Marie Louise O'Donnell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise two matters. First, I congratulate the Department of Rural and Community Development and its Minister, Deputy Ring, on the brilliant Our Public Libraries 2022, which arrived on my desk this morning and which I have since had an opportunity to read. It is absolutely excellent on the Government's plans for the libraries all over Ireland, through local government, communities and the Government itself. Everyone has run out of rural Ireland. The post offices and the banks have done so. Libraries are one of the major things left. Libraries inspire, connect and empower young people. If we want to talk about education or any level of living well in Ireland, then we must remember the learning, reading and many other brilliant things that happen in libraries for those of all ages, creeds, classes and colours. There are no barriers to young people's use of libraries.

I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Denis Naughten, to the House. The Minister was here last week and, very kindly, he also came before the House approximately two weeks ago. It has been reported in the newspapers that the State will block the German entrant to the banking market here. The Government does not like it, will not facilitate it, will not pay for it and will do this through our own banks and credit unions. I do not agree with this on any level. I would like the Minister to come in and tell us why An Post does not support this model. What are its reasons? What is going on? If it is not going to support it, exactly how it proposes to parallel the Sparkassen banks' interest rates of 1% and 2% through the credit unions and the other banks? I want to hear what the Minister has to say about this because this is one of the most important community elements of progression within the towns and villages of Ireland. We seem to have reports but we are not hearing anything about them. I ask the Leader to set aside time for the Minister to come before the House to explain exactly what is in the report, what is happening with it, why there is an exclusive in one of the newspapers saying that the Government is not backing the Sparkassen banks and why it is not doing so. If anyone is going to tell me that the credit unions will be a parallel of that model, I must inform them that will not be the case. They are going to do what the Government tells them to do.