Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was not expecting a call first.

I welcome the budget we had yesterday. It will be a significant injection into the economy. When we look at the coverage it received and the impact it is going to make on the economy in the next few days, weeks and years in particular, it is a significant piece of work. I want to acknowledge the work done by all Ministers in particular, in getting this budget passed last night.

There were issues mentioned in the budget debate pertaining to education. We had a significant debate in this House in the past few weeks regarding school transportation. I was hoping there would be some light shed on the conversation we had with the Minister about a budget for affected children who had not been picked up so far in the school transportation scheme. Will the Deputy Leader use her good offices to inquire about that proposal with the Minister for Education? The Minister said she had been talking to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, about getting a budget in place. Can we get an update on this proposal for a budget to pick up the children not covered by the school transportation scheme? It is a huge issue in my part of the world. There are hundreds of kids who are not yet sorted. Will the Deputy Leader use her good powers to come up with some kind of timeline for when we can resolve this issue?

We had an usual and unfortunate announcement two days ago regarding Shell pulling out of the country. Shell was a major backer of two important offshore wind farms; one off the coast of Clare and one off the coast of Cork. It was part of our policy to make sure we would be sustainable going forward in order to reach our targets of proposed renewable energy in 2030 and 2050. These two wind farms were not even reaching 3 GW. I am not sure of the correct terminology. To have Shell pull out at this stage is really significant and we need to have a clear debate about where these two major proposals are going. The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has continuously said that the wind potential we have off the coast, particularly the south coast, was going to be a key factor in making sure we reach those guidelines. I am genuinely concerned by this announcement by Shell. It is a global powerhouse when it comes to renewables. It has switched from fossil fuels in the last five years and has a huge concern in Scotland when it comes to renewable energy. For Shell to now leave the Irish market has a worrying effect when we take into consideration our cost-of-living issues regarding fuel prices. I call again on the Deputy Leader's good offices to arrange a debate with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, about how we are going to deal with the renewable resource we have and what work can be done to make sure key actors like Shell will not leave the market again. If they do, the knock-on implications mean reaching our targets will be unachievable without this kind of investment.