I thank the Minister. I know the Minister understands the importance of SMEs to the Irish economy. As he rightly outlined in his response, more than 99% of all business in the State, and almost 70% of all employment in the business economy, is provided by SMEs. The SME credit survey is a crucial component in ascertaining how business is performing, how investment is being undertaken and how accessible credit is to ensure that jobs and the economy continued to grow. The Minister recently welcomed the survey, as he h…

As the Minister rightly said, there is probably a lag in the data as well insofar as there are 12 months, and interest rates and such are coming down. As the Minister rightly highlighted, businesses have proven to be resilient in that 82% of them said they had no change or had increased their turnover, while 88% were either in profit or had broken even. "Resilience" is the right word to describe what businesses have demonstrated and what they continue to demonstrate. The Minister also mentioned how average interest…

Will the Minister provide an update on what engagement his Department has had with Bus Éireann to address the impact of the shortage of drivers on the service?

I was in the training centre in Cork last year. It was very impressive to see the plans there. It is to be hoped that these will bear fruit in producing extra drivers to fill those vacancies. I read an article earlier this month in which Bus Éireann CEO Stephen Kent said that approximately 2,000 extra drivers were required. I assume that is building on the future improvements with BusConnects and so on. As the Minister said, we are well short of that and are struggling to recruit what is currently required. The big…

I use the train service regularly in Cork, more so than buses. The difficulty I see lying ahead for us is that while trains turn up on time and always arrive, the same surety is not there for people when it comes to using their local bus service. For the 214 bus in Glanmire, in particular, and the 208 in Mayfield, the impact of BusConnects will be transformative for the city. It will be overwhelmingly positive. As the Minister said, there are a number of hurdles to overcome in order to get there. My concern about t…

I support Deputy Smith. He has been a consistent advocate for investment in local roads. Not a week goes by that he does not raise the matter. I lend my support to his requests. As the Minister will know, Cork has the largest road network in the country. The underinvestment in our roads down there is apparent for all to see. The county council is still waiting on funding to deal with road and bridge repairs following Storm Babet in November. Will the Minister give us an update on that and whether additional funding…

I would like to raise the issue of special school places, not just in County Cork but across the country. The Irish Independent earlier this month published a report where it was estimated that hundreds of children are potentially facing a lack of school places this September. I say this being fully cognisant of the fact that in the term of this Government, we have delivered seven new special schools and 1,300 special classes have been sanctioned up to now. Unfortunately, in the report published by the Irish Indepe…

-----that he will liaise with the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, to ensure that this September every child with special needs education requirements will be facilitated with a school place.

I ask the Minister of State to provide an update on the engagement his Department has had with local authorities to progress the next phase of the deposit-return scheme development and roll-out, and the number of local authorities that have registered interest to date.

I thank the Minister of State for his response. In that response he referred to five local authorities. I ask him to name them specifically. If engagement with any other local authorities is at an advanced stage, he might indicate how many, even if he cannot name them. I broadly welcome the scheme. The initial Amárach research showed that over 80% of the population were in favour of it and committed to engaging with it. I listened to Ciaran Foley on RTÉ Radio One as I drove up this morning. If that 3 million figure…

I again mention following up with the local authorities. The only concern I had listening to Ciaran Foley this morning was when he was asked about the accessibility of some of the machines for people who have issues. They might not be very mobile or able to reach the machine, depending on the type. He said some machines were capable of tending to the needs of people in wheelchairs, for example, but he did not confirm that all machines were accessible. If the local authorities are going to roll this out, I ask that …

-----were out of order.

I also want to raise the issue of childcare. I and a number of Deputies in the constituency of Cork North Central met Northside Community Enterprises in the past. We continue to liaise with it. The issue is that the old provider, the voluntary service, withdrew its childcare provision from four or five childcare services on the north side of Cork city. The old committee had run its course. The difficulty is that for the new committee to meet the regulations and standards, an investment of €350,000 in the building w…

I would like to raise the issue of childcare again. I have spoken about this issue here for the past two years, specifically problems with ECCE-only providers, especially in smaller or more rural communities, and how providers who provide only this service are particularly vulnerable under funding models and so on. My specific issue today concerns baby rooms. Living in Glanmire, which is a large suburb where many people have come in from far and wide to work in pharma, the hospitals and so on, there is an acute sho…

I raise the fact that staff working in Citizens Information offices across the country have not had an improvement in pay and conditions since 2008, I think, and are not covered by any of the agreements in respect of section 38 and section 39 workers. The Department of Social Protection allocated annual Exchequer funding for Citizens Information Services last year. As part of the 2023 Estimates process, the Citizens Information Board made a submission in respect of 2024, which included a proposal to allocate additi…

I do not want to pre-empt what the Minister of State might say. I confirm that I spoke to the Minister last Friday after the public meeting that the three of us attended. She confirmed to me and the principal that she would meet him in the next three to four weeks. That meeting is confirmed and arranged. I suppose that is a first step. I will not dwell on the history because the two previous speakers have outlined it. Over the last number of years in this House, I have always pointed to the deficit of ASD classes i…

There are a couple of things in play here. I acknowledge initially that approximately 20 children are impacted. They are already in situ in the school. Not all of them will require an ASD class. There are many who are pending assessments and so on. There is, however, still a requirement in this regard. As the Minister of State said in his response, three classes were allocated and this gives an idea of the demand there generally. We are up to 18 children, anyway, based on three classes being filled. The meeting is …

I am bringing an issue of concern to the Taoiseach's attention relating to IPAS entering into rental agreements on established housing estates. This is happening in more than one local authority. I am quite aware that we need to do our best to house everybody that we can, be they migrants, people looking for private rental properties, or people in search of ever-elusive HAP properties. Will the Taoiseach clarify whether he is aware this issue is happening, and what the issue is in terms of compliance with planning?…

Deputy Doherty is out of time.

In accordance with Standing Order 80(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time on Wednesday, 1 May 2024.