I wish to be associated with those words. I thank the Minister for his comprehensive statement. I wish to home in on just two points. One is small flock keepers' awareness that they need to restrict their flocks. I know many families that might have four or five hens in the back garden. Is there a register of that information? Is there communication happening in order that such families are made aware that they should be restricting the movements of those small flocks? The other issue relates to the time of the yea…

I have raised concerns over the last few weeks about how the National Transport Authority, NTA, operates. I raise this on the back of a local issue regarding a bus stop and bus line that was changed in Clontarf Street in Cork city and how it will affect residents, particularly those going to Kinsale. There was no consultation whatsoever with the public or any of the key stakeholders. I wrote to the NTA to ask its representatives to meet me on 28 October. It wrote back saying no staff were available. Staff resources…

I raise this issue in order to ask how we, as parliamentarians, can engage with the National Transport Authority, NTA. The issue on from a public meeting I held in the Temperance Hall in Kinsale on Monday night last. We filled the hall and had a big debate about what is happening regarding public transport in Kinsale, the lack of a bus shelter on Clontarf Street in Cork, issues regarding the capacity of buses and safety at bus stops. These are major issues for the people of Kinsale and the surrounding hinterland wh…

There is a budget of €35 billion, and the officials from the NTA will not meet us. They will not respond to the email even after eight months. They say they do not have the staff or the budget to meet us. That is with a budget of €35 billion. This is a quango that is totally out of control. It has a process in place regarding how it responds to the Houses of the Oireachtas, but local councillors and communities and people on the ground cannot meet its representatives. They are doing laptop studies in Dublin on infr…

I ask the Acting Leader to organise a debate around the significant announcement made by the Government last week regarding the forestry programme of €1.3 billion. It is a very positive step forward. We need a debate in any of the Chambers but since the Minister with responsibility for that actual issue is a Member of this Chamber, it should work very swiftly to ensure we have the appropriate time put in place to have a decent debate about the issues of forestry. The forestry programme has been long-debated and in …

The Minister of State is welcome to the House. I compliment him on his informative contribution and for providing great clarity on the Bill, which is very much required. We are in unprecedented times, without a shadow of a doubt. This legislation is what we require, not for this winter but for the next, to make sure we have security of generation capacity, which is very welcome. Such security is required in the market place now. The potential we have over the next 12 months in microgeneration is also important. We …

I wish to raise an issue relating to Ballinspittle National School, a small country school in a village just south of Kinsale. According to the most recent census, the population of Ballinspittle has grown by over 10%. It is a unique little part of the world that has so much going for it but there has been an issue with schools in the area for at least a decade. The majority of the schools in the locality, taking in Kinsale, Ballinspittle, Rennies, Minane Bridge, Belgooly and Dunderrow, have been upgraded but there…

Can the Minister provide me with a copy of the report? It is important to get clarity on the construction phase. The period of 20 months is a similar period of time. I am aware the proposal is to knock half of the existing school and to build a new structure, and then to knock the other half and build the other structure. I refer to the 20-month building timeframe. When will we get to a point by which the appropriate tenders are done so that we can get to the next phase and have a definitive timeline of when the bu…

I want to raise the issue about services with regard to kids who are autistic. There has been a large amount of work done and I compliment the Minister of State on the amount of units that have been set up in the majority of secondary schools, particularly around Cork. It has been of real benefit to communities and societies. There is a gap in the market at the moment that we need to look at, particularly around special schools which kids who are autistic and do not fit into the mainstream programme attend. Childre…

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. I have met her twice today as earlier I met her while we attended a committee. I wish to start by discussing special education. School transport is a huge issue and one that affects the lives of a great numbers of people. School transport is even more important to families who have a child with special educational needs but it is mid-term break and there are still no places, which causes serious issues. I wish to mention three cases - Innishannon to Cork, Ballinhassig to Cork,…

I thank the Acting Chairperson. To clarify, I am sharing time with Senator Carrigy so do we have four minutes each?

I tried my best but what can you do?

Indeed. You cannot get around a Kerryman. The Minister is very much aware of this important issue. Senator Carrigy and I tabled this Commencement matter to seek clarity about the new forestry programme. There has been significant worry in the industry, especially in the past two or three years, about afforestation rates and how we can move the sector forward. Unfortunately, the afforestation rate is at an all-time low and restoring confidence in the forestry sector has been a major issue for many of us. This new fo…

I thank the Minister for his response. Our original intention was to table this Commencement matter and seek a response from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, before the programme was changed, because we believe there is an issue here that we need clarified by that Department concerning the rates of payment and timelines for this programme. Reading the report, it is clear that approval must be given to the proposal first by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. It then goes to the European…

I wish to raise the issue of where we are going with our retrofitting programme. I read about the issues in the Irish Examiner pertaining to our aim of reaching the target of 500,000 houses. Where are we with those targets? It is an interesting debate. Perhaps we need to look at where the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland is in this debate. From my point of view and that of the people I meet in my clinics, there is a complete breakdown in communication. People do not know how the one-stop shop works, how acti…

I welcome the Minister of State. I wish to raise the really significant issue of podiatry care in west Cork and will begin by providing some background information. There are more than 300 people in west Cork on a waiting list that is going nowhere. The majority of the people on the list are elderly. Many suffer with arthritis and diabetes and they need podiatry care. Last March, 15 out of 25 whole-time equivalent posts were vacant and because of that, people are waiting over a year to access podiatry care. It is b…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. The key issue is the number of vacancies. Six months ago, according to the figures I received, 15 out of 25 whole time equivalent posts were vacant in the Cork, Kerry region. I seek an update on the recruitment campaign. Perhaps the Minister of State does not have up-to-date figures. I ask that the Department provide such figures to me in the next few hours. How is the recruitment campaign going and how many of those 15 vacancies have been filled since last March? The…

This is a rare occasion. I would like to comment on Senator Garvey's contribution. I was there this morning. The response read out by the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, was a disgrace. It was a very appropriate question. As that question has been asked on school transportation and given the way the rules of the Seanad work, it will be six months before we can go back into that circle. We got a bluff of an answer. We have kids who want to get a school bus and we have a Minister of State who did not answer th…

I cannot raise this issue for the next six months because of the bluff we got earlier. Do we need to go suspending Standing Orders? Do we need to put down motions? I am not sure where to go next, but the kids of west Cork deserve better, the kids of Ireland deserve better and to be perfectly honest this House deserves better than what we got this morning. I put it to the Cathaoirleach that he needs to intervene directly with the senior Minister and come back to us next week, because we cannot have this. If we do, t…

I join with colleagues in asking for a debate on the forestry sector. This morning, we had an important briefing which gave a very good insight into where we are going with the huge issue of forestry in Ireland. There is a real need for a debate on forestry because the new forestry programme, which was supposed to be announced and enacted in January, has not come forward yet. People expected an announcement to be made at the National Ploughing Championships. Advisers need to plan yet no programme has been announced…