I thought I saw a memo from the Ceann Comhairle stating the senior Minister is meant to notify the House if not available.

That is not what the Standing Order states. It states the senior Minister should come to the House to reply to the question. This question is for the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.

The Chair should report to the Ceann Comhairle that there has once again been a flagrant disregard for the Standing Order on Topical Issue matters.

Under the Standing Order, I should have been given the option of either proceeding or waiting until the Minister was available. That is the Standing Order. I do not make the Standing Orders; the House makes them.

That is a matter of procedure, not a matter of-----

It is a year since the Ukraine war started and a flood of refugees started coming into the country. The past year has seen a very significant increase in the number of asylum seekers coming here. I understand in excess of 85,000 people have come here from Ukraine and other countries seeking refuge. I commend the Government, Department and particularly the people on their response to this influx and the way accommodation has been provided throughout the State. However, I have noticed that in this country we often ge…

Obviously, the money is big; one would not expect otherwise. The number of providers is relatively small, however. There are 720 providers. I do not accept the argument that there were suddenly queries. I have raised questions on behalf of a number of providers and every time I raise a question, people come back and say they will be paid shortly. They never come back and say they are sorry, they raised queries and did not get replies or they have outstanding issues that they have to get clarified. They have not sai…

This year it will be five years since the national planning framework was published. Since then, and especially in the past year, we have had population growth that had not been projected and, as a consequence, we have an accommodation shortage. I think everyone will agree that we need to do everything to deal with that accommodation shortage. We have seen already with the crisis in An Bord Pleanála that was not dealt with in time how long it is taking to resolve it. As we stand here, it is taking two years to get …

Confrontation and violence seem to be escalating worldwide. No lesser person than the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has warned we could be heading towards "a wider war". He also said that the prospects for peace keep diminishing and that he fears the world is not sleepwalking into a wider war, stating, "I feel it is doing so with its eyes wide open." He noted that scientists and security experts had moved the doomsday clock to just 90 seconds to midnight last month, and concluded: "We h…

This question relates to the underspend of capital across all Departments. I want included in the figure capital allocations deferred to 2023. It is important once money is provided that it is spent. If it is not spent, it means that houses, transport infrastructure and roads, hospitals and whatever are not built. The Minister might give me the details of it and tell me which Departments are the worst offenders.

If I understand correctly, between deferred capital at the end of the year, when the Minister allocated the money in 2021 for 2022 and 2023, he knew about the carryovers in each case. He is telling me, in fact, if I understand correctly, that the total is approximately €1.2 billion between carryovers and underspend at the Department. I keep thinking of all the services urgently needed in this country that have not happened. This is my question. From the global perspective of the Minister's Department, what is he go…

I remember when carryovers were introduced. I had serious reservations because I felt they would become endemic in the system. In the public sector system, once a thing like that is opened up, they think that is part of what you do. You only spend a certain amount and carry over up to 20% or whatever you are allowed to carry over. One of my colleagues is smiling because the older heads around here know that is the sort of thing that happens in the system. I accept the difficulties with planning and delays. My attit…

I have raised this issue previously. In fact, I raised it three times in the Dáil before Christmas and I am going to keep pursuing it until I get a resolution. It relates to Travellers who are living in very old caravans that are totally beyond their replacement date. One can imagine what it is like to sleep in one of these caravans on nights like those we have had in recent times. After the Ombudsman raised an issue with the Department, a pilot scheme was brought in but it was totally inadequate. A total of 75 car…

I listened to Deputy Cairns's contribution. She has put a lot of detailed work into the Bill, which I commend. Like any Bill, I have no doubt it can be improved. I hope that as the Bill goes through the House, the Minister will be open to suggestions for building on the basis of the Bill to see how it can be improved. On the other hand, it is time we moved ahead and brought in the Bill. The House must be more adaptive generally. If there are flaws in a Bill, and issues arise fairly rapidly with all new legislation,…

I have to say I am very disappointed the debate is so short. I will try to raise as many issues as I can in a very short time. The first thing we need to do is progress offshore energy. There are a number of elements to this. We need fast, efficient and transparent administrative systems. We need to change the legal systems so decisions are made in good time. We also need to ensure community buy-in. I am concerned the community funds do not specify the geographic areas where the money should be spent. There is majo…

What progress has been made to date since the approval of the national climate action plan to achieve the targets in it and is the Minister satisfied the targets laid out to be reached by 2030 will now be achieved?

My sense of it is that we are not achieving the targets so far and, as the Minister said, that we are going backwards. On the real big wins, of the ones that have the real opportunity to change everything, the one outstanding one, of course, is renewable energy from the ocean, whether it is wind, wave or tidal. I wonder how quick are we progressing towards harnessing that enormous resource of energy which could not only energise this country but could provide Europe with a great deal of energy. Could the Minister t…

That is exactly my point. When the Minister goes for the big winds, he will wind up with an energy surplus. The Minister has a target in the climate action plan of 1 million electric vehicles, EVs, by the end of the decade. At the rate of progress to date, is that likely to be achieved? The second part of the question relates to hydrogen. The Minister, quite rightly, mentioned hydrogen because that could be a transportable type of energy and used for energising heavy goods vehicles, railway vehicles, etc. Will we a…

Not where I live.

How far behind target, whether in Cork or nationally, is the NBI roll-out? That is the critical question everyone is asking. Second, when is the roll-out now expected to be complete for the last house in the last valley? That is another question people are asking.