Pa Daly

I thank the Minister for his reply and I accept what he said. However, it is important there is a stop in the first place, and stops must also be safe and accessible. An audit was prepared by many local authorities, including my own local authority, in 2024. The difficulty on the ground is that, two years on, the bus stops have not been delivered. An audit is prepared by the local authority, the s…

Is there something the Minister can do to speed up the process? For example, a section 38 planning notice has to be given. Can that be sped up in some way? We are playing catch-up because the infrastructure just is not there. It has not been provided for many years. What we need is a large amount of money to get these things over the line. I understand the NTA criteria are based on the number of …

92. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Transport the position regarding electric vehicles; the measures he is taking to make them more accessible to rural and lower income drivers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15422/26]

I want to ask the Minister about electric vehicles and the measures he is taking to make them more accessible for drivers in rural areas and those on lower incomes. Will he make a statement about it? Research has shown that successful applications for grants are clustered in affluent urban areas in Dublin and in parts of Cork. We think this is inequitable and regressive and the Climate Change Adv…

The Minister said rural motorists are in a more advantageous position, but there are a couple of issues in relation to that. He also said that he exceeded his target, with the purchase of 212,000 EVs. However, he had moved the goalposts because a few years ago he said it was the ambition of the Government to have 845,000 EVs, and he reduced the target, so that is how he actually hit it. He said he…

The Minister is using an increase in the number, for example, in my own county off a low base. In 2021, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael announced a target, which has hardly been enhanced by the Healy-Rae support since the last election, of 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2030. That obviously has not happened. Even though some electric vehicles have come down in price, they are neither afforda…

That is because they dipped in the previous year.

Is it the case women's health is less of a priority for this Government? If not, why is there a delay in the delivery of a new maternity hospital for University Hospital Kerry which can offer safe access to theatre from the delivery suite? As it is at the moment, if a woman has a caesarean section, she is taken from the suite, down to the ground floor through a public corridor and up an unstable l…

I just want to seek some sort of clarity on the statement, but before that, I congratulate, in spite of all the adversity they went through, the efforts those in the Gallery made against the tide and against the resistance they faced. They pushed on through and got it. Many of them came from Tralee as well but-----

Yes. I see in the Taoiseach's statement on behalf of the Government that he acknowledges and apologises for the generational wrong. He acknowledges that some children who were subsequently boarded out experienced exploitation and that many boys were sent to work on farms and many girls were sent to work in domestic service. He said in the statement at the time-----

Regardless of the pathway from which individuals were boarded out, the Taoiseach has acknowledged that it is unforgivable, and that is good. He recognises situations where children were wrongly and harshly treated. He stated: "The Government recognises the suffering and damage ... this ... has caused, and we will continue to support you as much as possible." However, people who were boarded out fr…

The Government's decision to pause and reverse its recent approach is, without question, a welcome reprieve, but let us be absolutely clear - that is all it is. It is a pause, an easing of pressure, not a solution. Behind the belated U-turn lies a deeper reality. The Government’s approach to special needs education remains fragile, stretched, unclear and ad hoc. In the middle of the system are the…

138. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment the measures he is taking to reduce the price of energy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14765/26]

Every time I raise this, I am astounded by the lack of progress on it. We have the highest energy prices in Europe, according to Eurostat. The national energy affordability task force has only met three times since its inception. The only thing it has produced is an interim report. No steps seem to have been taken to reform the Irish energy market and to hold energy companies to account, measures …

The problem with some of the schemes that have been introduced is that they are not working. Some of them are deeply regressive and inequitable. Most low to middle income households have significant barriers if they have any hope of reaching a B2 standard. What about the solid fuel homes which are mostly rural and are mostly home to elderly people? They are punished by the Government rather than b…

The last time I raised this issue the Minister said he would look at network charges. What has he done since then to restructure them to make sure that data centres, for example, pay their fair share and take the pressure off households? In the next few months there will be a significant opportunity to bring about fundamental reforms to the energy market that could help households. A meeting is ta…

139. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if he will consider bringing forward a prioritisation framework for grid connections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14766/26]

This question has come up in the past. Will the Minister consider bringing forward a prioritisation framework for grid connections, particularly as we have a crisis in the context of housing and the cost of living? We have all heard about the problems with the MetroLink, for example, and the energy that will be needed for it. There is a reckless attitude towards data centre expansion. Even the Min…

A grids package was announced on 10 December. It gives the Government the green light to move away from the first-come, first-served model that gives rise to rampant data centre expansion that has displaced the delivery of housing and transport and led to the hiking up of energy prices for households. The Commission stated, "In areas with long waiting times for grid connection, the first-come, fir…

The Minister recently met the ESB and EirGrid to discuss house connections. There was a story in The Irish Times about that matter over the Christmas period. The Minister knows that under the current regulation, it is first-come, first-served model. He also knows that for this to change, he must empower the regulator by means of new legislation. He knows in light of the grids package and the new g…

141. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment in relation to private wires, the charging methodology that will be implemented; and the safeguards that will he introduce to ensure that all of the costs of providing the original grid connection will be recovered by the ESB Networks, and that these costs are not passed on to other customers. [14767/26]

This question relates to private wires. Will the Minister outline the new methodology that will be implemented? Will there be safeguards to ensure that all of the costs of providing original grid connections will be recovered by ESB Networks? Will action be taken to ensure that these costs will not be passed on to customers? Under current proposals, any user taking all their energy capacity from …

We will be discussing that tomorrow. The concern of many members of the committee is that the proposals will exacerbate the regressive and inequitable way that network costs are currently distributed. According to Eurostat, Irish households have the highest electricity bills in Europe. As a result of the proposals being brought forward, households could be landed with a rake of new charges on thei…

Is the Minister going to ensure that the North-South interconnector will be underground? That is the fundamental issue for people who live in Border communities. On the basis of what he said, is the Minister guaranteeing that there will be no new costs passed on to consumers as a result of the private wires legislation? Consumers cannot afford any new costs. There is a concern to the effect that …

158. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment his views on Ireland’s resilience to extreme weather events caused by climate change; if consideration is being given to nature-based solutions to mitigate and provide resilience to the impacts of climate change; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14622/26]