I thank Senator Carrigy for referencing the climate action plan which, as he probably knows, is being updated. The newly revised climate action plan will be issued in the coming weeks, but I will take into account what the Senator has being saying. The routing of gas pipelines or the connection of towns to the gas pipeline network are matters for Gas Networks Ireland, a commercial State-sponsored body under the control of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and for the Commission for Regulation…

The Senator agrees that it is unlikely that, under a strict cost-benefit analysis, extending the gas network will be found to be viable. He has also said that there is a project of investigation to see whether biogas can be injected and whether we can make progress on that. I support that. The midlands have been targeted for just transition funding. We need to find ways forward and biogas has not been developed in Ireland in the past in the way it has been in other countries like Germany. That will certainly be an …

I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following: “notes that: — the Government is acutely aware of the recent energy price increases and their impact on households; — electricity and gas retail price rises, both in Ireland and across Europe, are predominantly related to current international wholesale gas price increases which are in turn reflective of market developments, and these international factors may moderate after this winter; — Ireland faces particular challen…

Our national policy, which is also a European policy, is to move towards a circular economy. However, what on earth is a circular economy? Do people understand that and do Members of the House understand it? When you have old shoes repaired in the shoemaker's instead of buying new ones, you are participating in the circular economy. You might choose to have your clothes repaired or decide you are not going to buy a new vacuum cleaner. Instead, you might find something to repair it. You may decide that you are going…

I thank Deputy Fitzmaurice and the other Deputies who spoke. I am heartened by the fact that, in general, nearly every Deputy here accepts that climate change is happening and something has to be done. We can work together on the challenges of how we help people to change their behaviour, how we give them a way out and something different to do rather than telling them what they cannot do. We must also examine how we fund them and give them what they need. What about the different roles of the Government and the pu…

I wish to thank all the contributors to the debate, particularly those who are sponsoring the Bill, namely, Senators Carrigy, Ward and Currie. I wish to note a few points that were made. Senator Ward made the central point that there is a social dividend that is being diverted away from good causes towards the private income of bookmakers. He also made the point that there is a loss of footfall in local shops, which is a genuine concern at this time. Senator Carrigy pointed out that he is a national lottery agent h…

I thank Senator Ahearn for raising these important matters. Government fully accepts that recent electricity and gas price increases will not be welcomed in light of the current economic environment. Increases to wholesale energy prices following rises in international gas prices have been the principal driver of these increases which have been impacting across Europe and are not just an Irish phenomenon. First, it is important to recognise that these are not Government decisions. Price regulation ended many years …

Specifically on those questions, the CRU presented a list of risk factors, which I read out. It also presented a prescription for a number of actions that should be taken to mitigate this. It said that the risk of power outage is real but that, with these mitigation measures, the cause for concern is far less. That is basically its option. The public service obligation, PSO, levy is a compensating dampening factor. When gas prices or electricity prices rise, the PSO levy comes down, and vice versa . It should, ther…

I thank Senator Boylan. This is an important issue. Energy poverty is influenced by people's income, the energy efficiency of their home and the cost of the energy they use in their home. Government policy, therefore, focuses on supplementing lower-income households through the fuel allowance and other payments, as well as by providing free energy efficiency upgrades via the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, schemes and the social housing retrofitting programme. The Government’s strategy to combat ener…

I appreciate the Senator's sincere concerns about the data and the sources. She is absolutely right to ask those questions. I am happy for my office to engage with hers if she wants to follow up and get references as to where the data come from. On the specific point about when the CSO is going to publish its indicators, which I think is the Senator's question, I will come back to her with the details on that rather than give a response that is not accurate. It absolutely is important to track these things. One of …

I will address the Deputy's written question. I am happy to come back to the questions about ventilators in the HSE in my second response. The interim procurement reform board was appointed by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in May 2017 to oversee delivery of the procurement reform programme, advise the Government on a national public procurement strategy and advise on the Office of Government Procurement's objectives and business plans. The board meets quarterly and publishes an annual report to the…

These stories of the delivery of substandard medical equipment to the HSE underline the importance of having central procurement. The aims of public procurement are to make sure that we achieve a good price for the State, obtain a quality product with basic standards and have transparency, whereby we know deals are fair and non-discriminatory. In an atmosphere of emergency procurement, when facing a crisis as great as the global pandemic, of course the three pillars of procurement are skipped and the State runs the…

The Deputy's first question was on the extent of the procurement and whether more substandard equipment was delivered to the HSE. As she can imagine, I would expect there was more. I do not have the full report from the HSE. It has sent us initial reports at this stage stating how much of its procurement was done in an emergency fashion. The Comptroller and Auditor General will also be investigating the matter. In this regard, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, wrote to the Mini…

Later this year.

Public procurement is governed by EU legislation and national rules and guidelines with the aim of promoting an open, competitive and non-discriminatory public procurement regime which delivers best value for money. The EU public procurement regime is set out in a suite of EU procurement directives. Article 56(3) of the principal directive governing procurement rules for public bodies gives contracting authorities discretion as to whether to accept further submission of documentation after the closing date of a ten…

I am sharing my time. I thank the joint sponsors of the Bill, Deputies Paul Donnelly, Ellis, Seán Crowe, Mitchell, Ó Snodaigh, O'Rourke, Ó Murchú, Ward and Quinlivan, for raising what we all know is a very real problem, namely, the dangerous misuse of scrambler bikes and other vehicles. Deputies Donnelly and Crowe spoke from the heart. When Deputy Donnelly stated that urban Deputies would be more familiar with this problem, that is certainly true in my case. I thank Deputy Crowe for his invitation to visit his cons…

I will follow on from what Deputy Ward said. When he was mayor of South Dublin County Council he suggested that scramblers were being used in pairs for drug-dealing. I was not aware of that. He also pointed out that scramblers are also used safely. I presume there are locations in the Dublin mountains where they can be used. Such safe use needs encouragement and support. I am also glad to see that Deputy Ward is back after his illness, which I was sorry to hear about. I am glad he is well again. Deputy Gino Kenny m…

I expect that, increasingly, all Deputies will be concerned about the availability of broadband in their area, whether in rural or urban areas. The national broadband plan is one of the largest infrastructural projects in the history of the State. It is one over which I have some oversight and about which I am very optimistic. I think the fundamentals for this project are much stronger than they were when it was launched. The Deputy asked about Cork North-Central and when the plan is due to be implemented there. I …

There are four deployment areas covering Cork North-Central. It is a constituency with differences in that there are urban and rural areas. Of those deployment areas, one is to be completed by 2022, two by 2024 and the last by 2026. Surveys are ongoing across Cork county. It was homes in Cork that were connected first to the network. The nature of the deployment is that it starts at the metropolitan area network or at the exchange and is built out from there, so each section is done in sequence. I know the Departme…

That is a useful contribution. I understand the NBI was before the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications yesterday discussing these topics. Deputy Colm Burke asked how the roll-out plan is going and when there will be a catch-up. The NBI was asked that specific question yesterday and its answer was that it expects that it will catch up by 2023. There are delays. The number of homes that have been passed is approximately only going to be half of what it should have been by the end of this year. A large por…