On behalf of the Taoiseach, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to the Seanad today and I want to thank Senator O'Reilly for raising this matter. The citizens' assembly is an exercise in deliberative democracy and places the citizen at the heart of important legal and policy issues facing Irish society. Citizens' assemblies operating independently of Government and reporting directly to the Houses of the Oireachtas, were first established in Ireland in 2013 when the Convention on the Constitution was set …

The Senator is right. This is the last year of the Government. Three of the four citizens’ assemblies were established and have done their work. This is the final one. Looking at the experience as to how the previous citizens’ assemblies were set up, what happens is that a proposal from the relevant Department is submitted to the Department of the Taoiseach. The latter then co-ordinates the establishment of the assembly. In this case, it is a little more complex because there appear to be three different Department…

The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, has sent her apologies that she could not be here today. I am here on her behalf to respond to the Commencement matter. The local improvement scheme is a programme for improvement works on small private or non-public roads in rural areas that are not normally maintained by local authorities. The scheme is funded by the Department of Rural and Community Development and is administered through the local authorities. The focus of the scheme is to support the continued improvement of non…

I thank the Senator for acknowledging that there is ongoing dialogue with the local authorities. The scheme has been changed. It did require two herd numbers but that has now been moved to one. I take from what the Senator is saying to me that he believes the scheme should be changed from a requirement to have the land parcel size of 1 ha so that a number of land parcels can be aggregated together. If the Senator makes a proposal in that regard, writes it down and sends it, I will make sure that the Minister, Deput…

Two Senator O’Reillys.

I thank the Deputy for acknowledging that this is a good scheme. It has been successful. Irish Business Against Litter reported that it has resulted in a reduction of one third of the bottle and can litter around the country, which will continue. The Deputy said it has resulted in an increase in waste collection prices. That is not actually true. On Monday, the Irish Independent reported it had heard from some anonymous waste collection companies that they intended to put up prices as a result. I do not think that …

The Department is in negotiations with the Irish Waste Management Association to make sure the system of subsidies and levies in place is such that there will be no effect on the cost of waste collection. I do not want the price of waste collection to go up at all. I am glad the Deputy acknowledged that the deposit return scheme is working well.

I am taking two.

Is Deputy Ó Cuív happy for me to answer his question?

I thank Deputy Pringle for raising this issue. My colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, Deputy Anne Rabbitte, remains committed to the continued development and enhancement of our disability services through the implementation of both the HSE’s progressing disability services, PDS, roadmap for service improvement from 2023 to 2026 and the Department’s action plan for disability services from 2024 to 2026. As the Deputy will be aware, foetal alcohol spectrum disorder is a prevalent y…

I will pass the Deputy's comments on to the Minister of State. She in turn will continue with the Department and the HSE to advance progress on the provision of services for those living with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder and their families. To this end, I am happy to report that a cross-departmental working group will be established to develop a long-term and sustainable plan that will provide access to appropriate services for those living with FASD and their families. The Minister of State wishes to reiterate…

My colleague, Deputy Rabbitte, the Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, is fully committed to the continued development and enhancement of our children's disability services through the CDNTs, as they seek to ensure equitable access to services for all children with complex needs. I acknowledge the difficulties faced by children and their families seeking to access the services of children's disability network teams in community healthcare organisaction 2, and in this particular instance, CDNT 4.…

I will communicate to the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, Deputy Ó Cuív's frustration at the situation. I will ask for her projection of when the services will be delivered. The Deputy can see from the answer that the problems seem to stem from a lack of staff - half of the positions in CDNT 4 are currently vacant. The HSE has turned to private service providers and has an allocation of nearly €7 million to provide an additional 2,500 assessments over the coming six months. Clearly, it is trying other options. …

Does Deputy Ó Cuív want to know how many of the people recruited are for CDNT 4?

I will ask that.

The DRS is a national infrastructure project which operates primarily on a return-to-retail model. Under the DRS regulations, retailers are required to charge customers a deposit for each bottle sold, to take back empty containers, unless exempt, and to refund the deposit to customers. Retailers are also required to ensure that the take-back facility they provide on their premises is accessible for anyone wishing to return empty containers. Inclusivity for all consumers is essential for a successful scheme. Individ…

The scheme was in planning for a number of years. In 2020 and 2021, there were public consultation processes which were open to everybody to offer their advice or suggestions on how the scheme should operate. When I drew up the regulations, I made it a legal requirement that the machines should be accessible to all. The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has a waste advisory group on which the NDA is represented. There were discussions with the NDA before the scheme was implemented. We follow…

In the case of those who cannot leave their homes and have food delivered, I understand Re-Turn is working with meals on wheels to see if it can come up with a solution. It is also working with community groups, GAA clubs and so on to see whether it can be addressed that way. Re-Turn has dealt with people who have contacted it and has found solutions for them. On the machines requiring users to push a button, all the different machine types I have tried will give a receipt if a person waits long enough. If one wait…

Ireland’s strategic approach to the circular economy is set out in the whole-of-government Circular Economy Strategy 2022-2023. The Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 provides a statutory basis for future iterations of the strategy and requires that such iterations include sectoral targets aimed at promoting circularity across the range of resource-intensive economic sectors specified in the Act. I believe Deputy Bruton asked for those sectoral targets to be included and I thank him for that ame…

As the Deputy said, we are within the law. The six months start from the time that section is commenced. I understand the Deputy's frustration. It is taking longer than expected. The problem is more complex than we thought. It will be delivered by the end of this year. Part of what we needed to do was commission a national circularity assessment and material flow analysis to understand the sectoral priorities and to understand how circular the Irish economy is or is not. What are the different bits that need to be …