Come off it.

That is nonsense.

The reality for people living in the west and north west is that at least two thirds of the homes are heated with home heating oil. The figure is probably higher in County Donegal. Someone looking to fill a tank with 1,000 l of oil would have paid about €600 just over a year ago. Today, that person will pay more than double that. The tank must be filled a number of times every year. When households are already struggling to get by I do not need to explain the impact this is having on families in the rural west and …

What motion is the Taoiseach talking about it?

Read out the motion.

Read out the words.

Sixteen months have passed since the Taoiseach first tasked the outgoing Secretary General of his Department with overseeing the investigation into the leaking of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation Final Report to the media. The Secretary General will be taking up his new position shortly. Can the Taoiseach confirm the status of the investigation, if it has been completed and if he intends to publish its findings and recommendations? It will be important for the Taoiseach to communicate the repor…

The Taoiseach will know very well the severe impact of Brexit and the trade and co-operation agreement between Britain and the European Union on our fishing communities and the significant loss of income that will now lead to a further major decommissioning of fishing vessels in Ireland. How on earth can we justify the approach of the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, referring to European Union directives in asking the masters of fishing vessels to turn blue whiting for human consumption in markets not just in w…

The Taoiseach was in Derry recently for a number of engagements. He met with a cross-party delegation of councillors from Donegal, Derry and Strabane. At that meeting, the issue of the funding of City of Derry Airport was put to him. It was welcomed by those present that he said he would look at the shared island initiative as a potential source of funding. Why is this so essential? A total of 40% of the passengers who use City of Derry Airport are from Donegal. It has connections to London, Manchester, Birmingham,…

As the gap is fewer than ten votes and because of the seriousness of the issue for so many people in rural Ireland, we are asking that under Standing Order 83(3)(b), the vote be taken by other than electronic means.

The City of Derry Airport is a really important resource to the people of the north west of Ireland. Some 40% of the passengers who use the airport are from Donegal, flying to Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London Stansted and other locations across Europe. The Irish Government has not funded this airport for about a decade now. It is an absolute disgrace. This has to be sorted out. Will the Minister work with the Taoiseach to do so?

Donegal Airport is a superb airport in west Donegal, no doubt about it. Just to outline geography, there is a reason 40% of the passengers in City of Derry Airport come from Donegal. It is only half an hour from my home in Buncrana to get to City of Derry Airport while it is about an hour and a half to west Donegal. That is the reality. In the Inishowen Peninsula, Letterkenny and Finn Valley people use City of Derry Airport. For a very large section of Donegal they use Donegal Airport. Derry is the fourth largest c…

What makes it more important is that we have been heartbroken by what has happened with the A5. We were supposed to have a motorway. There is no direct rail connection from Derry and the north west of Ireland. There is no direct motorway connection and no direct air connection. It is a mortal sin what is happening to us. We have been waiting for this motorway. There is no connection. If we have an air connection from north Donegal and County Derry, the entire county, and west Tyrone, it means people can get not jus…

Hear, hear.

Usually the Taoiseach or the Minister of State with responsibility for Europe would be present for these debates. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy O' Donovan, to kindly ensure that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue and, more importantly, his departmental officials are provided with a transcript of what I am about to say because it has major implications for our fishing industry. The Minister of State knows that our industry is in the worst state that it has ever been in, follo…

The war in Ukraine has led the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to put serious challenges to farmers across the country around food provision. However, the huge increases in fuel, as the Taoiseach knows, have had a devastating impact on farmers and fishermen. Fishermen all around the coast are telling us that they cannot go out to sea, given these costs. Yet, there is no intervention. We asked for statements on this issue, so that we could put the concerns we are hearing from farmers and fishermen acro…

To clarify, a Cheann Comhairle, is the Government agreed to making time available for statements?

Come on now. The Taoiseach knows how this works. The Government decides what is on the schedule.

As the Minister knows, there was already a serious crisis in our fishing industry before the energy crisis we are now facing. Six weeks ago, I asked the Minister in a parliamentary question what he would do to assist our fishermen. He said he was prevented from doing anything by the European Commission directive. Since then, France and Spain have made serious interventions to assist their industries. What will the Minister do?

The inshore and offshore fishermen to whom I speak, including those in County Donegal, are telling me that with prices tripling, they just cannot afford to go to sea. If you look at what happened in France before Article 26 was triggered, you will see that France intervened by providing a direct subsidy to its fishing industry, which was some kind of assistance. Similarly, Spain has now announced €68 million in support for its industry, including a range of interventions. Apart from a tie-up scheme, which is linked…