The Taoiseach may recall that there was a commitment in the programme for Government in 2020 to provide additional supports for SMEs and also to scale up Microfinance Ireland so it could support greater numbers of small businesses and start-ups in accessing finance. We all know that energy costs are killing some businesses. Small enterprises in hospitality and small retail businesses are facing particular problems and challenges at present. I spoke to one business owner at the weekend and that businessperson told m…

The boards of management of St. Mary's Boys' National School and the Convent of Mercy National School in Belturbet, County Cavan, submitted a well-researched and detailed proposal to the Minister's Department seeking approval to amalgamate the schools and have a new school provided on an identified suitable site owned by the parish within the town. Both aspects of this proposal need to be approved in order that the primary school-going population of Belturbet will have a modern and appropriate co-educational facili…

I am glad the Minister has confirmed the Department is assessing the application. I do not want an amalgamation proposal to be approved for the schools to operate from the existing sites. That would defeat the purpose of the exercise. I compliment the Minister on the excellent school building programme she has had in place for the past three and a half years. My constituency, Cavan-Monaghan, is a major beneficiary, and in particular St. Bricin’s College in Belturbet through modern new buildings the Minister sanctio…

I thank the Minister. As she will know from having visited Cavan and being familiar with the area, unfortunately Belturbet has suffered terribly over decades. There were bombs there and people were killed. The town suffered immeasurably. Thankfully, we are now in a new era in areas like Cavan and Monaghan. I welcome that the population of Belturbet showed a substantial increase in the recent census. The county development plan of Cavan County Council plans for a substantial increase in the population of the town. T…

I wish to raise again the unacceptable delays in children with additional needs getting appropriate follow-up treatment following an assessment of need. There are very long delays in children obtaining therapies such as occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and physiotherapy. We all know of the absolute importance of having early interventions to support a person with a particular health need but very regrettably, this is not happening. We have a critical shortage of such clinicians in County Cavan, whi…

The Government is quite rightly encouraging people to use public transport. Some new services, which are welcome, have come on stream, including in my constituency, Cavan-Monaghan. The 109X Cavan-Dublin service operated by Bus Éireann lacks capacity to meet the demand particularly leaving Dublin at peak times from 3 p.m. on in the afternoon. Constantly, commuters bound for County Cavan are left behind at bus stops on the north and west side of Dublin as buses are full in many instances shortly after leaving Busáras…

I also refer to this legislation, and it is absolutely deplorable that the views of the Irish Government and the views of all political parties on this island have been ignored by the British Government. Recent British Governments have not had the joint working relationship, or the close co-operation and long-standing co-operation, that existed in the past between Irish and British Governments, which was critical to the progress made in the late 1990s and early 2000s. This flawed legislation will deny justice to fa…

I again raise the need to enable higher education students studying outside this State to avail of the €1,000 reduction in student contribution fees. The Minister confirmed to me in a reply to a parliamentary question that this was one measure of the package of measures to help households with the increased cost of living. Families here, regardless of their children's study location, have similar cost-of-living pressures. Students who have had to avail of courses outside this State should not be disadvantaged furth…

We are very fortunate that we have a great network of supermarkets and other food stores of varying sizes in our towns and villages. The stores are predominately very modern with high standards of hygiene and good service for customers. Those retailers are very concerned about the small business support scheme. They state very clearly that the measures proposed in the budget will not be of enough assistance to them to meet rising costs and some of those costs are attributable to Government decisions. The exclusion …

On 28 December last in Belturbet, County Cavan, we marked the 50th anniversary of the bombing in the town that caused the death of two young teenagers, Geraldine O'Reilly and Patrick Stanley. As the Taoiseach knows, next May will mark the 50th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, when 33 innocent people were murdered and hundreds were badly injured on that fatal day. That day, 17 May 1974, was the darkest day of all during the era known as the Troubles, when unfortunately there were many bad days throug…

I very much welcome the major funding from the Government for the shared island initiative. This is funding projects in my constituency, including the restoration of the Ulster Canal, which will be very beneficial for a number of counties throughout Ulster. The Taoiseach may recall that I raised with him when he held the enterprise portfolio the importance of developing enterprise centres and work space. Enterprise Ireland provides some support towards the building of such units but local authorities generally are …

Some time ago I asked questions with regard to carbon sequestration and the national inventory. I was glad at that time to be told that Teagasc was carrying out research on the hedgerows to see how these could contribute to the carbon stock in agricultural landscapes. I also understood that by adding trees to the hedgerow, it would be possible to increase the output storage of carbon in the hedgerow. Where have those particular research projects gone and has our national inventory been finalised as yet?

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. It is very important, as mentioned by the Minister of State in her answer to me, that we take into account at all times in compiling our national inventory, but also in public commentary on carbon sequestration, how very important it is to our soils, trees and hedgerows. Sometimes that is missed out of the public debate and it also helps to increase biodiversity. One area on which I tabled questions in the past, I believe to the Department of Transport, was with regard t…

Can the Minister of State give me an assurance - I believe I can take it from her reply already - that all small-scale planting and all small blocks of scrub are measured in the inventory? That aspect is very important. Are the Department, and the statutory agencies which work with it, engaged in research across the global community? I know that in my own time in the Department we had a great deal of collaboration and co-operation with other research bodies throughout the world across different areas, including the…

I have for a considerable length of time been raising the unacceptable delays in getting driving tests in the Cavan test centre. These delays have caused real difficulties for people who need to travel for work or to study and impact adversely on rural communities, such as those throughout County Cavan. If a person were to book a test in the Cavan test centre today, he or she will not receive an invitation for a test until 8 April 2024. It will be the end of that April before that person takes the test. People who …

The large-scale sports infrastructure fund is extremely important for the further development of all sports, for women and men. I was glad to hear the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, reiterate his commitment to ensuring that the projects that have already received approval will proceed as soon as possible. Apart from the important sports events in our own country, we need to ensure we have a range of sporting facilities to attract even more international games and events. Sports facilities and stadiums should be m…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I also welcome the Minister's engagement with me to date on the proposed Cavan sports complex. I assure the Minister of State, as I did previously, that the Cavan regional sports complex has advanced significantly since the original decision in 2020 to award funding. I compliment the Cavan County Board of the GAA, Cavan County Council and the Royal School Cavan, which are the promoters of this project, and welcome the strong support for the project shown by other loca…

I thank the Minister of State. Again I want to put on the record that I have been very glad to work closely along with Cavan County Council, with Brendan Jennings and John Donohoe, with the Cavan County Board, Kieran Callaghan and Martin Cahill, along with the Royal School in Cavan, Bishop Ferran Glenfield, Padraic Corley and Canon Lidwill. They are really working together to ensure that this is a real community project. We would have a huge range of new facilities catering for all sports. This includes quite a lar…

I am glad the Taoiseach referred to the terrible loss of Private Seán Rooney. At a time such as this, when there is so much turbulence, loss of life and suffering in the Middle East, we want to be conscious of the Irish people and peacekeepers, the members of our Permanent Defence Force who are in that area on United Nations peacekeeping missions at present. We must also think of NGOs from Ireland that are working in difficult circumstances and have done so over many years. I welcome the fact that the Taoiseach had…

I wish to again extend my sincere sympathy to the O'Farrell family on the extremely sad loss of their beloved son and brother, Shane. Suaimhneas síoraí dá anam dílis. The O'Farrell family has campaigned and continues to campaign tirelessly and with the utmost grace and dignity, seeking justice for their son and brother. They have asked legitimate questions and those questions have not been answered. We debated this serious issue in this House in 2018 and subsequently the scoping inquiry was established. Shane died …