Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 31 May 2023

Vol. 1039 No. 4

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Postal Services

Deputy Pat Buckley

I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter this morning. I want to discuss the fact that the parcel offices in Midleton and Youghal, County Cork are to be relocated. The Youghal parcel office is to be relocated to Dungarvan, County Waterford, which is strange. An Post wants to move the Midleton parcel office to Little Island, which is now part of Cork city. If this goes ahead, there will be no depot for collecting parcels in the eastern side of east Cork. The more worrying aspect of this is that employees were informed of it by a WhatsApp message. That is very inappropriate. The union representatives I spoke with had very little consultation. It seemed to come from the top down. Ironically, it is also mooted that the parcel office in Ballincollig is to move to Macroom in west Cork. That is absolute madness. I would like to see the lad on the bicycle going down to collect his parcels. It will take a long time to cycle from Ballincollig to Macroom.

The other side of this is that more than 30 people work in the office in Midleton. Many of these people have relocated over the years. They have family going to school in the area. There was no consideration of the consequences of being relocated. Approximately a year and a half ago 30 additional charging points were installed in Ballinacurra as well at a cost, I suspect. That does not look like good value for money.

People in Midleton and the surrounding areas - if I named them it would take me 20 minutes - who use this depot will now have to go to Cork city. What has really aggrieved people is that the engagement with unions locally was very poor. People rely on these services. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the parcel office in Little Island was handling 40% more parcels than Portlaoise and Athlone offices put together, yet An Post tried to close it at that time as well.

I raise this because people have approached me about it saying it is bad enough to have lost so many post offices in east Cork, but they are now losing all their parcel offices in the eastern side of east Cork. People in Youghal will not be impressed if they are told to go to County Waterford to collect their parcels. The people in Midleton will not be too happy to go to Little Island. I want to try to get a response. It is a draconian move. The people of east Cork will not be impressed with this. As I said, consultation with the local workforce and local unions was practically zero. What is the rationale for closing these offices? We are trying to keep services local to serve local areas, yet An Post sees fit to move services into Cork city and County Waterford. We in east Cork will be left with a massive gap from Midleton, Castlemartyr, Killeagh, Ballycotton, Cloyne, Youghal, Aghada, Whitegate, Lisgoold, Leamlara, Carrigtohill and the surrounding areas. None of these people will be served by a local parcel service in that part of east Cork. Is there a response from An Post? What is the rationale for doing this? People want the decision to be reversed and local services kept local.

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Neale Richmond)

I welcome the opportunity to outline the position on this matter on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan. I will lay out a few background points before dealing with the specifics raised by the Deputy. The Minister has responsibility for the postal sector, including the governance of An Post to ensure that the company is fully compliant with the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies and the governance functions included in the statutory framework underpinning An Post.

An Post is a commercial State company with a mandate to act commercially. As such, day-to-day operational matters including decisions related to the operation of the network, which consists of post offices and parcels offices, are matters for the board and management of the company and not ones in which the Minister has a statutory function. He is more than aware of the impact any issues relating to An Post operations have on communities and individuals in both rural and urban areas, including towns such as Midleton. Over the past number of years, An Post has been transforming its business by delivering new products and new formats in the way it operates. It is understood from An Post that it has reached agreement with its trade union partners on a programme of further transformation for the company. The transformation agreement with the An Post group of unions was reached with the assistance of the company's Labour Court-appointed monitoring group following a lengthy engagement on the issue over 12 months.

The company and the unions recognise that in order to achieve continued transformation they need to accelerate their plans. This is critical for the sustainability and long-term future of the business and the customers they serve every day. Improved and modernised business practices include handling more parcels as home shopping and e-commerce become the norm, building a sustainable future and considering the company's impact on the environment and improving working facilities for its staff that will involve some changes in the network over time. The company has implemented new targeted operating models, including across its mails and parcels network. An Post has advised that the process of looking at the first group of delivery offices and their delivery routes begins next month. In some cases, the transformation agreement will involve the consolidation or merger of existing mail offices. Among the possible changes being considered is the relocation of staff from the Midleton delivery office to the Cork delivery campus at Little Island, to which the Deputy alluded. However, it is understood from the company that there is as yet nothing definitive on this matter.

Government objectives for An Post include harnessing the opportunities presented by e-commerce and the digital economy, capturing and retaining market share in parcels and delivering a sustainable nationwide post office network offering a range of e-commerce, financial and government services. The programme for Government recognises that a modernised post office network will provide a better range of financial and e-commerce services for citizens and enterprise, as part of our commitment to a sustainable nationwide post office network. Of course, any decisions relating to parcel offices are operational matters for An Post, and not a matter in which the Minister has a statutory function.

Deputy Pat Buckley

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. It is one I expected. I understand the part of commercial companies and so on. Transformation will end up like the banks and supermarkets, where people do not talk to staff anymore because everything will be done by machines. The sustainable model is one issue that confuses me. I live in Midleton. If my parcel cannot be delivered, it will be sent to Dungarvan. It will not be a fairly sustainable eco-footprint by the time I get to Dungarvan to collect my parcel and drive all the way back to Midleton. I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I noted that he stated this is not a done deal but according to the people I have been talking to, it is a done deal and the dates are set. The Minister of State mentioned the staff being moved from Midleton to Little Island. I mentioned it in my opening contribution because people are worried about how things will work in terms of getting kids to school and so on. I will bring the reply back, and I will talk to the people again. I am glad that the Government is saying it is not a done deal. From the correspondence I have seen between An Post and the employees, it is a case of like it or leave it. I am disappointed. This is a vital service in Youghal, Midleton and Cobh, even though it was moved from there. During the Covid pandemic, the delivery office I mentioned in Little Island was doing 40% more than the two offices in Athlone and Portlaoise. Ironically, there was a long-term plan for that to go on sale. If a company is going so well with parcels, why would it sell a profitable business? To make it worse, there was a rumour it was going to be sold to a different parcel company. If that is a semi-State body working for the State, it is not a really good model. I will take on board the Minister of State's reply, go back to my gang, and we will probably rehash it again.

Deputy Neale Richmond

I thank the Deputy for his engagement. The Minister asked me to underline that he cannot intervene to prevent An Post doing what the Oireachtas has given it a statutory responsibility to do. An Post has an independent board with a clear mandate. It would be inappropriate for me to go into any more details than we have this morning. The Deputy's concerns are valid. While nothing has been concluded yet, I will be sure to relay those concerns to the Minister. Where appropriate, the Deputy might also write directly to An Post.

Health Services Staff

Deputy Emer Higgins

I want to discuss the ongoing shortage of public health nurses in my area, particularly in the constituency of Dublin Mid-West. This shortage is having a huge impact on infant developmental checkups. To my count, this is the seventh time I have formally raised this issue, whether in the House or through parliamentary questions, since it was first brought to my attention last year. I have had two meetings with representatives of the HSE. I know the Minister of State will understand that I will continue to raise this issue until it is sorted. My constituents, especially those in Newcastle and Lucan, are getting extremely frustrated by this. That is understandable.

Since I first highlighted this issue, babies and toddlers have missed vital developmental checkups. Some have missed two, whether those are three month, nine to 11 month, 21 to 24 month, or 46 to 48 month checkups. I do not need to tell the Minister of State that developmental checkups are vital when it comes to picking up potential issues. Currently, babies in Lucan and Newcastle may be showing early signs of developmental delay or a health issue but it might be going unnoticed. That is a real fear for new parents in particular, who are navigating parenthood for the first time, and may not yet be as familiar with the signs to look out for.

We talk all of the time about early intervention, and how important it is to detect and treat issues as early as possible, yet the HSE is providing no intervention whatsoever for these infants and their parents in my area. It is not just about early detection of issues; it is also about giving parents, particularly mums, that peace of mind many really need in those early years. Even if there is nothing to worry about with their child's development, having someone to listen to their concerns who is trained to identify issues and reassure them that everything is okay is extremely important for parents. It is extremely important for their mental health. To know that they have these periodic checkups with their public health nurse as their baby grows and becomes a toddler is hugely reassuring. This reassurance has been taken away from parents in my constituency. That is simply not good enough. It needs to be resolved as soon as possible, especially considering that it is these parents' hard-earned taxes that are meant to provide this vital service.

I have had mothers come to me saying they are terrified to give birth without this service in place for their newborn babies, which is awful. I have been contacted by parents outraged that their new baby is not getting the same service that their older children got. That is just simply unfair. One mother told me:

We are first-time parents and we are really distressed at the thought that our baby will not receive the basic level of care that the HSE advises, just because we recently moved to Newcastle recently and there's no public health nurse situated here.

Yet, if that mother had not moved and lived somewhere else, her baby would be getting those checkups. It is like a postcode lottery. I met with HSE officials on Monday last and they were keen to stress that this is not an issue of investment. The money is there. The issue is the pipeline of nurses. I have been told again and again that as soon as student nurses come on stream, this matter will be resolved. However, time has moved on and they have not appeared in my area. That pipeline has not materialised. We all know that, once qualified, public health nurses are free to work in any area. That is understandable and right, but it means that Dublin is effectively training public health nurses to head back down the country. There has to be an incentive for them to choose to work in areas such as Lucan and Newcastle, where there is huge demand given the demographics. We have to get much-needed public health nurses into areas where there simply are none. I ask the Minister of State what the plan is to fix this.

Deputy Neale Richmond

I thank the Deputy for raising this. She said this was her seventh time bringing it up. I did not quite get to seven. I think I hit five times raising the issue of public health nurses in south Dublin. This is an issue that regularly crosses our desks. Both the Deputy and I represent suburban Dublin constituencies. She certainly does not need to convince me of the importance of public health nurses or the vital role they play. I fully agree with it. However, I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. While I have a detailed response here that focuses on the importance of the public health nurse, I know the Deputy will have received most of this already. I want to talk about the fact that there are clear staff shortages.

Unfortunately, at present the public health nursing section in Dublin west, which covers Lucan and Rathcoole, is one such area impacted by significant staff shortages. This represents a significant challenge for the service. In response to these staff shortages, the public health nursing service in Dublin west is prioritising services, including child development checks, to ensure the delivery of a safe service to the most in-need cases in the community. The Department of Health fully acknowledges the frustration of parents, families and the wider community in Dublin west and mid-west where these staff shortages and delays in accessing routine services are no doubt causing anxiety and stress. The Department and the HSE encourage parents who have a concern or query regarding a child's development to contact the public health nursing service directly to discuss their concerns.

The HSE has assured the Department that efforts are ongoing to recruit nursing staff. However, recruitment to vacant nursing posts continues to challenge the nursing services, despite ongoing recruitment campaigns and attendance of recruitment fairs both nationally and internationally. At present a rolling campaign is under way to fill vacant positions in Dublin. Frustratingly, to date, none of the vacancies have been filled in the Dublin west region. The Department fully acknowledges that much more needs to be done to ensure the vital services public health nurses provide are available in all parts of the country. Last year, in response to these recruitment challenges, the HSE established a community nursing oversight group tasked with the development of proposals and recommendations to address the challenges of recruitment and retention in community nursing. The Department will continue to work with and support the HSE to ensure these issues are addressed. The HSE has assured the Department that it will continue to run recruitment campaigns in Dublin west and the public health nursing service will continue to strive to provide the required nursing services to the population.

The Deputy made an interesting and valid point about potential incentivisation for those who will stay in Dublin. The matter is perhaps not only for the Department of Health but for the Department in tandem with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. I undertake to bring it back to the relevant Ministers. The other area is international recruitment, which specifically falls under my brief in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with regard to the provision of work permits. We have a generous work permit system for critical skills, which include nursing. We are keen to ensure it is expanded and that we facilitate the continued recruitment of nurses from outside the European Union and European Economic Area to fulfil the clear need of our entire health system, and in particular the public health nursing system. I will take a moment to underline from a personal point of view the importance of getting the numbers across Dublin, especially in the Deputy's constituency of Dublin Mid-West and mine. I am dealing with many people whose cases I know are also crossing the Deputy's desk who are entering her clinic and ringing her telephone on a daily basis about this matter. They are doing the same to me and I fully empathise with her position. I undertake to do everything I can in government to push on this agenda and get those positions filled.

Deputy Emer Higgins

I appreciate the Minister of State's support and commitment to this issue. I hope to get some information today with which I can go back to the worried mums and dads in my area because I cannot keep giving them the same outdated information. I cannot keep telling them the HSE is doing its best to recruit more public health nurses, with no timeframe. There is no light at the end of the tunnel if I keep saying that. The Minister of State has confirmed on the record that no vacancies in the public health nursing team in my area have been filled. The allocation of student health nurses will be done in the next two weeks, in early June. I hope it changes things and that the HSE can encourage people to go into areas where vacancies have not been filled in a long time.

I appreciate that the Government cannot instantly create public health nurses where there are none. The Minister of State said that this is also an issue in his constituency. Dublin is not overflowing with public health nurses we can borrow but short-term measures have to be put in place to support parents and there has to be a long-term solution to fix this problem into the future. I do not see either a short-term or a long-term solution being offered by the HSE right now. It seems that if we do not keep shouting about this issue, it will fall by the wayside and public health nurse checkups may become a thing of the past. That would be an absolute shame for our society because supports for new parents, and new mothers in particular, are not exactly in abundance as it is. There is often an attitude that mothers should naturally and innately know what to do but we know that is not true. No one is born with an innate knowledge of what healthy child development looks like. Even nurses and midwives I have spoken to know how valuable their public health nurse was to them in the first few years of their babies' lives. Public health nurses love doing this work. They love meeting new parents and new babies, seeing them develop and being part of that journey. The bottom line is that more nurses must be incentivised to pursue public health nursing and qualified public health nurses need to be incentivised to work in the areas with the greatest need. It is great that the Minister of State pointed out that the recruitment of international nurses comes under his brief. Perhaps he can tell us a little more about that and how it can be used to solve this issue for my constituents.

Deputy Neale Richmond

On behalf of the Minister for Health, I thank the Deputy. He fully acknowledges the concerns of the Deputy and the wider staff about the impacts these shortages are having. As the Deputy and I laid out, there are recruitment challenges generally across several sectors, not only the health sector, but they are in the health sector. This is posing a particular challenge for the public health nursing service at present. Some 40% of posts are vacant in the Dublin west region, which covers the Deputy's constituency. In response to these staff shortages, the public health nursing service is triaging all referrals to ensure a safe service is provided to those with the greatest clinical need in the community. This is important. While it is disappointing and frustrating that staff shortages persist, the Department has been assured by the HSE that every effort is being made to address the recruitment challenges in the short term, including by running ongoing recruitment campaigns. It is expected that the HSE's community nursing national oversight group will propose recommendations later this year that aim to address some of the longer-term issues regarding the recruitment and retention of public health nurses and community registered general nurses. The Minister wishes to reassure the Deputy that his Department and the HSE will continue to work together to review and monitor staffing and service levels and to utilise all practical options to fill vacancies in Dublin and elsewhere.

As I mentioned in my opening reply, my Department will do anything we can to assist, such as bringing nurses in from overseas. It takes 16 days to turn around a work permit at the moment. More generally, a critical skills permit for a nurse or other medical professional can be issued in under a week at the moment. We are more than happy, when the HSE is prepared to engage with nurses, especially public health nurses, from outside the EU to ensure they get here as quickly as possible.

Road Network

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

There is confusion as to whether the Minister of State is taking this Topical Issue matter. He does not have a reply. Is Deputy Feighan happy to proceed? Perhaps the Ceann Comhairle will facilitate him on another day.

Deputy Frankie Feighan

I will proceed.

I thank the Minister of State for taking this Topical Issue matter. It is very topical in counties Sligo and Mayo. There is no allocation of funding this year for this road project. The Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, has confirmed that there will not be any funding for the N17 for many years, which is the Knock to Collooney road project. Design work began on this scheme in 2018 and in August of that year the project appraisal plan was approved by the strategic research analysis division of the Department of Transport. This led to Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, giving approval to progress the planning and design of the scheme in accordance with the TII project management guidelines. An emerging preferred transport corridor for this scheme was released in January 2023 and was followed by a two-month consultation period. The upgrade will deliver on national policy, including key strategic objectives and deliverables of Project Ireland 2040, the national planning framework and the national development plan, NDP. As the Minister of State will be aware, the project aligns with the national investment framework for transport in Ireland and the national road safety strategy. The Minister has made clear that the project will not be removed from the NDP. It is also clear that the scheme is effectively suspended if no funding is going to be allocated in the next few years to develop the design and progress it to the planning stage. This a huge disappointment. It is a dangerous stretch of road and to leave it behind without funding is tantamount to ensuring that the section of vital connectivity between counties Sligo, Galway and Mayo, the River Shannon and the west more generally is forgotten.

We have had great progress from Clare, effectively, to north of Tuam but this area is forgotten about. We have Ireland West Airport Knock, cancer care services from Sligo University Hospital going to Galway, and very significant industries, to name but a few. These are in Sligo, Westport, Castlebar and Galway and they rely on that connectivity. We are going to grow in the west and something is happening in the west of Ireland, in Sligo and the north west, where many people have moved in from Dublin and London after Covid-19 and Brexit. I always say that Sligo is now the new Galway but we need that connectivity to our airport and to Dublin. We have fallen behind.

If you look at a map of Ireland and at the routes from Dublin to Belfast, Dublin to Galway, Dublin to Limerick, Dublin to Cork, Dublin to Waterford and Dublin to wherever; there is a void when you go into the north west. That is because we did not have that investment. We are just catching up. We need to catch up and we need somebody to listen to those concerns. Again, the road from Sligo to Galway is badly needed.

I understand that as Minister for public transport, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, is prioritising the number of towns and city bypasses. Moreover, what is happening with the greenways is just fantastic. We have the Sligo greenway, the Sligo, Leitrim, Northern Counties Railway, SLNCR, greenway and many things are happening but on this occasion I believe we need to reverse this. That is not to reverse the decision but to give priority to the N17.

Again, we have worked together on many areas within Government. The Green Party is part of the Government and the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, is a valued member of it, for whom I have great respect. We have worked together on cardiac services in Sligo University Hospital. Sligo Airport was delivered, we are working on Sligo Garda station, on Atlantic Technological University and on housing. There are many issues which can be dealt with in government and this is a situation which we need to deal with here. I hope the Minister of State will have a reply that can give comfort for the people of Sligo and the north west.

Deputy Neale Richmond

I thank Deputy Feighan for raising this issue. The Deputy will forgive me for saying this is not the first time I have heard him raise this issue although, admittedly, it is the first time I have taken it as a receiving Minister of State in the Dáil Chamber. He is a real champion for his county and for the counties affected by the N17. I have heard him speak many times at our own parliamentary party and I believe he raised it also just in the past week with the Taoiseach.

As the Deputy is aware, the Minister for Transport has responsibility for overall policy and Exchequer funding for the national roads programme. Once funding arrangements have been put in place with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2015, and in line with the national development plan, NDP, the planning, design, improvement and upgrading of individual national roads is a matter for TII, in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. TII ultimately delivers the national roads programme in line with Project Ireland 2040, the national planning framework and the NDP.

Approximately €491 million of Exchequer capital funds have been provided for national roads through TII to local authorities in 2023. These allocations were announced by the Department of Transport and TII on 16 February 2023. The Government has earmarked €5.1 billion for capital spending on new national roads projects from 2021 to 2030 as part of the NDP. This funding will enable improved regional accessibility across the country, as well as compact growth, which are key national strategic outcomes. The funding will provide for the development of numerous national road projects, including the completion of projects that are already at construction stage and those close to it, as well as the development of a number of others.

As the greater portion of this funding becomes available in the second half of the decade, this means that there is a constraint on the funding available for new projects this year. Most national road projects in the NDP, however, will continue to be progressed in 2023. A major priority in the NDP, in line with the Department’s investment hierarchy, is to maintain the quality and safety of the existing national road network. The NDP foresees an Exchequer allocation of circa €2.9 billion for the protection and renewal of existing national roads over the ten-year period to 2030, allocated fairly evenly across the decade.

Due to the outlined funding constraints for national roads in 2023, a prioritisation exercise was necessary. In line with the NDP and Government policy, the Minister for Transport has allocated national road funding for 2023 in a manner which seeks to achieve the following key outcomes: the protection and renewal of the existing national road network; progressing major projects in or near construction; progressing major projects which are pre-construction but well advanced in the development pipeline; and prioritising any remaining funds for major projects that provide for local bypasses and compact growth in Ireland’s towns and villages.

This is in no way to dismiss the importance and need for the upgrade of the N17 referred to by Deputy Feighan and I understand the pressures to deliver this project as soon as possible are real and important. The situation has been laid out clearly by the Deputy as it is at the moment. I will, however, undertake to bring the Deputy's representations back to the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and I, of course, encourage the Deputy to continue this engagement which he has been doing for a long time both in this House and, indeed, previously in the Upper House, as well as to engage directly with TII.

Deputy Frankie Feighan

I thank the Minister of State and I also thank the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the Green Party. They are fighting hard for climate, for community and for equality. These are the three aspects: climate, community and equality. I appreciate that this is just funding and I will talk to my leader, the Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, to try to get this resolved. Again there are many things which we need to work on but this is an issue that certainly needs addressing.

Again, I state that this is a national road and one which opens up access to the west of Ireland. It is vital for the local community.

I also wish to pay tribute to Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon and Donegal county councils, areas which I represent. These are people who are passionate about their communities. We are fortunate to have both very good CEOs and great staff there, together with great members of the local authorities. This is an issue which bubbles along.

I do not normally bring things, as the Minister of State will be aware, to the floor of the Dáil and normally raise these matters directly with him, as I have done with both him and with the Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, and with the former Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin. This is an issue which needs to be resolved as quickly as possible. It is a very important issue for the connectivity of the west of Ireland and for the saving of people's lives. If it is a matter of money, then we have to get money. If it is a matter of a difference of opinion, we have to work on those differences of opinion.

I say again that we need to get the funding to keep this moving along because I have never seen such anger from businesses, individuals, communities and local authorities, which feel that they have been let down. We have to work together to deliver funding for this project and I ask that the Minister of State might bring his concerns back to the senior Minister, Deputy Ryan. We greatly welcome the vast amount of funding that has been coming for the Sligo greenway and the SLNCR greenway. It is making a difference with the cycleways, greenways, walkways and so forth but we just need to get this project over the line. I will work with the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and with whoever else, to try to get this project moving. As the CEO of the local authority said, we need to keep this project bubbling along.

Deputy Neale Richmond

I believe the Leas-Cheann Comhairle would agree with me that when it comes to Deputies in the Dáil, Deputy Feighan is one who would be consistently pushing matters at every available angle. For him to bring something to the Dáil Chamber is a signal not just of his intent but of the seriousness of the matters to him and to his local community.

The N17 Knock to Collooney scheme has been identified in the national development plan and TII has been working to progress the scheme through planning, design and construction. I can confirm to the Deputy, however, that €400,000 has been allocated for the Knock to Collooney scheme in 2023. As with all national roads projects in the NDP, the delivery programme for the project will be kept under review. The proposed project, as the Deputy is aware, assists in the delivery of a high-quality road network along the Atlantic corridor. It is vitally important not just for regional accessibility but also for access to Ireland West Airport Knock, as referred to by the Deputy. Through the provision of improved infrastructure, the project will support commercial growth and investment in the area. The proposed project will remove through traffic from a number of towns and villages, which will have positive social and environmental impacts on local residents. Road users will benefit from improved journey time certainty and, in addition, the project provides the opportunity to introduce active transport facilities.

The close-out of option selection reporting is ongoing on this particular project and an emerging preferred transport corridor is expected to be complete in the third quarter of 2023. Additional tasks, including traffic modelling and reporting, are ongoing following a peer review and a project appraisal guidelines audit.

As I indicated to the Deputy in my initial response, I will take this back to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan. Moreover, I will encourage him to visit the north west and Sligo with Deputy Feighan to underline how important this project is, not just to the local people but to the entire Government, and how important Deputy Feighan's role is in delivering this for the people of his community and the constituency which he represents.

Cuireadh an Dáil ar fionraí ar 9.50 a.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 10 a.m.

Sitting suspended at 9.50 a.m. and resumed at 10 a.m.