Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Government members talk relentlessly about price hikes like they are commenting on the weather. It drives people spare to see the Government doing nothing as they get fleeced every day. Banks are posting €5 billion profits from squeezing homeowners and short-changing savers. We have double-digit rent increases, crippling childcare costs and four consecutive months of petrol and diesel increases. Next Tuesday, eight different providers will raise their charges. Insurance and energy bills are rising. Mobile, broadband and television service providers are all hiking their prices mid-contract. It is absolutely relentless.

The Taoiseach has said there will be no cost-of-living package in this year's budget. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, has said he supports him in that. Surely to God the Minister understands the pressure ordinary people are under. He needs to revisit the idea of bringing forward a cost-of-living package to address the crippling costs people the length and breadth of this State are facing.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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We absolutely recognise the challenges many are facing at the moment, the degree to which some charges within our economy are going up and the effect of so many years of very high levels of inflation within our economy. However, we also must be very honest about the environment we are in and the need to not add to risks that are made here at home. Of course the Government wants to look at supports we can put in place to deal with the various price changes that are taking place. What we cannot do at this stage, and what we will not be able to do come the budget, is commit to the kinds of packages that were there in the past, for the simple reason that spending many billions of euro when inflation is now down at a lower level could create problems and risks for us in the future in terms of our ability to afford them and what effect that could have on our public finances at a time when we need to keep them safe. I know this will be a complex argument to make in the time ahead. I am aware of the difficulties so many households and businesses are facing. However, at a time of international risk, we do not want to create additional risks that could arise in the months ahead for our country.

Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
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Schools are at absolute breaking point financially. Having spoken to a number of principals in recent days, I have come to the understanding that schools are unable to continue providing an education because they do not have the funds to operate. One principal informed me that the Department of Education and the financial support services unit, FSSU, have told schools to take money out of their hot meals account to pay their bills. That is absolutely outrageous. In other instances, the Department has advised schools to set up a payment plan to pay for heating and lighting costs. That payment plan can only last for one month. A principal of one school outlined how the heating is being turned off and students are being asked to put on their coats.

Another principal told me the school had to use the grant it received in January for maths equipment to pay for lighting and heating costs. This has a knock-on effect for the upcoming academic year. Summer capitation grants could be used for equipment and minor works, as the Minister knows, for the academic year to come but the backlog of bills and invoices are actually being paid for with this capitation grant. We are in a situation now where schools are robbing Peter to pay Paul in the context of this capital grant.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I absolutely accept the importance of the individual issues the Deputy has raised, but his statement regarding schools that are unable to provide education does not tally with the quality of education and teaching that happens across our schools in this country. I am not denying for a moment that there are issues that many schools confront but what we have seen is, with regard to the funding that is available to the Department of Education, the money they spend and the teachers that are available to them, the investment levels have gone up year after year. I know the Minister, Deputy McEntee, will continue to do all she can with the funding available to her to respond to the important issues many schools are facing at the moment. We have never spent so much on our schools as we are spending at the moment because we have never had so many reasons to be reminded of how important our schools are at the moment.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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To respond to the Minister's last comment, I would encourage him to go down to Rutland National School in his own constituency. It has just received an electricity bill that creates a risk it will have to close its doors. That is not the issue I intended to raise, however.

It has been 157 days since the report of the Dublin city task force was launched to great fanfare. We remember all the Ministers and all the press releases and yet, 157 days later, there is none of the funding. This is not a local issue for me. This is about how we respect the main thoroughfare of our capital city. A CSO report published yesterday captured once again the challenges for businesses in the city centre, highlighting a marked increase in crime and theft from 2023 to 2024. The Minister claimed to be a pro-business candidate. He understands the impact this is having on businesses in our capital city. When will funding be released for the Dublin city task force so we can get the capital city to the state it should be in?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I know the Rutland Street school as well as the Deputy does. I am not denying the fact that bills have gone up but I go into the school and I see the degree of special and additional education that is made available. I stand over my point regarding the value of the work it does and how it is funded. I could go around the corner to the Rutland Street community centre which is now being built at a cost of many tens of millions of euro to support that community. I could go down Sheriff Street and look at the new St. Laurence O'Toole's National School building. I could go up to Parnell Square and see the new school that is being built there at the moment for Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire. The Deputy is making a charge regarding our support for schools in a constituency that both of us are lucky enough to represent. I will point to the work that is happening as well.

With regard to the question Deputy Gannon planned to ask me and what is happening at the moment with regard to the two points he Deputy raised, the Government will prioritise the city centre that the Deputy and I are lucky enough to represent for additional gardaí. We accept the Deputy's point that the city needs that Garda presence. With regard to additional funding that needs to be made available to support the Dublin city task force, the Government is aware of the need to respond to that, and I will certainly play my part in it.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Coillte has got rid of Coillte Nature, its not-for-profit climate division. We are told it is being absorbed into the wider organisation. We are told that the need for a separate nature team has been superseded by the overall Coillte strategic vision, which was published in 2022. Yet, that strategic vision - that very document - spotlighted Coillte Nature as delivering nature projects at scale. Only last year, Coillte Nature signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Parks and Wildlife Service on restoring biodiversity on Coillte lands, so how is it that a division of Coillte that was central to delivering nature-based solutions up to one year ago is suddenly dispensable? Is the Government comfortable with the decision to quietly delete Coillte Nature, a decision that was taken while the new Government was actually forming? Will the Government, as shareholders of Coillte, demand that the organisation reconsider its abandonment of its nature obligations?

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I am happy to answer this question. This structural change is very much seen by Coillte as bringing the whole area of biodiversity and its importance into the heart of the Coillte organisation and it is not in any way a diminution of the importance of the work that Coillte Nature did previously. It is just a structural change within that organisation, and the key focus and importance of that within the Coillte organisation.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Did Coillte tell the Minister that it was doing it?

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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In February, yes. It is very much still a focus. I can reassure the Deputy of that.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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I wish to bring to the Minister's attention a serious matter which recently impacted my constituents in Cork North-Central, in the areas of Ballyvolane and Dublin Hill. It is an area that was left five days without water, from Friday to Tuesday morning last. Despite continuously contacting Irish Water, constituents were given reference number after reference number, and Irish Water had no record of it by Monday morning. It was not submitted, from what we can ascertain, to the repair unit, and people were left without water. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. It is a regular occurrence in Cork city that people are being left without water or they are facing brown, dirty, filthy water that is not drinkable or usable.

Will the Minister and his Government now admit that Irish Water is a faceless organisation that is not customer-driven? Will they look at and explore the possibility of returning water services to the local authorities, such as Cork County Council and Cork City Council?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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It is because of the kinds of issues the Deputy referred to that the Minister, Deputy Chambers, will be looking at what additional funding can be made available to meet the energy and water needs that our country has and in order to deal with those kinds of issues we know are developing across many communities at the moment. I do not agree with the description the Deputy has offered of Irish Water and I am certain that if we were to begin a process of disentangling Irish Water and bringing it back into local authorities, after having spent many years going in the other direction, that would only add to our problems and not make them any easier. I appreciate the upset that would have been caused to the Deputy's constituents by this. It demonstrates the need for us to invest more in our infrastructure and the work Irish Water is doing, which the Government is aiming to do.

Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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As students navigate increasingly complex issues around mental health, relationships, identity and online safety, the feedback I am getting from teachers in my own constituency of Dublin Mid-West is that they do not feel prepared or trained on how to address and deal with these complex and sensitive issues when they arise in the classroom. The foundation for how teachers can address these things can be found in their initial teacher education which, in the case of secondary school teachers, is the professional master of education degree. We know that most teacher education programmes include some training on student well-being, diversity, inclusion and child protection but this can vary across courses. There is no universal standard requiring a minimal level of training on social, personal or health education, or well-being and sensitive issue management for secondary school teachers. One way in which to do this could be to incorporate SPHE into initial teacher education for secondary teachers in order that they have that foundation to begin to feel equipped and trained to handle sensitive issues as they arise in the classrooms.

Mar sin, will the Government consider bringing forward proposals or consider the issue around how to equip our teachers in this increasingly complex world for secondary school students and incorporate training on SPHE in the professional master of education degree?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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We are all reminded, either as parents or in the work we do in here, of how demanding life can now be for young students, and the critical role our schools can play in equipping them with the tools they need to deal with the issues the Deputy has described. The plans that are under way to do that at the moment refer to a post-primary well-being team that is now rolling out a two-day professional learning experience for the curriculums the Deputy referred to. I understand what the Department of Education is doing is making additional training and support available to those teachers who are delivering the curriculums the Deputy referred to, but we do need to continue to look at whether that is working and whether it is adequate. The Deputy is right. It is becoming harder and harder and more demanding for young students. They get support from their families but we know our schools can help too, and we know our teachers want to play a part in that.

David Maxwell (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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It is the honour of a lifetime to stand in this Chamber and make my maiden speech. First off, I thank the good people of Cavan and Monaghan for putting their trust in me and giving me the privilege of representing them in this House. I said I would be a new voice but continue the good work of Fine Gael in Cavan and Monaghan, which I promise to do.

I thank everyone who worked for me to be elected to Dáil Éireann. I want to ask the Minister about funding for local improvement schemes. This funding stream provides funding for improvement works on small roads and laneways in rural Ireland, and gives farmers and homeowners a chance to get a lane or road brought up to a good standard. Currently, Monaghan County Council has 32 lanes on a historical list. It then received 273 applications last year. These applications have yet to be assessed. Assuming 80% of the applications are valid, that leaves the local authority with 218 valid applications. Based on current funding rates, we expect ten lanes to be surfaced each year, which would mean 22 years to clear the 2024 list. At the current rate, it will take three years to clear the historical list, and 22 years to deal with last year's applications, if current investment is not increased in the coming 25 years with no new lanes coming on to the list. Taking this into consideration, does the Government have any intention to increase the local improvement scheme funding?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I congratulate the Deputy Maxwell on his election to the House. I thank him for raising an issue that I know is really important for the people he represents. I know much work was done by his great predecessor, the former Minister, Heather Humphreys, with regard to this issue too and he wants to continue to build on this work. Regarding what the Deputy said, I understand that in his community, since 2017, 155 roads have now been completed under the local improvement scheme. The recent allocation that was made available was just under €1 million for the Deputy's community to respond to the issues he has raised. I know the Minister, Deputy Calleary, is looking at what funding he can provide under the local improvement scheme. I also know every Deputy will be making the case for his or her constituency, but we know it is a good scheme that plays a role in lanes and roadways in rural Ireland. I am sure the Minister, Deputy Calleary, will do his best to make additional funding for the Deputy because we all know there is a demand for it.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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In the context of the national housing emergency, many of the large-scale social housing complexes in my constituency and other urban constituencies have been earmarked for regeneration to address the deplorable condition of many of them, and to increase the density of these sites with additional social and affordable homes. However, I want the Minister's assurance today that the Government is fully committed to funding these projects and regeneration programmes, because I have been informed that Dublin City Council is effectively pausing these projects, namely, Cherry Orchard, Bluebell, Dolphin House, St. Teresa's Gardens, Basin Street and the Oliver Bond flats for at least three years due to a lack of funding from central Government. Will the Government act to restore people's confidence in these projects and to grab the proper funding to accelerate these projects for existing and future tenants and renters?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I am not aware of that issue being raised by Dublin City Council, but I take on board the importance of the issue to which the Deputy referred. I will have to raise the funding for individual programmes with the Minister for housing, but I know what the Minister wants to do is to see more and better homes delivered through our local authorities. I know that with these kinds of issues not everything can always be done at once, but I know that funding that is made available to local authorities is now at the highest level it has been for some years. I will follow up with the Deputy regarding the individual schemes to which he has referred.

Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Government statements on childcare bear little resemblance to reality. Despite claims that costs have been reduced by upwards of 50%, survey data last year illustrated that parents in some counties are still paying upwards of €1,100 per month. Despite Fine Gael having campaigned on introducing a public model of childcare, in the programme for Government it is silent. Allusions to reducing childcare costs to €200 per month by some unstated and unknown date are without any meaning or worth. For many families, childcare remains akin to a second mortgage at a time when many are struggling to cover household costs, to make ends meet in terms of utility bills and to put food on the table. Will the Minister please outline to the House the timeframe by which the Government will deliver the promises it campaigned on?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I know the cost of childcare is still very high for many, but I also meet many people who acknowledge the reduction that has happened in childcare fees under the last Government, a reduction that we want to continue to deliver in the time ahead. However, as is the case with all of these commitments, they are dealt with budget by budget. I know the Minister for children will be raising this issue as the budget approaches in October, and we will be aiming to make progress on it. It is something we want to continue to make progress on. We know there is a need for it. Progress has happened. What will then happen is the Minister for children, with the Minister for public expenditure, will look at what further measures can be put in place next year. We are well aware that this is something families want to see progress on.

Brian Brennan (Wicklow-Wexford, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the programme for Government proposals that we ensure Irish Water prioritises the delivery of the small towns and villages programme. What I am concerned about is that this is not being fed down to Irish Water. Take Aughrim in County Wicklow, for example. No housing developments have been built in more than a decade due to the water plant being at full capacity. Recent correspondence with Irish Water stated clearly that the project is currently not forecasted to progress to construction until 2029. If this is the case, it will have a detrimental effect on the social fabric of the town, leading to no houses for young families and lower school numbers. Sports clubs will struggle and businesses will simply fail. Cases such as Aughrim, Kilanerin and Camolin are being replicated in towns and villages throughout Ireland. I call on Irish Water to urgently look at cases such as Aughrim, and where possible, to upgrade existing facilities or expedite the construction of new plants.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of Aughrim. He has raised with me in the past the need for further investment in water in his constituency and the issues that the lack of that investment is having at the moment. I know the Irish Water plan currently sits with the regulator and it is currently being evaluated. The issues to which the Deputy referred are the reason we need to make more money available to Irish Water. I know the Ministers, Deputies O'Brien and Chambers, are aware of that, as are the Tánaiste and Taoiseach. We will be doing our best in the coming months to make that funding available because, without it, we cannot deliver the homes we need, we cannot support the businesses in the way they want and we cannot meet the needs of communities that are growing. The Deputy has provided another example of the further work we need to fund Irish Water to do.

Séamus McGrath (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The programme for Government sets out an ambitious target of 5,000 new gardaí, which is very welcome. As well as increasing the overall headcount of gardaí, we need to ensure there is a fair allocation across the country. Unfortunately, only a tiny fraction of previous classes that graduated from Templemore have gone to Cork city and county. This is simply not sustainable. Dublin, to be fair, has got the lion's share, and, having been in Dublin in recent weeks, one can see the increased visibility of gardaí on the ground. That is very welcome, but we need to replicate that across our country, particularly in our second largest city, Cork. The consequences of poor allocations to Cork city and county are now being shown in an operational matter locally in the Togher district, where there is a proposal to amalgamate the Garda unit serving large urban areas of Douglas, Carrigaline, Bishopstown and Ballincollig. This will remove the gardaí from serving in their local areas. They will now have to travel up to ten to 15 miles to respond to a call. That is simply not acceptable. I ask the Minister to engage with the Garda Commissioner to ensure that there is a fair allocation of gardaí across our country and that there is equality in terms of the numbers serving our population bases.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy McGrath for raising this issue. While there has been an exchange here about Dublin, I absolutely appreciate that our cities such as Cork also face issues and need adequate policing to be in place. I have a note here regarding national garda levels and the recruitment ambitions that we have, but I know what the Deputy is particularly concerned about is that local issue, the organisation of gardaí within Cork and the need for Cork to get the gardaí it needs. I will make sure the Minister for Justice, Deputy O'Callaghan, is aware of the issue that the Deputy has raised. I am sure he will do his best, and I am sure he will be encouraged to do so by the Taoiseach, to deal with the issue to which the Deputy has referred.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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The policy of charging tolls on the M50 has been raised on multiple occasions. I would agree with the abolition because it has been long paid for.

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However, I want to take it from a slightly different angle, which is the need to stagger the tolls along the route. In my constituency, areas like Lucan are choked with traffic going through the village every evening, with people avoiding paying the tolls. It has a knock-on effect on the Strawberry Beds, Castleknock, Mulhuddart, Blanchardstown and Clonee. If people are going to be stuck in traffic anyway, they may as well be stuck in traffic on the M50, crossing over the bridge, because this is no longer a thoroughfare between Cork and Belfast. It is used as a local link route. We may need a wider road west of Kilcock, for example, and obviously an improved public transport system. To stop that localised congestion, we need to look at creating a staggered tolling system. That would be fairer and helpful.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising that with me. I am not sure what influence the Department of Transport and the National Transport Authority have on the conduct and level of fees on the toll road that the Deputy referred to.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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They own it.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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All I can commit to doing is raising that issue with them, which I will do. I know well how important that road is and the fact that it is used more and more to get around parts of Dublin as opposed to beyond Dublin. I will make sure the Minister for Transport is aware of the issue the Deputy raised.

Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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In the spirit of showing each other documents across the floor like the Minister did a couple of minutes ago, I present a news article from January where Michael Lowry is quoted as saying, "The Group’s contribution to the review of the National Development Plan and our input to the HSE Capital Plan, will be central to our ongoing work within Government." Can the Minister reassure people that we have not allowed the HSE capital plan and national development plan to be auctioned off as part of any programme for Government conversations? We have heard this week that there is no deal. Will the Minister reassure people that we will take an evidence-based and transparent approach to the allocation of incredibly important funds, whether in the HSE or the national development plan?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I think there is a world of difference between me producing a document that Deputy Farrelly's party published and a report in a newspaper. I produced a document that the Social Democrats published about economic policy and the role of jobs in our economy. Any engagement on the future of health spending and the allocation of the capital budget is taken very seriously by the HSE. It aims to respond to health needs. There are health needs in Tipperary. Government TDs will be raising those just as they are in other parts of the country, but these decisions are always made in a careful way to try to make sure the country's money is used in the right way.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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While this Dáil drowned in dysfunction this week, the Government produced the EU migration implementation pact. While this Parliament was in paralysis this week, the Government sought to sneak through this highly controversial plan. As the Minister knows, this EU migration pact is opposed by a great number of the Irish people. The EU migration pact hands sovereignty on the issue of migration away from the Irish people. The EU migration pact outsources key decisions to the EU. The Government's plan stated yesterday that it could cost billions of euro to implement the plan. The staffing costs will be an extra €117 million. The set-up costs for 14,000 beds could be as high as €875 million. The running cost for those beds could be €725 million, yet there is no reference at all to consultation with local communities, which has been a big problem of the Government's for the last number of years. The Minister for Justice admits that 90% of IPAS applications are coming from Britain through the North of Ireland, yet there is no reference to proper engagement with the British Government about how to control IPAS applicants moving across the Irish Sea. Why is there not and when will the Government do that?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is not frequently a voice for calmness and moderation in this House. I did not notice him being one during the week either.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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I was not shouting at anybody during the week.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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There is no doubt but that the Minister for Justice wants to engage with the Dáil on this issue. He gained Government agreement about the steps that are needed to implement the pact. He will of course come into the Dáil to answer questions on it but the aim of the pact is to reduce processing times for migration applications, which we all know in turn can help to reduce the pressures that we face from migration and those who are looking to move to our country. I will couch all this and end this on a positive note, that the openness of our economy and society and the contribution that those who come and work here make is positive and makes such a difference to our economy and the running of our public services. I look forward to a calm and moderate intervention from the Deputy next Tuesday.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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As usual.

Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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The programme for Government highlights a commitment to focus on actions to improve literacy and numeracy. Dublin Fingal is Ireland's youngest county and Balbriggan, located in my constituency of Dublin Fingal West, is the youngest large town in the country. My constituency's population is rapidly growing, resulting in significant strain on the school system, with long waiting lists for autism classes, special education places and reading class placements. Today, I would like to focus on reading class places. Reading classes provide a low pupil-teacher ratio and are specifically tailored to meet the needs of children with severe dyslexia. I have been contacted by several frustrated and concerned parents whose children, despite demonstrating a clear need for these reading classes and who are really struggling in their current environment, have been denied admission to every reading class in Fingal. Will the Minister please clarify the Government's policy regarding reading classes? Further, what steps will the Government take to ensure that children in urgent need of access to reading classes are accommodated?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Boland for raising this issue regarding the importance of special education and additional education for those who are beginning their lives in our schools and who need additional support and help. I know the Deputy is aware that we have more than 3,300 special classes available across our country but, out of all those, there are 14 specifically available for children with dyslexia and we have four special schools in the country to deal with the most acute levels of reading difficulty and those who have very severe levels of dyslexia. I will certainly take on board the point that the Deputy made. I know we are looking to find additional ways in which we can support our special schools and special classes. I will raise with the Minister for Education the importance of the issue of dyslexia because we know early intervention can make a big difference and we all know how the gift of reading and being able to do it is such an important passport on one's way through the world. We can help those with dyslexia, who deserve it.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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During the course of the last week, the Governor of the Central Bank, Gabriel Makhlouf, entered the debate on housing. He did so in response to a Government initiative calling for greater liquidity for developers and builders. He told us that the banks are well capitalised and have plenty of money to lend but that they would do so subject to their own lending criteria and risk assessment. If you talk to builders, particularly small and medium-sized builders and developers, across the country, they will tell you that one of their greatest difficulties is sourcing capital. Their contribution to the housing problem could be immense if they had the funding to build houses at a small scale, which, individually, might not be great, but which cumulatively would have a huge effect. What the Governor of the Central Bank did not address was the issue of the regulatory regime. We are a country which has a history of extremes when it comes to regulation, including extremes of ineffectual regulation or non-implementation of regulation and then, when something goes wrong, we come up with a host of extremely excessive regulations, which we have been implementing to the detriment of the construction sector. I would not suggest for a minute that we go back to the lunacy of the past but we need to loosen the purse strings to enable people at local level to build more affordable units that people locally can buy.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Ó Fearghaíl. That is why the work of Home Building Finance Ireland, HBFI, is important. As the Deputy does, I absolutely support the need for our banks to be safe and well regulated. During the awful time of the pandemic, I had many reasons to be reminded of the value of a financial sector in Ireland that is safe and well capitalised.

The point the Deputy makes regarding how we can support smaller builders is the reason HBFI was put in place. It has been there for a few years and we do need to look at its work and if it needs to be supported further to deal with the issues he raises. He is correct that while every individual set of homes, of themselves, might not be huge, they still matter to the families and homeowners that go into them and, cumulatively, they can make a difference. I thank him for raising the issue.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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The programme for Government contains a commitment to improve the school transport scheme, but again this year we face a shortage of drivers. We have had a shortage of drivers for the past two years but it is going to be worse this year because more pupils are coming on stream. Bus operators cannot get extra drivers. In approximately 19 or 20 weeks we will again face a crisis in school transport.

There is a solution, which I raised with the Tánaiste five weeks ago. The Taoiseach agreed with the point again this week on the floor of the Dáil. The Tánaiste and the Taoiseach are on board with the approach. Currently, those over 70 cannot drive buses under the school bus scheme. They cannot drive 15 kids to school for 8.30 a.m. or 9.30 a.m. but they can drive a 52-seat bus to Cork or Dublin on a school tour an hour later. It is a ludicrous situation. There are many drivers who have reached the age of 70 in recent weeks and months sitting at home twiddling their thumbs. Meanwhile, we have a shortage of drivers. Surely to God, what we need to do is ensure they pass a medical test, including an eye test, annually. If they pass that strict test, then we should let them keep driving until they are 75.

I have raised this issue previously and a number of others are beginning to raise it now as well. Could the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, bring this request to the Minister for Transport in order to solve the problem? I am putting forward a practical solution to the problem.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Stanley.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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It is no good raising it if nothing happens. It is like playing handball against a haystack. We need to get it sorted. We must sort this issue. There is a solution.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Stanley. I call on the Minister.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Independent)
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The RSA, Bus Éireann, the National Transport Authority and the Department must fix this.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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All I can tell the Deputy is that I am aware the issue is being addressed. He is not the first person I have heard make the point. I know he is aware, as I am, of the need to make sure that whoever is driving a bus with our kids in it is able to do it safely. I know he agrees with that. That is not in doubt. The Road Safety Authority wants to ensure that if we do change the age at which you can drive a school bus, it does not create additional risks for those who are driving the buses or those who are in them. The matter is being looked at but I do not know when the evaluation will conclude. I will ensure that the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is aware of this issue and see if it can be concluded because we do need to bring it to an end.