The question is about what other funding models the Minister has in mind. There is a broader issue of the increased investment in public ownership as a means of funding and accelerating the transition. Recent governments have created an energy system where profit maximisation seems to be the most important part of it. With the privatisation of our energy generation, the market share transfer from public to private sector means that profits have flown into corporate dividends. Is the Minister happy with that model, …

The retrofitting scheme is clearly not working. We need to increase the number of homes that are retrofitted as part of the Government's retrofitting scheme. Will the Minister please discuss this? Many people are locked out of the scheme - those who need it most in particular - because of the way it is structured. According to a survey in December, many people cannot afford to retrofit their homes because of costs.

The programme for Government, which I think the Minister referenced, hinted at an area-based element - another proposal Sinn Féin had. Will the Minister provide more detail about this and how he plans to target low income households, many of which are excluded? Will there be targeting based on income, as we put forward in our fairer retrofit plan? A woman from Dingle contacted me to say how bitterly disappointed she was over the refusal of the SEAI grant. She waited 18 months in total only to be told, based on the …

Anybody who canvassed last month, whether in Dublin, Clare, Mayo, Galway or Kerry will know that the people dependent on solid fuel are those with the lowest of incomes. This scheme still fails to deal with solid fuel homes. Many people are left out in the cold as a result. Solid fuel homes are also linked to higher health risks. Those with open fires are twice as likely to have respiratory diseases. Unlike the Government, which has zero measures to address these specific homes, we have repeatedly called for target…

It seems that every time housing is outsourced to the market, it causes problems. Whether that is for students, asylum seekers, people in nursing homes or people on local authority waiting lists, the answer from the Government always seems to be to outsource it again. Its idea is to build more units, not to focus on social and affordable housing. The housing crisis is the biggest issue facing the State today and the failure to deliver sufficient supply, especially of affordable and social homes, has had devastating…

-----I will finish on this - not give kickbacks to developers, stand up for ordinary workers and families who want to put a roof over their heads, build more social and affordable homes, ban rent increases and ban bulk buying.

The hardworking staff at University Hospital Kerry in Tralee, all of whom have the best interests of the people of Kerry at heart, have been contacting me because they are frustrated with the situation there. It is at breaking point. The average waiting time in the accident and emergency department is now ten hours, which is the second highest in the country. One woman told me that she was waiting with her son for 19 hours before he was finally put on a drip. Some 390 people were waiting on trolleys in January, whi…

What is the Government doing?

We need a minor injuries clinic close to where-----

-----the people who attend the accident and emergency department are.

We also need a modular day unit.

This amendment amends section 32 and inserts “civil or”, with regard to reports of the marine safety investigation unit in order that they shall not be admissible in civil proceedings. When the Minister of State was speaking to the amendment, I was glad to hear him stress the importance of the independence of the investigation. When the general scheme was published in 2022 and the Government had approved the drafting of the Merchant Shipping (Investigation of Marine Accidents) Bill to provide for, in full time, the…

I have one further question about the interview process for the chief inspector. It seems that this recruitment process has already been completed before the Bill has been passed. Why has it already taken place? Is the Minister of State fully satisfied that the interview panel was completely independent as was recommended previously?

The Ceann Comhairle might formally put amendments Nos. 6 and 7.

She might put those amendments individually.

I wish to be associated with the comments about the former TD, Dan Wallace. The Taoiseach said he spoke about climate resilience with Keir Starmer. Just as the war in Ukraine showed how exposed this country is to the vagaries of the international energy market, the recent storm exposed how ill prepared we are to deal with the consequences and our resilience in terms of climate change. The Taoiseach does not need me to tell him about the 750,000 people who were without power or particularly the people in the Brosna …

I note the Minister said that ISIF considers a variety of factors. I presume genocide, killing civilians and facilitating illegal settlements are included in that. I acknowledge that there has been some divestment from illegally occupied Palestinian areas and the Golan Heights but this is not the entire story. It is important to realise that it had been reported that ISIF still had a €1.3 million shareholding in the Israel Defense Forces-linked Palantir Technologies we heard about last December. The Israel Defense …

It seems that some of the direct investments that were mentioned, which are controlled by ISIF, are not pooled investments. They are in banks such as Bank Leumi-le Israel BM, which is one of the largest banks in Israel. For decades, this bank has facilitated the expansion of illegal settlements. It granted a loan for a construction project in the Palestinian village of Azzun and bankrolled five illegal settlements. I note from the programme for Government that the Government has committed to progressing the Control…

When we discuss road safety, we must remember the many families that have been left devastated by the large number of tragedies and deaths on our roads, especially in the last year. In the opening weeks of 2025, the country watched in horror as 19 people on the island died in January alone. In 2024, 174 lives were lost in the Twenty-six Counties alone. Every one of those was a daughter, son, parent or friend. I express my condolences to the bereaved. When I think of road collisions, I often think of one of the most…

He said it.