Roscommon County Council made a judgment. It was a matter for it, on legal advice, to make a judgment on whether to pursue the pipe, essentially. It took a decision to withdraw. There might need to be some reflection on that. I know Roscommon County Council is now working with the OPW to identity a viable engineering solution to the flood risk. I am told the timeline is this quarter in terms of tendering and appointing consulting engineers. We should try to fast-track that as much as possible. The Minister is going…

I understand that can be done but the issue will be whether that will be a temporary emergency which is reversible or something else. The people need something more sustainable and long term to resolve this issue. The water levels are extremely high because of the weather over the past six months, which means the issue has been exacerbated. The OPW has been engaging with the National Parks and Wildlife Service on the EU habitats directive. I was not privy to any discussion the Deputy may have had with people from t…

It was based on the commentary of the court and so on that the council took its decision. We can get advice from officials here, there and everywhere, but when people are in the heat of the kitchen or courtroom and sense it might not be going in their direction, they take actions. We have to be cognisant of what we can legally do. I would argue anywhere that the protection of people's lives and homes should trump any other consideration. That is my view and I would be prepared to go into court and fight that. I wil…

Whatever we can do to prevent flooding and protect that village, we will do. I do not know whether the Deputy has produced legislation or whether the legal advice he is getting-----

It is an important point. Sometimes Deputies present us with Bills and say "Here is the answer". It has to be about the people the Deputy represents. We cannot just say there is a panacea of emergency legislation. That can be judicially reviewed and we could end up with one. There is an engineering solution on the table, I understand. I would have thought we should get that engineering solution accelerated as quickly as we can and get it implemented. Let people challenge us after that all they like but we need to g…

That will be faster. We still have to provide the engineering solution, no matter what laws we pass in here. We will engage with Deputy Fitzmaurice and the other Deputies on this issue and with the Senators who have raised this with us. I am up for whatever is the most effective, efficient and timely way of dealing with this for the people whose livelihoods are involved.

I will.

I was involved in that. That was around procurement.

On one level, I admire the excellence of the Deputy as a polemicist and propagandist. This is about the restoration of excise duties and was well flagged. They were reduced during the crisis. The Government staggered the restoration but Sinn Féin in its alternative budget proposed the excise reduction be restored in one go on 1 April 2024, unlike the Government's two-step restoration.

Your budget said the excise reduction should be restored in one go.

Then you mentioned October. I presume you are referring to the carbon tax.

It is sleight of hand by you. In your budget you factor the carbon tax revenue into your calculations.

You are playing Tadhg an dá thaobh all the time, are you not? Are you for the carbon tax or against it?

Why do you put it into your budget then?

You are a Tadhg an dá thaobh. You are flip-flopping. You are U-turning.

I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very serious issue for us as a country. After decades of the numbers of road fatalities and injuries going down, there has been a significant increase in recent years, with 188 road fatalities in 2023. As of 11 April 2024, 61 people have lost their lives in 56 collisions on our roads. That is an increase of 13 on this time last year. Clearly, we need a more evidence-based approach to this. As the Deputy knows, the Road Traffic Bill has passed Committee Stage. That is importa…

I know the Deputy is an avid follower of Fine Gael Ard-Fheiseanna down through the years-----

-----and that is commendable in terms of his broader interest in politics. I am not responsible for anything said at the Fine Gael Ard-Fheis.

What the Taoiseach indicated in the House the other day was that he would establish a task force in respect of Dublin. I think Deputy Gannon has called for one, has he?

I think he will probably welcome it so.