Jerry Buttimer

Deputy Dolan makes a compelling case. The Deputy can be assured that I, the Department of Transport, the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, are all strongly committed to providing all regions and citizens with reliable and suitable mobility options. Public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. I live in Cork where we have an ambitious plan. It ha…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta as an ábhar seo a ardú. I welcome Ciarán and Damian and thank them for their work, advocacy and what they have been doing. I thank Deputy Bennett for raising the matter. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister who sends his apologies for not being here. In order to ensure the safety of road users, it is vital that Ireland only exchanges licences following a det…

It is not a question of political will. We all accept the great need to have that piece around connectivity. As I said at the beginning, entering into a driving licence exchange agreement is complex. It is not straightforward. We completely agree that we need to find the solution going forward. Let us have the solution. I commend the publication of the report and the work that has been done genui…

Whoa, whoa. Taistil go mall.

I do not disagree with the roadmap; the question is how you get to the end of the road. What we cannot do - and if we were to do so, the Deputy would come in here and excoriate me - is compromise on road standards and safety. We must engage. That is the one thing we will do. I will take back to the RSA and the Department the need to go through the report and meet with the group. They are fine peop…

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important matter, which I am dealing with on behalf of Minister for Transport. On a personal level, I do not disagree with a lot of what the Deputy said. He is absolutely right and I will come back to that in a minute. The Minister for Transport has responsibility for the overall policy and Exchequer funding in relation to greenways. The planning, design a…

The first point I will make is that greenways will have significant benefit to the local areas, as the Deputy said, in terms of significant benefits beyond the transport sector in areas such as regional economic development, public health, climate resilience and economic activity. The point the Deputy made is that it is important that three sections of the Kerry greenway will be open to the public…

Hear, hear.

Gan amhras, tá na daoine go léir faoi bhrú, ach tá an Rialtas ag éisteacht. Táimid ag caint go mórmhór leis an gnáthdhuine, agus ag obair ar son gach duine. This debate is nothing but a charade. If the Members opposite wanted to have questions, they would not have put forward a motion of no confidence and would have had question time.

The reality is that people want us to govern. People are under pressure. That is why the Government has intervened twice. I have been a Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas for 19 years and I will make a comment to Members of both Houses. Our language and words matter. Deputy Cairns spoke about leadership but leadership is not about sticking your finger in the air and wondering what way the wind…

If the Government did not listen and did not engage, we would not have had a second package worth €750 million.

Language matters. It is critical. People watch and listen. I thank the men and women of An Garda Síochána for their leadership over the past seven days. I have met and spoken to them. Some of them are friends of mine. Behind the Instagram and TikTok videos, there is truth and reality. To the men and women of An Garda Síochána, let us say "Thank you", irrespective of our political ideology because…

I thank Deputy Rice for raising the matter. I concur with him that we have an extraordinary dedicated library staff in Cork city right across all sections of our library service. As the Deputy will be well aware, the current libraries capital programme 2023-2027 is investing €22.6 million in 11 state-of-the-art library infrastructure projects around the country and a further €2.6 million in 12 nex…

To clarify for the Deputy so that he knows, it is not our Department that is responsible; it is the Department of housing. To help him again, Cork City Council is the responsible local authority. I think Deputy Rice was at the briefing we had as Members of the Oireachtas with the chief executive of the city council before Christmas, where we believe the city council identified a site. Work is ongo…

Deputy Rice comes in here and speaks about a cathedral of learning and it is wonderful rhetoric. I share his view. I am equally ambitious for Cork. I have been involved in public life for 21 years as a member of Cork City Council and as a Member of the Oireachtas and the library will be transformative for our city. The chief executive outlined at his briefing with us that the project in the librar…

The funding is ring-fenced. It is very easy for the Deputy to come in here. I have met Colette Kelleher, the chair of the action group, and I am as committed as the Deputy is. Again, it is not our Department that is responsible.

The Deputy is certainly not responsible, and it is very easy to speak to the papers and come in here and shout and roar every day but he delivers nothing but rhetoric. That is all he delivers.

Our Government will deliver a library, working with Cork City Council, which is the lead agency. The Deputy knows that himself. He was a member of Cork City Council.

We agree on the final point. We need to have a city library that is fit for purpose and our staff are the best in the country.

I join with Deputy Ward in sending our condolences to Deputy Roche. I thank the Deputy for taking the question. Our Department's mission is to promote rural and community development and support vibrant, inclusive and sustainable communities throughout Ireland. A number of programmes provide funding for staff resources to engage with and support communities, including building their capacity to a…

The Deputy is right. The Minister and I are very much committed to making it easier for people and groups to apply, whether that is the local development group or the LEADER programme. I will be answering another question from Deputy Currie in a minute with probably the same replies. It is about working, in our case, with Pobal, as an example, to make it easier for people to apply and get that onl…

I would make the point to Deputy Ward that we already have a range of programmes on the ground that provide support and offer dedicated staff access and a pathway for applications, whether this is for SICAP, ECP or LEADER. They are assisting communities and working to engage with funding and services. For me, and I know the Deputy is the same, a core feature of what we do is not just about providi…

I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. He is right that there is a complete need for clarity and certainty around the issue of funding. The community and voluntary sector is quite diverse and receives, as he said, financial support from a wide variety of Government agencies, including our Department. The Deputy has highlighted a growth population projection of Midleton and Carrigtohill, and it…

We as a Department and Government are committed to funding and working on a variety of schemes, whether through the community central investment fund which the Minister, Deputy Calleary is announcing a call later today on, or as we have done in the past, with the community recognition fund. The Deputy referenced the issue of the playground. We have the very proactive outdoor recreation investment …

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. There is no doubt that it takes local action groups to work and get things moving, but there is a county development plan as we know well that sets out the blueprint and roadmap for investment. Everything the Deputy has spoken about this morning in terms of provision of playgrounds, community centres, you name it, the Minister, Deputy Calleary and I are …