I support the premise Deputy Burke has put forward. We have also had conversations about the retirement age for drivers, or the age at which they are not allowed to drive for Bus Éireann in particular. However, we all have anecdotes. I have often driven to matches and so on, as a school teacher, with a bus driver who is well into his 70s. We have always arrived safely at the pitch and been returned home safely too. In an era where we are extending the ages for people who can serve in the Defence Forces and An Garda…

I welcome the Minister’s response. There was a fair bit of detail in it. We woke up to news this morning that there has been 2.2% growth and 3.8% growth has been forecast for the economy for next year, which is obviously very welcome. Yet, all of us in this Chamber will know, including the Minister and Ministers of State, that many small businesses in particular are at the pin of their collars when it comes to the costs of running their businesses. The Minister has a list of figures before him. I would appreciate i…

-----and the businesses there that will be eligible for this scheme. Can he give people a realistic target for when we hope to have the money going into their accounts? Timing will be crucial in this. We are again waking up to headlines that state that two businesses are closing per day. Timing is therefore crucial for many small businesses. If we could expedite the process as quickly as possible, that would be very welcome.

I would like to reiterate a lot of what has been said by Deputies Crowe and Murnane O'Connor regarding the challenges. It is good to see that the Minister is also considering additional measures over the coming months to help businesses to meet those challenges. I agree with Deputy O'Reilly in relation to the timing. I have used my Dáil speaking time over the last couple of weeks, particularly in engagements with the Ministers of State, Deputies Richmond and Calleary, to stress the importance of timing here. I woul…

I ask the Minister for an update on both the Blackpool and Glashaboy flood relief schemes in County Cork.

I live in Glanmire, so I am more familiar with the Glashaboy scheme. The progress being made there is welcome. There are some traffic issues delaying people going to work, school and so on, but they understand that it is a necessary evil. The protection that the scheme will provide to many homes and businesses in Glanmire is something that I and, to be fair, other Deputies have advocated for for a long time. My concern centres around the Blackpool flood relief scheme. I am familiar with all of the details that the …

I thank the Minister. I would not want to undermine any process that is under way. That goes without saying.

At the same time, though, I find myself dealing with many of these planning quagmires that we encounter and discuss. Blackpool aside, I will make a general point. We seem to discuss processes and respecting the process rather than the material subject at hand and the real difference it will make once undertaken. I am highlighting this issue once more so that the foot is not taken off the pedal. The scheme is urgently required, and the vast majority of people in the area recognise that. Another flood relief scheme w…

I ask the Minister of State to list all the flood relief schemes county by county and outline the stage of development each is at. He might give me the national figures and the stages they are at, and I can get the county-by-county list afterwards in the written response.

As I said, I am asking for the overall figure nationally and whether a project is at stage 1, stage 2 or whatever. This relates to the broader point of trying to clarify how many are at stage 1 and identifying any delays. I have spoken previously about schemes that have been beset by problems and I want to get an overall picture of how many are stuck, for want of a better adjective. The Minister of State might then outline what difficulties the various schemes are experiencing.

I thank the Minister of State. As I said, I want to gauge where we are at with the various schemes. Judging from the initial figures that the Minister of State read out, and I do not want to misquote him, there are 67 major schemes and 29 smaller schemes, and just six of them are at construction. If that is the headline figure, there are obviously difficulties with various schemes across the country that are stuck in the pipeline. I welcome the response and look forward to getting the detail afterwards. I might dis…

The Minister may be familiar with the Before 5 childcare service in Churchfield in Cork city, which closed last August. Its closure left a big hole in the context of the provision of childcare on the north side of Cork city. Alternative childcare had to be sourced for nearly 100 children just weeks before school started again in September. Thankfully, Northside Community Enterprises stepped into the breach and put together a business case for the reopening of the facility. To meet all the regulatory standards, fire…

I want to raise again the issue of rare diseases. The Taoiseach might have seen the news that last week, thankfully, the drug Libmeldy was approved for patients who suffer from metachromatic leukodystrophy, MLD. I pay tribute to the parent of a child who passed away a number of years ago. Les Martin sadly lost his son, Cathal, a few years ago to this disease. We saw and heard from Les last week. He has been campaigning for a number of years because he has a second child who is also affected by this disease. Thankfu…

I wish to raise the issue of a social housing passport. I think Deputy Devlin raised this issue in the past. We are living in a society that is much more complex that the one in which we grew up. Many marriages and relationships break down and of the many couples who have shared an application on a local authority housing list, one or both partners might end up going back to their county of origin and it is quite difficult to get people transferred between different local authorities. If a system were in place that…

I do not know where to start. I have lived beside a direct provision centre in my home parish for the best part of 23 years. We have always been welcoming to migrants from all over the world, and who have settled well and integrated into our community. I would like to bring some balance to the debate. I have been listening upstairs, and listening to the latest speech from the Sinn Féin representative opposite. A lot of it is about peddling blame, and I get that is the job of Opposition. I get that it has to call th…

For the first few years in this Government's term in office, we saw numerous capital road projects progressed across the country including the Baile Bhuirne to Macroom bypass the opening of which the Tánaiste officiated at last year and I think he is due next month to cut the ribbon on the Dunkettle interchange, which is most welcome. I understand an announcement is due shortly from the Department of Transport on the progression of further roads projects. As the Tánaiste knows, last year, the Mallow relief road and…

Can the Tánaiste give me an update on the strengths of the Permanent Defence Forces as of 1 January 2024 and will he make a statement on the matter? This question No. 65 is grouped with question No. 52.

It is encouraging to note that the intake is progressing a bit more favourably this year. I acknowledge that additional funding which the Tánaiste mentioned in the previous budget where I think that €67 million specifically was allocated to address retention issues and that a further €1.5 billion will be allocated over the next five years. With regard to the optimum figure of 11,500 Defence Forces members as a standing service of overall numbers, I believe the Tánaiste said here previously that to achieve that woul…

On that specific point, the age limit has been increased in other sectors, including the Garda, recently and, therefore, I do not see why the Government would not envisage something like that in future for the Defence Forces. Coming back to the Minister's point about stabilising figures, which I think he said was his immediate priority last autumn, I do not expect him to have a crystal ball but from dealing with his officials, is there enough capacity at the moment with respect to applications and recruitment that …

I ask the Tánaiste for an update on progress in the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission on the Defence Forces.