I thank the Minister for the reply. I will give some background and context on this. I am glad he mentioned local and regional roads because there were many announcements from certain Deputies in County Kerry that there was increased roads funding for the county but the local and regional roads funding was actually slashed by €2 million. Villages like Ballyduff, Fenit, Abbeydorney and Glenbeigh have no wastewater infrastructure. There is basically an Imhoff tank, or a hole in the ground, where the sewage is going i…

Every day we step out into a world of movement with cars rushing to work, cyclists weaving through traffic and pedestrians crossing streets in hope and in trust. The road connects us but too often it has become a place of tragedy, a tragedy that is preventable. In the Twenty-six Counties there were 190 deaths last year. With the proper infrastructure, enforcement and resources, we can save lives but the Government has failed on three fronts. The National Safety Camera Strategy represents an opportunity to rectify t…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." In Ireland we have huge potential for a hopeful vision and we have a natural gift of 540 GW of renewable energy in offshore wind. We can achieve energy independence if we have the requisite motivation and we can return to the days when we had the lowest electricity prices in Europe, if there is State investment and development. However, we are currently paying the highest electricity prices in the EU. Recent reports from the ESRI and Eurostat show that we are payin…

This all goes back to the fact that Ireland once had the lowest electricity prices in the EU. We now have the highest. Successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments have presided over this change, did nothing to stop it and in fact reinforced the system that caused it. I thank all of the other speakers of the Opposition, maybe bar one, who agreed with many of the merits in this Bill and who are calling for more transparency. We agree with their calls for more transparency, more public trust and more power for th…

What measures are being taken to improve road safety? Clearly, road safety and fatalities on the road are moving in the wrong direction, and quite dramatically so. An independent report said that there had been a very worrying recent increase in fatalities and serious injuries. Since 2019, road deaths have risen by 31% in Ireland while across the European Union they have fallen by 15%. What steps are being taken to address this?

The Minister mentioned that there had been progress on all actions but, unfortunately, that is not seeping down into the road death figures, which are going in the wrong direction. It is not the Minister's brief but I want to refer to the number of gardaí on the roads. It is a consequence of inaction by the Government. There are 400 fewer gardaí on the roads than there were 15 years ago. The number of gardaí in that Garda unit has halved since 2009. We received a briefing the other day from Alcohol Action Ireland. …

Unfortunately, personal responsibility is corralled or dictated by the chances of getting caught. When the number of arrests, the amount of enforcement and the number of gardaí on the road have decreased so hugely and the number of drink driving arrests is down by 75% since 2007, people are more likely to get into cars. That is just human nature. I want to ask about the flip flop on the disbanding of the RSA. An independent report was commissioned, done by Indecon. It said the dual role of the RSA in delivering ope…

Is the Government even at this late going to allow the RSA to do what it is supposed to do and deal with operational services in a separate body?

I want to ask the Minister about documents recently released to the Committee of Public Accounts relating to cost overruns in the IT system that was supposed to regulate train movements across the State. Under the initial proposals, the traffic management system was targeted to be commissioned in 2024 with an associated target cost of €19 million. However, over €31.5 million has apparently already been spent without the first phase having been completed. Has the Minister of State any statement to make?

There may not be difficulty with railway safety at the moment, but to say that progress has been slower than anticipated when €31.5 million has been spent without the first phase having been completed is surely the understatement of the year. I understand that there are between seven and nine phases to it and we have not even reached phase 1 despite that kind of expenditure. I do not need to go into the history of bike sheds, children's hospitals and so on but is there a danger that something similar will happen, g…

The Minister of State is correct to say that there is a growing use of rail, and we support that, but its development and broadening out are at serious risk with projects like this. The minutes of Irish Rail board meetings are publicly available. The chair of Iarnród Éireann and the project director have expressed serious reservations about the direction and delivery of the project as well as concerns about the contractor's ability to deliver all phases of the project. The failures of this project also raise massiv…

The haulage industry is essential to Ireland's economy. It is not just about moving goods; it is about keeping local economies alive. Every shop shelf, building site and farm relies on a local driver and business to keep moving. The sector was already under considerable strain before this crisis. When the US and Israel began their war on Iran, which spread across the region, the pressure became unbearable. Despite this, the Government sat on its hands four weeks, prevaricating until people were forced onto the stre…

Go raibh maith agat, a Cheann Comhairle, and thank you for the opportunity to raise the issue of the former ecclesiastical site of Rattoo in Ballyduff, north Kerry. It is a national monument and 1,000 years old, and it is the best-preserved round tower in the whole country. It once hosted an abbey, a church, a hospital and even a school of music. It is of immense historical and local significance and huge tourism potential but it has been closed for 15 years while works are being carried out by the national monumen…

Yes.

Eleven years ago, a reply was given by a Minister of State in this Chamber that the works at Rattoo Round Tower in Ballyduff in north Kerry, which were being undertaken at that time, included conservation and repair, working on the exterior and then moving on to the interior. The works are continuing to this day and great work is being carried out by the national monuments depot works section, which is based in Killarney and in general does excellent work. However, the pace of the work is incredible and there is de…

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I am glad minds have been concentrated and I hope they will remain concentrated after today. I hope the Minister of State will go back to the Department. I asked a parliamentary question about this matter a year ago and the reply indicated that a reassessment of risk and public safety access would be prepared. I understand from the Minister of State's reply, which I thank him for, that the OPW will issue a full report following the completion of the works, which should b…

World Earth Day is a day that should be about hope, urgency and leadership but the truth is that the Government has failed on climate action. It has failed on fairness and has failed on any kind of just transition. If emissions continue on their current path, climate change will have profound consequences for Ireland. We can see the warning signs already: more frequent flooding; stronger storms along the coasts; rising sea levels threatening coastal communities; and increased pressure on farming from unpredictable …

It is difficult to overstate just how precarious the geopolitical context has become. We are going from one disaster scenario to the next, and the consequences will no doubt be felt for generations. No words are sufficient to condemn the impunity or disregard for human life that is on display. When we think back to recent human history, we ask how we could have let it happen. There is conflict across the world, in Palestine, Sudan, Lebanon and Ukraine. Even though there is no conflict in Cuba at the moment led by a…

What representations has the Government made, whether at EU level or to the United States, about the oil blockade of Cuba, which has resulted in a huge humanitarian crisis? Does the Minister of State agree with the call by Mexico, Spain and Brazil that urgent and sincere dialogue should take place to address this?

Is anything happening at European level?