I want to raise the issue of the public liability insurance crisis, which is impacting on businesses, community centres and community and sporting organisations. They are being charged either astronomical insurance premiums or they are not getting quotes at all. I know of a rural community centre in Louth with a turnover of €6,000 that is paying substantially more than €2,000 a year in public liability insurance. The organisations operating in that centre also need their own insurance. I am aware of a community org…

The first thing to say about affordable housing is that it needs to be affordable. A number of contributors today stated the Government and Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage will be graded on the basis of the delivery of houses. The issue is not just the delivery of houses, but of affordable houses. Reference was made to affordable purchase but it cannot just be a heading; it needs to mean something. In Dublin, it needs to mean regular houses costing around €230,000 and outside of Dublin, consider…

It seems all of us sound like a broken record regarding housing at this stage. On some level, if it were not so serious, I would say I absolutely bore myself but we all know the realities. Anybody engaging with constituents in the town of Dundalk will know the realities. I am fed up talking about the levels of rents people are dealing with. We are all aware that the rent pressure zone protections are not providing the protection required. We all support the restriction on the deposits that can be sought from studen…

As antigen testing was raised, the only commentary I will make is that it has been a tool that we have missed in the opening up of society but it may have a particular fit for aviation. We all know NPHET's view on it at this stage, and Dr. Tony Holohan stated that there is an insufficient amount of evidence on antigen testing, particularly around travel and aviation. There has been a failure and this needs to be rectified quickly, even if it is very late from the point of view of putting a proper pilot testing scen…

I echo what Deputy Ward has said. We were all shocked by what happened to Christian Eriksen. We were absolutely delighted that it did not end in tragedy. There was spectacular action, particularly by the Danish captain and his teammates. Obviously, the medical care kicked in quickly. We need that to happen in all these sorts of circumstances. I accept what the Minister of State has said on the sports partnerships and the number of grants available. We need to ensure we have a steady supply of these defibrillators w…

I am sorry to hear about the tragedy that occurred within the Minister of State's family. It highlights the necessity for defibrillators and for us to ensure the availability of defibrillators and know-how in that regard where and when it is needed. We need to make sure that happens. I welcome the Minister of State's commitment to engage with some of his colleagues in regard to putting in place a holistic solution. Screening is necessary. I have heard it said previously that one in 500 people have cardiomyopathy, b…

It is not very long since the House dealt with farming. The byword when it comes to farming is "sustainable". I would say that is the same way we need to look at the entirety of the fishing industry. It is all about ensuring that we have a viable, sustainable fishing industry that can deliver a plentiful supply of fish but also protection for those families engaged in fishing, many of whom have done it for many generations, and the Minister would know this better in light of the part of the world from which he come…

I wish to add my voice to much of what has been said in the Chamber so far. We are talking about the aviation industry and 140,000 people who have been under extreme pressure, given what has happened to aviation. We must ensure that there is continuity of supports. Even when we get up and running, we accept that there will be a long-term impact for those involved in all areas of the travel industry. As has been stated by some of the previous speakers and as was put on the record by myself and others previously, sup…

I wish to raise an issue related to the point raised by the previous speaker and the whole conversation around accessibility. We have heard the issue discussed in the media in recent days but people have also contacted me on it. In fairness, incredible work has been done in terms of facilitating outdoor dining but there has probably been a trick missed in the sense that accessibility, particularly wheelchair accessibility, was not built into it. That should be a starting point for all such discussions into the futu…

I commend Deputy Nash on bringing forward this legislation and affording us another opportunity to deal with the issue of lobbying. In fairness to the Minister of State, he acknowledged the lack of enforcement in regard to this matter and the need for such enforcement. This is not the first time I have spoken on this issue. My colleague, Deputy Mairéad Farrell, referred to the legislation she and Deputy Doherty brought forward. We welcome some aspects of Deputy Nash's Bill, particularly the proposal regarding the c…

I agree with much of the commentary on the need to ensure the sustainability of the family farm. Beyond that, many people in the EU have forgotten what CAP was about, namely, the steady supply of safe food. The biggest problem we have is the reduced overall CAP budget. Its share of the overall EU budget has declined from 37% to 30%. What will this look like? Has the Department game-planned the cuts which will obviously be put to the back end of the budgetary cycle? Could I also be allowed the liberty to find out, o…

I would like to check the position regarding budgetary cuts. If I am correct, they will be at the end of the EU budgetary cycle. Have we looked into this? What sort of cuts could we be looking at? Whatever difficulties we might have with convergence and flexibility at this point in time-----

We are expecting the overall CAP budget to be reduced as a percentage. Therefore, we are looking at the multi-annual financial framework-----

I commend a number of the amendments that have been put forward by my colleagues, Deputies O’Rourke, Cronin and Carthy. I will speak in favour of amendment No. 1 and beyond, that is, to those amendments that relate specifically to the just transition. I echo many of the calls in this House. We accept there must be moves made in the direction of dealing with the climate problem. Even as a small State, we are part of a wider European Union, a wider globe and we need to deliver on that. There is an obvious necessity f…

I agree with some of the sentiments Deputy Ó Cuív expressed. It is a fact that fisheries have been an afterthought for many years. That is the reason we are here last thing on a Thursday evening. We all accept that we got a terrible deal on fisheries on accession to the European Economic Community. It is always the group that gets sold down the river, for want of a better term, so it is not shocking that fishermen have huge difficulties with the deal that was struck on Brexit and the trade and co-operation agreemen…

I agree with a considerable amount of what has been said in the sense that there is much to be welcomed, but elements of particular proposals are reheated. We all accept that using the GDP rating to determine the moneys we receive from the EU recovery and resilience fund and providing us with only €915 million in the first tranche is not necessarily the methodology we want to use in the future. This must be examined because it is an insufficient amount when compared to what other states are receiving. GPD is provid…

An aeroplane travelling between Athens and Vilnius was diverted with the threat of a bomb, with a MiG-29 becoming part of the operation and with the return of terminology related to the KGB. It is like something out of a bad film. It is "Die Hard" without John McClane. The problem is there was no hero and a crime was without doubt committed. It was international piracy and state-sponsored hijacking. There have been many headlines in recent years that we would not have anticipated, but we would never have predicted …

I would agree with an awful of what was said in some of the interactions the Minister of State and I have had on the need for the NCSC review to take into account the shameful ransomware attack carried out on this State. We need to ensure we are up to spec. The general conversation is that 29 staff, no director and a €5 million budget is not going to cut it, but I assume we will get that answer from the NCSC review, which we will need to implement as soon as possible. I would also like to know the status of the ris…

First, regarding the point I raised on a previous question, it was probably unfair to throw it into the public domain. The Minister of State has an element of experience in the particular field being discussed and I was interested in his view on whether we need to look into capacity issues. It is not a great shock that I am asking a question on the acceleration of the national broadband plan. We have had the roll-out of the planning permit system under section 254 of the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amende…

I appreciate the Minister of State's reply. It is not the first time he has given it this evening. I spoke with NBI earlier and, as such, there is an element of my carrying out a fraud, for which I apologise. It just happened that I got the telephone call earlier, before I came into the House to speak on this question. In fairness, the NBI offered me similar information to what the Minister of State has just given. Reference was made to the Department having eyes on the section 254 applications that are in place an…