I thank Deputy Gould for his passionate presentation this morning about bus services in Cork. I am really disappointed to hear the technology is failing passengers and bus drivers, with apps not working. We are in a day of digitalisation and digital transformation and I am in disbelief about that. I will certainly see if there is anything from my end that we can do on that. The Deputy raised the condition of the buses along with a shortage of buses. That is very disappointing to hear too and is something I will raise with the Minister. The Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. However, he is not involved in the day-to-day operations of public transport, which cover a lot of the issues Deputy Gould has raised about digital transformation, conditions of buses and shortages of buses. I want to make that distinction. The National Transport Authority, NTA, has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally and for the scheduling and timetabling of these services in conjunction with the relevant transport operators. It is clear this is an NTA responsibility. The NTA also has responsibility for the regulation of fares charged to passengers, which the Deputy alluded to, in respect of public transport services provided under public service obligation contracts, including Cork bus services. As Deputy Gould is aware, the NTA recently announced that from Monday 20 July passengers using Bus Éireann’s Cork TFI city bus services will benefit from faster boarding times and a simplified 90-minute fare. This means that, for the first time, passengers would be able to catch any bus in the city and transfer between buses in Cork city as often as they need within 90 minutes. To support the introduction of TFI 90, adult Leap card fares in Cork city will move to a single flat fare of €1.70. This replaces the current adult Leap fares of €1.35 to €1.55, creating a simpler fare structure while enabling unlimited transfers within 90 minutes. It means passengers can move between buses without being penalised for doing so. The main ethos of this is to keep fares reduced and as low as possible. The introduction of new onboard ticket validators also means that passengers can simply tap their Leap card and go, reducing boarding times and keeping services moving. This improves the overall reliability and punctuality of Cork city bus services. That said, it is disappointing to hear the Deputy’s presentation this morning, which speaks against all of the information the NTA is giving the Minister. As a result, passengers should enjoy greater flexibility, and they will also benefit from fare capping, which has not been previously available to passengers in Cork. This initiative is future-proofing the multimodular public transport offerings planned for the city of Cork over the next few years. The Tivoli temporary bus depot, to which the Deputy referred, is being delivered by Bus Éireann using funding administered by the NTA. The Tivoli bus depot is a critical enabler of the BusConnects Cork programme as it allows for the expansion of the urban bus fleet servicing the Cork metropolitan area in the short term. The Minister has been advised that substantial completion of the Tivoli temporary depot has been achieved and that fit-out works are ongoing and due to be completed shortly. This will facilitate the additional bus fleet needed for Cork, including Cork city. Regarding the upgrading of fleet, the electric bus charging infrastructure framework has been completed, and contract signing is expected shortly. Once finalised, the framework will support the delivery of charging infrastructure at Capwell depot.

Sentiment score: 0.10

I am glad the Deputy presented different figures from those provided in the information from the NTA. I have taken note of that because the Deputy has presented different figures for the flat fee and the 26% increase. However, I have to be factual and say to him that there are State agencies in this country that have absolute responsibility. The NTA has responsibility for the regulation of fares. It is important to outline that in order to counteract some of what the Deputy is saying. That said, I have taken note of what he said. It is important to note that the NTA continues to engage with Bus Éireann to finalise the depot layout required to accommodate 52 charge points at Capwell. I take the Deputy’s point on the introduction of new buses in certain cities, but not in Cork, as well as his point about the conditions. The Deputy raised that very clearly here today and I have taken note of it. The infrastructure at the depot is due to be completed by quarter 4 of 2027 to support the electric bus roll-out for future network redesign launch dates. The performance of all public transport operators is monitored by the NTA as part of the contractual arrangements in place between it and the operators. I understand the Minister for Transport and his officials continue to engage with the NTA on an ongoing basis in relation to maintaining high operational standards on all forms of public transport. That should also mean high standards and the good condition of buses that passengers have to use. The individual operators are responsible for the management and operation of services on a day-to-day basis. In this case, Bus Éireann operates both PSO services funded by the State subvention and Expressway inter-city services, which operate on a commercial basis and do not receive any State subvention. I can assure the Deputy the Department of Transport is committed to providing investment in our public transport network, which is clear to be seen across the country. The Minister is supportive of the Government’s goals in relation to delivering an accessible, affordable and, most importantly, reliable public transport network throughout the country, including in Cork city. As I said earlier, I have taken notes of the issues that the Deputy has raised.

Sentiment score: 0.29

I thank the Deputy for his heartfelt contribution. The proposal is to reform the tax saver commuter ticket scheme to include private shared mobility services. As somebody from a rural area where we totally rely on bus services, it sounds like a novel thing to have the shared mobility model of bikes, cars and all the rest. It is way beyond what we experience in more rural parts, but it is wonderful to hear about it from the Deputy. The key objective is to ensure and encourage behavioural change in favour of the usage of shared mobility services and would support integrated transport services like bike, scooter and car-sharing through a virtual tax saver account model. The core objective is to encourage a shift in usage towards shared modes of transport in place of less efficient, congestion-inducing and carbon-intensive private car use, particularly for frequent journeys such as commuting. However, I take the Deputy’s point that the existing architecture of the scheme is for reliable, constant and regular transport rather than the patterns that most people have, which are a bit more flexible, particularly with working from home. As the Deputy is aware, commuting employees currently have access to reliefs from benefit-in-kind, BIK, in respect of sustainable transport, namely the cycle to work scheme under section 118(5G) Taxes Consolidation Act 1999 and the tax saver scheme under section 118(5A) of the same Act. The schemes have similar objectives - to reduce car dependency and to encourage the use of public transport and cycling as more sustainable forms of commuting. What is being proposed is the introduction of a new scheme that would allow employees to choose to assign part of their salary to pay for shared mobility services. Specifically, the sacrificed pay could be transferred to a virtual card account operated by an approved third-party commercial provider. Under this proposal, the sacrificed pay would not be subject to PAYE, USC or PRSI, while employers would benefit from reductions in employer PRSI. The actual operation of the ticketing wallet would be appropriate to the Department of Transport but there may be limitations in terms of what the current ticketing system, primarily Leap, can support. Subject to meeting the conditions of the scheme, there is currently no impediment to employers who wish to provide a voucher in respect of a shared mobility service to an employee under the small benefit exemption. The current threshold for this scheme is €1,500 per annum per employee. It is for each employer to decide whether to utilise this provision. The existing schemes are implemented as tax-exempt benefit-in-kind in order to keep the implementation as simple as possible and to reduce the administrative burden on employers and employees. The schemes are designed to be as straightforward as possible to encourage uptake by employers. The proposed model is more complex than the existing scheme and is something that would require engagement with stakeholders, including employers, software providers and transport operators. It is important to note that employers are not required to take part in the tax saver or bike-to-work schemes. Where an individual's employer does not participate in the schemes, any benefits that could arise under the relevant scheme will not be available to any employees of that employer. This means that an individual cannot avail of the scheme if their employer has chosen not to participate. However, it should be noted that if an employer does choose to participate in the schemes, employer’s PRSI is not payable on the cost of the relevant benefits when they make the associated deduction from their employees’ salary payments. Thus, there is an incentive for employers to participate in these schemes.

Sentiment score: 0.42

I appreciate the sentiment of the Deputy's contribution and I do not disagree with any of it. Particularly when we look at digitalisation and the travel wallet, all of that should be considered. I will re-emphasise to the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Transport to perhaps look at this as a pilot programme. In considering proposals in respect of all tax expenditures, the Government must be mindful of the public finances and the many demands on the Exchequer. Tax reliefs, no matter how worthwhile in themselves, lead to a narrowing of the tax base and a strong and convincing case for the benefits and outcomes needs to be articulated and due consideration given to the commitment of scarce taxpayer resources for such reliefs. To be fair, the Deputy made that argument strongly. While the conditionality around the BIK exemption for the tax saver scheme falls under the Tánaiste’s remit as Minister for Finance, the scope and conditions of the travel passes on offer are a matter for the individual transport providers. As with all tax policy measures, the tax saver scheme is kept under review by Department of Finance officials. It is particularly important in considering proposals in respect of tax expenditures that the Government is mindful of the public finances and the many demands on the Exchequer. The expansion of any scheme creates a cost and that cost must be recovered elsewhere. At present, there are no specific plans to amend the tax legislation in respect of the tax saver scheme, which is considered to be operating well. The Programme for Government: Securing Ireland's Future contains a commitment to, within the lifetime of this Government, conduct a review of the bike-to-work scheme to boost take-up among all workers. The Minister’s Department has engaged with officials in the Department of Transport in recent months in relation to this review and the terms of reference remain under consideration. I again thank the Deputy and will pass on his heartfelt sentiments to both Ministers in relation to a pilot programme for consideration.

Sentiment score: 0.39

I thank the Deputies for raising this issue. It seems absolutely ludicrous that this service was being provided to children aged over six and that Tusla was happy to allow it to continue but that things have suddenly changed. Deputy Lahart is right that transparency for parents is incredibly important, as is having certainty and predictability in respect of the service into the future. In today's world, we cannot leave children in a vacuum at any age, and particularly when they have previously had a service available to them up to the age of six. That cannot be allowed to happen. I appeal to Tusla to provide that transparency, certainty and predictability to parents immediately. It is absolutely crazy that because of this, parents might either have to leave their job or find an alternative, possibly unregulated or unsuitable, education setting for their children. Tigers Childcare and Nexus Preschool provide a full daycare service, as the Deputies alluded to, which opened in 2024. The service is registered to provide care and education to children between two and six years of age across two distinct services at the same address, both with their own staffing teams. The service was inspected on 4 March 2026. During that inspection, the service was found to be operating outside of its registered status in regard to two children over the age of six who were in attendance on the day of inspection. Should the providers wish to lawfully provide services for children who do not have a school placement, they can consider seeking approval to become an education provider pursuant to section 14 of the Education (Welfare Act) 2000. The service providers could alternatively reach a private arrangement with the parents of the children to provide services in accordance with the home tuition scheme. However, this could only be operated separately and distinctly from the existing registered early years service. The question is how to accommodate 60 children, as Deputy Moynihan noted. The service providers were requested to revert to the terms of their registration status. Under the early childhood care and education, ECCE, programme, the provision of an exemption to the upper age limit where a child has special or additional needs is made under review by the Department of children in conjunction with the Department of Education and Youth. It is a requirement that any request for an exemption to the upper age limit under the ECCE programme must include a letter from a medical specialist or therapist specifically recommending why an ECCE service would meet the child's specific needs in a more appropriate way than a primary school. In deciding on applications for exemptions to the ECCE age limits, the Department of children is guided by a review of the exemption to the upper age limit process carried out by the National Disability Authority, NDA, for the Departments of children and education in 2018. In its published report, the NDA concluded that it is in the best interest of children with additional needs to transfer to primary school with their age cohort. All cases are examined on their own merits. While many children granted an ECCE overage exemption will reach the age of six years while in their final year in ECCE, overage exemptions are not granted to children who have already reached the age of six.

Sentiment score: 0.22

I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality.

Sentiment score: 0.00

I totally concur with the Deputies' appraisal of the response to the effect that there is an avenue open now for Tusla, the provider and the Department of education to sit down and find a pathway forward. There may be a narrow window, but anything can be done within six weeks. It would seem deeply unfair that, because there may be discrepancies related to two children, 60 children and their wider network of family, parents and friends would be impacted. To give to any family the traumatic news that perhaps within six weeks' time their child will not have a place seems deeply unfair. Therefore, I appeal to Tusla to sit down with the provider and the Department of education to find a pathway forward, take away the uncertainty and give predictability to parents as quickly as possible. Once again, I thank both Deputies. I know that when you go to public meetings like those in question, there are tough stories from parents and you may feel a little inadequate sometimes in being able to deal with these things as quickly as possible. I am glad the Deputies used their time here today to make the presentation and to campaign for the parents. I will relay their very heartfelt sentiments to the Minister, Deputy Foley, this afternoon. The Minister wishes to acknowledge the role of the Tusla's early years inspectorate, which is the statutory regulator of early years services in Ireland. Regulation includes registration, inspection and, where necessary, enforcement. Regulation is very important. It is the gold stamp of approval for any service. The question here is one of why now when the service has already been in place for what I imagine is many years. Tusla's early years inspectorate promotes and monitors the safety and quality of care and support of children in Tusla-registered early years services in accordance with the Child Care Act 1991 (Early Years Services) Regulations 2016. The ECCE programme currently provides for exemptions to the upper age limit in certain circumstances, as I have outlined, to support children with additional needs. The provisions of the exemptions provide an opportunity to ensure that these arrangements continue to meet the needs of children and families while remaining consistent with the objectives of the ECCE programme. I will relay to the Minister the Deputies' heartfelt remarks on behalf of these most vulnerable children and their families.

Sentiment score: 0.19

I thank the Deputy, including for the energy he brings to the Oireachtas committee with responsibility for enterprise. He and his colleagues come from a genuine business background, so he is speaking from experience. That makes a huge difference at Oireachtas committees and in feeding into the work of the Department with me, the Minister, Deputy Burke, and the other Minister of State, Deputy Dillon. It is very helpful and very much appreciated. I thank the Deputy for the energy and experience he brings to his role. I want to outline the Department's priorities for Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union, centred on building a more competitive, innovative and resilient European economy. The Deputy's question is particularly around the regulatory burden. We have to have the relevant conversation knowing that, in the background, the evidence is available from the Draghi and Letta reports that right across Europe, not just in Ireland, we may have lost sight of what is required a little by being so correct about how we do things. We have laid huge burdens on the SME sector in particular. As the Deputy rightly stated, SMEs do not have huge human resources departments. They are multitasking, as they have to, and they are very much the backbone of this country. In light of that, we are using our Presidency to ensure we are harnessing competitiveness, including by paring back on the regulatory and bureaucratic burden that has been on businesspeople in this country for a very long time. A key cross-cutting priority will be reducing administrative burdens and improving the business environment and ecosystem. My Department will advance simplification measures to ensure EU rules are proportionate, effective and supportive of enterprise. When we say that, we are not saying that it somehow becomes the Wild West to do business. That is not it. It is about giving that gold stamp of approval to businesses, but also taking away the regulatory burden. "Simplifying" is probably a better word. The Minister, Deputy Burke, is leading the way on all this and established the cost of business advisory forum in June 2025, delivering on a programme for Government commitment. Its purpose is to examine key cost drivers and assess the impact of the rising cost of regulatory pressures on businesses in Ireland. The forum's independent report and recommendations will be presented to the Government and published on 22 July. I thank that committee for its incredible work in respect of that forum. It has been very helpful to us in our Department. These recommendations will aim to help businesses remain competitive and resilient in an increasingly challenging economic environment. The Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity was published by the Department in September 2025. It contains 85 actions. Actions are important. We need to consider these not just as recommendations but as actions that we can take as a Government to ensure our competitiveness and productivity performance. The aim behind one of the themes in the plan, "Regulating for Growth and Controlling Costs", is to ensure that the regulatory costs faced by Ireland's businesses are kept to a minimum. The action plan includes measures to support the development of a more effective regulatory system that seeks to support sustainable economic growth while controlling overall cost levels, because we know they have grown exponentially and, in some cases, have got out of control for people trying to stay in business. One such measure is the introduction of the red tape challenge across government to significantly reduce regulation and administrative burden for SMEs, which is incredibly important. Work on the red tape challenge is under way, and progress will be closely monitored. Implementation of the action plan is at an advanced stage. Officials from my Department provided an update on progress at the Competitiveness Summit on 13 July. For priority actions, 65.4% have either been implemented or are on track, while 34.6% are partially implemented and considered in progress. I will let the Deputy come back in.

Sentiment score: 0.23

I thank the Deputy very much for his presentation. It is very heartfelt but, equally important, it comes from his experience in both business and on the committee. I take his point on the effectiveness of LEOs. We can see some LEOs being hugely effective but maybe that is not the same across the country. We may need to do a mapping exercise to see the effectiveness of all our LEOs across the country. I concur with his presentation about the importance of our local authorities being able to develop enterprise parks. In my experience of the Cavan and Monaghan area, we have nowhere to develop. There may be no finance or no obvious channel of finance for the local authority to do it. Enterprise Ireland and IDA are incredibly agile and energetic Government agencies. At that local level, we find that many businesses are operating from a back shed, particularly in country parts, and along highways and byways. It is about providing the facilities, ecosystem and infrastructure. Our local authorities are very energised about doing that. We need to find ways of channelling that energy and to give them the finances and the infrastructure to do it. I concur with that. I am working with the Minister, Deputy Burke, to see what avenues and finance we can provide to our local authorities to achieve that. The Deputy is right about access to finance. We hear all the time that the pillar banks are not always the easiest for the SME sector to do business with and are not always the great risk-takers that our SMEs have to be and need to be. That is what gives them the fire in their belly every day of the week to get up and run their businesses. We need to make finance more accessible to them. Regarding the proposal the Deputy made for the publicans, I like his term "social anchor". I agree with that, particularly in country parts and in small towns and villages. In my town, we went from 46 pubs down to two or three that are in business today. In today's world, we do not need 46 pubs, however, those who remain and continue to invest in those pubs and that industry are incredibly important. They are a social anchor and should be supported as well. I have a very detailed reply to give the Deputy, and I will share that with him.

Sentiment score: 0.13

I thank the Deputy very much for raising this important issue. I pay my respects and express my condolences to the family of Ann Widdecombe. It was a shocking and heinous crime that happened to her. It is the same thing for the lady in Killarney. However, the points the Deputy raised are so true and accurate. Social media platforms fuel this. To allow comments like that to sit on the account of somebody who has lost their life in such tragic circumstances, with the further traumatic impact that has on her family, is just not acceptable. I really am of the view that the likes of The Irish Times or the Irish Independent would not be allowed to publish comments like that. They fuel that hate and allow it to continue and be exacerbated. To perpetuate that kind of vile commentary online is shocking. I am going to take time after this debate to look at the Instagram account the Deputy raised today to see for myself. I do not disbelieve the Deputy. It upsets me so much to see that is allowed. Where is the monitoring of it? The Deputy and I both sat on the Oireachtas committee where we had companies in and were promised that social media platforms would not be the wild west any more. What the Deputy has presented today certainly does not concur with that sentiment. I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of online safety. It is a priority for me and across the Government, particularly when it comes to the protection of children, women and young people. It is one of the key themes of Ireland's EU Presidency and it is an explicit whole-of-government priority in the national digital strategy, published in February of this year. We have a robust online safety framework in Ireland that should be respected and regarded. It comprises the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022, the EU's Digital Services Act, and the terrorist content online regulation. Together, they place obligations on online platforms, including social media platforms, to put measures in place to prevent and limit the spread of illegal and harmful content on their services. Last July, the framework was enhanced when the online safety code came into full force. The code includes provisions designed to strengthen the protection of children online. For example, it obliges designated video-sharing platforms to implement measures to ensure that under-18s do not have access to adult-only material, such as pornography. To comply with that provision, platforms are required to use robust age assurance measures. As the Deputy knows, the Government is working with our European colleagues to come up with an age limit on access to social media platforms. I think that is a must. The Government is developing an age verification tool to support compliance with that obligation. It will only confirm to a platform whether a person is over or under 18. No other personal information is revealed to the platform, so it will meet high standards for protection of privacy. That tool will be offered as a service on the digital wallet, on a voluntary basis. Coimisiún na Meán, as Ireland's online safety and media regulator, plays an important and central role in supervising and enforcing the regulatory framework. I have worked particularly hard on the prohibited practices piece, which will come into effect on 2 August.

Sentiment score: 0.08

The Deputy is right - it should not be there. It only encourages more of it and sends the wrong message to young people. I would appeal to the social media companies, particularly in the case the Deputy has raised this morning, that it be removed immediately. I am going to go and look at the Instagram account he raised today. It is shocking. We have strong regulation in place and I would appeal to the social media companies to respect that and regard it. We are establishing the national AI office, as the Deputy knows, and it is incredibly important that the regulations be adhered to in respect of the prohibited practices piece. The regulation is designed to ensure that illegal and harmful content - there is no question that it is harmful content - is more likely to be identified, removed and militated against. New rules to address the challenge of AI have been adopted recently and will come into force on 2 August. The Government favours this European-wide approach to the digital services, which will make it more straightforward for serve providers to comply and regulators to oversee. Digital services are provided across borders and our response should be the same. Along with supervising and enforcing regulation, raising awareness is another tool to combat harmful content online. Coimisiún na Meán is working in this area. I will take a moment to thank Hotline, which does incredible work in this area, and An Garda Síochána. I appeal to members of the public who find harmful content online to make a complaint to Coimisiún na Meán, Hotline, An Garda Síochána and, more importantly of course, to the platforms themselves to remove the content immediately.

Sentiment score: 0.07