Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, published a report which found that only half of our sewage is being treated to EU standards and that over 2.5 million tonnes of raw sewage in 32 of our towns and villages is being pumped into our seas and rivers every year. Eight of those are in my home country. In 2015 I submitted a complaint to the European Commission about the State's failure to deliver a sewerage scheme of my on home town of Gweedore. The Commission took infringing proceedings against the State as a result. Seven years later, after many missed and changed deadlines, the main scheme has not started with the only demonstration scheme now being completed. Many of the areas that have been outlined in the EPA report will not be connected to treatment plants until the second half of the decade, with raw sewage continuing to be pumped into our seas and rivers. We need action to get to grips with these failures. What assurances can the Minister give these communities that this will be addressed and in a timely manner and that the deadlines that are set down which are more than often extended or missed by Irish Water will not be missed?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The most important assurance is that the money is available. It is a pity that I did not get a chance to bring in the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The key thing we need to do is a ten-year programme with a figure like the €1.6 billion. That is as well as the money spent on housing, education, health, transport and all the other areas.

The public payment of those sorts of sums on a year in, year out basis in a systematic way is the only way. You cannot magic it up without having the budget. The key comprises the national development plan and the large, continuous, multi-annual programmes of work so there can be efficiencies in how Irish Water deploys its resources. I know the area in Gweedore. It is such a beautiful location. It is a rural area with a large population, so it needs the resources. However, so too does every other area in the country. The best way of guaranteeing the resources is guaranteeing the money.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Mr. Jonathan Tobin, from Youghal, County Cork, is currently in hospital in Greece. He had a catastrophic accident on 29 July last. His family now wants to bring him home. The HSE is liaising with his family, and both Cork University Hospital and the hospital in Greece are liaising with each other. We are now trying to get the HSE to use its discretion under the treatment abroad scheme to get an air ambulance to bring him home. I ask the Minister to please intercede with the HSE to bring the man home if possible.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Our thoughts are with the gentleman and his family. I will talk directly to the HSE. I am not sure whether the treatment abroad scheme is the mechanism required. It may well be but we will certainly consider any and all routes available.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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Public transport in Wicklow is not fit for purpose. Today, I will talk about the Go-Ahead services, specifically the 184, 185, 145 and 45A. They do not show up and drive by empty. The drivers refuse to stop to let people off buses at designated stops and leave young girls stranded in the dark at train stations and bus stations. It is completely unacceptable. I suggest that the Minister for Transport consult the Greystones Open Forum to learn about the exact impact on constituents in Wicklow. We have had enough excuses. I do not want the Minister to point to Covid or the National Transport Authority, NTA; what I want him to do is intervene immediately, given his responsibility for transport, to make sure the public transport services are available for people to use. I want to hear what immediate actions he is going to engage in. The matter needs to be dealt with by him as Minister for Transport.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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The issue the Deputy raises is real. There is a real problem, but not just in County Wicklow. Many other Deputies would cite similar examples involving Go-Ahead and other companies in other parts of the country. The Deputy is correct that Covid or any other factor is a satisfactory reason for services not being provided to the standard needed. There have been fines applied in recognition that there is a genuine difficulty, but we need to go further. I will meet representatives of the NTA tomorrow to consider what specific further measures we can take, because we do have to act. There are genuine difficulties over driver recruitment and a range of technical reasons, but we recognise that what is occurring is not satisfactory. We have to improve public transport so services will be delivered as contracted, which is not happening. We will address this by every means we can.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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Will the Minister come back to me with proposals?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I will come back to the Deputy with any specific proposals.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Earlier this week, I warned that the Government's eviction ban Bill might not protect people with notice-to-quit termination dates before its passage. Those concerns were dismissed. The Bill was published earlier and, sadly, it is very clear I was right. The Bill states explicitly that only those with termination dates that fall after its passage will receive protection against eviction. That means anybody who is overholding on a termination notice, as large numbers of those facing eviction are, through no fault of their own and purely because they have nowhere to go, still face the threat of eviction. Tenants often overhold on notices to quit based on the informal advice of councils. I am dealing with a family in Blackrock, a working couple with children who are terrified. They are not covered by the Bill. Will the Minister offer clarification, amend the Bill and accept our amendments to it? If not, he will have misled the public and the Dáil.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I have not spoken publicly in the Dáil on this. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage will have to answer the Deputy's questions when the Bill comes before the House. We have mechanisms here whereby it can be amended or adjusted, and the arguments will have to be made then. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage will, for whatever reasons, legal or otherwise-----

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I suggest the Minister pass them back now.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Let the Minister continue.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I will certainly pass on the Deputy's comments, but we should debate this in the House when it comes before the House.

Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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Since 1965, the people of Templemore have enjoyed the use of the swimming pool at the Garda training college on Friday evenings after the college has closed to trainees. Generations of families have learned to swim in the pool and engage in water safety and life-saving classes. The pool is a much-valued asset to the town. The pool closed owing to pandemic restrictions, but, unlike other facilities, it has not reopened for public use. Local people feel hurt and angry. The facts I have established are that the Garda authorities are responsible for the day-to-day running of the college and that if the college agrees to the use of its facilities, it is obliged to seek approval, under licence, from the Office of Public Works, which owns the property. The Office of Public Works is favourably disposed to allowing the use of the pool but it first must receive a formal request from the college. I request that the Government intervenes with the Garda Commissioner to resolve this. I seek the Minister's help in allowing a 57-year tradition to continue.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I am informed that the pool closed during the Covid pandemic but reopened in March and that a number of schools in the vicinity of Templemore have been granted permission to use it. I understand also that this permitted use ceased during the summer holiday period and recommenced at the start of the autumn school term. I am also advised that the use of the pool by the Garda College is granted by the Office of Public Works under licence to and for the benefit of the local community on a not-for-profit basis. I understand that clarification is being sought from the Garda Síochána on this matter. I would be surprised if the Garda did not recognise the conditions that seem to be set out by the Office of Public Works on the operation of the pool and if a satisfactory resolution were not found very quickly.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I am raising once again the savage impact of soaring energy costs on businesses. A family-owned supermarket in a small town in County Tipperary that employs 50 people has seen its energy bill rise from €7,500 per month to €18,900 per month, an increase of 152%. That is savage by any measure. Even with the welcome scheme the Government has announced, the temporary business energy support scheme, TBESS, the bills will still be €7,000 per month more than they were. Small businesses cannot carry this cost. Jobs and family businesses that have been in place for decades will disappear. Dozens of businesses throughout the country have been on to me.

The Minister mentioned "gangbusters" or something in reply to Deputy Michael Healy-Rae. Why will the Minister not tackle the ESB and energy companies with his gangbusters and do something for the people providing employment and services and who have been looking after people all their lives, which is what they want to do? They cannot survive.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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We did. That is why we devised the TBESS. It has not been introduced yet but we agreed to it in the budget process. It will be set out and introduced shortly. It provides significant support for businesses. Our objective is clear, namely to get businesses through this period in the same way as householders. The €1.2 billion provision for that is real and will be delivered. As we did during the Covid pandemic – it is a similar experience in many ways – we will not be shy in making sure businesses get support.

Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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I do not know whether the Minister is aware of the situation facing water service workers in local authorities. They have been working under a service-level agreement whereby they are employed by local authorities and provide services to Irish Water. That was due to end in 2026. Today and tomorrow, water services workers are withdrawing their services from Irish Water in Cork south, Waterford, Dublin and parts of Tipperary. They plan to include more areas and repeat their action next Tuesday and Wednesday. They are making themselves available to their employers, the local authorities. Why are they taking this action? There are very much concerned about the recent Workplace Relations Commission framework plan, their public service status and their pension rights as local authority employees. They are hugely concerned that those workers who choose to remain in the local authorities will be redeployed. The local authority management organisations are indicating they will not redeploy the workers. The workers want a ballot on the plan. They also want a clear commitment that a constitutional referendum on the public ownership and management of water services will take place and that a date and wording will be provided. The Minister cannot do anything about the industrial relations issue, but what I suggest is one of the things he can do to meet the concerns of the workers.

The Minister supported it in 2014. Will he go to the Government and demand a date and wording for it?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I still support the constitutional right for access to water and keeping it in public ownership. We were discussing wastewater treatment systems earlier and I reflected that this, probably more than anything else, was debated in the previous Dáil at length and in detail. I do not think we can unpick the solution that was reached in the Oireachtas committee on the approach we have taken on water charges, ownership and local authorities being involved. The Deputy is correct that the industrial relations, IR, issues will have to be resolved through the labour and IR systems of the State. As I understand it, we will not change tack on where Irish Water is going, and the way local authorities work with it.

With regard to a constitutional referendum, there is a long list of different referenda that we need to introduce. Water ownership is one of them. I would not oppose it, but the exact timing and sequencing of them is something that has to be considered by the entire House and the Government.

James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to ask the Minister about the national development plan. We recently saw a major project effectively being delayed or shelved in Galway with the announcement on the ring road. Is the overall plan worth €165 billion in capital spending at significant risk due to new climate targets and what happened with An Bord Pleanála? As Senator Crowe asked, is green the new red tape?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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No, it is the new reality. This summer we saw the world was burning and we are all at risk. Our future security must be protected. We will do that by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. It also provides real opportunity to benefit because the new economy and a better way of delivering things will come in a low-carbon way, in particular in transport. The current system, for five decades, has been orientated towards car ownership and use and we did not invest enough in public transport and active travel. The climate action plan addresses and recognises that, and shows that we need to change. It is not against motorists and does not say that we will not have additional roads, as we do need them, but that must be part of an overall plan that sees us meeting our emissions reduction targets. An Bord Pleanála recognised that in its letter. As I understand, the decision must go to a court hearing. The Department will continue to work with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and the local authorities to make sure we do get Galway travelling and working well. I believe a low-carbon future for Galway is also going to be the best transport system for it. I look forward to engaging with TII and the local authorities when those hearings have taken place.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Housing is the biggest societal issue of my generation and every day I meet people who are struggling to pay their rent or losing hope of some day owning their own home. This week, I heard from many prospective first-time buyers and from people saving for a deposit, who are finally seeing light at the end at the tunnel. They are encouraged by the Central Bank's decision to relax lending rules from January next and they feel that owning a new home is now something that is closer and within reach. Among the changes announced yesterday was the decision to extend the first-time buyer definition to include people who are separated and divorced and who no longer have a stake in a family home. That is in line with the Government's fresh start principle that we introduced. However, the does not extend to the Government's help-to-buy scheme for first-time buyers. Will the Minister work with his Cabinet colleagues to rectify that?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I agree with the Deputy. The Central Bank's decision to change the definition to allow separated people to be able to avail of the first-time buyers scheme seems fair, correct and just. I am loath to commit to anything, as it is the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage who must make the decision, but I will pass on the Deputy's comments in that regard and I am sure he will consider it in a timely way.

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I want to raise cancer genetic testing services. Women with the BRCA1 variant have a 40% to 87% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer and between a 16% and 68% lifetime risk of developing ovarian cancer. This compares to 11% and 2%, respectively, in the general population. Screening for the BRCA1 variant is vitally important. There is a 50% chance of inheriting this variant from a parent who has it. I received information from the HSE stating that an individual with a family history of BRCA1-related cancer will have to wait up to two years for a test, but that the overall average for all cancer screening is less than one year. Could the Government give more priority to BRCA1 testing, as early detection is vital in empowering people to make decisions about their healthcare?

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the point. The short answer is "Yes". We are expanding cancer screening services right across the board, including breast cancer. The Deputy will be aware that I have allocated money specifically in the budget for next year to expand it.

The other initiative that is happening, which will be useful, is that we have just launched a new national genetics and genomics strategy so all of the screening and genetics work will work together in line with significant ongoing funding for the national cancer strategy. I will take back the specific point the Deputy raised to the Department and the HSE.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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Local authorities have been instructed by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to purchase homes where a tenant has a notice to quit, which will allow them to stay in situ. Could a circular be issued to instruct local authorities to purchase homes outside the scheme of letting, subject to price and condition? There is an ad hocapproach by local authorities across the country and more certainty is needed given the crisis we are in.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I will again have to refer the Deputy's question to the relevant Minister because it relates to a specific policy issue, which he would have to consider. I agree with the Deputy. It was a welcome decision to allow local authorities greater flexibility. As I stated earlier in response to Deputy Mattie McGrath, we must be innovative and quick in how we address the housing crisis we face.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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The budget contained important additional funding for people who need energy credits, namely, every household in the country, and it is welcome. Over a 12-month period it will amount to more than €800. I wish to raise one cohort of people, namely, full-time residents of mobile homes in my constituency, and I am sure the constituencies of other Members as well, who pay for their utilities directly to the park operators through a private meter. What steps does the Minister intend to take to ensure that full-time residents in that situation will get the energy credit?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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If the Deputy sends me the specific details, I will follow it up and check with the Department.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I did already.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I do not have it here in front of me, but I will come back to the Deputy.

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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It was on 6 October.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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To answer the question, first, the energy credit system is the right approach. As I indicated in an earlier response, it had a material effect. There were approximately 200,000 in arrears and that reduced to 150,000 on the back of the credit and we expect to see a similar response this time. We said in agreeing the next tranche that we want it to be universal. There are certain families in various circumstances, for example, Traveller families, whom we are making sure get it through local authorities. My understanding is that the people the Deputy mentioned in those circumstances have access through the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB. We said that those in the rental sector who are not able to get the direct payment because they might not be the name attached to the meter reading-----

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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They own their mobile homes.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Yes, but-----

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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We are running out of time.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I will look at the specifics. The Deputy is referring to someone who owns a mobile home rather than someone who rents one where the meter is done a different way. I will look at the specifics of the issue and try to make sure we cover every case.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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Aontú found out that 400 gardaí have resigned in recent years, and the number of gardaí resigning from the Garda force is increasing year on year. There was meant to be an intake of 200 recruits into Templemore this month but not even 50 applications were received, and the class was scrapped. Ireland has one of the lowest numbers of police per capita in the European Union and the situation has not improved at all since the austerity cuts ten years ago. The lowest number of gardaí is in the Minister for Justice's county. For some crimes, detection rates are as low as zero. That means for a crime such as burglary, crime does pay for everybody who is involved in it in her constituency. Many in the political class live in safe, leafy suburbs and tend not to prioritise this issue because crime and antisocial behaviour are not a day-to-day experience for them. Will the Minister make sure that the Government invests properly in the Garda force so we have the numbers to fight the scourge of crime?

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will accept that record funding was provided by the Government to the Department of Justice and An Garda Síochána this year. Significant Garda recruitment has begun, and additional Garda recruitment will begin next year.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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It is not getting the allocation.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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More than 10,000 expressions of interest for enlarged Garda recruitment were received and-----

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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There are seven stages. By the time they have been whittled down to the final stage, there are fewer than that.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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-----in regard to the dispersal of gardaí around the country, that is a matter for the Garda Commissioner.

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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I again raise the issue of school bus transport, which has been a huge problem in recent months. Thankfully, the Minister for Education recently announced she was going to introduce a system whereby children who had been on a concessionary ticket last year or who had been entitled to concessionary travel in the past would be allowed on a bus this year, with a provision put in place for that. However, my understanding, from speaking to the organisers of school transport on the ground, is that this is not happening and that one of the reasons for that is they have been told there have to be ten or more children with concessionary tickets on the bus. Most of the buses are mini-buses and there might be only 15 to 20 children on them anyway and, therefore, that would mean half of them would have to have concessionary tickets. If that rule is being applied, it simply will not work. Will the Minister get clarity on that? It is vital that every child who has a concessionary ticket and needs a school bus seat will get one.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I will seek clarity from the Minister for Education. I do not have the details in front of me. The Department operates this programme in conjunction with Bus Éireann. At this time, when we have greatly reduced the cost and are expanding the number of people using the service, we want to try to cover every eventuality. I will ask her Department to come back to the Deputy with the specifics on that question.

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I congratulate Amy Broadhurst and all the women boxers fighting in Montenegro at the European championships. We have a record haul of bronze medals and I congratulate them on that. We wish them the best of luck as-----

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Will the Deputy get to the question?

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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-----they try to turn them into silver and gold.

The Minister will know what I am going to ask him about. It relates to Carlinn Hall and communal heating systems. Long term, we need solutions, whether they will involve geothermal instead of gas woodchip. In the short term, however, we need to help these residents, whether through a business support scheme given to the likes of a front line and then passed on to the residents, or some sort of cap or credit. We need a bespoke solution to get people through a bad winter.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I have talked to the Deputy about this on a number of occasions. He is correct; there is a small number of significant difficulties the residents have experienced having made what was, in my mind, a very good investment in a communal heating system but having been caught out because of the high price of gas. I do not believe, as I said to him the other day, that this would qualify for the temporary business energy support scheme, TBESS, although we will have to see when the specific provisions of that scheme are put in place, nor do I believe there could be a cap specifically for such circumstances. There are alternative solutions they can switch to, whether wood pellet or other systems, for managing it.

One point, which may be of limited comfort, is that there has been a significant reduction in the international price of gas on the spot market in recent weeks. While we cannot be certain as to how long that will last and it is likely to do with wider international factors, it may give some relief from what were exceptionally high prices that those householders, in particular, faced. I know it is not sufficient, but it may be of some relief to them in the interim.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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I raise a similar issue relating to the high price of gas. The Minister will be aware the European Commission has identified Ireland and Denmark as the two countries best suited to the production of biomethane. The Commission also introduced the REPowerEU scheme, the first tranche of which was to fund countries to improve their biomethane sector. Italy drew down €4.8 billion, while Denmark already produces 25% of the gas it consumes as biomethane. I asked the Taoiseach last week a "Yes" or "No" question, namely, whether we had applied for that scheme. He ducked the question, as is his wont, and said I would receive an answer to my "Yes" or "No" question directly from the Minister's Department. I have not received it yet.

In the meantime, Caroline O'Doherty of the Irish Independent reported that we are spending €350 million on emergency generators. The last time I saw one of those was in a compound in Kabul after ten years of rule by the warlords in the Northern Alliance. Did the State apply for funding to improve our biomethane sector under the REPower EU scheme? It is "Yes" or "No",

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I will have to come back on what specifically we said at the EU. I do not believe we did but I will have to check that is correct.

The Deputy's depiction of those generators as like something from Kabul of ten years ago is not accurate or correct. This is modern, new, highly efficient equipment-----

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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I am glad we are not buying second-hand ones from Afghanistan.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Will the Deputy let the Minister respond?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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-----that is going to be needed as part of the solution.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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Did the Minister say the generators are not going to be needed?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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They are going to be needed. Second, biomethane is going to be part of our low-carbon transition. We agreed in the sectoral emission ceilings this summer that we would develop 5.8 TWh of biomethane, largely from the agricultural sector. This is proven technology. It is not-----

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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We forgot to apply for funding, however.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Deputy, let the Minister respond.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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We are at first base in getting the mechanisms and policies in place to roll out that infrastructure. We have never been short of applying for European funding. We have been remarkably successful in drawing down funding in a range of tranches of European funding. I would not rule out further funding from Europe for this development. We will continue to work with the Commission.

Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent)
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And the Government will apply the next time.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Deputy, please.

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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Last Sunday evening, I stood with businesspeople and residents whose homes had been flooded for the third time in four years. Thurles has a combined sewer, where storm water mixes with sewage, which exacerbated the situation. Having your home or business flooded with water is one thing, but having sewage come in around your home is another entirely. When will money be provided to put the infrastructure right in Thurles to allow for the waste treatment plant? Will these homes and businesses that were flooded get compensation? Will flood barriers be provided for these homes and businesses that are being flooded constantly until the infrastructure in the town can be improved?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I am aware, given somebody provided me with the details, of the situation in Thurles the other night. It was particularly acute, as I understand it, with water coming up through the mains and flooding that way. It is a significant issue, not just in Thurles. There are an estimated 2,350 storm water overflows in our wastewater system and there are similar circumstances in many of them, albeit not as acute as what happened in Thurles the other day. I will pass on to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, who is responsible for Irish Water and local authorities, the details the Deputy provided. We need to look to do whatever we can to respond to what I believe was a significant and severe incident of this combining of storm waters and wastewater.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I was contacted by the father of an eight-year-old girl who had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the end of last year. She is under the care of an excellent team in Cavan General Hospital but she is finding the insulin injections quite stressful. When her parents inquired about an insulin pump, they were told that due to staffing and funding issues, that was not possible in Cavan General Hospital and the doctor referred her to a different hospital. I know this does not apply just to Cavan General Hospital and a lot of other hospitals have the same issue. I have spoken about this previously to the Minister for Health and somebody from his office was in touch with me, but my understanding is the HSE has not responded on this issue. I raise it again, therefore, to look for an answer on whether funding will be supplied to Cavan General Hospital and other hospitals to provide insulin pumps in diabetes clinics.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, funding for various services for children is in place. I have raised the case she highlighted with the HSE and I believe the Department has responded to her. It is an ongoing case. I will receive an update in approximately two hours and we will revert to her on it.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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In a week when serious questions have arisen as to whether we can deliver a ring road for Galway, an issue that one expects will be immersed in a quagmire of planning and legal issues for many years to come, it is now time to focus on the things we can deliver that will improve the quality of life of people who live in Galway city and county. I asked the Minister in September 2020 to look into the feasibility of double-tracking the rail line from Athenry to Galway, thus greatly improving the capacity, flexibility and reliability of that service, and he committed then to carrying out a feasibility study, which would report in mid-2021. It has been two years since I asked that question and still there is no report. I have been told by the Minister of State with responsibility for the NTA that the feasibility study for the double-tracking of Athenry to Oranmore is somehow now attached to the national all-island rail review.

It is time we urgently focused on the things we can deliver that will deliver significant change and great improvement in the quality of life for people who live in Galway city and county. We need to unshackle those projects from other analyses, reports and reviews that will be ongoing for many years to come.

We need to deliver what needs to be delivered right now.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I agree with the Deputy. One of the reasons investments like that make sense is that we need to adhere to the national planning framework. There is excess development on the east coast compared in particular with Cork, Galway, Waterford and Limerick. In each of those cities, in the near future, I expect us to make announcements similar to that which was made in Moyross earlier this week. We need to make similar investments in our rail network, especially in our cities. That is why we invested in Cork metropolitan rail as one of the main projects in our European resilience funding applications. I see the twin-tracking from Athenry to Ceannt Station in Galway in a similar light and, indeed, Waterford station moving along the River Suir.

Those sorts of investments will be considered within the national all-island rail review. That is imminent and I expect it will be complete within weeks or two or three months, at the latest. That might help make the case for the investment decision.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I thank Members for their co-operation. We are just under two minutes over time in this slot. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.