I am still concerned by any argument that sees a benefit in high gas prices. Yes, what the Minister outlined will make it profitable to invest in renewables and to attract more companies to invest in renewable projects. However, it does not fit in with a just transition. Is it another market-led approach that will leave ordinary people shouldering the heaviest burden? People cannot see what he is doing right here and now to reduce their huge electricity bills. They want action now, not in six months' or 12 months' …

I accept there are issues with the approach taken by Spain and Portugal and that other approaches have been put forward, such as windfall taxes. However, the core issue remains the same, namely, that gas cannot be allowed to set the price for all electricity if, as the Taoiseach said on Tuesday, we are entering into a new era of high energy prices. I agree we need to go from 40% to 80% renewables in the next decade, both for climate reasons and energy security. However, we cannot be in a situation where we have eve…

I wish to ask about the situation on valproate. I understand it is intended to bring a memorandum to Government within the next few weeks to seek an approval into the non-statutory inquiry that is required there. It is important that the terms of reference are agreed by the families who have fought for decades to get the truth of who knew what, when they knew it and why nobody did anything about it. Without that line being in the terms of reference that enables the chair to recommend remedial action be taken, the i…

I thank the Minister for his statement and I welcome this opportunity to debate higher education again. I was very encouraged earlier by the announcement of ring-fenced funding for autistic students. I know the Minister agrees that it should have been done years ago. It is also important to measure and track outcomes so we can get real value for money and that the money can make a real difference to the lives of autistic students and students with intellectual disabilities. I have always felt on a broader level tha…

I am sharing time with my colleague, Deputy O'Reilly. I welcome this chance to debate apprenticeships, but the picture the Minister of State presents covers up what the reality is for too many apprentices who are struggling in the current system. In the course of the next eight to ten minutes, I will tell him about some of the feedback we have received from them. The Government is in denial about the extent of the chaos in the apprenticeship system. Failure to get to grips with the backlog is having a detrimental i…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this subject. All of our offices are inundated with people who are desperate because of the disappointment of their children and their financial losses. When they contact their transport providers, be those airlines or however they are travelling, they are not refunded anything. People are losing thousands of euro because of chaos in the passport service. While some of this chaos could not be avoided, much of it could have been. The Minister of State mentioned that there would …

I have dealt with many cases involving issues with photographs. In fact, my own passport was one. Are proper instructions being given? Are we communicating properly to the chemists and others who are appointed to take the photographs? Many practical measures could be taken within the system to speed the process up, but there needs to be urgency and the staff who have been recruited need to be trained outside the Passport Office, as it were. The verification issue also needs to be addressed. No one wants to infringe…

I raise the issue of valproate. Hundreds of families across this State have been impacted. Children have been born with disabilities as a result of valproate. It is not confined to this State but it is also in Britain and France. The Minister promised an inquiry in December 2020. We are still awaiting its terms of reference. The financial and other supports promised to families have not been delivered. When will we commence the inquiry into the scandal of valproate?

I too want to send my solidarity to the Fullerton family. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this issue here today, on the protocol, on legacy issues and the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. It is important to name exactly what is happening here. The British Government is attempting unilaterally to smash an international legally binding agreement. The Good Friday Agreement and subsequent agreements are the architecture that hold the peace on this island and that set the pathway for true reconciliatio…

My first question today is to ask the Minister what steps he has taken to ensure adequate places for in-demand courses, particularly where there is a corresponding skills shortage, have been made available to take the pressure off the CAO system and reduce the need to use random selection to allocate places. It is disappointing to see reports that the CAO system will again use a lottery to allocate places for in-demand courses. It is unfair on students, who are already dealing with a huge amount of pressure.

Time is of the essence. How many of the extra places allocated in the past two years were taken up? How many of them led to students taking up those places? What is needed now is for students to know that everything is being done to help them to progress their education and careers. The Department of Education needs to get a handle on the grade inflation. We also need to expand in-demand courses, particularly in the areas the Minister has outlined where there are skills shortages. I welcome the fact the long-awaite…

Earlier this week the Irish Pharmacy Union, IPU, warned that a growing shortage of pharmacists is fast becoming a major threat to community healthcare. It now takes an average of five months to fill a vacant position in pharmacies. It called on the Government to increase the number of third level places. It referred to the chronic lack of university places. It is the same with regard to medicine places as we have said. We have seen staff shortages in the HSE and a crisis with GPs, particularly in rural areas. Any i…

When will the paper on the cost of third level education be published? I want to talk to the Minister about SUSI and the supports for students and parents in the context of the cost-of-living crisis. I make particular reference to the 25% increase to the SUSI grant, as recommended in the recently published SUSI review. Does he have plans to reduce fees for the upcoming academic year? I sincerely welcome his recognition that the current level of fees is an austerity measure that cannot continue. Will he elaborate on…

Students and their families almost have announcement fatigue at this stage because measures are announced over and over again. They know how much money they have in their pocket or household budget because they are facing a cost-of-living crisis. Some of it has been driven by international events, though the SUSI review highlights that the greatest burden comes from the cost of rent and the housing crisis, which is a domestic crisis. The SUSI review states that there needs to be a 25% increase in the maintenance gr…

I ask the Minister to do everything possible. I hear his sentiments on not excluding students from education. I am fearful that people's choices will be greatly reduced because of the high cost of accommodation and the high cost of accessing third level education. I fear that students will need to work while they study and am concerned about what that will do in terms of outcomes for students. We really need to concentrate our focus on the matter. Inflation is now at 6.7%. We see that in Britain, it has risen to 9%…

Regarding workforce planning, will the Minister request the Taoiseach to convene a group of senior officials, led by the Minister's Department, that would pull together all the relevant Departments to target training in health and social care? It is really urgent that we join the dots between the provision of third level places and the workforce planning issue. It has not been done properly for many years and we are bearing the brunt of the consequences of that in terms of front-line staffing. The Minister said ext…

I ask the Minister to reconsider bringing forward a new student accommodation strategy with affordability at its core. I acknowledge the different things he is doing, but we need a new student accommodation strategy to be able to tackle the extent of the problem we are facing. This issue cannot be separated from the issue of underfunding in higher education generally. Even on-campus accommodation was turned into another source of revenue for colleges to replace the public funding removed during austerity. It is not…

We spoke earlier about the overall cost of education. I take the Minister at his word that he is committed to third level education as a public good. That must mean something, particularly in respect of apprenticeships. The Minister outlined earlier efforts that were being made to tackle the backlog but it is not being done fast enough. When does the Minister project that we will have no waiting lists in apprenticeships? The cost of the extra waiting time is not only in terms of cost of accommodation and the fees t…

The ETBs are mentioned only twice in the national apprenticeship plan, which concerns me. I visited Ballina last week. Wonderful work is being done there on apprenticeships in electrical work, butchery and several other trades. We need an office for further education and training and apprenticeships to protect the integrity of the trades. I am really concerned about what I hear. We have a waiting list of 18 months to two years for the warmer homes scheme. We desperately need the skills but I am concerned about the …

I want to raise the issue of a family resource centre for Erris, which is absolutely imperative. We fought for more than ten years for a family resource centre there. The steering group has the strategic plan together. It has done the needs analysis. It is a beautiful area but it is severely disadvantaged. It is classed as disadvantaged or very disadvantaged according to the Pobal HP deprivation index. We need the family resource centre in order to provide a vibrant hub for mental health services and many other ser…