Globally, consumers want food that has a low environmental impact, which provides a huge opportunity for Ireland. There are three aspects to this that need to be capitalised on. Ireland has the lowest carbon footprint for milk in the EU and the fifth lowest carbon footprint for beef because we use grass to produce milk and beef. Ireland has one of the lowest levels of forestry cover in Europe. Trees and hedges help to reduce climate change effects as they absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. My colleagues and I have con…

In 2009, legislation relating to rights of way was temporarily sorted. Since then, many people faced last year's dilemma as there are serious flaws in the 2009 Act. The Rural Independent Group made several recommendations to Government to defer the looming deadline to register the easement of rights of way by the end of November this year. We welcome that common sense has prevailed and that there is now a commitment to conduct a time-bound review to see what is the best interim strategy with regard to rights of way…

I also welcome the Minister and congratulate her on the addition to her family. I will also support the motion. It is very important to allow for outdoor dining. I must thank everyone who adapted during Covid to outside dining and drinking and everything that was put in place. We need the supports to stay in place and we also need additional supports. The biggest problem for public houses, hotels and the hospitality sector is that extra staff are needed because things are so spread out. I ask that every person who …

How many front-line response ambulances do we have in the country? How many supervisory officers do we have in ambulance cars who have not been rostered in the community? How many calls per week or per month do the supervisory officers make or attend? I am calling for a full review of the service, like a Garda division. There needs to be a front-line medical section and a clerical section. As training of an advanced paramedic is quite specialised, why does the National Ambulance Service expect paramedics to perform…

My question relates to the route decided on in respect of the Newcastle West bypass in Limerick. Concerned citizens are very upset about how the bypass system is working because they are relying on social media rather than Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and the design team to get information on a road that is going to go through their houses. I want the Minister to set out guidelines for people in order that they will have information, from the time a route is decided, on procurement, the time it will take …

There is not one Member of this House who does not have a green agenda or does not want the environmental agenda to work. There must, however, be a common-sense approach here. If the Government wants people to get electric cars, it must incentivise them to do so. If it wants people not to use their cars, it must provide public transport services. I have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is no public transport in rural villages and towns. There may be public transport in the larger cities but beyond the a…

Hear, hear.

I ask the Minister to note that forestry is the easiest solution to sequester carbon. What financial solution will be offered to foresters who are affected by ash dieback? Landowners were advised by Teagasc to leave conventional farming and to use an ideal solution for farming in ash, oak and elder. These were the hardwoods recommended by Teagasc.

Ash dieback is a disease that affects ash trees. Ash plants imported into Ireland from Holland were diseased. This ash dieback has destroyed the ash plantations in Ireland. Initially, an income was guaranteed for 20 to 25 years. At ten years, the trees sequester carbon. Ten trees equals 1 cu. m, which would be a yield of €60 per cubic metre. Ash butt is used for making hurleys and is worth €450 per cubic metre. This equates to a loss of €6,000 per cubic metre. In 2009, concerns were raised that ash dieback was impo…

In 2011, the then Minister for Agriculture said he could not stop the import of plants from Holland as it was a member of the EU. However, it was stopped in 2012 by a statutory instrument in the Oireachtas, but it was too late. The disease was already here. The Forestry Act says that the Minister has a duty of care to protect from diseases and pests from abroad. The people of Ireland were let down by the Government. Land needs to get back into production. The scheme to which the Minister refers provides €1,000 per …

Man up and take the blame.

Three years later.

They get no income for 20 years. This scheme will not pay them for another 20 years.

I thank Deputy Carol Nolan for allowing me to take this slot. I ask the Minister of State to address concerns that the haulage and logistics sector is under significant financial and operational pressure due to the increase in carbon tax and the lack of available HGV drivers. Has the Department conducted any assessment of the supply chain repercussions of these challenges?

Some 1.5 million Irish homes are to be retrofitted with the support of the State through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI. This programme was costed by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, at €8 billion. The SEAI is costing it at €35 billion over 35 years, as per its website, under deep retrofit. A house will burn in one year what a truck will burn in one week. I ask the Minister of State to do the obvious thing and cut emissions. There are 5 million km t…

The national HGV fleet of articulated trucks is made up of 24,000 vehicles responsible for 86% of the movement of goods for the Irish economy to function. It does 1.9 billion km per year, as per CSO figures. This equates to over 5 million km travelled per day and over 1.5 million l of fuel consumed per day. This works out at almost 500 l per truck per week, which supports the statement that a truck burns in one week what a house will burn in one year. There are 10,800 trucks in this country that are more than ten y…

Not without the Euro 6 engine.

The Euro 6 engine is the only engine that can be modified to do it.

The Euro 6 engine is the only engine that can be modified in that way.

It is the only engine that can be modified.