I thank the Minister of State. In my life, before I took up this position, I was heavily involved in the tourism industry in south County Wicklow for over 20 years. I know first-hand the area’s needs and I cannot emphasise enough the importance of this greenway project. Our support for this is simply critical, as for decades now there is a genuine feeling in south County Wicklow that it has been ignored in terms of tourism investment. This project will simply be a game changer and a catalyst for future tourism deve…

I totally agree with the Minister of State. I drive this route every week. I try to have a vision of what will happen – not if but when – this greenway happens. We look at cafés on the quays in Arklow, Woodenbridge buzzing with tourists, Lawless’ Hotel in Aughrim reopening, bike shops in Tinahely or more pods in Shillelagh. It is going to be simply transformative. We often overuse the term “game-changer”, but it will literally open up new tourism in south County Wicklow. I worked for years in tourism and fought aga…

I want to speak to the Taoiseach about coastal erosion, which is an extremely pressing and urgent issue for coastal communities right across Ireland. It is estimated in recent reports that up to 20% of the coastline of Ireland is at risk. This is a particular problem in the south east due to the composition of the lands, which are sand and clay-based. Some areas in the south east are losing up to 8 m to 10 m from their coast each year. It is estimated that, in Wexford alone, over 1,400 houses are at risk, and in Ir…

I warmly welcome the Taoiseach’s suggestion of centralising this because it highlights the problem we are having. I do not want to be parochial, but if we just look at the Wexford coastline, 80% of the 260 km is under threat. That is a phenomenal figure. We are dealing with real people. In areas like Cahore and Glasscarrig, people are in genuine fear of losing their homes. I recently went down to Kilmichael and Castletown, which is a beautiful area. Some people there have lost 10 m off the front of their land. The …

I need to bring up the treatment of staff in the Merck facility in Arklow. The Minister is well aware that there is a planned closure for 2028. I know that within 24 hours, the Minister was there on site-----

It is in south County Wicklow, which is badly affected.

As the Taoiseach is aware, first responders play a critical role in our emergency services, but approximately one year ago a decision was made to prevent the officer group from taking the officer response vehicle to their place of residence. In December, I witnessed first hand a medical emergency on Main Street, Gorey. The ambulance and first responders were called. The first responders arrived in their own cars and were first on the scene. They did everything possible to assist the victim. Later that day, I went t…

I want to address flood insurance or should I say the lack of flood insurance. It is estimated at over one in 20 homes and businesses is unable to access insurance. Over the past few weeks, I have met residents from Aughrim, Enniscorthy, Arklow and Bunclody and have seen at first hand the devastation caused by flooding. Moving forward, their biggest concern is simply that they are unable to access insurance. This problem has been replicated right across Ireland. Properties that are protected by multimillion euro fl…

I am looking for an update on the initiatives to allow builders and private developers to construct wastewater treatment facilities for smaller housing developments, and on when the new regulations will come into effect.

I warmly welcome the Minister's announcement on 4 November that there will now be a key role for the private sector in developing wastewater treatment plants. This obviously means there will be a huge increase in the number of houses and, more importantly, there will be more affordable houses brought through to fruition. I fully understand there will be strict regulations and compliance required and I also welcome that Uisce Éireann will take charge afterwards but can the Minister clarify who will pay for this infr…

I thank the Minister. I cannot over-emphasise the importance of this new proposed change to the regulations to allow the private sector to develop its own wastewater treatment systems. Recently I visited villages such as Camolin, which the Minister knows well, and Aughrim in my constituency. These are two typical examples of towns that have simply been stopped in their tracks due to lack of wastewater capacity. This is having a detrimental effect on the social fabric of these towns and villages and this has been re…

The Deputy cannot move it but she can discuss it.

The next speaker is Deputy Danny Healy-Rae. No, in fact, I call Deputy Dolan.

In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time this evening.

In relation to the very fluid situation that is playing out between the United States and Greenland, can the Minister of State give me an update on what plans are in place in the event of the impending threat of an increase in tariffs for all countries that do not support America's desire to take over Greenland? When it comes to tariffs, there are absolutely no winners. We understand the EU is a very powerful bloc and the US needs access to our 400 million residents. However, these tariffs could, in the words of ou…

I need to discuss the rail service between Wexford and Dublin that serves huge population growth areas such as Gorey, Arklow and Rathdrum. On a daily basis, my offices in Gorey and Arklow are contacted by commuters who are deeply frustrated and inconvenienced by the current service. The Wexford to Dublin train now only offers 185 seated tickets. By the time the train picks up commuters in Arklow or Rathdrum, it is filled to capacity with people standing for the entire journey and reports of overcrowding. To put it …

I am just coming in on sustainability. I really feel the key to this is the warmer homes scheme. It is an excellent scheme that is being operated at the moment by the SEAI. Will the Minister of State update me on efforts being made to reduce waiting times for people who have applied for the warmer homes scheme because this will be a key part of reducing the amount of energy consumed and meeting our targets?

I raise the pending closure of the Merck facility in Arklow, whose foreign investment we formally welcome. Merck is a huge multinational global company with a turnover of over £2.2 billion in the last quarter of this year. It has also been supported warmly by IDA Ireland, but the initial redundancy package put to the workers is simply an insult to over 100 employees. We now have to go down the WRC route, which is hugely stressful for the workforce. This workforce is highly skilled and some have given decades of ser…

I hope when we look at rural infrastructure that we also look at areas that have not been supported before. To take a template of Arklow, the town is blessed to have one of the finest wastewater treatment plants in Europe. The population of the town is about to explode, however. There is a new data centre, offshore wind farms and thousands of houses planned but we have only one bridge. The town will choke if the infrastructure development does not match other development. I am speaking about infrastructure in terms…

The Tánaiste will be aware that in my constituency of Wicklow and Wexford there is a very proud and vibrant agriculture sector. There is huge concern on the ground in relation to Mercosur. We read recently that the Irish Farmers' Journal sent a delegation out and they found they could access antibiotics without any checks or documentation. We also heard over the past couple of days that a batch of meat was taken off the shelves in Europe because it was full of hormones. These hormones have been banned in the EU for…