I welcome the opportunity to speak on this issue, which is important to all of us. I compliment Sinn Féin on introducing the motion and giving us an opportunity to discuss and debate it. I listened to the Minister's opening address. He pointed out that there are three different sections that need to be dealt with in order for the service to work right. I will give my thoughts on the three separate parts of the service. One of these relates to early educators. What we need to do for them is give them recognition. I …

My question relates to Intel and its shortlisting of Oranmore in Galway as a possible location for a multimillion euro manufacturing facility. I am envious of Leixlip in County Kildare when the Taoiseach talks about the number of construction workers alone operating there. The proposal for a facility in Oranmore would create 10,000 jobs in the region. It has also highlighted the potential and attractiveness we have in the west and north and how we can make sure we are prepared to take on this opportunity infrastruc…

I thank the Taoiseach. We need a bit more in the west than just a desire to do something. We need a commitment on it. It is very important that a commitment is made. As the Taoiseach stated, politically, everybody wants to do the rail network. It is actually part of our climate action plan to make sure transportation and production within plants are all done in a way that saves on CO2 emissions. The most important and pertinent point, however, is that when a global company such as Intel puts out a finger and states…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important issue. We all know of people in chronic pain who have been waiting four years for pain management clinic appointments. Many Deputies have spoken about these kinds of issues tonight but I will concentrate on something else and I am glad the Minister and the Ministers of State are here to listen. The Saolta group, which covers the west of Ireland, deals with cancer and cancer treatments. The probability of receiving a timely diagnosis of cancer and surviving t…

I wish to raise an issue relating to Irish Water and its funding. Will a separate funding mechanism be made available to Irish Water to install wastewater treatment plants in towns and villages where no such facility currently exists and where houses cannot be built as a result of this lack of infrastructure? This is an important issue.

I thank the Minister of State for the reply, but it does not give me confidence that something will be done in the immediate future. Let us take the example of Athenry, a town all present know well. Three years ago, the wastewater treatment plant was expanded to take in additional capacity of all the housing estates in the town. There is a pipe network contract to be completed for that. It was supposed to be finished by now but it has not even started. What I mean by that is that surveys may be under way. The answe…

I thank the Minister of State for that. He talks about appropriate housing, appropriate ways of doing things and appropriate infrastructure. What about villages such as Abbeyknockmoy and Corofin where there is no municipal treatment plant and where no planning permission will be granted by the local authority or An Bord Pleanála because they say any development in these places is premature, pending the installation of a wastewater treatment plant? When I was a councillor in 2006 or 2007, before Irish Water came int…

I agree wholeheartedly with what Deputy Griffin said about second-hand properties. I have submitted other questions on the matter, which we will come to. We need to incentivise first-time purchasers of second-hand properties. We need to ensure the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme will be available in respect not only of the purchase price but also of the cost of the refurbishment of second-hand properties. If we do that and focus on the many empty houses that can be brought back into use, we will not have to bui…

No.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill and make some comments on the situation of the Garda. It is a very serious concern to me that policing in Ireland is changing so much and so fast. It has changed dramatically in recent years. The concept of the garda on the beat or on the street has more or less disappeared. Community policing has been very much scaled back, unnecessarily so. The sight of one or two gardaí walking down the street in a town or village, or out in a patrol car, is long gone. The abandonm…

I wish to refer to the context of the Northern and Western Regional Assembly area, which the European Union has recognised and categorised as a region in transition, as an industrial region that is lagging behind and as a moderate innovator. There must be a seismic shift in focus to ensure this region develops to its full potential. In light of the fact the Government is now carrying out a review of the national development plan, under the title Review to Renew, in what way will the Government positively discrimina…

There seems to be a bit of crankiness this morning. Maybe it is due to the late night last night. I welcome the opportunity to ask the Minister what plans the Government has for the wool industry to ensure that sheep farmers get a fair price for their produce.

I thank the Minister of State. I welcome the fact that some progress has been made in that regard. Having studies done, getting consultants in and getting what I would call feedings from the industry is one thing. However, to give one example, in my constituency of Galway East several sheep farmers came together to form a co-op. They set out a deal with Donegal Yarns for the purchase of more than 4,000 kg of Galway wool at a price of €2.50 per kilogram. The going market rate generally is 20 cent per kilogram. That …

I thank the Minister of State for the invitation. I will set up a meeting for his Department to speak to the people who brought this about and made sure it was a great day in Athenry on a Saturday two weeks ago when farmers came in with their wool and it was packed and sent up to the county of the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, to be used in Donegal Yarns. It demonstrates that simplicity is often key. We should not over-complicate this. The Minister of State mentioned that insulation is a wool by-product. The price …

On the climate action plan and the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021 that is going through the House at the moment, can the Minister inform us what ring-fenced budget he has to assist farming and all of the works they will have to carry out in order to start to comply with climate action, where that budget is coming from and is it separate from what is there at the moment?

There is a lot in what the Minister has said, but the nub of the issue, or the question, is that we now face, as the Minister said, huge challenges in achieving the targets we have set out in the climate action Bill. Farmers want to be part of it. We have a huge amount of work to be done. We have a huge amount of research to be done as to how we will reach our targets. Underlining all that is the fact that there is a serious need to set out a separate, ring-fenced budget to make sure the farming communities are sup…

I agree with the Minister, but it is important to say that in microgeneration especially, as one example, there is huge potential, including the potential to create clean energy and to double back on the perception of agriculture as an offender in respect of carbon emissions. The problem is that at the moment supports are fragmented between the SEAI and all that goes on and getting connections to the national grid. There is, therefore, a need for a cross-departmental approach to this. Also, it is important that the…

I congratulate the HSE and its staff on the vaccination programme. I thank the public who have taken on board the advice to get vaccinated. I encourage everybody to take the vaccine for the safety of everybody in society. I want to speak about the Government's proposals for the safe reopening and the legislation to be brought before the House today. This will be my only opportunity to speak on it. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is from a rural area and she understands that we have many small pubs and resta…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. I have been listening with interest to previous speakers from across the House. Nobody is comfortable with this legislation. Even within the Minister's own party, I hear people speaking about it and about the concerns they have. The legislation, as it was put before us yesterday, is very confusing. It is confusing for us in the sense that I still cannot get why we must do this. We want to open up the hospitality sector in a safe way but there are many contradictions …

I again salute the Minister of State for her efforts in getting the legislation this far. It is long overdue. On the amendments the Minister of State has brought forward, the issue of the partner and the three years needs to be clarified for us. The second issue relates to the value of the house being taken as capital and the derived or notional income from that is fine. If, however, the house is rented and that value is taken twice, that is something we need to address. I mention the example where someone rents ou…