As the Minister might remember, I rang her when this issue became a very hot issue in Galway. We had a good conversation about it and I really appreciate the fact that she came back to me very promptly. I was of the view from the beginning that looking for discretion is a bad policy in law and that the best way to sort out this is the way the Minister is doing it, by bringing in the legislation and having no uncertainty about what is going to happen. I say that on two grounds, the first being that I knew where the …

I am sharing time with Deputy Murnane O'Connor. I am glad to have an opportunity to speak on the Bill. There is a great deal in the Bill, and much of it is praiseworthy. However, I will speak first about the overarching situation. The simple fact is that there are not enough houses available for people seeking houses. That is having two effects. One is that people are homeless because they cannot get accommodation. They are living in hotels, bed and breakfast accommodation and in all sorts of arrangements other tha…

Ós rud é nach bhfuil mórán ama againn, caithfimid bheith sciobtha. Tháinig sé aniar aduaidh orm nuair a chuala mé scéal ar an Déardaoin go raibh fadhb i nGaillimh maidir le bheith ag freastal alcóil taobh amuigh de na pubanna agus na bialanna. Labhair mé leis an Aire an oíche sin agus - ceart go leor - d'eisigh sí ráiteas a thagair don tuiscint a bhí ag an Roinn. It is interesting to read the Garda statement, which specifies: Licences to sell alcohol are issued by the District Court. The application for a licence t…

While I thank the Minister of State for his response, the matter gets more confusing every time somebody speaks on it. He stated, "This is often a delicate balance and there are different legal situations in different parts of the country depending on whether there are local authority by-laws in place." That is true, but is it the problem in this case? If it is, the local authority in Galway should be told to sort out the problem. However, towards the end of his response, the Minister of State made it clear that th…

The purpose of Question No. 5 is to ask the Minister if he intends including the western rail corridor from Athenry to Claremorris as a project in the forthcoming revised national development plan. Question No. 71 asks him to list the rail projects in Connacht in the present national development plan. I look forward to the Minister's reply to those two questions.

I thank the Minister for the reply. What we are getting is renewal and maintenance of what is there but we presumed that would happen. We are getting a few platforms in Ceannt Station and a passing loop in Oranmore. It is not much for the whole of Connacht. That is the first thing that has to be said. The Minister mentioned the concept of renewing existing infrastructure. This project scores very highly in that regard. Cost certainty is absolutely huge because the big variables are taken out of this as it is an exi…

The good thing about this project is that it would cost a lot less depending on who we believe, and whether we believe the Bradley report or the original report from Ernst & Young. Between €150 million and the outer limit of €200 million is a lot less than the cost of the road from Castlebar to Westport. There is €1 billion in the rural regeneration and development fund. Would it change the attitude of the Minister if it was making a contribution to this project? It is a straight question. I will answer the Ministe…

Does the Minister intend to reallocate capital funding within his Department's Estimates? There has been a slower rate of expenditure to date than projected, amounting to an underspend against profile of €150 million.

The Department's capital profile was to have seen 25% of the money spent in the first five months of the year. That is just over 40% of the year. However, the Department underspent by €158 million in that period, or 30% against profile. As such, the Department already has a significant underspend. That is clear from the Exchequer returns to the end of May. I like what the Department is doing in the towns and cities. It is great, but there is a world beyond them that is being neglected. In the past ten years, not on…

They are not.

What was the Department's capital carry-over from last year to this year? I am interested in getting the answer to that question. Will the Minister check as regards the roads done under the LIS that are public but not in the charge of local authorities? There is a difference. They are not privately owned. They are all public rights of way. Would the Minister consider providing extra funding to counties that could spend it on urgent works on county roads and non-county roads?

Mar is eol don Aire Stáit, tá Bille ag dul tríd an Dáil i láthair na huaire agus beidh, faoin mBille sin, dualgas ar an tseirbhís phoiblí 20% a earcú a mbeidh Gaeilge agus, glacaimid leis, Béarla acu. Faoi láthair, tá painéal ann agus is beag duine atá tógtha ón bpainél do dhaoine, ní hamháin a bhfuil cumas sa Ghaeilge acu, ach cumas sa Bhéarla. Ba mhaith liom a fháil amach céard atá i gceist ag an Aire Stáit a dhéanamh faoin gceist seo.

Cé mhéad duine ar roghnaíodh iad don phainéal Gaeilge, mar a thugann an tAire Stáit air, agus cé mhéad duine atá fostaithe cheana féin ón bpainéal sin? Cén fáth nár fostaíodh tuilleadh? An nglacfadh an tAire Stáit leis go bhfuil sé cineál seafóideach painéal Gaeilge amháin a bheith ann nuair atá Béarla den scoth ag gach uile duine a bhfuil Gaeilge acu freisin? An aontaíonn an tAire Stáit liom, gur cheart go mbeadh duine ar bith atá ar an bpainéal Gaeilge go huathoibríoch ar an bpainéal dátheangach ag an am céanna, …

B'fhéidir nach é sin an fhadhb ar chor ar bith. B'fhéidir gurb é an fhadhb atá ann ná go bhfuiltear ag srianú daoine trí iad a chur ar an bpainéal Gaeilge amháin. Níl daoine ar an bpainéal sin in ann fostaíocht a fháil sa tseirbhís phoiblí ach i bpoist atá bainteach leis an nGaeilge. Má tá Gaeilge agus Béarla ag daoine, a oiread liom féin, oibríonn siad trí Bhéarla nó trí Ghaeilge de réir mar a oireann. Cad chuige a shrianfadh daoine iad féin go poist ina gcuirtear i mbosca beag na Gaeilge iad nuair a bheadh an Stá…

There was a big underspend last year. Was there an underspend in the capital allocation up to the end of May? Is it projected that will carry on again this year to the end of the year? Has the Minister received requests from Departments to transfer funding within the Department to funding streams that might be spent more quickly this year to make up for the shortfall in expenditure so far?

The Minister referred to the Department of Transport. It has profiled 25% expenditure in the first five months of the year, even though that period accounts for 40% of the year, but it is significantly behind on that expenditure, that is, by €150 million. At a time when county roads are screaming out for money and the Department of Transport has spent nothing on non-county roads, that is, local improvement scheme, LIS, roads, in the past ten years, if a request came to the Minister from the Department of Transport …

Only that I do not want to gum up the Minister's Department with unnecessary work, I would love to submit a freedom of information request in respect of the assurances the Minister got in June, July, August, September and October last year that all the money would be spent by all the Departments. He has ended up with an underspend of €700 million. I know what happens within Departments, with each principal officer being asked whether he or she will be able to spend the money. For fear it might be taken from them an…

Tá áthas orm go bhfuil deis agam labhairt ar cheist cúrsaí iascaigh. I will begin by raising a small issue that perhaps the Minister can tackle for once and for all. He mentioned that as Minister, he inherited six harbours and then he got Cape Clear. Obviously, the Minister's Department did not tell him that he has a bit - I mean a bit - of Cleggan Pier. The fact that half the pier is owned by the county council and the other half is owned by the Department has stymied the development of the pier for years. I sugge…

I thank the Minister of State for coming into the House to listen to what I have to say. We have all found the past 15 months to be difficult. Those who could not get out and about and older people confined to their homes found it particularly so. We have to try to imagine what it is like to be locked up in prison during that period. Every small freedom left to inmates in prison had to be curtailed. During that period, there were virtually no prison visits, and what visits that did take place within the short windo…

On a number of fronts, I am very disappointed with the reply. As I said, the roll-out of the vaccine in prisons has been deferred, even though, as the Minister of State pointed out, they are congregated settings. The greatest risk has always been that, inadvertently, the virus would be allowed to enter prisons through people who come to prisons every day providing services, including prison staff and the people who provide all the other services within prisons, many of which were curtailed during the lockdowns. I w…