The Minister of State is very welcome and I thank him for being here. The condition of coastal infrastructure in west Cork, indeed throughout the country, particularly piers and slipways is the subject of my Commencement matter. Our coastal infrastructure facilities are not luxuries. They are lifelines for many in our community. They support fishing families, connect island communities and sustain tourism in some of the most economically important parts of rural Ireland and yet many are deteriorating. Years of unde…

I thank the Minister of State. I acknowledge the response. My point is that I do not think the €4.3 million, which I have acknowledged, is enough for local authorities. We need to review how local authorities apply, process and develop coastal infrastructure. I am asking that the Department would review which local authorities work well. Perhaps there is best practice across Europe in respect of how we can develop coastal infrastructure. The work, time and cost that go into these preparatory reports mean local auth…

Like other speakers, I commend Senator Murphy on bringing forward this Private Members' Bill. It is very smart legislation. It is very much thinking outside the box. Like other speakers, I would really appeal to the Minister to consider the merits of this legislation. In some ways, I speak from lived experience on this matter. My father and uncles are builders. I would have grown up on a building site on my summer holidays, working on roofs, putting up scaffolding or doing the hard work, as we speak of it in rural …

Many will know the village of Adrigole on the Beara Peninsula between Glengarriff and Castletownbere. It is a lovely scenic area. What Members might not be aware of is the strength of community and purpose behind the village. That community, which has a population of between 450 and 500 people, has suffered 30 water breaks since last May. The strength of community and purpose there has led to the formation of a committee and public meetings about the water situation. I have raised the matter in the House a number o…

We debate many topics, from healthcare issues to fishing issues, in this House. It is always matters of policy that we are looking to change. An issue that has come up in west Cork in recent weeks - it arises issue annually - is the condition of our roads. This is a topic I often raise in this Chamber. I am going to focus on national and local roads. We are going to see an announcement of funding in the coming weeks from the Department and Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, to local authorities for the maintena…

I want to make a couple of brief points and will try not to repeat a lot of what has been said already. I welcome the debate on the fishing sector. Any discussion about fishing and supporting our communities across the nation that need a strong fishing sector is a welcome debate. I want to genuinely thank the Minister of State for his engagement with the sector over the Christmas period. He travelled to Castletownbere and Killybegs. As I have said time after time, engaging and listening is the most important thing …

I class myself as a good, proud European but I can honestly say that - I will not mince my words - the fishers of this country and I felt utterly betrayed by the results of the December AGRIFISH Council last week. People will know the history of the fishing industry and I have said many times in this Chamber and at the fishing committee that successive Governments and Departments have failed this industry and have not stood strong in Europe. Last week changed that, however. Organisations, including the Irish Fishin…

Like other speakers, I want to congratulate the Minister, along with his team and the officials in his Department, on his first budget. I wish to support the budget and in particular the social welfare measures at its heart. At a time of high costs for many households, this budget says something simple but powerful, which is that the State will not turn its back on those who most rely on it. From January, as has been mentioned, there will be a €10 increase in most weekly social welfare payments for pensioners, jobs…

Sometimes we get asked by people of a younger generation and various generations what politics is about and about the importance of it. Today's results in terms of the extension of a derogation explains the importance of politics and representation in politics, where we listen, understand issues, lobby and try to persuade decision makers of the importance of certain policy decisions. Today's decision on the extension of derogation is not just a win for the farming community, it is a win for the totality of rural Ir…

I was enjoying my game of waving across the Chamber to the students. They are very welcome. I hope they enjoy their day. I congratulate the Minister of State on his recent appointment. It is my first opportunity to do so here in the Chamber. As always, it is an honour to be in his presence. He is a man who has weathered many storms in political life and had sunny days as well. The way he conducts his business across the House and across the party is a lesson for us all. I congratulate him, his family and his suppor…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I am delighted to have confirmation that the school project has now moved to stage 2a. That is extremely welcome and the school’s management will be delighted to hear it. There is still a way to go on this issue, however. I assure the people of Clonakilty and the rest of west Cork that I will be raising it here until we see construction commence at the school. We recently noted that planning permission was granted for over 200 homes in Clonakilty. That is really welco…

I second the motion.

I thank the Minister of State for being here. It is really welcome that fisheries are being discussed by means of this motion. That is not to say the issue of fisheries has not been discussed in decades gone by. With the programme for Government and the introduction of a Minister of State for the marine and fisheries and a committee to discuss fisheries, however, there is now a new and solid footing for representing the issues here. As the Minister of State is aware, I represent west Cork, which has a proud fishing…

Welcome back.

I want to raise an issue I have raised a number of times in the House, and this is the issue of respite care for young people with intellectual and physical disabilities and older people with disabilities. I referred to a situation in west Cork where we have a severe deficit in respite care. It is an issue that has become more apparent. Last week in west Cork we had an AGM for CoAction and in the room there was frustration, anger and deep worry among parents about the level of respite care available in west Cork. I…

While I support all my colleagues from the Galway area, it is no harm to move the conversation southwards to the rebel county. Like other speakers, there has been some repetition in the praise of the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Browne, for bringing proposals to the Cabinet recently, which they are implementing. In my time in this Chamber, the proposal for private developer-led wastewater infrastructure is one of the most common-sense pragmatic solutions I have seen. I genuinely compliment the Ministe…

I raise the issue of flooding in Bantry, which I raised on the Order of Business earlier this week. Since then, it has become known that 22 businesses flooded in the town the other morning. As I said on local radio yesterday morning, it is tough for public representatives to go on radio and speak about flooding because we are not the people who have to open the businesses and see the devastation or the people living in homes where they cannot go to bed at night without the fear that their lives will be at risk. In …

I join my colleagues in commending the IFA and the farming community on the sheer show of force that was evident in Corrin Mart last night. As Members will know, I have spoken about derogation on many occasions in this Chamber on. Derogation is deeply and urgently required by the communities I represent in west Cork and in some other parts of the country. The European Commissioner is coming on Friday. She is coming to listen, hear and understand the unique system that we have in terms of our grass-based model. It i…

I echo my colleagues' disappointment in learning of the motion of no confidence in our party leader, the Tánaiste, Deputy Simon Harris. Let us be straight here: the dogs in the street know the exact reason the motion is being put down. It is because we have a presidential election next week. It is the greatest form of populist politics - I would call it pathetic politics. I hope the general public will see what it actually is. We have a duty as public representatives to call Government and the political parties to …

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, for staying with us. For more than 40 years, the people of west Cork have listened to politicians talk about upgrading the N71, but very little has changed in those 40 years. The N71 remains a national route in name only. In reality, it is a narrow, twisting and crumbling stretch of road that has seen little investment since the 1970s. Those of us who drive on it daily know its dangers all too well, including blind bends, no safe passing lanes and surfaces that would …