John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have just sat down. I thank the Minister of State and I apologise that I was not present for all the committee meeting as I had a commitment in the Seanad. I would like to comment on a couple of areas of the Minister of State’s brief. The built heritage grant schemes that are in place, such as thatching grants schemes, are very valuable. I do not need to tell the Minister of State that. We get exceptional value for money in the rolling out of those schemes. Any additional moneys in that space would be very much welcomed, as would any additional funding for our trails, walking trails in particular. They have been a significant outlet for many throughout the pandemic as well as for those who use them regularly.

I wonder about the electoral reform Bill. Does the Minister of State have a date for this? Maybe he has already answered this. Is there a date for that legislation? We have done substantial work as a committee in our pre-legislative scrutiny report on that. When will that before both Houses? In that context, my colleague, Deputy Higgins, in her contribution, raised the regulation of political advertising outside of election periods. I echo her comments. The Bill, as it currently stands in the general scheme, is quite narrow in just focusing on that. This is particularly the case for the online space and we need to look beyond that.

I raised a local issue with the Minister of State, on which he has committed to coming back to me, namely, the possibility of roofing of Greyfriars through donations and at no cost to the State. This is where the Minister of State officially opened the Irish Museum of Time on a beautiful summer’s day. While we did not get rained on that day, it would be fantastic to have a roof on the building to proof it for the future and against all weathers.

Waterford is a substantial coastal county. There is a growing number of issues with the population of seals on our coastline, which is impacting the livelihood of fishermen. Does the Minister of State have a plan in place to look at and address that matter?