The provision of proper, appropriate and integrated gender healthcare services is something that the Minister, Deputy Donnelly is anxious to see put in place for persons who are questioning their gender identity or are experiencing gender incongruence or gender dysphoria. The Minister has previously acknowledged that they do not currently have access to that in Ireland and that he is determined to change that. In that context, I can confirm the HSE has recently appointed Dr. Karl Neff as clinical lead for the multi…

The Deputy asked about the status of the strategic assessment. I will ask the Minister to update her on that. It is the Minister's understanding that Garda estates management met colleagues from the OPW to discuss short-term works to accommodate the operating model within the existing station. The Minister also understands that Garda estates management is considering the accommodation requirements of the new division. As the Deputy knows, a new Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW has been appointed. I…

I take on board all issues raised during this discussion. I note that all of us in this House want to ensure that the transgender community is given the proper, appropriate and integrated care and support they need to live their authentic, fulfilling lives. The new model of care will aim to do just that. The development of the new model of care for gender healthcare services is expected to be a complex process and the HSE and the Department of Health will work closely to support the process to ensure transparency a…

Good morning to the young people and teachers. Just to let them know what is happening, Senator Catherine Ardagh is asking me, representing the Government, how we spend money to cure cancer. I am here on behalf of the Minister for Health to answer the question. I thank Senator Ardagh for raising this question. Successive national cancer strategies have shown the benefits of continued investment in national cancer services. The benefits for Irish cancer patients come from earlier diagnosis, better treatment and impr…

I will raise with the Minister for Health the Senator's points about bringing in lung cancer screening and extending breast cancer screening to younger people. With regard to the Senator's point about multi-annual funding, I will ask about that in the Vote in the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and see what the situation is because most things now involve multi-annual funding. The Senator acknowledged that most people diagnosed with cancer now survive. At the time my …

I thank the Deputies for all their contributions. First, I wish to address a point raised by Deputy Mattie McGrath. He asked about people who lose their medical cards after taking up employment. This matter was also raised by other Deputies. I reassure Deputies that if people take up work, they can retain their medical cards for three years. The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, has sought to ensure that the interests of people with disabilities and carers remain a focus of her Department's priorities. She has worked to …

These are minor amendments. The Long Title has 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 and certain arrangements relating to the making of the marine planning policy statement on designated maritime area plans, DMAPs, under that Act, while changes are made to the Short Title, collective citation and construction to account for these amendments. Many…

The Senator spoke about developer-led versus plan-led and she is right to mention that distinction. Up to now, we have had a developer-led approach for wind farms. It has not led to the creation of any wind farms but just a view that you can apply anywhere and the interest and planning would come from the market. The whole thrust of the legislation this Government has developed has been about moving towards a plan-led approach, in other words, developing these designated marine areas for area plans where a number o…

Specifically, the marine protected areas legislation will remain with the Department of housing. There will be no change to that. I will ask the Minister for housing when he plans to publish that legislation. Of course, he works closely with the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, to whom he has delegated some of his functions. As I said, there is continued co-operation between the offshore renewable energy section in the Department of the environment and the Department of housing. They closely co-operate on environm…

The marine protected areas legislation is expected to be published by the end of June.

I thank Senator Higgins for bringing forward this amendment. In order to carry out this change of shareholding from one Ministry to another, the details of it have to be laid before the Houses and a resolution can then be brought by either House to annul it. It is not the case that it automatically goes through. It is the case that either the Seanad or the Dáil can stop such as a transfer. If a situation arose where either the Seanad or the Dáil felt that the transfer was inappropriate and that the wrong priorities…

The code of practice for the governance of State bodies provides, in the case of commercial State bodies, for a shareholder letter of expectation which outlines the terms of the relationship with the parent Department. The shareholder letter of expectation contains commercially sensitive information and, as such, it would not be appropriate for it to be publicly available. I am not aware of a similar precedent for any other Irish commercial State body. On this basis, I propose to reject these amendments as it would…

I thank the Senator. A commercial semi-State body is charged with two things. The first is performing its functions that deliver on its strategic mandate, whatever that is. The second is trying to make a certain amount of money which is then used by the State to provide services to its citizens. In advance of the year, expectations are set by the shareholder - the State - saying how much money is expected to be made during the year and how much will be returned as dividend. That is not known beforehand because if i…

As the Senators are already aware, GNI is a semi-State public body and its shares are 100% controlled by Government Ministers. Because of this, it is subject to the same criteria as other State bodies regarding its climate obligations. In particular, GNI is listed as a relevant body under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015, as amended by the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021. The term "relevant body" includes a public body which is defined by reference to the Freedom…

The implementation of the European directive on common rules for the internal markets in renewable and natural gases and hydrogen is the appropriate legislative vehicle for consideration of the decarbonisation of the gas grid and GNI's role and functions as provided for in the Gas Act 1976, as amended. In particular, the final version of the European gas directive provides for member states to implement measures to phase out natural gas in order to reach the climate neutrality objective set out by the EU, or for ot…

Briefly, our electricity emissions fell by 24% last year in Ireland. This is a significant improvement. We are absolutely committed to reducing emissions from gas and by moving towards 80% of our electricity coming from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. That is an absolute commitment. There is a legal requirement to cut our emissions by 50% by 2030. There is actual progress being made all of the time. With regard to deciding who gets a gas connection and who does not in the future, that has to be done within a regul…

This amendment makes proposals on reporting requirements for pipeline operators with regard to decarbonisation and requirements under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021. As previously mentioned, the implementation of the European directive on common rules for the internal markets in renewable and natural gases and hydrogen is a more appropriate legislative vehicle for consideration of the decarbonisation of the gas grid and GNI's role and functions as provided for in the Gas Act 1976…

I am happy to provide the Senator with any information I legally can. If she wants to go to my office, I will try to break out any data that I can disaggregate within the law.

As already stated, the implementation of the European directive on common rules for the internal markets in renewable and natural gases and hydrogen is a more appropriate legislative vehicle for consideration of the decarbonisation of the gas grid and GNI's role and functions as provided for in the Gas Act 1976, as amended. In particular, the final version of the European gas directive provides for member states to implement measures to phase out natural gas in order to reach the climate-neutrality objectives set o…

I will not confirm that because part of the reduction was due to increased imports of electricity from abroad through our interconnectors. It was also due to increased generation of wind power, increased generation of solar power and a reduction in the use of coal.