-----the Government threatened them, which was wrong-----

-----and left people out. I will be voting no confidence in the Government.

While the measures that were introduced will bring some relief, they do not go far enough. There are too many left out, including families, commuters, taxi drivers, home help staff, public health nurses and people who depend on home heating oil. The majority of rural houses in County Laois depend on home heating oil. They are facing double whammies and triple whammies. Workers and families on a medium income who do not get fuel allowance have been left out. The price of diesel has gone up by 70 cent. Five EU states…

The warnings from us on the Opposition benches were ignored. In the context of the protests in Laois that I attended, there were decent hard-working people who work 60 or 70 hours a week present. Truckers told me that they are losing €6,000 per month. They can only do that for a couple of months. The fact is that they could not get a week's wages and were sinking below the waterline. While the measures proposed may bring some relief, a lot of people, including commuters, have been left out. There are 12,000 people …

The supposed purpose of the Bill is to speed up the delivery of infrastructure and get various different bodies to work together. I would welcome any genuine attempt to simplify planning and speed up infrastructure delivery, which takes forever and a day to get moving, to deliver it on time and at the target cost while environmental laws and regulations are not ridden roughshod over. However, the Bill has all the hallmarks of being about that. It is important that infrastructure delivery be accelerated and that it …

I raise the issue of charging points in Laois - or the absence of the charging points in most of the county. We have a situation where there are 21 publicly available charging points in the county. That is the latest information I can get. I have a map of Laois which shows the charging points run down the centre of the county. That is fine because there is the N7 and N8 but there is the N80, the R44 and many other roads. The whole east and west of the county have been left out of it. The biggest barrier to getting …

I thank the Minister of State for his answer. The strategy being developed needs to look at the reality on the ground and at the geographic locations. You cannot have a situation where there are chargers down the middle of the county but nothing either side of it. If you travel the 28 miles to Carlow from Portlaoise, there are none. On the other side of the county, if you travel down the Slieve Bloom side of it and into Roscrea, there are none. I am highlighting the fact this needs to be included. I agree with the …

The Taoiseach will recall that last November I brought the Wind Turbine Regulation Bill 2025 before the Dáil, partly to get the Bill through and partly in an effort to move the Government on this issue. I have been receiving replies to parliamentary questions on this matter for a decade and a half now. The most recent one, from the start of this month, says: My Department is currently undertaking a focused review of the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines ... The review is addressing a number of key aspects of …

I have grey hairs from it.

The assistance being given on the cost of fuel will bring some relief but I would like to see it more targeted. The question is how we can target it in the short term. There are middle-income areas who do not qualify for the fuel allowance. There is a particular cohort whose income is just over the limit and they will not benefit from the extra month of fuel allowance, although it is welcome. The cost of home heating oil is an issue that is not being addressed and we are stuck with it for now. Many rural households…

-----and, as a small neutral country, we need to stand up and say, "Stop the madness".

I welcome the proposal in this motion. Unfortunately, the incidence of cancer is increasing. Many cancer patients are being failed. There are roughly 42,000 people diagnosed with cancer per annum in the State. That is a huge number of people. The State has the third highest mortality rate for people with cancer in the European Union. Poorer former eastern bloc countries are doing better than we are. For example, in County Laois, approximately 270 people were diagnosed each year. That does not include non-melanoma s…

I am glad the Minister and two Ministers of State are here to take the question. Will the Minister provide details of the initiative to increase the amount of milling flour produced in the State and the necessary increase in acreage of wheat to be grown for that? I say this in a positive way. I hope with the Minister and two Ministers of State that we can have some good news on this now.

An-tábhachtach.

I thank the Minister for the reply. I welcome the news of the plan to develop four flour mills. There is huge financial potential here and gain for producers and jobs and employment. A total of 80% of our flour is coming from Britain, as the Minister knows. During the crisis with the beast from the east, the freak freeze, we almost ran out of flour and bread. The total cereal production in the State, while it was up last year by 10%, that was mainly due to good weather at the start and end of the season, as opposed…

We have a strong tradition of milling flour in Laois. Odlums in Portarlington is one of the few places in the country now doing it. That is there. There is potential for it to be developed in the county. An economic report was published this morning by Alan Ahearne, former adviser to the US Federal Reserve and a former adviser to Micheál Martin, as I understand it. He stated that foreign firms are producing six times more than Irish firms in this State. They produce three quarters of all exports. He stated that the…

It is important that the review to which the question relates be expedited fairly quickly.

I am trying to figure out the length of time it will take. The Minister said that it will start with procurement and that the review will begin by the end of April, is that correct?

It will begin by the end of April.

That is better again. That is good news. It is obviously a concern because it is fair to say there is a confidence issue there. There has been a big breakdown in relations and that needs to be addressed. Bord Bia is central as a body to promote the quality of Irish food and quality is the key word here. In any outcome, we cannot have a food safety and promotion body that promotes the high standard of food produced here because of high regulations and standards and have someone at its head who is importing produce t…