I would like to give the Deputy a proper answer.

I do not think I do.

I will correspond with the Deputy and I am happy to give him a full answer. Does Deputy Ó Murchú want to make a point on the general issue?

I thank the Senator for asking this question, which the Minister for housing has asked me to answer on his behalf. Tailte Éireann is the State agency formed on 1 March 2023 following the merger of Ordnance Survey Ireland, the Property Registration Authority and the Valuation Office. All the functions previously carried by those bodies are now being performed by Tailte Éireann. Tailte Éireann is independent of its valuation functions under the Valuation Act 2001, as amended, and the Minister has no function in decis…

I thank the Senator. I think I have good news for him. The message from the Valuation Office is that community sports facilities which are exclusively used for community sport and are non-profit are exempt from rates. I encourage him to follow up with the Valuation Office or Tailte Éireann using the contact details I provided. The Senator mentioned that we need to look more broadly at the rating policy for swimming pools. I agree and I advise him to take the matter up with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien. He makes a g…

I thank the Senator for her questions, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport. From the outset, I would like 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 is 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, NT…

The Minister recognises that it can be frustrating for public transport users when delays occur with the roll-out of planned new services. Unfortunately, issues such as the ongoing bus driver and mechanic shortages have continued to impact on the speed at which the public transport network can expand. However, the Department of Transport will continue to engage with the NTA and bus operators to work to identify solutions to accommodate the growing level of passenger demand across our public transport network and en…

On behalf of the Minister for Justice, I thank Deputy Gannon for raising this matter today. Dublin city and its surroundings are a hive of business and tourism, particularly at this time of year. Equally, there is a strong community created by local residents. We want the city to be a safe place for people to live in, work in and visit. The Deputy will be aware that today the Taoiseach announced the creation of a task force for Dublin city centre. The goal of the task force is to make Dublin city centre a more thri…

I presume a safe injection facility falls under the Minister for Health and I will ask him to reply to the Deputy directly on that.

The Deputy will be aware that the new approach to community safety policing via local community safety partnerships is being piloted in three locations, including the north inner city of Dublin. This approach brings together local communities and local service providers under an independent chair to develop a community safety plan for their local area, and more important, to work in partnership with their local area. The Dublin north inner-city partnership continues to work collaboratively with key stakeholder agen…

I thank the Deputy for his questions. I listened carefully to the points he made. I will now read the formal response from the Minister for Social Protection before discussing the matter further. It is important to acknowledge the excellent work that is done on the full range of work schemes, including community employment, Tús, the rural social scheme and the job initiative scheme, supported by the Department of Social Protection and the contribution that these schemes and their workers make to communities across …

I am aware of Abbeyshrule and the improvements that were made there through the community employment scheme. It is well known around the country. I appreciate the benefits of community employment schemes. I will take the issues the Deputy raised to the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, to see whether he has any knowledge of them. He may engage directly with the Deputy, or the Deputy might engage with the Minister of State, through his office, to try to make progress on the matter. To date, the system has worke…

Amendments Nos. 1 to 9 are technical amendments that relate to the Title and citation. The Long Title is changed to reflect the inclusion of the transfer of maritime area planning functions from the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, certain arrangements relating to the making of the marine planning policy statement and DMAPs under that Act. Changes are made to the Short Title, collective citation and construction to account for these…

I thank the Deputies for their comments. The decision to transfer these functions was taken by the Government at a meeting on 20 December 2023 and this is the earliest opportunity to enact that decision. It was introduced in the Seanad in previous weeks and debated there. It is a transfer of functions from one Department to another, the same as the rest of this legislation, which is also a transfer of functions from one body to another. It is designating that it will be the Department of the Environment, Climate an…

These amendments create a new Chapter 1 to the new Part 4 within the Gas (Amendment) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill. These provide for the transfer of Maritime Area Planning Act functions from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. They preserve work completed to date on the south coast DMAP. The Attorney General determined that this transfer could not be completed through secondary legislation, as would normally be the case, bec…

That is a very reasonable point. I am glad the committee met with the Department to discuss this. The Government is aware it is critical there are sufficient staffing resources to provide for this new function, the designation of specific DMAPs, and that An Bord Pleanála has sufficient staff to carry out its function. It needs a whole set of new staff who have the qualifications and knowledge required to carry out marine area planning. I will speak to my Department again to discuss resourcing but we are aware of th…

These amendments create a new Chapter 2 of the new Part 4 within the Gas (Amendment) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill. These directly amend the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021 to remedy issues related to the making of the south coast offshore renewable energy designated maritime area plan, DMAP, in the absence of a statutory marine planning policy statement and provide a mechanism allowing the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, in his role as competent authority, to revise the DMAP on foot o…

I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. Ensuring that high-quality early learning and childcare is affordable and accessible to all children, in particular children from vulnerable backgrounds, is a key priority for the Government. Data from the latest annual early years sector profile from last summer estimated that 14,088 children were enrolled in early learning and childcare in Galway. This represents an 8% increase from 13,047 in the previous year. The data also indicated that 50% of services had …

I take the Senator’s point that the matching of demand and supply has to be very local and that applies in a county which has large distances between different towns and villages but investment in early learning and childcare services has quadrupled in the last nine years. It went from €260 million in 2015 to €1.1 billion this year. That increased investment has focused on improving access to affordable and quality early learning and childcare services. The data shows that there are increasing numbers of places for…

On behalf of the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, I thank Deputy Harkin for raising this issue. I am aware that the Deputy has also written to the Minister about this previously. The Minister is committed, as is the entire Government, to building stronger, safer communities and a strengthened, well-resourced Garda Síochána across the country is central to this policy. As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Commissioner is legally responsible for the management and administration of Garda business. The Minister…