The most heavily-subsidised rail line in this country is Dublin to Cork.

I will take the whole speaking slot because my colleague is unavoidably absent. There are a number of issues in regard to An Bord Pleanála. Long before anyone made any allegation of impropriety, I had been complaining about the total inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the board. I believe that one of the first signs of a problem is when organisations become totally incompetent at doing what they are meant to be doing, there is a pile-up of material and nobody ever seems to be able to get a clear answer to anything…

I thank the Minister of State for coming into the House at this late hour. Having asked about this issue a number of times, with Deputy Fitzmaurice, I had not foreseen on the Adjournment that we would have to come in again. I have raised it under Questions on Policy and Legislation and so on. I have tabled written parliamentary questions and I keep getting the same answer. I was very disappointed today when the list of promised legislation was published. I read the list and, in particular, the priority legislation …

I would nearly be able to put this to music if I had any musical skills because we keep getting the same answer. For example, "As we discussed then, the restoration of this Bill to the Order paper is not straightforward." It is my understanding that this issue was resolved and that it is straightforward: one brings back the amendments or makes amendments under the relevant Standing Order to those amendments, and then the Bill comes back in. As I have said, there are four amendments that could be contentious, and th…

As the Minister will be aware, I have raised time and again the issue of means testing. What work has been done in the past year to review the various means-tested scheme to make them more equitable and to increase the incentive to work? We have discussed this matter a number of times and I believe we need urgent and radical reform here.

One of those changes related to people who are severely disabled from birth. If the parents die and leave their estate to their children, the family home might be sold. If they leave, say, €200,000 to each of the children, in the case of the person in receipt of the disability allowance, what will happen once he or she receives that is he or she will lose the entire disability allowance. I do not think that is equitable, fair or just. The siblings who do not have a disability, on the other hand, will get their mone…

In regard to the incentive to work, if a self-employed person is on the jobseeker's allowance, 100% of his or her income from self-employment will be deducted from the jobseeker's allowance. Another situation I find totally anomalous is that if somebody is receiving a non-contributory pension, he or she can earn €200 a week and receive the full pension, but if he or she gets that from self-employment, it will be deducted from the pension. There is no logic for having such a difference between self-employment in far…

I have raised this issue time and again through questions and Topical Issue debates and during Questions on Promised Legislation but to no avail. The Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2016 passed all Stages in the Dáil and in the Seanad, where three amendments were made. The Ceann Comhairle has made it clear that it is possible to recommit a Bill at the Stage it was at when a general election was called in January 2020 but we have not yet had sight of any proposed counter-amendments from the Government and no indication as…

They must be the three most examined amendments ever. They have been examined for two and a half years.

As Deputy Farrell said, we had nothing this time last year. Since then, we did very well in getting an extra ambulance, an additional emergency vehicle and 11 staff. A decision has been made on where the base will be located. What we are missing now is the building. The delivery of all the extra services we were promised was done in record time, between September and December last year. I remember the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, promising to take action on this matter when we raised it a year ago. Now we ar…

I thank the Minister of State for his reply, two small paragraphs of which related to the specific issue. I accept and always believed that planning permission would be required for this project. The Minister of State said in the answer that this would be applied for in the third quarter of this year. The third quarter is July, August and September. This is 13 July, and if the application for planning permission does not go in this month, I cannot see all that much progress being made in August because different pe…

What progress has been made under the commitments set out in An Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions? People urgently need to know exactly how this is progressing and when the action will take effect on the ground. We can get lost in the whole process and fail to understand what people really care about which is the actual change as it affects them.

I thank the Minister for his comprehensive reply. Many of the victims of the mother and baby homes are very anxious about when the payments and enhanced medical cards will be provided. People live in a practical world and they have to survive. Will the Minister give an indication of how and when the payments will be made and enhanced medical cards will be provided? Has an analysis been done on the age profile of the people involved who are likely to receive compensation? One of the problems is that many of them, by…

Does the Minister have an age breakdown of the 34,000 people, for example, that 10% are over 90 years of age, as well as the percentage of those aged between 80 and 90, 70 and 80, and so on? In looking at the age profile, he will find that it is quite elderly and will, therefore, be aware of the critical urgency of moving forward. Once the Bill is enacted, I presume a scheme will be put in place. How simple will that scheme be to access for people? Will it be complex? These are the practical questions people face i…

I would ask the Minister about the interaction between her Department and the authorities in Northern Ireland. As she knows, I have worked for a long time quietly in the background trying to promote dialogue and discussion and trying to persuade people that the way forward for us all on this island is through that dialogue and political activism. I would like an update from the Minister on the dialogue between North and South, particularly in that context.

There is a slightly wider road to this, because this State is a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement. I do not know if the Minister is aware that there are people in Northern Ireland who have been awaiting trial for up to eight years. They have been held on remand and incredibly strict bail conditions for that period. This is contrary to basic human rights. A fundamental tenet of the law has to be that everybody is not only entitled to justice but to justice in good time. There are also much longer remands in …

One group the Minister alluded to has had a ceasefire since January 2018. I understand that is accepted by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. However, its members have, in some cases, been on bail for a long period. People who were associated with that organisation are often stopped and searched. This is of great concern. The level of stopping and searching in republican and nationalist communities is totally disproportionate. As the Minister knows, prisoners serve half of a sentence in prison and the other ha…

I will not delay the Minister in asking the question because he has been asked it already tonight. It is about the Commission on the Defence Forces and when decisions will be made on the recommendations of the commission. The Minister might let us in as to which option he will go for.

Does the Minister accept that the Defence Forces have lost skills in recent years because people have left the Defence Forces due to the unattractive wages or salaries and conditions? Will the Minister make sure that that issue is addressed when decisions are being made on the commission's report? Also, is any consideration being given to having a second naval port, a subsidiary one, along the west coast of Ireland? It seems strange that on an island of this size we have only one naval port, particularly as there a…

The Minister talked about money and the need to save it. One item of expenditure I understand it is recommended to do away with in the commission report is the need for a military presence at the E wing of Portlaoise Prison. That is costing €2.74 million. There are 12 prisoners there. The vast majority of them are due out within two years; in fact, some are due out before the end of this summer. They are already getting temporary releases. It seems an amazing cost, €200,000 a pop, to have that presence. These are b…