Darragh O'Brien

Absolutely.

The work of our emergency services is exceptional. We saw the difficulties they had to operate under following recent storms, including Storm Chandra and Storm Éowyn. This work needs to be concluded. There is complexity in it. I hate even using the word because it seems like it is an excuse, but there is genuine complexity here. It involves updating legislation but also updating the operation and…

Five phase 1 offshore projects are currently in planning, as the Deputy will be aware, off our east coast, with planned capacity of 3.8 GW. All five have submitted planning applications and first determinations from An Coimisiún Pleanála are anticipated on at least two of these by the end of this year, with the others to follow in 2027. The reason for that is they received detailed requests for fu…

To be fair, on the Deputy's first point, that is acknowledge by what was then An Bord Pleanála and is now An Coimisiún Pleanála. Certainly, those were the first type of projects that they ever had to deal with. I agree there are learnings and they have learnt from them. Second, the planning environment is different now. New applications will come under the Planning and Development Act 2024, which …

Ports will be critical. In the coming couple of weeks, certainly before the recess, we will be bringing the new national ports policy to Cabinet. A lot of work has gone into it, and fed in by stakeholders as well. The east coast will be very important on that. That will come to Cabinet and then we will publish it. That will go out for consultation and every party and all stakeholders will get to s…

We have discussed a number of measures this morning, including directly funded retrofitting for families and the grants we can provide to reduce energy usage. Those measures are good for our climate because they reduce emissions and they reduce costs for households. We have been able to retrofit approximately 264,000 homes so far. Earlier this year, the Minister of State and I, along with our team…

On the warmer homes scheme, and I listened to the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach's intervention on that, approximately 34,000 homes have been fully retrofitted with 100% grants. It is a great scheme, but waiting times are too long. To be fair to the SEAI, as Deputy Murphy said, it has submitted an action plan. I have a meeting later this afternoon in that regard to see how we can speed that up. We have m…

The meat of that report will feed into our budget considerations and deliberations. I expect to have that by the end of July this year. We have done a lot of work on it. It looks at some potential structural changes and short-, medium- and longer-term measures, as well as further improving measures that are in place. We know we are not in the position we want to be in with regard to energy costs.…

I move: That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport pursuant to Standing Orders 103 and 188.

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to introduce the Dublin Transport Authority (Amendment) Bill 2026 for the consideration of the House. As Deputies will be aware, the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008, as originally enacted, provided for the establishment of the Dublin Transport Authority, DTA, and set out its role and functions to ensure the provision of an integr…

It is not. I answered the Deputy in a parliamentary question recently.

That is not the case.

It is done.

The secondary legislation was signed last week.

Just read my press releases.

The Deputy could have saved himself three and a half minutes.

No.

They never do.

Never.

I am speaking on behalf of the Government on the Bill. I thank Deputy Daly for tabling it. I will speak to the legislation and explain the rationale as to why we are opposing it, which we are doing on the basis that the CRU already holds significant existing powers to monitor, report and regulate gas and electricity suppliers. Additionally, as the Deputies will be aware, a review of the comprehen…

I thank the Deputy for raising this really important matter. Any death on our roads is one too many. I am always conscious when talking about numbers that behind these numbers are people and families. We have to continue working to improve road safety. One element of it is the continued investment in our roads. Physical infrastructure is critical, as is the safety framework. The current framework…

Undoubtedly, we have seen an increase over the last number of years from a lower base. When you compare Ireland to the rest of Europe, the statistics - this is not to mean the road fatalities themselves - compare favourably and we are still in the upper quartile in relation to prevention of road deaths and the number of road deaths. Again, I say this on the basis that I do not like talking about n…

Whatever level of enforcement is there, personal responsibility really needs to be brought to the fore. We all agree on that. There is only so much a Government can do. We need to do more - I am with the Deputy on that - but personal responsibility is critical.

The RSA is very well resourced to carry out the functions it is charged with. Splitting up the agency would have a detrimental effect. It would take too long. It needs to focus on road safety and education. NCT and driver testing are also important. That feeds into the road safety piece. I will counter the Deputy on one particular thing he said. Driver behaviour and personal responsibility are cri…

This is an important area and we have to look to electrify it. Heavy goods vehicles is one of the more challenging areas to electrify. We are committed to transitioning to a low-carbon economy by 2050. The transport sector has a significant role to play in that. The decarbonisation of heavy duty vehicles will be a key mechanism in achieving this objective within the sector. To promote the decarbon…