Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as teacht isteach chomh déanach seo. This is a question I have been looking to put for quite a while. It is something the Government needs to take seriously. This is a space in which we need to be proactive and engage with all stakeholders, including developers, the ESB and other electrical and energy providers. The long and short definition, as I understand it from a layman's point of view, is that private wire is essentially where private industry, particularly large energy users lik…

I thank the Minister. To be fair that is a very substantive response and I appreciate it. I do have several issues. I have listened to many people from Government parties and the Opposition speaking about offshore wind energy. The harsh reality is we are being told it will take an average of seven years to do it here but when we look at our European counterparts, such as Slovakia, it can take as little as 18 months. It is laughable. It is actually quite worrying to read in the Minister's response that the ESB is th…

Before Deputy Higgins continues, I would like to welcome to the distinguished Visitors Gallery Sir. Robert Neill MP, the chair of the House of Commons Justice Committee, and his colleagues, Mr. James Daly MP, Ms Maria Eagle MP and Mr. Paul Maynard MP. They are meeting their counterparts in the Committee on Justice today. I extend our welcome to them.

I raised this issue last week with the Tánaiste but I believe it merits being raised here again. It relates to changes in benefit-in-kind in the new year. In January, the benefit-in-kind rate will increase from 6% to 9%, which means certain car owners will have to pay thousands of euro more to do their jobs. I am not just talking about private employers and employees here. I am speaking about people in medical device companies, nurses and others doing very important work. When the Minister assumes his new role in t…

I would like to again raise with the Taoiseach the issue of early childhood care and education, ECCE-only providers. I commend the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O’Gorman, and the Government on their interventions up to now and for the record levels of investment by the State. That said, there is still an anomaly in ECCE-only providers. Fees remain frozen, which is a good thing for parents, but capitation fees also remain frozen. More and more ECCE providers are closing o…

I support Deputy Burke. As he outlined, I debated the issue with the Minister last week during a Topical Issue debate. We acknowledge all the good work that has been done to provide resources, co-operation hours and extra funding for the Cork Life Centre. That is greatly appreciated by all the staff, but again it is important to stress the urgency of the matter at hand. I understand the report is with the implementation team, as the Minister referenced again this evening. I reiterate that the staff in the Cork Life…

I wish to ask the Minister about the return of school completion officers back under the remit of the Department of Education and if she will make a statement on the matter.

I thank the Minister for her comprehensive response, a copy of which I received earlier in the evening. I welcome the fact both she and the Taoiseach have taken a keen interest in this area. As recently as last Wednesday, during Questions on Policy or Legislation, he indicated he was still anxious that the full transition in regard to the logistics would be undertaken and that the full jurisdiction would return to the Department of Education. I also welcome the fact the Minister has negotiated through the budgetary…

I appreciate the Minister's sincerity on this and wished only to give her an outline of what the school completion programme model means on the ground in Cork. We have 11 projects, comprising six non-education and training board, ETB, based and five ETB based. I highlight that distinction because in the case of the five ETB-based school completion programmes, predominantly, the teachers involved keep their pay and conditions as employees of the ETB. They have the same pension entitlements as regular ETB staff. Unfo…

I did not expect that we would get down this far so that is great. I want to ask the Minister of State about sanctioning the post of home school community liaison officers to special schools and if she will make a statement on the matter.

When I put down the question I knew that only DEIS schools were able to avail of home school community liaison officers. I am quite aware of that but I am asking that this would be looked at and reviewed over a period of time. I lifted the following information off the Tusla website earlier. The website states that part of the role of the home school community liaison officer is to enhance a child's educational experience, particularly through offering family supports, parent classes, courses and home visits etc. T…

The simple truth is that there will never be enough resources for the kids in these special school settings with some of the needs I have described earlier. Let us be honest about that. Whether it is kids who need to be helped to feed; need PEG feeding, need help to go to the toilet, or whatever the case may be, the harsh reality is there will never be enough resources. The staff in those settings do a massive job and they are to be commended for it but at the end of the day the parents, who are the focus of the ho…

Recent proposals regarding changes to benefit-in-kind are counter to what we as a Government should strive for. The current system rewards people for driving more miles, while we as a society are being told to change our habits and protect the environment. In January, the benefit-in-kind rate is due to increase from 6% to 9%, which means certain car owners will pay thousands of euro more to do their job and go about their business. The percentage paid is calculated on the price of a new vehicle and does not take th…

I wish to raise with the Taoiseach the issue of the school completion programme. I know he is very familiar with it. While I welcome the announcements in budget 2023 last week, such as the €2.6 billion for special education the Taoiseach mentioned, the record number of special needs assistants, the provision for Irish Sign Language interpreters and, of course, the €13 million for the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, the one thing lacking was an up-to-date report on the status of the school completion p…

A tax warehousing arrangement allowed a business to park unpaid VAT and PAYE tax debts that arose from the Covid-19 crisis for a period of 12 months after businesses resumed trading, and there was subsequently a further extension. Support for businesses during Covid was appreciated by all, particularly employment supports, rate cuts and the opportunity to warehouse tax. Will similar arrangements be extended during the period of cost-of-living inflation?

I was the Acting Chair for the first hour of the debate, so I have had time to reflect. While there are difficulties out there and undoubtedly there is a crisis in not just the rental side of things but the overall general housing picture, Housing for All has had some positive impact on the crisis and that is sometimes lost in these debates. We can all probably name different schemes across our own city and county and across the country. Looking at my own constituency, there are 150-odd units of social and affordab…

Cork Life Centre, on Winter's Hill, Cork, is a one-of-a-kind institution. It is a voluntary organisation offering an alternative learning environment to marginalised young people. The centre and its staff often offer one-to-one tuition in junior certificate and leaving certificate subjects but, for the staff of Cork Life Centre, value is placed on social education just as much as the academic. The centre focuses on fostering positive relationships between students and staff. Supports are continuously offered to stu…

I welcome the investment the Minister has put into the centre over the past few years, which, as she has detailed, is €177,500, as well as the 6,000 co-operation hours. That is not in dispute and is greatly welcomed by all at the centre, including Don O'Leary and Rachel Lucey. I welcome the commitment the Minister has given to honour the agreement, as she has said, through the Review of Out-of-School Education Provision. Could the Minister give me some clarity in her supplementary response? Are we looking at that r…

People always confuse the two of us, so I am glad to see the continuation of that. Ba mhaith liom ceist a chur ar an Aire Stáit mar gheall ar an straitéis chun tacú le cothú an teanga go náisiúnta.

I welcome the €8.5 million the Minister of State mentioned for the Irish language and Gaeltacht. I will pick up on two points mentioned in an straitéis 20 bliain. The first, which I again welcome, is the establishment of Cúla4, the TG4 channel for kids. This meets objective No. 9 in an straitéis, which is to ensure we will support "High quality broadcast services through the medium of Irish...". It is good to see this specific objective is being met. I turn to objective No. 7 as well, however, and this is something…