No, she has not.

There are 83,000 people waiting for driving tests. The number is up by 10,000 since the start of the year and 20,000 over the past six months. The average waiting time is more than 27 weeks, as the Minister of State indicated, which is way over the statutory maximum of ten. In April of last year, the Fianna Fáil Minister committed to significant progress being made between October and the end of the year. He claimed we would get back to the ten-week waiting time early this year. Like many other promises made in the…

I will finish on this. We instead are sending a representative to a song contest, which has been used-----

-----as a propaganda tool by Israel over the years. We should not be sending anyone there.

I was recently speaking to one of the housing officials in Kerry County Council who described the housing situation in the county as being "like a jungle out there". Rather than doing something about it, the plan from the Government is going to make things worse. The problems with critical infrastructure are so acute that they are preventing the delivery of new homes and are a result of bad planning, mismanagement and underinvestment by successive Governments. This is the fundamental difference with the Government'…

What measures is the Minister for Transport taking to ensure that regional and national roads in County Kerry are adequately maintained? Has he considered conducting a review into the state of the regional and national road networks, particularly in Kerry? Will he make a statement on the matter?

I thank the Minister for the reply. There is a danger with Government announcements and there was such an announcement on 28 March. Those announcements often include a boast about funding but when the details are checked, it does not seem that there is enough there and there is no delivery. Many people feel they are only being codded. While I recognise that some progress has been made, the reality is that progress has been too slow. The Minister mentioned the N86. It came up recently at a meeting of Kerry County Co…

There are concerns among engineers in Kerry. One concern is that they had tender documents available for the bridge near Glenbeigh National School and between Ballinclare and Ballinasare on the Dingle road. Tender documents were available and all the work was done but suddenly the funding that was believed to be available was cut. I also raise the issue of local improvement schemes, LIS. As far as I can tell, their funding has been slashed for 2025. I raised the matter with the Deputy's colleague, the Minister for …

What efforts is the Minister making to improve the experience of commuters on public transport? The performance of public transport operators is closely monitored by the National Transport Authority, NTA. The Minister previously said on certain routes buses were late and even not turning up at too great a frequency and that the NTA was carrying out a review of the incidents that had taken place. Has that review been completed? Does he have it? There are concerns across the country about the transport system and its…

I thank the Minister for the reply. We have seen that, where services have been provided, the increase in passenger numbers has been up to 50% on some routes. People want services to be affordable, accessible and reliable. I spoke recently to some students from UL who travel up and down to Kerry. On a Friday, the Dublin coach regularly does not turn up and they are left to get the next bus or even the bus after that. What is the Minister doing to address the situation? Is he monitoring the scourge of ghost buses, n…

I have two final questions. First, the last time we debated on Oral Questions I asked the Minister to explicitly rule out public transport fare increases. Has he come to a decision on that? The second question has been rumbling on since Covid. It seems that in the transport plan, there is a policy to have a food and drinks ban on train services to the west. For people travelling, students, old age pensioners, everyone - even five or six TDs get the train up from the west - they cannot get any food or drink on those…

This is not the first time that we have heard about the State's failure of vulnerable children - I think of the boarded-out children in County Kerry in particular - and it will not be the last. Grace's story is another tragic example of long list of failures. After the Farrelly commission, which took eight years and cost €13.6 million, we are still in the dark on the critical issues. We do know that she was failed over and over again and those who tried to speak up for her were shut down. Her own submissions were n…

The national planning framework had the potential to unlock a brighter future in this country and to right the wrongs of the past, to develop a co-ordinated strategic and ambitious approach to the social, economic, environmental and cultural development of the island but what has been presented is certainly not that. It lacks ambition, is devoid of detail and is certainly not going to bring in the transformative change that the country deserves. Unsurprisingly, the Government has once again decided to rush through …

-----and share the costs more equitably. I will finish on the following point.

Language planning in the Gaeltacht has been totally ignored.

We are way ahead of time.

I ask the Minister for an update on renewable heat and whether he has considered measures to increase the use of biofuels because, when it comes to our transition to renewable heat, alarm bells should be ringing. No matter what way you look at it, Ireland has no hope of meeting its targets. For years, the Government has been acting as if heat pumps were the only show in town, but experience and the evidence have shown us the take-up has been extremely poor.

The Minister is probably aware that we have retrofitted only 12% of our BER B2 target for 2030 and 5% of the heat pump target. I acknowledge that the Minister stated heat pumps represent the optimal approach. For newer, efficient buildings, heat pumps are the obvious choice but the cost of making people's homes pump-ready makes an immediate switch impossible. Some 70,000 people rely on liquid fuels. One in three of them is over 65, and 59% of those with a liquid boiler live in rural Ireland. The current scheme will…

Does the Minister know when that assessment will be completed? The grants are clearly too low and will not suit people who do not have €50,000 to invest in their home. There are many people, particularly older people, who have been using some sort of liquid fuel to heat their houses for many years. They are not going to leave their homes for a few months, rent somewhere or stay with family because of the disruption. They will just keep going the way they are going. Speaking practically, what extra benefits or grant…

Sula nglacaimid le halt 5, ba mhaith liom cúpla rud a rá mar gheall ar struchtúr an údaráis. Tá sé mídhaonlathach. Tá sé dochreidte go bhfuil an ceathrar Teachtaí Dála eile ó Chiarraí i gcoinne an leasaithe a bhí againn, agus i bhfabhar mholadh an Rialtais chun an t-údarás a líonadh le ceapacháin an Aire. Tá a fhios agam go mbeidh 36% den bhord iomlán roghnaithe ag an Aire. Ní thoghfaí ach deichniúr. Mar a dúirt Teachta eile, bheadh an bord truaillithe le cronies an Aire. Níl leithscéal sásúil againn cén fáth nach …