My amendment No. 9 addresses the phenomenon of accidental landlords. Building a house is less common in urban areas than in rural areas but these are people who built or bought a house and find that they are no longer living in the area. Perhaps they had to move to another part of the country or leave the country temporarily. If they are not living in them, we want those houses to be rented or sold to somebody else because we want as many houses as possible in use. If those people cannot get their house back when t…

Lots of legislation contains no provision to extend it. The Minister could bring in an amendment Act through the Houses even faster than this was brought through. There was a lot of talk about this for two weeks and then we are going through all Stages in a couple of hours, so the Minister could bring through amending legislation as well in a couple of hours. I do not buy that argument. It is important that people are not disincentivised to rent out their home if they need to move home. That is what this does, in m…

I congratulate the Deputy on his elevation.

I want to discuss the growing disconnect between the Government's stated aspirations on energy and the reality on the ground. This week, the Government is asking the Dáil to vote for the provision of emergency generators that will run on liquefied petroleum gas, LPG, and, crucially, will also have the capacity to run on green hydrogen, if and when it becomes available. One of the Government's first acts was to announce an exploration ban on the extraction of oil or gas in Irish waters. I am told there are people in…

It is money that can be used to provide an alternative to carbon, which is the Government's stated intention. However, what is happening on the ground is that there are farmers' groups across the country that are willing to develop the biomethane sector. They are begging for support. There was an opportunity to get it from the European Commission and the Government did not avail of it. We are told that wind, particularly offshore wind, is the answer. Ireland is the country in Europe that is most suitable for produc…

The reality is that people who want to invest in the biomethane sector in Europe are not coming to Ireland to invest. They are going elsewhere, because we do not have the structures within which they can invest. We did not even apply to the EU for that money. The reality is that Moneypoint is gearing up production at a time when we are saying that we are bringing in green energy, that we are going to create green hydrogen and that we will bring offshore energy ashore at Moneypoint. That reality is further away than…

Scotland is moving at a greater pace than we are.

Would it be fair to say that turtles think they move at pace?

Would it be fair to say that turtles think they move at pace?

I raise a similar issue relating to the high price of gas. The Minister will be aware the European Commission has identified Ireland and Denmark as the two countries best suited to the production of biomethane. The Commission also introduced the REPowerEU scheme, the first tranche of which was to fund countries to improve their biomethane sector. Italy drew down €4.8 billion, while Denmark already produces 25% of the gas it consumes as biomethane. I asked the Taoiseach last week a "Yes" or "No" question, namely, wh…

I am glad we are not buying second-hand ones from Afghanistan.

Did the Minister say the generators are not going to be needed?

We forgot to apply for funding, however.

And the Government will apply the next time.

I thank the Minister for taking this matter himself, which I appreciate. I raise the change in practice in respect of goods that are determined to involve health or agriculture and how they are checked. Until recently, any goods marked for Shannon Airport were checked at Shannon regardless of where they had come into the country or, in fact, where they had come into the European Union, given that the vast majority of those goods would have entered the European Union at Heathrow Airport and then been shipped through…

I am sorry if I went a bit over time.

Is it?

The written replies are sometimes provided but if there is not one, that is fine. I am sorry; I did not mean to interrupt.

I am afraid what the Minister just told me differs somewhat from what I heard is happening on the ground. There is a new enlarged border control facility at Dublin Airport. However, there was always a border control facility at Dublin Airport. Items marked for Shannon Airport previously came through Dublin Airport where there was a Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine facility. Because they were marked for Shannon, however, they went on to Shannon Airport, even though there was a facility at Dublin Airpor…

It is not transshipment.