I thank the Senator. We get visitors in Mullingar and Athlone as well. When she was going through all the regional towns, she forgot to mention some of mine. I thank her for once again giving me the opportunity to update the House today on behalf of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on local authorities’ powers to raise revenues annually. I know this is an issue on which the Senator has been extremely active and vocal. The system of funding local government in Ireland is a complex one, as loc…

I thank Senator Fitzpatrick very much. While it is fair that we acknowledge that the Government's funding to local authorities has increased considerably over the last number of years, it is also important to recognise that local authorities need the power and autonomy to be able to raise their own money to invest in the provision of services and to build out and develop the offering that each local authority has. The Senator makes very valid points. There is agreement in terms of the line of direction we are going…

We, as a Government, across all our Departments, need to be much clearer when we commission a report on the timeframe for when that report will be published and, more importantly, the implementation of recommendations. We need to be much more efficient as a Government in doing that. I will take on board what the Senator said today and relay it back, in the first instance, to the two Departments that are working on this, namely, Department of enterprise and tourism and the Department of local government.

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it gives me the opportunity, on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth, to outline to the Dáil the current position in relation to the school building project for St. Mary's Oldtown, County Dublin. This project was approved to enter the Department of Education and Youth’s pipeline under the additional school accommodation scheme and is devolved for delivery to the school authority. The project will provide three mainstream classrooms, one special education tuiti…

Deputy O'Donoghue will appreciate that I am answering on behalf of my colleague. He has made a strong and compelling case for additional works at this school in the very near future. We were all disappointed when the announcement was made some months ago if schools that we articulate on behalf of in our respective constituencies were excluded. The amount of resources is always finite, so there has to be prioritisation. From my perspective, and even from the Deputy’s perspective, I am happy to see in this reply that…

I am taking this matter on behalf of Deputy Michael Moynihan, Minister of State at the Department of Education and Youth, who sends his apologies because he cannot be here today. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter and giving me the opportunity to outline the Department of Education and Youth’s plans to address the accommodation needs for Gorey Hill School. Gorey Hill School is one of four special schools established for the 2024-25 school year. The school operates under the patronage of Waterford and Wexford…

That is fine. I reiterate that it was very welcome and helpful that he arranged a visit by the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, to the school, where he saw first hand the challenges that are there. The challenge is to ensure the additional demand is met with additional capacity in a timely way as well. The one point I will have taken from the original reply is that there is ongoing engagement between the education and training board and the Department to ensure we can meet that demand, while at the same time not…

I thank the Deputies for raising this matter. I am taking it on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth. I know that Deputy McAuliffe has engaged directly with the Taoiseach on this but it is very positive to see such cross-party support on an issue. The school was approved to enter the Department's pipeline for a project under the additional school accommodation scheme, ASA. The project will provide 15 general classrooms, five special education tuition rooms, a two-classroom special educational needs base, …

I thank the three Deputies again for giving me an opportunity to update the House regarding the accommodation at St Aidan's CBS Whitehall. The Department is committed to ensuring appropriate accommodation is available for all school pupils and will, in the wider context outlined, ensure that each school project under the school building programme is subject to due diligence required under the Government's infrastructure guidelines. The Deputies made a very strong case for the school this evening. Deputy McAuliffe h…

I do not believe the people want to see us playing Punch and Judy politics here this evening. The Government will secure a majority in the vote when the vote is taken but it would be both foolhardy and wrong for us not to acknowledge the level of fear, anxiety and frustration felt by many of the people we represent. Like many of my colleagues, I am in continuous engagement with the people whom we represent, despite what some in the Opposition might like to portray. The Government has acted. We now have a cumulative…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I will keep my voice at a reasonable level. I do not feel that just by shouting it makes a point any more valid. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the Sinn Féin Private Members' motion on fuel this evening. I will start off by saying that, as a Government Minister of State, I engaged with the people who were protesting. I went out and met the people on the M4 in Mullingar. I recognise that those people were decent, honourable and hard-working people who did not wish to be there…

That is not a true reflection of what happened everywhere and we need to acknowledge that also. The Deputy is right that the Government won the confidence vote in the Dáil. As I said in my contribution on the confidence motion, we would be extremely foolhardy and wrong as a Government if we did not acknowledge the anxiety, fear and frustration out there of the people we represent. Sinn Féin does not have a monopoly on representation of people. Nobody does. Each one of us has received our own democratic mandate to b…

There is no magic money tree out there.

We must underline and understand that what we are seeing at the moment is a large increase in the wholesale market price of oil as a result of the supply shock caused by the conflict in the Middle East. This is compounding the supply issues we faced at the beginning of the war in Ukraine. That is what is driving the increase in fuel costs. Sinn Féin’s motion on fuel prices fails to mention that fact. This is an enormous challenge, not just for Ireland, but for every country around the world facing into the energy c…

You supported that.

You supported it.

You supported it.

The Opposition cannot even agree what government we would have.

I thank all my colleagues for their contributions today. As the Minister, Deputy Foley, set out earlier, the investigation of burial arrangements in mother and baby institutions, including Bessborough, was an important part of the work of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes, an independent, statutory body that was established in 2015. One of the key reasons for its establishment was to examine the burial practices and arrangements in various institutions. The commission was given the necessar…

What did the ESRI say?