I appreciate the insight the Minister has given. Could he elaborate on one or two of the points he made, particularly on the investment planned for our ports infrastructure to facilitate an increase in direct shipping to our largest market, continental Europe? We have seen over recent months a huge increase in the number of new shipping lanes from Dublin, Rosslare and Cork to countries such as France, Spain and the Netherlands, but we can agree that there is much more potential in this regard. The Minister pointed …

When we bear that in mind, we must recall it is also a matter of access to our ports on our roads, whether they are going to Rosslare or Cork. We must also remember the myriad approaches to Dublin Port. Considering the investment needed to promote the level of trade and enterprise I desire, I very much welcome the funding allocated last week by the Tánaiste and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, through the Department of the Minister for Finance, to support our agrifood industry in diversifying afte…

Most of the pertinent points on this issue have been raised more than eloquently by my colleagues and, therefore, I am not going to go over old ground or focus on the status of the applications from the many individual clubs in my constituency, which the Minister knows better than I do. I would like to tease out two or three points that were mentioned, however. One point highlighted in the opening remarks concerned encouraging the drawing down of existing allocated grants. It has been an extremely tough two years f…

I fundamentally agree with the Minister of State. I am not necessarily talking about funding gaps; I am concerned with capacity gaps. The volunteers simply are not there and numbers coming out of clubs have not been there. Clubs, to a large extent, have been dormant for a considerable time. I will tease out something he referred to regarding the influence of sports capital grants, particularly on involvement in and encouragement of women's sports. I would be interested to know what engagement, either through the sp…

This week, once again, a British Minister is threatening to trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol of the withdrawal agreement. What efforts are being made by the Government with European partners to dissuade the British Government from making this move and to ensure that the British Government meets its commitments to international law? In addition, what efforts are being made to mitigate any lingering damage that this could cause to the Irish economy?

I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to this important motion. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, for his introductory remarks. I appreciate the contributions of all Deputies opposite, as we repeat a discussion that was held 12 months ago. At the time, I stated my concern that while this is an understandable move, it is a disappointing one because I fundamentally believe the creation of the rainy day fund was sensible even though we did not get the full chance to see the worth of it before, unfort…

I want to ask the Minister of State to report on the roll-out of the NBP, particularly in Dublin, in the city and county areas.

I am appreciative of that update and I appreciate the Minister of State's focus on, interest in and awareness of this. When people think about the NBP they often think about areas outside the capital but it is increasingly an issue in my constituency of Dublin Rathdown, where there are a number of problem areas including around Stars of Erin GAA club in Glencullen, which is in a part of the county that I know the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, know particularly well. We are thinking of areas…

I appreciate that intervention because there are such pockets throughout County Dublin, be they on the south side or the north side like my colleagues either side of me, that are falling between the gaps and not being considered as part of the overall plan. I welcome the Minister of State's comments on SIRO and I appreciate the opportunities he presented for individual constituents. He mentioned a range of areas in his initial reply, none of which are in my part of the county and that is the concern. We need to mak…

Like many colleagues, my office has been inundated over the past week with representations from parents, coaches, administrators and players of a range of indoor sports, specifically basketball, regarding the most recent guidelines introduced by Sport Ireland. When will clarity be provided to the thousands of people who are being robbed of their opportunity to participate in these sports? I ask that we have that clarity as soon as possible.

I thank the Taoiseach for his full response, as always. I am heartened to hear the subcommittee will meet again on 29 November but I am slightly concerned it has taken this long, taking into account what the Taoiseach has mentioned about the works of other committees and bilateral discussions between Ministers. There are two issues hanging over this entire area of debate that are extremely concerning and they relate to the twin approach of sabre-rattling by the British Government on the one hand by constantly threa…

I thank the Taoiseach for, as ever, a fulsome report on a lengthy meeting of the European Council that covered a range of topics. I will address just some of those topics as it is simply impossible to address them all in the time allotted. Like Deputies Howlin and Brady, I refer to the situation in Poland and the continuing crisis in the context of the rule of law. During statements prior to the European Council meeting, I commended the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, on his very strong comments on the margins of …

I thank the Minister for introducing the Bill on this Stage. It is hard, in just over three minutes, to go through all its elements but I look forward to engaging with the Minister on Committee Stage. There are three sections and one aspect of the Bill that I believe are extremely important. They relate to the fulfilment of key promises that have been made by the Government, including the Minister for Finance, for quite some time. The measures are clearly positive for workers. I am referring to the widening of the …

I thank the Taoiseach for the very detailed report ahead of what I have no doubt will be an extremely busy couple of days at the European Council meeting. I am grateful to the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, for his engagement this morning with the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs. Many contributors to the debate have spoken about the rule of law. There is a collective opinion in this House that the situation in Poland simply is not tolerable. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, in particu…

I thank the Taoiseach for that detailed update and I wholeheartedly agree with the comments made by Deputy Brendan Smith, particularly on the central Border region as he knows I have ties to the area as well. I would like to ask supplementary questions on two areas. The Taoiseach mentioned the shared island economic recovery dialogue. There is a great opportunity for the State to lead here based on the generous proposals of the European Commission last week on the Northern Irish protocol and the withdrawal agreemen…

I ask the Minister of State to outline the schemes and funding that are available for community centres.

I truly appreciate the Aire Stáit's response. It is quite appropriate because he and I represent constituencies that are not too dissimilar from each other, albeit at other ends of the capital. In a European context they are described as peri-urban, meaning they are largely suburban, with a bit of rural and a bit of urban. There are so many communities simply caught in the middle and many of the schemes he has laid out simply are not applicable to suburban towns like Ballinteer or my home town of Stepaside. Previou…

I was glad the Minister of State referenced those four centres. I would describe them as one relatively large centre and three small centres. They are full. Sandyford Community Centre is directly across the road from the estate on which I live. Not only is it full for all the services provided but the services - the Montessori school, yoga class, active retirement group - are all full too. In fact, they have a massive waiting list. The biggest issue is that the car park is now full because it is between a national …

I am delighted to share my thoughts on the budget but in five minutes it is difficult to cover the full depth of the various areas of life that this budget will impact on. I will, therefore, try to limit my remarks to three issues of particular interest not just in my own constituency of Dublin Rathdown but also in areas where I have worked and in the committees on which I serve. I look forward to speaking further on the finance Bill, the social welfare Bill and during the Estimates process in due course. Something…

For the past number of years, the Horizon Europe programme has provided huge funding and motivation, not just for the third level sector but to so many researchers to develop vital new innovations. In light of Brexit, what steps are being taken by the Government to ensure Northern Irish institutions and researchers will still be able to access the new Horizon Europe programme?