Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Tánaiste for attending the meeting. I wish to run through a couple of points made in his opening statement.

In respect of Science Foundation Ireland funding, the Tánaiste said this has moved from his Department to the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science with the €106 million of capital appropriations carrying forward. Can I again highlight the extra CT scanner at SEAM Gateway at WIT? This project was approved in 2018 but has yet to be funded. Could the Tánaiste use his offices with the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to see that this gets funded? It is a very important project for enterprise development in the south east.

The Tánaiste also referenced the allocation of €162 million to IDA Ireland to build an advanced manufacturing centre and the allocation of €10 million to IDA Ireland's regional property programme. Can I point out to the Tánaiste that there is no IDA Ireland office in Waterford, which is the regional gateway to the south east in Project Ireland 2040? Could the Tánaiste speak to IDA Ireland about this issue?

I reference what Deputy O'Reilly called the Border-midlands region. I have been asking for the development of a Western Development Commission-type body for the south east region for quite a while. This would be something supported by the State and by statute. Could the Tánaiste look at that?

In respect of collective bargaining and the Labour Employer Economic Forum, I also asked that ISME be included in the forum. Again, this is something the Tánaiste's office can develop. I am happy to see ISME is now getting a seat on the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council but it must be on the Labour Employer Economic Forum to represent smaller businesses, which are not being properly represented.

Regarding the reform of PIAB, does the Tánaiste have any concerns about the attachment of post-traumatic stress disorder claims to soft tissue injuries, which would basically allow those claims to proceed from PIAB to the Circuit Court where the claims will be much higher? Does the Tánaiste have any plans to track that ongoing development?

Regarding the situation with the hospitality industry, we must get back to some kind of large pilot testing using antigen testing. Could the Tánaiste give us any outline of whether his Department or the Department of Health will look at any type of large-scale piloting of antigen and early screen testing to help hospitality to reopen?