I welcome the opportunity to make statements on water policy. Despite many of the complaints I hear about Irish Water and individual towns and locations, we need to look at this in a broader perspective. We would all have been taught about the hydrological cycle in school. We know where water comes from. We know that water is a finite and limited resource which is under severe pressure in this country. These statements are fitting in a week when COP27 is trying to address the global nature of climate change and its…

I request that Irish Water set out a very clear timeline for all of its wastewater treatment plants and drinking water plants. What action is required to bring them up to the standard for discharge and drinking water? What is the funding requirement and what are the timelines? Those need to be set out. It will help us comply with the water framework directive and make our river basin management all the more easy to implement. The Minister of State is the right Minister for the job. I know that he has a deep underst…

I thank the Minister of State for bringing this important legislation to the House in such a speedy and timely manner. It is a sensible move that seeks to protect renters from eviction. I acknowledge the work of Department officials in drafting this Bill and the work of the Attorney General’s office in ensuring that its provisions are constitutional, legally defensible and strike a balance between property rights and protection of renters at this difficult time for so many. The Minister arranged a briefing for the …

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Finance Bill, which underpins many of the budget announcements made last month. It is a progressive budget, despite what some commentators would say. It is wide-ranging and well thought out, and it provides immediate support to many people throughout the country when they need it most. It also offers core support for the future. It exemplifies the Government’s approach to how we dealt with the Covid crisis over two years. We support businesses and people in a crisis. We are…

Some workers in section 39 organisations were not included in the group receiving the special Covid-19 recognition payment. I realise the Minister has made statements previously on this issue. The group I am particularly inquiring about is Acquired Brain Injury Ireland, the staff of which worked in similar or the same conditions as those workers who were included in the payment. Will he clarify the rationale for why some groups had to be left out of the payment?

I thank the Minister for his response. It is positive that 124,000 people have been paid in recognition of the tremendous work that they did during the pandemic. It is not an overstatement to say that many of us owe our lives or the lives of family members and friends to the work that was carried out by those organisations. I am glad that the Minister is progressing the payment for the other front-line emergency services workers who worked so hard and such long hours during the pandemic. With regard to eligibility,…

I thank the Minister for the clarification. Essentially, this negotiation, as it were, is taking place between the HSE and those organisations. I might follow up this inquiry with the HSE directly just to support the particular worker to whom I referred. The case he has put to me seems to fit exactly with workers who were working in the exact same situation and are eligible for the payment. There are always demands on government. I understand that a line has to be drawn in respect of funding, criteria and eligibili…

I welcome the opportunity to speak about the budget. It is a huge budget and has been welcomed across the board. I had intended complimenting members of the Opposition on also having acknowledged the tremendous efforts on the part of the Government to support people. Unfortunately, nobody from the Opposition is present at this time as they have left early on a Thursday. This budget should get due debate. We have given over time to do so and Government Deputies are here to speak about it. I acknowledge the tremendou…

I was contacted by the line Minister, who was unavailable. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy O’Donovan, for being here, because the question is on refurbishment and retrofitting. The Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, OPW, has good experience in the fine work that the OPW carries out on many of our buildings across the country. I want to ask about the retrofitting of our schools across the country. Many of us visit and talk in schools. Schools we visit can have varying, differ…

I completely agree that the first step should be energy reduction. That is what we should be pursuing. It is encouraging to hear that 41 schools had pathfinder works carried out and another 15 are under assessment. That is kind of what my question is about. How does a school apply for or get on the radar of the Department for an assessment to be carried out? I visited a school in Wicklow town recently. It was a school that had two buildings. One was the original 1955 block with high ceilings and high windows. It wa…

I thank the Minister for the opportunity to have this debate today. It is vital because, as all present are aware, the planning system is at the heart of everything we do and, right now, there is an urgent need to restore trust in that system. Planning objectives and decisions impact on every person and town in Ireland. The planning system decides where we live, the type of houses and apartments we live in, how we get to work and where those employment locations will be. It decides the location of our places for ed…

The review of the school bus transport system is under way. I urge greater flexibility and expansion of that service. We see how the traffic disappears when schools are off and we know that getting children onto public transport at an early age creates good habits. We know about the emissions from traffic and the problems it causes. I urge flexibility and expansion of the system as part of that review.

To bring some clarity to the situation, this Bill started off as the substitute consent Bill, which was how we referred to it. It came to the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage back in 2021. There was a request to waive pre-legislative scrutiny on it because of an urgent matter to deal with. The committee refused, but we acted speedily and availed of a briefing with the Department officials. We have had many briefings with the Department officials on some of the very complex planning amendmen…

I move: That Dáil Éireann: (1) notes the agreed Report of the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage under Standing Order 133 on the following proposal: — Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION on the election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, repealing Council Decision 76/787/ECSC, EEC, Euratom and the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage annexed to that Decision; which was laid before Dáil Éireann on …

I will let Deputy Leddin take the first slot and I will take the second.

I am a tenor.

I hope the Minister of State will get a chance to correct some of the statements made during the previous contribution. It is always disappointing to come in here and hear the type of attacks that go on against our environmental non-governmental organisations, especially An Taisce. It has been commented on at EU level. It is unfair.

I did not interrupt Deputy McGrath. I listened to what he said. It is entertaining a lot of the time but it is factually incorrect. I reiterate my support for An Taisce and the fine work it does throughout the country. Much of the environmental protection we have in the country comes from EU directives. I do not think we would have introduced it ourselves. We should acknowledge the contribution of Europe. I agree with some of the previous contributors that planning is complex. When we introduce changes to the plann…

I am delighted to have the opportunity to discuss this issue. The school meals programme is of vital importance to the students that benefit from it. The Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, will be aware that the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, announced a €32 million investment and expansion of DEIS schools this year, which brings another 60,000 students into that support and benefits 310 schools. I welcome that. It is good that the Government recognises that there are students, schools, teachers and parents …

I thank the Minister of State. I am glad to have had the opportunity to raise this matter. I raised it yesterday with the Taoiseach during Questions on Policy and Legislation and I have submitted a number of parliamentary questions on it. While I welcome the expansion of DEIS schools, which is positive, I am concerned that we do not seem to have allocated any funding in the budget for those extra schools that are being brought into the school meals programme. This is a targeted measure. We have recently been discus…