conventional fossil fuel plant playing an important role for many years to come by providing backup and spare capacity as we move from fossil fuels to a cleaner future. I support calls from the Cork Chamber of Commerce on Monday last for Cork Harbour to be identified as the gateway to transformative change…

I thank the Tánaiste for his reply. Is he aware that there is a potential carbon-neutral development proposed off Barryroe in west Cork? There is the potential to develop a gas field which is not only capable of continuing the supply we currently have from the Corrib field but is also capable of delivering a unique carbon capture and storage facility in County Cork, which could make us leaders in carbon reduction. The Barryroe site and its development could create jobs similar to the Corrib site, which created more…

Like Deputy O'Donoghue, I am getting calls from doctors, nurses and home helps in west Cork that have not been able to get the vaccine yet. At the same time, I am getting calls indicating that in places councillors are getting the vaccine. Is this turning into a nod and wink situation where the vaccine will be given to some but not to others? At the very least, doctors, nurses, home helps and carers deserve to be offered the vaccine first. I ask the Tánaiste to explain why that is not happening on the ground.

I have two and a half minutes. At the end I will have a few questions to which the Minister might reply in writing. The HSE has confirmed that Ireland will slow down its vaccine roll-out this week. The revised plan means only 29,000 vaccinations will be given out this week. That is a staggering 17,000 fewer than planned. The number under the original plan was 46,000. Surely a better plan should be put in place. It is obvious to the dog on the street that the Government does not have any type of grasp on the roll-ou…

I would like the Minister of State to come down to some of the hospitals and nursing homes where the standards that she and her Government colleagues apply have not been applied and the Government has not-----

The dumping at sea motion provides that the responsibility for the Dumping at Sea Act be transferred to the Environmental Protection Agency. Dumping at sea creates water pollution but it does not stop at the sea. There has been a lot of discussion today about renewable energy, oil and gas, which is away from where we are going. Dumping at sea is an awful and huge issue in the area I live, which is a coastal area. I see rural social workers, community employment workers and Tús workers cleaning up the pollutants tha…

I have an issue with the Labour Party approach and the zero Covid strategy that will kill the entire domestic economy, as Deputy Mattie McGrath has just said. I look at small businesses such as barber shops, bars, hairdressers, nail salons and sit-in cafés. Lockdowns are putting these businesses under severe pressure. They are not sure if they will be able to reopen or what the circumstance will be going forward. The mental health implications of lockdowns are severe. They are impacting on suicide rates and causing…

-----the vaccine for the home helps and carers, and other issues.

The Legal Services Regulatory Authority is the body responsible for processing allegations of wrongdoing against solicitors and barristers, but it should do more than that. It received an average of more than four complaints per day in its first six months of work. According to its annual report up to September 2020, the authority received 636 complaints concerning lawyers between 7 October 2019 and 6 March 2020. Of these, 633 related to solicitors while only three were about barristers, who typically do not deal d…

The roll-out of the vaccine is a great concern for so many working on the front line. Carers and older people must be offered the vaccine and foremost in the process should be our GPs, nurses and home help personnel. I have spoken to GPs and nurses in west Cork in the past couple of days who have not yet been offered the vaccine, despite us being told it has been offered throughout the country. It is right that medical professionals like doctors and nurses in Dublin were the first to be vaccinated but their counter…

It is claimed that NPHET and the Government deem schools safe to reopen. Therefore, why has it taken so long to get special education schools open? We welcome the decision by the Government, or the agreement in principle, to reopen schools on Thursday, 11 February, with a 50% student attendance. Special classes in other schools are to open on 22 February. However, what level of consultation has taken place with the unions, parents and teachers around these announcements? While I am talking about the reopening of sc…

The Air Navigation and Transport Bill 2020 creates a single aviation regulator for safety, security, economic regulation and consumer protection. It is something with which I am in full agreement. Last April I raised rapid testing at airports with the then Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, and have repeatedly raised it since. That is going back nine or ten months ago and I was very disappointed that no Deputy in Cork supported my call. I was involved in a meeting with Cork Airport when I raised it there. I find it unbeli…

The carbon tax increases introduced in budget 2021 are punitive for the most vulnerable and anti-rural due to the hikes in the prices of petrol, diesel and oil. The measures included in budget 2021, such as the increase in carbon tax by €7.50 per tonne, will mean an extra €150 per year to fill a diesel car and €130 per year for a petrol car until 2030. I have a young lad below in west Cork. He told me the other day that his car insurance has gone up by 134%. How is this young man supposed to stay on the road with t…

This February will mark 12 months since the Covid-19 pandemic arrived in Ireland. On 12 March 2020 schools throughout the country closed. Dr. Muldoon has said time away from school has left children and young people devoid of school, hobbies, sports and access to close friends. It has been a long and tortuous road for many; for our most disadvantaged and vulnerable children it is doubly so. For those with special needs, the safety, routine and discipline of school is far more than education. It offers a pathway for…

We have two speakers. I raise the issue of caravan and camping parks, which have been unfairly excluded by the Revenue Commissioners from the Covid restrictions support scheme, CRSS. As providers of seasonal accommodation, camping and caravan parks should be eligible for the scheme under the heading which covers hotels, bed and breakfasts, guesthouses and similar accommodation providers. In early December, the Revenue Commissioners updated the CRSS guidelines to exclude camping and caravan sites on the basis that t…

It is mainly questions I have. I would like a bit more time but I do not have latitude for statements. I asked the Minister last week about the urgent need to offer the vaccine to home helps in west Cork and throughout the country. In his answer, he promised to furnish me with more details as to when this may be offered but as of yet I have had no information. Could he give us any update? Home helps, as he knows, are working with the patients one-to-one and, in some cases, washing them. It is not something they can…

Yes.

I thank the Minister. I would greatly appreciate that being furnished to us and getting some timeline. I have also had numerous queries from, as he mentioned, carers, pharmacists and part-time fire brigade personnel, who have a huge issue because they are attending home fires and accidents on roadsides and have not been offered the same as the elderly and undertakers. I suppose there is a clatter of them out there. AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals is a registered company in Ireland and has headquarters in the Liffey val…

The roll-out of the provision of medicinal cannabis to people such as Vera Twomey, for use by her daughter, Ava, and so many other people for whom she fought, has seen some positive developments lately. Some outstanding issues remain, however. As it stands, we see that future patients will have costs covered for their medicine under the cannabis access programme, which is great. Existing patients on individual licences, however, will continue to pay large amounts of money upfront for medication for family members. …

I have many questions on the topic but I have broken them down into two for the Minister. With regard to CE participants, many organisations desperately need such people for Meals on Wheels and other projects. Please God as we move out of this Covid pandemic we will need them further because the projects will not have the funds to take on staff. People who are aged between 55 and 60 are now limited strictly to three years on a CE scheme. During Covid, this should be extended because organisations are in desperate n…