Will the Minister confirm to me tonight that in no way could we wind up in a situation whereby there would be two curricula for Irish, with one being much more difficult and challenging than the other; that the marks for both curricula will be the same; and that this would also count for the same for the points for CAO entrance? While I know that is not directly the Minister’s responsibility, presumably there is co-ordination between the Minister and the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovati…

We have to have a system that will stop all the time-wasting by the ridiculous propositions that are being put forward by bodies charged with making sensible decisions. I, therefore, think that in this case we are in an exceptional circumstance. That is why I am asking the Minister to intervene and put to bed the proposition that there would be two courses, with one harder than the other, but the same marks and credits would be given for both. I cannot believe how much money we spent on all this consultation now, o…

Bogfaimid ón teanga mar a bhí go dtí an teanga mar atá mar tá sé beo beathach i gcónaí. Buíochas le Dia, tá sé thar a bheith beo beathach sa nDáilcheantar atá againne. The targets in the newly enacted Official Languages (Amendment) Act relating to the provision of services through Irish and, as a consequence, the number of people to be recruited with the ability to do their business in Irish are very challenging and will require urgent action. This has been in gestation for a long time. What work has been done to d…

I know people wish to achieve this but it will not happen of its own accord. Passing the Act will turn out to be the easy part of this. The Minister said it would take two years to prepare the plan. This will take us to 2024. I believe it will be impossible to achieve it by 2030 unless we start now. There are some obvious measures that do not need two years to plan. What has already been done in anticipation of the Bill to increase the number of people who will be capable of doing their business through Irish? Ther…

I welcome anybody improving their Irish but I am a realist. I am very hard-headed about this. There are approximately 100,000 daily Irish speakers in the country. There are interesting standards laid down in Canada on this issue. To provide a service competently through the Irish language people would need to be daily Irish speakers. They would need to be absolutely at home with the language. There is no point in advertising the jobs if we have not made comprehensive plans that there would be people with the compet…

I will not delay the House by reading out the question. The supply of timber is vital to the timber industry. The question asks the Minister how we are doing on felling licences. The timber can be standing but unless you can fell it, you cannot get it into the mills. The Minister might provide the information and then I will come back with supplementary questions.

Has the Minister of State any information to hand on what the capacity of the mills we have in the State would be if they all worked at full capacity and whether the supply can be organised in order that it meets that capacity? Interestingly enough, in view of the debate on the previous question, selling to the primary market, which, outside of the State, is obviously the UK market, is not a difficulty. The Minister and I visited a mill at which they said that getting timber through all the formalities was, I think…

I ask the Minister of State to put on the record of the House the value of exports of processed timber to this country every year and the total number of people employed in the timber industry, including those working in felling, production and sawmills. It is important to put on the record the value of this industry to Ireland.

One of the perennial issues throughout the history of this country relates to how many sectors are short of labour. Time and again, even when looking for State services, we hear the mantra no labour is available. If there is genuinely no labour available here, a debate we could have with the Ministers for Social Protection and Finance in respect of incentives, what will the Government do to ensure vital services are available in this country?

On Tuesday night, I raised the shortage of home care workers. It is a skilled job but one that does not require much formal qualification. It appears that the Government's system in this case finds it impossible to get enough people in the State to provide those services. People who are in critical situations are not getting care. On the other hand, I understand that the work permit system is so restrictive that it is not possible to bring in people where there are none available to do home care. Has the Minister o…

It is cold comfort for somebody who is waiting for care to be told that all these processes are being gone through while in the meantime there are no services. We know that labour shortages are endemic in this society. We have to import most of the deckhands on fishing boats. There are delays in the licences in that area. Amazingly, we are very short of people in the hospitality sector. People in that sector tell us constantly that they cannot hire workers. Perhaps I am looking at the wrong end of the story and may…

We have not seen them.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for coming to the House and I know of her personal concern in regard to this matter. I believe Covid taught us one thing and that is the value, where it is a viable option, of caring for loved ones at home, particularly in old age. Moreover, that is often the desire of families. We all resolved after Covid to ensure that this would be a more viable option and that more people who want to be cared for at home, both by themselves and by their families, would be given that…

I take my hat off to the Minister of State for all that has been done. However, how am I meant to go back to a constituent who was awarded just 14 hours home help weekly? The hours were meant to be divided between morning and evening but the hours are only being given in the morning and the wife of the person being cared for has to put her husband to bed. However, because of the condition he is in, this requires two people. She was told that the latest they could come was 6.30 p.m. It is not a viable option to put …

I am pleased to be able to talk about this important Bill, which covers the entire running of this House. I would like to address two things. The pay scales of the secretarial assistants go from €24,223 to €46,888. There is a difference of something like €16,500 between their pay scale and that of parliamentary assistants at the bottom of the scale. After 18 years, the gap is closed but that is a very long time to have served as secretarial assistant. As the Minister knows, this is precarious employment because man…

She was not the only one, because people rang from all over the country. All of us, collectively, serve constituents who are all the people of the State and we owe it to them to provide a good service. My belief is the ordinary plain people of Ireland want us resourced to do the job. I suggest those of us who engage in committees and put much time and effort into them in these Houses should be given more support staff. It is time-consuming work. I know in saying that I will be criticised by people who do not wish t…

People think in terms of what is really available for real money, taking inflation into account. I am seeking to know the increases or decreases in the rates of grants under the SUSI grant scheme for undergraduates and postgraduates since 2008, the years the changes were made, and if the Minister intends to increase the grants for the 2022–23 academic year. Has he made provision in the Estimates to do that?

May I correct the Minister?

They were reduced.

As well as that, the figure concerning the adjacency rate changed, so all the Minister has done is gone back to where we were.