The Minister of State can speak off the cuff.

In support of my colleague Deputy Ó Cearúil, I think we need to explore nuclear as a potential option. We are all very supportive, for instance, of the Celtic interconnector between Ireland and France, where there is the possibility that we will be obtaining some of our energy from France. Last year, up to 68% of all of France's energy was generated by nuclear power. If we acquire energy from Scotland, similarly, some of that is going to be generated by nuclear. The debate on nuclear has moved on. I totally underst…

This relates to the question of energy demand and how we meet it and the importance of progressing as quickly as possible with the private wires policy and indeed the private wires Bill. I welcome the commitment in July by the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, that he is going to progress on this. However, it is now of the essence that we move quickly. He did say it would be priority legislation. I hope the Minister of State can indicate a timeframe to the House today because we know about the demands for energy an…

The Minister of State knows how urgent this is. I am particularly thinking in terms of industrial demand and whether we can connect solar farms or wind farms into private industry or on the commercial side. In the development of our digital infrastructure, including data centres, it is critical that we move on this. I even suggest this in regard to housing because electricity supply is becoming a problem. A developer in my constituency who is ready to build homes came to me recently and said the only thing holding …

It is critical. When we have a number of companies that are ready to build that infrastructure, we need to facilitate them. We do not need them to be held up in the planning process for long periods. We need that private infrastructure to complement the State infrastructure as soon as possible.

Along with others, I congratulate the Minister of State on her recent wedding and wish her every success. I appreciate her being here to take this debate this evening. We are talking about the role of amateur theatre and musicals right around the State in all of our constituencies. In terms of the numbers who are actually involved in amateur theatre and musicals, it is estimated that after the GAA, it is the largest voluntary movement in the country. Think of the people who are involved, both onstage and behind the…

I thank the Minister of State very much. Like her, I encourage everybody to get involved in Culture Night. Many of the activities in Culture Night will be led by people who are involved in local community theatre groups and musical societies right around the country. There has been an enormous and very welcome commitment to significant increased funding for the Arts Council, and the introduction of a basic income scheme for artists, as well as a number of measures the Minister of State mentioned, but none of them a…

I too look forward to the publication of the national development plan in the coming weeks and to the significant investment we will see in infrastructure. The challenge, of course, relates to delivery. Our problem with certain State agencies is what I can only describe as a "Bulmers" approach to delivery - nothing added but time. Some of our delivery has been particularly poor. I would like assurance, particularly in respect of water infrastructure. I will talk about my own constituency of Wicklow-Wexford, which t…

Like others, I thank the Ministers of State for being here for this very important debate and discussion. The Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, will forgive me if I single out the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, who has been a champion of the LGBT community, particularly now on trans healthcare. I am very proud to count her as a friend. On this issue in particular, she has spoken out and taken on some of the voices in these Houses who preach prejudice, and about whom colleagues have spoken. It is very important…

It is the same every week.

I agree with my colleague, Deputy Moynihan, about the horrible events that continue to unfold in Sudan. I raise the EU-China summit which will take place next year. While it is important and increasingly the case that we must have free and fair trade around the world, and I know China and the European Union are committed to try to address some of the trading problems globally, I raise again the issue of continuing human rights abuses in China by the Chinese Communist Party. In particular, I raise the case of Tibet …

What about Tibet?

I asked about Tibet.

I welcome the Taoiseach's very warm welcome for the new Prime Minister of Canada. I am sure he will also join with me in welcoming the new Canadian ambassador to Ireland Dennis King and his wife Jana, who have just joined us. The Taoiseach's personal commitment to Canada over a long period is very welcome and I look forward to the Government implementing CETA. I understand the memo has been brought to Government but the Taoiseach might outline if it will be fully ratified by the end of this year. It needs to be rem…

Nor Moscow nor Tehran

I welcome the Minister of State's strong commitment to the European Union. In this time of global turbulence, it is more important than ever that we talk about why the European Union is in place. It is the world's greatest peace and prosperity project. It is not perfect and there are lots of reasons we can criticise the European Union, but if we think about what the EU has achieved, not just for Ireland but also for this Continent and the world, it is more important than ever that we start talking about European va…

I thank the Minister for taking this critical issue. As he knows, we all live in a digital world. It is one where computing in general has made our lives better and easier and we are far more interconnected. Artificial intelligence, quantum computing and other technologies have the potential to deliver ever more effective and efficient public services. However, as cyberspace becomes more critical to all of our lives, the risks and threats are also increasing exponentially. Our society depends on a free, open and se…

Like the Minister, I welcome the fact that the NCSC is now within the remit of the Department of justice. I welcome the fact that he is giving priority to the cybersecurity Bill, but he might provide an outline as to when he envisages it coming before the House. While I welcome the fact that the NCSC regularly carries out assessments of cyber risk, I wonder if an assessment has been carried out as to exactly how vulnerable some of our critical infrastructure happens to be. For instance, how easy might it be for a m…

I have listened in envy to some of my colleagues talk about the wonderful rail services they have and how much more they need, because in this rail review the Rosslare line was an afterthought. Hardly any consideration was given to improving the services south of Wicklow town. While I welcome that we are talking about extending the DART services to Greystones in Wicklow, it is intended in this review to force passengers south of that line - those who get on in Rathdrum, Arklow, Gorey or stations further south - to …

In the past decade, according to figures provided by the Minister's Department, the number of civil servants has increased from about 36,000 to 53,000, which is an almost 50% increase. In figures provided to me by the HSE with regard to whole-time equivalents, the numbers employed by the HSE have increased from 107,274 to 148,268, a 38.2% increase. We have seen today a report from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council that overspending by Departments this year is set to top €2 billion. While I totally agree that, with …