I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive answer. I am glad he said that the pay needs to be worked on and that he took that away from our discussion on it last year. I acknowledge that he says this is an issue for the Department of Social Protection, but the Deputy is the Minister of State working with the bus escorts and that transport side of it, so it is about the two Departments liaising on it. They cannot wait five weeks in the summer to get paid. It just has to be looked at. I am glad to hear that …

I wish to discuss the issue of flood insurance and a national flood insurance scheme. I had a meeting with the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, last Wednesday in which I raised this very subject with him. I was delighted that he responded in the meeting that he was anxious to do something about it. It has not been looked at here in Ireland for ten years. I was delighted to open the newspapers on Sunday to see the Minister of State’s comments about the need for this type of scheme. It is great when we can work togeth…

I want to speak about a village in my area, namely, Enfield, County Meath. It has a population of over 4,000 people. Before Christmas, I met a representative of the Enfield community development group to discuss its sheer irritation at the fact that, four years after Enfield was identified as one of the towns nationally to be awarded funding to develop a town centre first plan, none of the projects has begun because of a lack of funding or will. A town team, comprising representatives from all over the community of…

This morning I want to speak about the village of Kilmessan in my home county of Meath. It certainly feels like Kilmessan is being left behind at the moment. In 1996, Kilmessan had a population of 230 people. I imagine the next census will show that it now has a population of well over 1,200 people. For the last nine years, in Kilmessan we have been very fortunate that a private landowner has allowed the community to put a playground on a site in the centre of the village. As is their right, they have now decided t…

I thank the Minister of State for attending. In recent weeks, we have confronted some stark warnings about where unchecked AI can harm society. It has brought into focus both the immense promise and real challenges that AI presents to us. I attended a presentation in the audiovisual room yesterday and I am not the better for it. I listened to what young girls and young boys are exposed to about what they should expect when they become sexually active with each other, how girls are arriving in emergency departments …

I wish to pass on my sincere condolences to the family of Brian Crowley. Last Friday night, I was at sitting at home. I opened Instagram and saw a fellow politician online shaking and in tears. This person is a county councillor elected democratically by the people of the town of Navan, not once but twice. On Friday evening, on her way back to her car, this councillor by approached by someone asking her to confirm that she was a county councillor. Upon replying, a tirade of abuse began: "You are not welcome; go bac…

On Monday, we learned that €360 million was allocated for active travel and greenways across Ireland for 2026, which is incredible. This investment is dedicated to the development of walking and cycling projects that offer safe, sustainable and healthy transport options to communities around the country. The investment also delivers safer connections for pedestrians and cyclists. It means more of us can choose active and sustainable travel for everyday journeys. Thanks to the Department of Transport, the continued …

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House and congratulate him on his new role. It is great to have the Minister of State here to debate this matter. I would like to explore the difficulties smaller firms have in putting themselves forward in the tendering process, particularly for Government projects. In a rapidly changing world, the real technical, strategic and innovative expertise is often in smaller companies and we are missing a trick here. The Government should be able to benefit from that expert…

I thank the Minister of State. I welcome that there has been a first national public procurement strategy. I note the Department launched an extensive consultation exercise last year. I am interested to know where that report is; I have not seen it. I know it will form part of the strategy going forward but I would like to have a look at that report. Will the Minister of State supply me with information from that afterwards? To reiterate, for businesses, the tendering process is complex and bureaucratic. It has hig…

I sit on the enterprise committee. We spend a lot of time debating the increased cost of doing business and the pressures a lot of businesses are under. As today is 18 December and there are still six shopping days left, I ask people to visit their local businesses and shop local. When they do, they keep more money in their local economy, celebrate the uniqueness of their community, support local jobs, encourage community and invest in entrepreneurship. Shopping locally is about more than convenience; it is about c…

Today, I would like to discuss the difficulty that smaller firms have in being able to put themselves forward in the tendering process particularly for Government projects. I am going to use a recent example of a tender for a €60,000 contract. Some of the criteria are as follows. First, confirmation of tax compliance, which is fair enough. We all should be tax compliant. Second, confirmation that the tendering party's turnover exceeded over €200,000 for the last three years. That would probably cut a lot of us out …

Hear, hear.

I congratulate Senator Cosgrove and her colleagues on bringing this Bill forward. They have put a lot into it and fair play to them. Unfortunately, I am opposing this Bill, but I think Senator Cosgrove is a great person. Well done to her. In Ireland, the minimum wage framework reflects the realities of our labour market, particularly in sectors such as retail, hospitality, agriculture and leisure where young people often take their steps into employment. There are different rates of pay, as has been mentioned, from…

The Central Bank of Ireland today published the national claims information database, NCID, liability insurance report. It is one I have been very much looking forward to seeing just to see what impact all the reforms the Government has been doing are having on our insurance premiums. We see that insurance companies have recorded a 10% profit margin on liability insurance in 2024. However, liability insurance premiums have increased by 23% since 2020. Premiums are going only one way and that is up. In many cases le…

I would like to put on record my respects for the wonderful Mr. Paddy Dunne, a long-time member of Fine Gael since the 1940s, who passed away aged 98. He was from Carnaross. I wish to pass on my sympathies to his family. I am going to stick with Carnaross and congratulate the Carnaross Drama Group, which recently raised over €17,000 for Tabor House, a very special place in Navan, County Meath. It is an addiction treatment centre. The entire proceeds from the show went to Tabor House. It is a residential secondary a…

I would liek to bring up the subject of health insurance. There was a net increase of over 13,000 people in the number of people who acquired health insurance in the third quarter, according to Health Insurance Ireland. There are now 2.54 million people in Ireland with health coverage, which seems like a massive number. About 10% to 12% of people in the UK have health insurance. The average premium here increased by €56 quarter on quarter from €1,830 to €1,886 as several insurers increased the price of their plans.…

As we are in the first week of December, I want to give a massive shout-out to all our An Post workers who are working around the clock between now and Christmas. My postman popped his head over my gate last week on Saturday and he said they were so busy delivering packages after package. I give a big shout-out to all the An Post workers who are working really hard trying to get us all our lovely Christmas presents before Christmas. I want to bring up a related issue. An Post pensioners in Navan, Trim and Athboy ha…

I welcome the opportunity to raise this matter. Although the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, could not be here, I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, for coming to the House. I was thinking about this whole insurance reform thing. People would know me as being an advocate for reform and would ask me how I was getting on because they had not seen a difference in their premiums. I always reassure people of the significant work already done on insurance reform, such as the personal injury guidelines, the Inju…

I thank the Minister of State for coming in today but I am going to express my absolute disappointment with the answer. We have two pages of an answer and there is just one paragraph that mentions there will be a transparency code by the end of the year. I know it is not due to the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, but I really would have liked a more detailed answer. The response states that there is "a working group comprised of industry representatives, the Department of Finance, and the Central Bank" so we can…

I am bringing up an issue that I have mentioned in the House a good few times. It is about allowing people to come in to shop in small towns and villages, especially in rural areas, and be able to park there. In the past, I have brought up the example of Navan quite a lot because of the huge increase in population and all the works that are being done, but I will actually talk about Athboy today. It is a lovely town in County Meath with just under 3,000 people living there. It has a public realm strategy that was a…