Is the Taoiseach going to come back to me, or is he going to waffle?

The Taoiseach is waffling.

When?

I listened carefully to this debate and to the reasons cited for introducing this Bill. Obviously, it has been well reported in the media that the High Court struck down the existing practice, or at least found it lacked a lawful basis. We are now proposing to introduce this system on exactly such a basis. I am convinced it is a considerable waste of Garda time not to have a presenting officer. I am not convinced at all, however, that a return to the status quo is not an equal waste of Garda time. We have this grea…

This relates to the need for profound reform of the legislation governing An Garda Síochána, rather than putting another sticking plaster over what is increasingly a festering wound. The Garda Commissioner appointed somebody to investigate the case and it was subsequently found that somebody had been procured to give evidence against the garda concerned. All of this was brought to the attention of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC. Having looked at the case, it determined that, as regards the evidence a…

For people who lived in or near the towns on the old Limerick–Dublin road, including Nenagh, Roscrea, Cloughjordan, Birdhill, Castleconnell, O'Brien’s Bridge and Killaloe, the M7 was a godsend. They can now commute to Dublin in a reasonable period. However, we want to move people off the motorway and onto the trains. The direct line to Limerick, on which all trains going directly to Limerick went previously, is now barely served. There is a speed limit of 20 miles per hour on parts. In Ballybrophy station, which is…

The times.

Or Adare.

I am glad Deputy Cathal Crowe showed up to ask this question because my Question No. 147 is similar. There is a convention whereby Departments group similar questions together, but that was not done in this instance. I hope it is not an attempt by the Minister's staff to avoid scrutiny of him.

It would be unfortunate if that were the case.

However, if he did not - and some colleagues do not - then I would not be able to get to my feet to address the issue.

I listened to what the Minister had to say. He has a lot of nice words about committees and discussions. In essence, however, what he is saying to farmers is, "Live, horse, and you will get grass". He talked about a wartime response. What he is doing is not a wartime response. There are people on committees discussing this problem who have got more, even if just a cup of tea, than farmers have got up to now to combat the crisis in fertiliser costs. Given that farmers are taking fertiliser on credit, that cost will …

Has the Minister done anything about EU import tariffs?

I raised this issue with the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste earlier in the year and they said that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine was meeting EU agriculture ministers and would be able to detail what was happening afterwards. When the Minister met the EU agriculture ministers, did he call for a reduction in or the abolition of EU import tariffs on fertiliser? I appreciate that is not something he can do unilaterally but it is something the EU agriculture ministers can do if they put their minds to it…

What about lifting the tariffs?

The Tánaiste explained earlier that bringing supply on board with regard to housing is the only long-term solution, but that will take a lot of time. Ukrainians will be housed in student accommodation during the summer but where will they go come late September or October? One of the available housing resources is the number of derelict houses throughout the country, not just in towns and villages but one-off houses in rural Ireland, where people might have abandoned an old house and built a new house or bungalow b…

Louth and Mayo.

Vacant is one thing, derelict is another.

I welcome this motion, which seeks to extend the remit of the 2021 Act to allow outdoor serving by pubs and restaurants for a further six months. Like previous speakers, I question why we are doing this just for six months. I take on board the Minister of State’s explanation that we are going to have a consolidation of the licensing laws. The obvious implication is that we are going to have this consolidation within six months. However, Deputy Howlin is not optimistic that we are going to have it at all during this…

I ask the Minister what are the number of electrical, plumbing, carpentry, joinery, bricklaying and stone-laying apprenticeships, respectively, waiting to progress off-the-job training in phases 2, 4 and 6, respectively across SOLAS and the higher education sector in tabular form. Can he make a statement on the matter? I want to know where the backlogs are in the various apprenticeship sectors and whether there are many such backlogs.