I am raising the issue of bus drivers over the age of 70 for the school bus scheme with the Tánaiste. When I raised it with him in the first week of February, I pointed out that as it is a part-time job, most of the drivers are retired from their full-time careers and are between 60 and 70 years of age. People over the age of 70 can drive 50- and 60-seater private coaches for long distances, but they cannot drive a 12- or 14-seater minibus to the local school. The Government is committed to expanding the school tra…

The Tánaiste, therefore, became popular with 69-year-old bus drivers in Laois. The Tánaiste said at that time that this is quite a farcical and bizarre situation. I have been back and forth with the Minister since and I have raised it a number of times in the Chamber. This is something that we can do, and there is a problem already with drivers. There is a shortage of school bus drivers because it is a part-time position and it suits retired people. I am asking the Tánaiste to fix this. This needs be caught and fix…

The Government runs the show.

I thank the Minister of State and am happy she is here as a resident of Laois. I know she is just inside the border, but she is still in Laois. I raised this back in April 2022. On Holy Thursday of that year, I became aware from a source that there were plans to close Erkina House in Rathdowney. Erkina House at that time had 12 residents and €120,000 had just been spent re-roofing part of the building. There was an almighty campaign to keep it open. The decision to close it was not notified to the Minister at the t…

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. As of yesterday, my information is it was down to two residents. We have known for three years that the building will not meet standards. The HSE, the Government and the Department know it. In the meantime, HSE management was clear it needed four centres and the ideal size of those centres was to cater for between ten and 15 people because that provides the best model in terms of efficiency, use of resources and best practice for residents. It outlined in great detail wh…

The cost of energy is putting huge pressure on households, with 300,000 households now in arrears with electricity bills. I was listening to Deputy Barry Ward complaining about the energy companies putting up the wholesale price - of course, they are doing it - and he wondered why electricity is getting so dear. Well, 25 years ago, it was 96% publicly owned. We had one of the cheapest electricity supplies in the European Union. Now, it is 25% publicly owned and 75% private. That is because of all the renewables own…

That needs to change and I would ask the Minister of State to bring that back to the senior Minister.

We need a housing plan that is going to work. Rents are up sky high and will get higher in March. House prices are up sky high. Evictions are up sky high. There were 15,000 notices to quit and eviction notices in the first nine months of the year. We need a plan that will work. The Department has set out that County Laois has to increase its population by 35% between now and 2030. I see the Minister's plan to roll out infrastructure and I will welcome it if it is done but without the infrastructure in Laois, it wil…

Yesterday, we had the publication of the National Development Plan Review 2025 - Securing Ireland’s Future Sectoral Investment Plan: Transport. A number of bypasses are needed in County Laois but it looks like the whole county was bypassed for funding. The Tánaiste was down there this week last year, exactly 52 weeks ago, canvassing for the general election. Huge housing developments are needed in Laois. There has been rapid population growth in the county. It has been one of the top three counties in terms of popu…

There were big promises made.

I thank the Tánaiste. There is no point in the Department of local government, under the Minister, Deputy James Browne, publishing lists like this and projecting huge growth for a county unless the infrastructure goes in along with it. I did not mention the need for health centres, schools - the courthouse in Portlaoise as well, by the way - and many other things, such as flood relief schemes, that are needed in the county. If we are going to have sustainable development, we have to take transport into account. At …

On a point of order, where are the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne, and the Minister for the environment, Deputy O’Brien? Neither of them is in the Chamber. That is no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, who is here and is fielding a lot of issues. It is disrespectful to the Chamber that neither Minister is here for an issue as important as this, but that is where we are at. I wanted to express that.

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time". The absence of guidelines or regulations for wind turbines is absolutely scandalous. We have been relying on outdated guidelines from 2006 for over a decade and a half. The Bill is about putting a proper planning framework in place. It is not about stopping the utilisation of wind but having wind turbines in the right place and at the right scale. Four governments have come and gone. We are on government No. 5 and no action has been taken. We have had paralysis by …

I thank everybody for their contributions. I have listened very carefully to what people have had to say. The debate has been constructive but we need to move from discussion and debate to action. I will be pressing the Bill because I think we have kicked to touch too many times on this already. The Minister of State mentioned that significant progress has been made; it has not. She mentioned that the noise issue is causing the delay. I do not have the exact wording but it is in the script. That is the issue. Are w…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. The cost of private health insurance puts a huge burden on people. In particular, it puts a huge burden on pensioners, who feel they have no choice. People feel compelled to take up private health insurance because of the delays and inefficiencies in our public system. Some progress has been made in some areas. Some of the screening projects being run are very effective. However, we must do a lot better. It is another tax on people. That is the reality of it. …

I welcome the framework for endometriosis as well. It is something I have raised with the Minister in the past. I support that work. It is very important the capacity at the hospital is increased.

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. There are 58 beds there at the moment. The important thing when the new wing is opened, which I welcome as it is a €31 million investment we have been long waiting for, is that we increase that bed capacity of 58 beds. The reality is that 25 of the existing beds are in a ward that was refurbished in recent years at huge expense. There are double-glazed windows and completely refitted en suite rooms. It would be outrageous were those 25 beds to be taken out of use. There …

The first thing I want to say in reply to the Minister of State is that €31 million is the cost that I have been given for the new 50-bed unit that is being developed there. In response to a previous parliamentary question, the Minister said that "scale and scope of phasing of these works is currently being reviewed with service colleagues, and once completed, the specific scope for Phase 2", which is the next wing of 50, "will be determined." That is a change from the original plan of three phases. I am trying to …

It is a new procedure in the Dáil. Maybe the Standing Orders have been changed and the Leas-Cheann Comhairle might advise me afterward.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this. It is long past time we passed the occupied territories Bill. We have a moral and legal duty to do so. There can be no half measures. Even if we are being bullied or leaned on by the richest people in the USA, we still have to go ahead and do so. We passed sanctions against Russia, quite correctly, and we need to stop the pussyfooting on the occupied territories Bill - no half measures. There have been no half measures from the terrorist state of Israel in the past two ye…