As I have outlined, eight elements of the NLI redevelopment have been completed. The planning permission process is being worked through for the next element but until the library has permission and until it is approved by the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, we will not know when construction is going to start. It is obviously a particular challenge to redevelop an historic library. On the one hand, we must preserve the heritage while, on the other, we want to make s…

The Minister for Health has asked me to reply on his behalf and give an update to the House on this matter. As the Senator will be aware, a central objective of the programme for Government is to deliver increased levels of integrated healthcare with service delivery oriented towards general practice, primary care and community-based services to enable a home-first approach. Integral to this is the development of primary care centres across the country in our local communities. Significant progress has been made in…

This building and project are exceptional. As the Senator knows, 172 primary healthcare centres have been set up by the HSE around the country. One of them is about to open in my constituency in Dún Laoghaire. Clearly, there has been a transformation in primary healthcare. Yet, this project is not going well and I think the Minister for Health and everybody involves accepts that fact. The Senator refers to public procurement. Under European public procurement law, the acquisition of buildings is specifically exclud…

I have been asked by the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, to address this matter on her behalf and to update the House on the Department of Education's position as regards the citizens’ assembly on education. The programme for Government committed to establishing four citizens’ assemblies on the topics of biodiversity loss, the type of directly elected mayor and local government structures best suited to Dublin, matters relating to drugs use and the future of education. Three of these citizens’ assemblies have…

I understand the Senator’s frustration. The Government has set up and run three citizens’ assemblies, so the process is understood and not forgotten. I was involved in getting the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use up and running, so I understand that it involves the relevant Department putting together proposals and sending them to the Department of the Taoiseach. Preparatory work has to be done by both Departments before a Government decision is made. Once that decision is made, it needs to be brought to the Oireach…

It is an honour to be here.

I thank Deputy Stanton for raising this issue. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this important topic with Members on behalf of the Minister for Transport. I understand that Deputy Stanton's questions relate to State funding provided to Cork County Council for emergency repairs of roads and bridges following Storm Babet, with a particular emphasis on the east Cork region. As Deputy Stanton is aware, Ireland has already experienced several severe weather events this winter, including Storm Babet. Heavy rainfall a…

I believe the Minister for Transport visited east Cork and perhaps Midleton as well at the time of the event. It was not for a photo op but to discuss directly with people how this was affecting them because as the Deputy knows himself, that is the only way to understand what the problem is and how to address it. As I said, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the county council and the Department of Transport are working together on this. The €350,000 has already been transferred from the Department for immediate wor…

I thank Deputy Burke for raising this matter. Both the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, and the chief medical officer share these concerns in relation to the high levels of RSV that are circulating in our community. To begin with, I can confirm that following receipt of NIAC advice on RSV immunisation options in October, and the office of the chief medical officer having considered that advice, the Department of Health has requested HIQA to undertake a health technology assessment, HTA, in relation to RSV. RSV…

I will refer briefly to the timeline in this regard. It is hoped the results of the HTA will provide important clarity on this matter and will assist in determining the most appropriate course of action. It is expected that the key components of the HTA will be completed by the second half of next year. It is important that parents are vigilant of their children's symptoms, that they trust their instincts and contact their GP if they are worried, especially if the symptoms get worse quickly. There are things parent…

I thank the Deputies for raising this issue. In Ireland, with the exception of one or two municipal districts, local authorities have all but exited the household market because, in most cases, they could not compete with the prices charged by private entrants. The obligations on local authorities in relation to collecting household waste are set out in the Waste Management Act 1996, as amended, and, in summary, provide that, "Each local authority shall collect, or arrange for the collection of, household waste wit…

Yes.

I completely agree that this should be discussed at the joint committee. I do not think we have enough time here to work it all out. Several different things arise. The first thing concerns what exactly remunicipalisation is. Does it mean that a council hires workers directly, buys bin trucks and goes back to where it was in the past? Does it mean it would outsource the collection to one particular company, so there is competition for the market rather than competition in the market? Will a tender be put out? What …

I thank Deputy Smith for raising this issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Ryan. I want to clarify that the Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport but neither the Minister nor his officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally rests with the National Transport Authority. The NTA works with t…

I thank Deputy Smith. Deputy Smith mentioned Jarrett Walker. I remember meeting him with other councillors back in 2016. There has been an extensive period of consultation to try to figure out how we make a better bus route. Many of the bus routes in Ireland are based on the original tram routes, and not electric trams but horse-drawn trams. They even have the same route numbers and stops. The stages on the bus routes were stages where the horses could get some water. We have a very traditional set of bus routes in…

I thank the Chair and Deputies. I also acknowledge and thank Deputy Pringle for the Act in 2018 and the work done on this, and for tabling this motion to discuss how we can further improve on it. I also think today is a historic day. We have news this morning about work done by a group of Irish officials - civil servants who worked night and day in Dubai - to reach a deal to limit climate change. Our Minister for energy, Deputy Ryan, was appointed an EU lead negotiator and so Ireland was represented on a global sta…

I was in the north inner city with the Minister, Deputy Foley, when this attack happened. My reaction was surely the same as that of everybody, one of absolute horror at the idea of children being stabbed on the street. Shortly afterwards, there was a horrible sense of imminence that there were people on the far right who would see this as an opportunity for advantage. They were people who were licking their lips at the thought that these acts may have been carried out by somebody who was born outside Ireland, hopi…

We need better regulation of social media using the new laws that we now have in place. We need to reassure people born outside Ireland that they are welcome here and they will not be subject to violent attacks. We need to prosecute the very small number of far-right people who organise these attacks. What we do not need is this shabby pantomime that Sinn Féin is putting on today.

The memorandum of understanding, MOU, the Senator refers to covers co-operation on trade, transport and the export of gas to the European Union. The MOU is not an Irish MOU but rather it is between the EU, the State of Israel and the Arab Republic of Egypt. The MOU was signed at the East Mediterranean Gas Forum, of which Ireland is not a member and at which the EU is an observer. High Representative and Vice-President Borrell Fontelles, on behalf of the European Commission, advised, in response to a parliamentary q…

The Minister, Deputy O’Gorman, and the whole of the Government are conscious of the disruption caused to a number of early learning and childcare services owing to the recent floods in Cork. The local childcare committee has been engaging with impacted services. With regard to financial supports for these services, they have been made aware that any service forced to close due to the flooding may apply for the continuation of funding from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth under…