James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am concerned that we are building a mountain that the Government may have to climb and that it could be quite a nasty one if we delay implementing a major scheme that will allow people to scrap older diesel vehicles. I am particularly concerned that tens of thousands of vehicles using traditional methods of combustion are still being bought and put onto Irish roads on an annual basis. The reality is that in the 2030s we will be in a new era when it comes to how we fuel our cars. There will be a financial burden and impact in terms of the trade-in value of vehicles, if it will even be permitted to trade them in. We all want to see a degree of clarity brought to this particular area. I ask that over the course of this year the Minister would work on a comprehensive scheme that will allow people to transition from diesel to hybrid vehicles. The schemes that are currently in place are very small in terms of the proportional cost of purchasing hybrid and fully electric vehicles, which often are significantly more expensive that their diesel and petrol counterparts. This is an area that needs to be worked on.

We had a lot of drama over the course of the past 12 months around the National Cyber Security Centre, and rightly so. As Minister with responsibility for communications, what assurances can the Minister provide that the Irish defence system, in terms of defence from cyber attacks into the future, has been strengthened by way of the actions he has taken in the context of this year's budget?