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trades needed for housing infrastructure, including, as the Minister of State said, plumbers and electricians. The recent documentary "Who's Building Ireland?" explored the construction industry and who is building the 300,000 new homes needed by 2030. There are 170,000 people working in the construction industry

ahead. Artificial intelligence will undoubtedly and unfortunately displace some tasks and reshape parts of the labour market. Equally, though, it will create new industries, professions and opportunities. The question for Ireland is whether we can position ourselves as passive consumers of these technologies and watch them come … drive the development of skills, investing in programmes that ensure we have systems that are agile, responsive and closely aligned with industry needs. My Department is exploring the concept of national skills academies that will build on our tradition of excellence by creating recognised national centres with deep

more efficient in a sense. Professor Stephens also said, "Tech companies are also collaborating with the fossil fuel industry to develop AI tools used to accelerate fossil fuel exploration and allow fossil fuels to be extracted more quickly and cheaply". She argued "AI promotes climate obstruction" and denial

fishing industry is not just an economic sector, but a backbone of many coastal communities. In 2026, those communities are facing an extraordinary challenge - a 70% reduction in mackerel, a 41% reduction in blue whiting and a 22% reduction in boarfish. These cuts are based on advice from … difficult. That is why these supports need to focus not only on survival, but on maintaining strategic capacity in our industry. We have to remain committed to exploring incentives to encourage landing in Irish ports, examining taxation supports for the sector, supporting diversification in coastal economies, strengthening agriculture

those areas. That is something we need to look at, but that stakeholder group will be convening next month to explore the proposals from the insurance industry in relation to flood insurance into the future

Acts 1995 to 2001, as amended; professional codes of conduct and ethics for healthcare professionals; voluntary self-regulation; and codes of practice for industry. These measures clearly support accountability and transparency and ultimately promote a high standard of patient care. However, a whole-of-system approach is needed … broad principles of the Bill and has written to the Joint Committee on Health stating her support for an exploration of transfers of value between the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare practitioners and organisations. It is necessary that any examination encompasses the regulatory and legal aspects in advance

policy. We are continuing to deal with AI in the State. We will be moving on soon to explore issues like AI and justice, AI and the creative industries, which I know the Minister of State is very passionate about, AI and energy and AI and education … long term. AI is having a profound impact. I am really grateful to colleagues. We are committed to continuing to work together to explore all of those issues and to working closely with the Minister of State and the Government to deliver the best for our citizens

very backbone of our logistics and retail sectors. The impact has also been felt across our tourism industry, particularly in rural Ireland where visitors who hire cars to explore our Wild Atlantic Way or the Hidden Heartlands face rising fuel costs and toll costs. Sinn Féin is putting

North for similar reasons. That is unacceptable. In the programme for Government, there is an allowance to explore the idea of early access and shared risk agreements with industry, and that is where we need to be not just as a nation but as a European Union

market. I have been in London meeting insurance companies to explore the possibility of seeing what level of appetite they might have in this regard. I have also met the representative body in relation to the thatched industry. I am happy to engage with the Deputy further … with a representative of the insurance industry who sits on its flooding task force. I expect a proposal to come from the task force within a number of weeks. It might be in a month or so. The Government will explore that proposal and look at what support

skilled up for those. I mentioned the AI ready programme. We are also exploring a number of national skills academies, which are sector-specific partnerships between colleges, employers and industries to make sure we can provide the type of training in real time that they and their industries

broader discussion in relation to cannabis and the likes. That idea of the industrial use of hemp and the good that could come of it is certainly something that should be explored. I will perhaps ask the Minister, Deputy Burke, in the first instance to come back

insurance industry. Will he confirm whether his Department's engagements with the insurance industry have included discussions about the role insurers could play in preventing future flooding? In particular, has he explored the possibility of insurance companies contributing in some way to resilience measures such as funding local

approach is to wait and see, but preparation has to happen all the same. It is important to ensure that the Irish agrifood industry is supported in the best way possible, in terms of ensuring that key products in terms of food and drink, as well as pharmaceuticals … area in which there would be scope to explore is a new sanitary and phytosanitary agreement between Britain and the EU. That could potentially benefit the Irish agrifood business. I have spoken to people involved in the fishery industry both on the fishing side and the processing side

country to celebrate the vital role that science plays in our everyday lives. The theme - "Then. Today. Tomorrow." - encourages all of us to explore how scientific research has evolved over the years, assess the role science plays in our lives today and look to the future to consider … intrigued to see how this subject is going to be explored during Science Week. Research Ireland centres have had a huge impact on innovation and economic development, linking researchers in partnerships across academia and industry in areas of strategic focus. I will be announcing the launch

integral part of Irish farming, producing high-quality animal feed and bedding for the livestock sector and ingredients for the food and drink industry. The sector makes a significant contribution to the Irish economy, as the Deputy knows, estimated at €1.9 billion per annum over … recommendation in the Food Vision tillage report is to explore opportunities for milling wheat in Ireland. While there are opportunities to grow milling wheat in Ireland, there are also recognised agronomic and market challenges. However, with collaboration from industry and support from the marketplace, domestic production of milling

build on these success stories. We cannot afford to rest on our laurels. We must seek out new opportunities to give our industry the help and opportunities it deserves. Screen Ireland supports the games sector with its innovation in storytelling development fund, in partnership with Animation Ireland. This … initiative is now in its fifth year and has supported digital games prototypes to support existing series, new tech workflows and the exploration of a range of new storytelling formats. More recently, Screen Ireland has launched several funding initiatives for digital games, including IndieDev, the first all-island

hard not to feel completely hopeless about the fishing industry at the moment. What was once a prosperous industry is now facing complete collapse. It is utter devastation, as the Minister of State is well aware. The numbers have been outlined multiple times already, but it is important … they are repeated until we get to grips with what we are facing and its potential impact. The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea has advised the following cuts, starting next year: a 70% cut in mackerel, a 41% cut in blue whiting

absolutely catastrophic for so many industries, the fishing industry included. A total of 3,500 tonnes of sprat were caught in 2018. In the past few years, the figure was 15,000 tonnes. The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, which is the EU entity that

much with the clear focus of exploring all options to minimise job losses and also support the business through this transition. At the same time, IDA Ireland is working intensively to support the impacted employees. As with any redundancies, the industrial relations mechanisms of the State step

affecting the fisheries sector. I will deal with the recent developments for the pelagic stock first. On 13 September, the International Council for Exploration of the Seas, ICES, published deeply concerning advice for widely distributed pelagic stock in 2026. The advice recommended a 70% reduction in the total … scale of the Irish fishing sector. These cuts will starve fish processing businesses of raw material. They will impact the services industry that supports the seafood sector in coastal communities. Service industries include engineering, net mending and factories that have built up over 50 years around ports like

concerns raised, the Government has agreed to provide further improvements to these services. These include strengthened access to health services for survivors of industrial and reformatory schools through the appointment of dedicated health liaison officers and better access to counselling and physiotherapy services. Work is already under … State pension for this group of survivors. I discussed this with survivors, and we recognised the complexity of the issue. We agreed to explore ways to address this issue that would be more flexible and easier to access. On foot of this, the Government has approved the expansion

risk at Carelon Global Solutions Ireland in Limerick. This company, as the Minister will know, provides digital integrated solutions for the healthcare industry. It has talked about its decision to consider its future in Ireland, which comes after a review of its business operations and an examination … changing healthcare landscape globally. Is the Minister working with the staff and management at Carelon Global Solutions in this regard? Has he explored alternatives to these proposed layoffs, which would not only be a severe blow to the individual workers but have a huge negative impact in Limerick

days, I spoke to the managing director of Blueacre Technology. This is a company that provides specialist components to the medical device industry. Its labour force is highly skilled as the company has invested significantly in upskilling and training its employees. As its CEO, Dr. David Gillen, pointed … weeks or for the announcement last week but tried to make changes to lessen the impact of any trade tariffs. It has been exploring other opportunities for some months, as it felt the trading relationship was about to change. It was changed forever last Friday when the company

which is guaranteed into the future in a world where few things are. There is a version of our fishing industry that can be all of those things, namely, indigenous, stable and sustainable, but this vision is not yet the reality. Instead, the reality … feel that their interests are being represented and fought for at national and EU level. We have seen the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea call on the EU to significantly reduce fishing quotas and our fishing stocks have drastically reduced. We are in a dangerous

identified for Ireland arising from the EU Critical Raw Materials Act; the actions being taken to attract investment in mineral exploration, processing and recycling industries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42228/26

Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if she will consider exploring the feasibility of establishing a wind turbine trade school in the northwest to boost apprenticeships and employment in the green energy industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15207/25