Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise two issues this morning. When people come near the end of their working lives, they like to know how they are fixed regarding their pensions. Public servants who are considering retirement are entitled to know what their pensions will be in order that they can make an informed decision.

I have been contacted of late by a number of nursing and public healthcare staff and, indeed, teachers who have had grave difficulty receiving information form the HSE or the Department of Education regarding their pension status. That means that these public servants are unable to decide what is best for them to do after a lifetime of service and, in some cases, they may feel burnt out. It may related to Covid-19 and, certainly, the cases that I have come across have been during the Covid period of the last couple of years and perhaps involve people working from home and not having full access to the data. Indeed, I have heard of people receiving no pension for six weeks post-retirement from the HSE and the Department of Education or even a flat-rate payment for a period until their file is assessed. We need a debate on this matter because as I said, people need to be able to plan. They need to be able to make informed decisions and know what their pension entitlement is as they come towards the end of their working lives and look forward to retirement.

The second matter I wish to raise relates to greenways. I asked previously for a debate on greenways with the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Ryan. It is a positive story. We know of examples of excellent greenways, whether they be in Westport, Waterford and indeed parts of Limerick and Westmeath or numerous other greenways in the planning process. In October this year, the High Court upheld the planning permission for the south Kerry greenway project, which I have mentioned before, not particularly because it is in south Kerry but because it is deemed to be a test case for other local authorities regarding the development of greenways on private lands. We are effectively talking about the consent to be able to access land in order to prepare the planning applications and environmental reports required to lodge a planning application, and then to go through the process of delivering projects which, in most cases, are badly needed and desired in communities.It is not just about tourism. It can be about local recreation for people living in the vicinity. In some parts, they are very much commuting greenways. For example, the route from Moycullen in my area would be so well used for students going to university or people working in the hospital or elsewhere in Galway city so the potential is significant. However, there is an impasse at the moment in terms of where we are going with delivery of greenways on private land. I know there are plans in Galway and consultants have been appointed but they must start the process again, go back to the start and come up with something to allow them to lodge a planning application for a greenway. I ask for a debate on what is a positive story but one that is stuck in the mud.