I am asking the Minister whether he and his Government will intervene with the ESB and Bord na Móna to bring a bit of common sense to the situation and bring some of these so-called directors back to ground?

I thank the Minister for what he has said. I acknowledge the work by the Departments of Social Protection, and Enterprise, Trade and Employment. We are moving to phase 2 on this issue and I recognise the point about the receiver process. Is it not ironic, however, that the ESB was able to bring down two Northern contractors to look at finishing the job? The job at the moment is standing, as the Minister will understand, as when someone goes into receivership. Yet they were able to bring two different northern contr…

-----down to the Oweninny wind farm, while the contractors down there are owed €4 million. There is a retention fund and I know what retention is. I saw the contract, to be quite frank, and if I was a receiver I would worry. I put it to the Minister that someone needs to talk to the CEO of the ESB to get him back to realism in order that the contractors in the west of Ireland and the employees will be left working.

I want to bring in Deputy Ring on the theme I brought up on Leaders' Questions regarding legislation.

First, the genius of a Minister who told people to slow down today would want to hurry up or get faster in government at making decisions with the situation that is evolving at present. I support what the Minister is doing tonight. It is the first step of the stairs, but, by God, he has a few more steps to go over the coming weeks because the people are desperate. The reality is that there is no break for people with home heating oil. I ask the Minister to look at the VAT on that. The VAT he is getting now compared…

What is the reason for persons with diabetes being forced to get shorter term driving licences? What measures are in place to offset the additional costs of having to renew the licence every three years, compared with every ten years for other persons? I ask the Minister to make a statement on the matter. This relates to people who have diabetes. Every three years, they have to renew their driving licence. It is costing them €50 or €60 straight away to get a report from a doctor. Will something be done about that? …

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. Where I am coming from is that the three-year licence costs €35. It is cheaper than the €55 for a ten-year licence, but within that the ten-year period, these people have to take out four three-year licence, so they actually paying approximately €140 or €145. That is not the issue, however. It is not about whether it is a three-year, one-year or ten-year licence. Thanks be to God, if I go looking for a medical certificate for driving a lorry or whatever, I can get a ten-…

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I wish to clarify one matter, please. Did the Minister of State state that if the GP says the person is okay to drive longer than the three years, that that is acceptable as I may have picked her up wrong on that point? I welcome what the Minister of State said and I ask her to focus on this because there are many people who, unfortunately, have diabetes and other underlying conditions and we have to try to help people who are working and finding it difficult. I will che…

That is for cutting trees, not for planting.

It is not.

White diesel in Spain costs €1.55 today. In Ireland, meanwhile, the price quoted for green diesel, which goes into a tractor, is €1.40, kerosene is €1.35, white diesel is between €1.85 and €2, in some places around Dublin, and petrol has gone up to €2.05. I understand that we have reserves in Cork. Are we going to do something about this situation? I got 11 calls from bus drivers yesterday who tendered with the Department of Education to bring children to school. They are throwing their contracts back because there…

First, I support this motion. While Covid-19 has brought many problems for people, it seems to be a cover for many things at present in taking services away. We see things changing in agriculture day in, day out. Some changes are for the better and I will never be against prosperity or moving things on. However, we also have to remember in this country that there is a generation of people who gave to this country but never had the opportunities that every one of us have had, such as being able to work a computer, b…

The Minister and I sat together on the Opposition benches a few years ago and had many a chat about agriculture, recycling and reusing. The Minister often told me about his green policies. Fifteen years ago when development was being done around Dublin people driving lorries - they called them hackers - would get ten loads to the tips in Balally, Dunsink and other places. Today these lorries go to Longford, Westmeath, Monaghan and various parts of the country because of the problems with tips. Ironically enough, if…

With due respect to the Minister, the first thing we must do is knock the building before we could switch to the wood that he is on about. We must get the stuff that is there recycled. People have been trying to get around this for the past 14 months, in licences with different councils. I know one person who has taken the initiative of screening topsoil and screening stone out of the loads of muck that comes in. It is fine if it is boulder clay because everyone will use it on the roadways that they are making, and…

I ask the Minister for Defence the number of Defence Forces personnel that have been stationed in Custume Barracks over the past number of years and if there are plans to upgrade it. I say that in light of the development yesterday. I have heard the Minister’s comments today, in fairness, where he said he is looking at this in respect of Cathal Brugha Barracks. If changes will be made there, there may be an opportunity for the likes of Custume Barracks to increase numbers.

I thank the Minister for his answer, although I think it is rather regrettable. I do not buy into it that "for operational reasons" they cannot tell us the number of Defence Forces personnel in any part of the country. It is disgraceful and whoever wrote that answer should be ashamed of themselves. Public representatives are not told, no matter where they are from, whether it is Cathal Brugha Barracks for someone in Dublin, or us in the west of Ireland. I am not asking for the names of people and I am not asking ab…

If the Minister can have a look at it, I would welcome that. It will not be to the detriment of our country or our line of defence if Members know how many different Defence Forces personnel are in each part of the country. We are given a number right around the country. That would have been given previously. It would be interesting to see over the past number of years whether those figures have gone up or have gone down. That is what I am trying to achieve.

The EU has a proposal to bring gas and nuclear in under the green banner. I do not have a problem with it where gas is concerned. However, the fact is we are relying on gas coming from Russia and it is like a tap at the moment, in that it can be turned up or down at any stage. US President Joe Biden announced yesterday they were going to do all in their power to ensure Europe was going to be okay and bring in liquefied natural gas, LNG. Ironically enough, Ireland as a country and the Government have decided that th…

It might be worthwhile for the Tánaiste to go back to his Department to look at the amount of gas we are getting from the UK or from Scotland for the simple reason that England, if you read the statistics and the facts, is in a slight bit of bother in relation to it, even though it has its own. On the second part of the Tánaiste's answer, yes, there were social welfare increases and, yes, there were tax breaks and changes to the minimum wage but the reality of it is that at the moment the general household will pro…

I was watching the Minister of State on the screen earlier on when he talked about doing more connections. Am I not correct in saying that, under this contract, if Eir goes into the intervention area for somebody so they get high-speed broadband, then NBI or David McCourt is paid for it? Is that not correct?