On a point of clarification, I have a table I can show Deputy Doherty which states mineral oil tax non-carbon, in other words what we refer to as-----
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It is zero euro and zero cent.
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Carbon tax, which Sinn Féin wants to abolish-----
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-----but the rest of the Opposition does not and the NORA levy, which we have got rid of-----
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I will send Deputy Doherty a copy after Leaders' Questions because this is one of three errors he has made this week.
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Quite frankly, a little bit of competency after 16 years as our country's Opposition spokesperson on finance would be helpful.
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I thank Deputy Doherty for that.
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It is there for anybody to read that it is zero euro and zero cent.
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I will make it available to the Deputy.
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Sorry, on the very important issue of Donegal-----
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Sorry. My apologies to Deputy Lawlor but there was also a very important issue in relation to Donegal. I just needed to correct that issue. In relation to the Donegal-Dublin -----
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Please, this quite an important-----
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I think Deputy Donnelly's colleague would like me to answer the question that has been raised about Donegal. It is a very important issue and one I want to acknowledge. I thought people in Donegal, in terms of the politicians in this House, were working together on it. I know that my party colleague, Senator Manus Boyle, along with Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher, the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, Deputy Doherty and his colleague Deputy Mac Lochlainn, and Deputy Charles Ward, have all engaged on this issue with the Minister and the community. I met with the Irish Cancer Society on this issue and we discussed it last week. This is a very serious issue for people in Donegal, particularly but not exclusively for cancer patients.
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Just bear with me for one second. I spoke to the Minister in relation to it. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has confirmed that he anticipates that next week he will be in a position to announce the reinstatement of the midday service and the overnighting of the aircraft in Donegal.
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I know it well.
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Hear, hear.
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The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, is doing a lot more than just writing letters. She is taking a very hands-on approach in relation to this issue. She has the full support of the entire Government in getting this project over the line. It is a project that will transform children's health in this country. The Minister is continuing to work hard on this. She met with the international company, Royal BAM, recently so it is unfair to suggest that she is just writing letters. She is doing a hell of a lot more than that. The other thing that the Minister has worked on with the Department, the HSE and CHI is early access. I am sure Deputy Rice heard about that at the committee yesterday. This has enabled CHI to have access to the hospital which has meant that 3,245 pieces of equipment have been deployed to the new hospital, 930 pieces of ICT equipment and 1,100 pieces of electronic health records. While we are continuing to do everything we can to protect the taxpayer and to keep the pressure on in relation to BAM, I am pleased that in parallel to that, the early access is allowing the hospital to begin to be actually equipped so it can be ready to treat the children of this country.
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I thank Deputy Coppinger. I will certainly raise the IRP backlog with the Minister for justice, Deputy O'Callaghan. I will also ask the Minister to look at Iby's case on compassionate grounds, as she has asked. Without knowing the details of the case, obviously my heart and feelings go out, as do those of Deputy Coppinger, to Iby and her family at this time, in terms of her own cancer journey. I will ask the Minister to look at that. More broadly when it comes to the rules, it is perfectly within the right of a Government, if not the responsibility, to make sure there are clear rules in place in terms of who can come into this country. We want people to come to Ireland, to work here and to make a positive contribution and many do. I fully acknowledge that our health service would fall over if it was not for people coming here. We need to have absolute clarity in relation to issues like family reunification. The reforms the Minister is bringing in are sensible in terms of asking people to show an ability to be able to support their family before they come to the country. That is common sense and is in line with what happens in many other countries.
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No, I do not.
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I do not. It might sound reasonable to people listening at home, based on how the Deputy has framed it, but the critical infrastructure Bill is very straightforward legislation that is urgently required to give the Minister and the Government of the day the ability to prioritise certain projects. It is enabling legislation and it is extraordinarily straightforward. There is urgency around building homes and water and wastewater facilities. Energy is an issue we are talking about right now. If the Deputy wants to sit around and talk about it for months, that is fine, but we do not. We want to get on with it. To draw comparisons is just misleading. It sounds good in a clip, but there is no link whatsoever with a Bill that will enable the Minister to say that a flood relief project or a wastewater treatment plant in a particular town is urgent and to ask people to get on with assessing it. There is no link at all.
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There really is not.
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I would make the point that there are limitations on what it is legally possible to do to excise duty. This week, the Government took measures on excise duty, fuel allowance and the diesel rebate. Some members of the Opposition are asking me to reduce the non-carbon excise element of home heating oil, which does not exist. I cannot do that. There are also rules around the energy tax directive. There is a limit - I am just being honest - to how much we can do in relation to the excise duty on green diesel. However, farmers will benefit from the reduction we made and the pause of the National Oil Reserves Agency, NORA, levy. The total benefit will be around 5 cent. I recognise that farmers and the agrifood sector may, like other sectors in the economy, require assistance in the time ahead. The Government will remain nimble and agile in respect of those issues. This week was about excise duty and doing what we could to alleviate the cost increases in petrol and diesel, to help those most at risk of fuel poverty and to provide crucial assistance for the supply chains in our economy around the haulage sector. I am aware of the pressures that other sectors of the economy are under or may come under in the time ahead. That is one of the reasons that the Government has brought in these measures for a time-bound period. It will give an opportunity to come back. I will keep in touch with the Deputy because I know it is an important issue that impacts his community and many people across the country.
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I thank the Deputy for again raising this issue. I am conscious that, as he rightly said, he has been raising this issue since his first day in this House, and indeed even before that. I know it is an important issue to his constituents and communities across Dublin north. I assure him that real progress is now finally being made. Following the review of the national development plan, the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, secured over €2 billion for a justice sectoral investment plan out to 2030. Some €911 million of that money is allocated to Garda projects. That is a significant level of investment. It includes the completion of new Garda stations and a new headquarters for the Dublin north region. I am pleased that there is now a timeline against this commitment, and the project will go to construction by 2028. The OPW is now actively working with the Garda and the Department to identify and appraise the most suitable site. The funding is now there. It is ring-fenced and clear. We now need to see the momentum so the project can go to construction by that time at the latest. I will ask the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, keep the Deputy closely apprised.
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I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I will talk directly to the Minister, Deputy Naughton, and the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, about the issue. At a time when we are seeking to open more classes and there is a school, and indeed a new school building, willing to accommodate those classes, I would be supportive of that proceeding. I will talk to the Minister, Deputy Naughton, and the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, and ask them to come back to the Deputy to see if we can make progress on the matter.
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I thank the Deputy. I will ask the Minister to further engage with him and Deputy Ward. I know the Deputy previously raised the issues of the Gaelscoileanna and those autism classes in his community. We will try to make progress on that together. Déanaim comhghairdeas le Lucan girl guides on their success and the pride they brought to their community. The Deputy is right to highlight the hugely positive work that is carried out in communities across Ireland, including his own constituency of Dublin Mid-West, by girl guides organisations and scouting groups. We all had an opportunity to see that in a very visible way during the St. Patrick's Day parades that took place in all of our communities. We need to support them. I am pleased to say that the community centre investment fund, which has already had a transformative impact in communities across Ireland, was opened this morning by the Minister, Deputy Calleary, for the fourth round of applications. The 2026 fund is going to focus on the refurbishment of existing facilities in communities across the country. Scouting and girl guides groups that can satisfy the conditions can, of course, apply. The conditions require that they are not-for-profit organisations, under which requirement the two organisations qualify, must be in existence for at least years, which I imagine many of them have been, and must currently manage an existing centre and be open to the wider communities. Those are the criteria, and scouting groups and girl guides can certainly apply on that basis.
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I join with him in praising our firemen and firewomen, firefighters across the country and all those involved in our fire services for the vital work they do. It is important we show our gratitude, not just in words but in investment in them and their facilities. I thank the Deputy for raising this. He has been a consistent advocate for Ballymahon fire station. I know how important this is to the community in south Longford for all the reasons he mentioned, including the many people who now visit Longford as part of the incredible success that Center Parcs has been. Providing fire services is a statutory responsibility of individual fire authorities, or local authorities, under the fire Acts. The good news is that in planning for the next capital programme, Longford has reiterated that Ballymahon is a priority project for the county in terms of fire services. I understand the fire service is now actively working on identifying a preferred site. I have clear indications from conversations I have had very recently that this project is moving in the right direction. There could be positive developments on it very shortly. It would be premature for me to get ahead of the finalisation of the new programme, but I assure the Deputy that the Minister, Deputy Browne, will keep in close contact with him on this. I will keep a close eye on this as well because the case the council has made is compelling. It has been clear in relation to Ballymahon being priority project number one. We have given a significant allocation to the fire service capital programme. I expect progress on this very shortly.
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Any local TD will always have a view that their constituency should or should not receive additional things.
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Hang on a second. The Deputy used very emotive language when he asked whether this is "a box-ticking exercise". Let me be very clear that as of yesterday, for the very first time in the history of this State we now have a DEIS plus programme. I do not usually do this, but I remember Aodhán Ó Ríordáin looking for this when he was in this House. He is now Labour Party MEP for Dublin. This is something that has been called for across this House for a long time.
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The former education Minister, Deputy McEntee, worked on it, as did the current Minister, Deputy Naughton. This Government delivered it yesterday. There are 121 schools - 96 primary schools and 25 post-primary schools - that will get enhanced support. They are the most disadvantaged of the disadvantaged, factually. This is a start. It is an important start that will make a real difference in tackling educational disadvantage. There will be more than 400 additional roles, 350 extra teaching posts benefiting 700 schools nationwide and the expansion of the home school liaison programme to 130 additional schools. The Deputy should please continue to advocate for more schools in his community-----
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-----but he should not be so populist.
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Sinn Féin should not be opposing for the sake of opposing. This is a really positive development.
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It is a really positive development.
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Some 700 schools will benefit overall and 121 will get enhanced supports. It is not box-ticking; it is transformational.
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The criteria are very clear.
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Do not try to taint a programme that has so much scientific support behind it in terms of educational advantage.
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I thank the Deputy for flagging this important issue. I will make some further inquiries on foot of her raising it with me. My initial sense and awareness of this issue is that the Department of Social Protection was extraordinarily proactive in promoting auto-enrolment, not just with private sector employers but also with the public service. There was a very long lead-in time for individual Departments and agencies to make their preparations and necessary resource allocations for this through the normal budgetary process that every Department has. The Deputy has got data that suggests some Departments have given different answers than others. I will certainly make my own inquiries and come back to the Deputy directly. I would also appreciate any information she has. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Calleary, to look at that. I will come back to the Deputy with a more considered response.
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It has also been raised by my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, who represents Sligo. There are a specific set of circumstances in that a private owner of a facility has decided to sell. I do not mean to call it a facility; it is people's home. It would be worth inquiring whether there are any solutions that can be explored through local authorities or State agencies to assist there. I am not yet apprised of the full facts but it seems to be a particular set of circumstances. More broadly, and we have different views on this, I will make the point that the rental reforms we brought in aimed to create a balance in increasing the supply of tenancies and rental markets, and providing a suite of new protection measures for tenants, including the six-year tenancy and the extension of rent pressure zones nationwide.
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There are clear rules and laws that need to be followed. There is also the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB. We have seen some examples of where people tried to deviate from the law. That cannot be allowed either and was not allowed in the case that was highlighted in this House recently. The RTB has a very important role to play in this too.
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I thank Deputy McCormack for raising this issue about his constituents and Blue Ball, the impact that is having on them and his concerns regarding the delay in terms of the restoration of the service and the understandable anxiety that is creating in the community as to whether the service will be reinstated. On foot of the Deputy raising it here today, I will ask the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, who has ministerial responsibility for our postal services, to engage with An Post and come back to the Deputy directly.
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue again. I know it is one he is very keen to see progress on - as am I - and I assure him that work is under way to ensure this. We cannot be in favour of a savings and investment union at an EU level, which we passionately are, and not make sure our citizens are able to benefit from that here. There are so many people in this country who are trying to do the right thing and put away small amounts of money for themselves, their kids and a rainy day. I am talking about small amounts of money here and middle Ireland. People are playing the rules and are not getting any return on it. In fact, it often loses value in real terms too. I am very keen to establish those investment accounts in Ireland. Work is ongoing on this. The first annual savings and investment forum will take place next Tuesday, where we will begin to parse through with stakeholders how that might be developed. I am looking at what other countries have done and I think Sweden has done well with this. The Deputy is also right that we need to look at what we can do around existing taxation structures on retail investment. He will know we took a first step last year in reducing the rate of tax applying to investments in Irish and offshore funds to 38%. The overall policy rationale for deemed disposal is the issue here that we need to explore and try to make progress on. I am very confident we can make progress together in the time ahead.
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For families who are most in need, the protections remain in place and I want to say that. The protections are in place for any student with a full medical card, anybody covered under their parent's or guardian's card will continue to be fully exempt-----
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I get confused sometimes as to the Sinn Féin economic position. Is it everything must be free or is it that we should we target supports at those most in need? If it is that we should target supports at those most in need-----
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Do not tut-tut at me, please. If it is that we should target supports at those most in need and if it is Sinn Féin's position that every cost-of-living measure that was in place pre-Covid should remain in place post-Covid, that is a very different sort of Ireland. We made it very clear we were moving to sustainable, permanent reductions in core areas; the permanent reduction in college fees, the permanent progress we want to make on childcare and making targeted interventions here as well.
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These fees were last charged in 2019. They will be at the same level they were since 2012 which means in real terms, they will be a lot less. Crucially, protections for students in need financially, through that medical card system which means they are fully exempt, remain in place.
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So do I and so does my colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, sitting here beside me. I know Deputy Lawless does too. When I think of Knock Airport, I always think of two things. One is the visit I had there during the election campaign. It was a very good visit with Deputy Dillon, former Taoiseach Enda Kenny and others. I think it was also the place where the late Pope visited when he came to Ireland and I think he said "Mayo for Sam". Sure look, the dream lives on. These are the things in my mind but I know it is an incredibly important part of the airport infrastructure in this country. We are an island nation. Our airports play a massive role, as too does Knock Airport. We should never, ever have a situation in this country where we think it was a choice between growing what happens at Dublin Airport or the regional airports. We will need that capacity right across the network. That is why we have invested over €20 million in capital funding in Knock Airport over the past few years. Under the regional airport programme, I really believe we will able to make progress and along the lines that the Deputy, the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, and others are discussing. We are fully supportive of the growth and development of Knock Airport.
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I thank Deputy Michael Collins for raising this important issue, which I know he regularly raises. I will specifically speak to the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, about the issues in west Cork and what further actions can be taken there on the issues the Deputy raised. Evidence shows that around 2% of children and young people should require the support of CAMHS but referrals are continuing to increase every year for the service. Referrals to CAMHS increased from 17,436 children in 2020 to over 29,000 in 2025. It is an increase of almost 70% in referrals in six years. That is an insight into the level of pressure and challenge that exists as well. We have seen CAMHS very significantly increase its acceptance of referrals. It accepted about 16,600 referrals last year, which was 14% more than the previous year. There are now 81 community teams which delivered over 231,000 appointments last year. There has been an increase in funding as well. There was €181 million allocated last year and a further €10 million has been allocated this year, leading to a ring-fenced budget of €190 million. I know there are real challenges. Sometimes, those challenges are on recruitment. On foot of the Deputy raising it here today, I will specifically ask the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, who I know is very passionate about this area, to engage directly with the Deputy too.
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