Priority Questions
29. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans for securing the long-term future and viability of An Post, particularly in view of recent reports that widespread closures are predicted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14097/17]
View answer30. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the actions he is pursuing in view of the difficulties faced by An Post; and the timeframe for the necessary changes to be made at the company and the implementation of the Kerr report recommendations. [14096/17]
View answerI ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment how he plans to secure the long-term future viability of the post office network, particularly in light of recent reports that widespread closures are predicted by An Post, and if he will make a statement to the House on that.
I ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment what actions he and his Department are pursuing in view of the serious difficulties faced by the post office network, with the An Post corporate structure, and the timeframe for the necessary changes to be made at that company for the implementation of the Kerr report and the McKinsey report.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 29 and 30 together.
I thank both my colleagues for their questions. It is Government policy that An Post remains a strong, viable company in a position to provide a high quality, nationwide postal service and that it maintains a nationwide customer-focused network of post offices in the community. Members of the House will be aware from recent discussions on the Communications Regulation (Postal Services) (Amendment) Act 2017 that An Post is entering a period of significant change in order to cope with the rapidly changing environment in which it operates.
Nationally and internationally, mail and post office businesses are experiencing long-term structural challenges, with electronic substitution having a significant impact. This trend has been evident for some years in An Post. The mail volume decline of 38% between the 2007 peak and 2015 accelerated in 2016 with An Post recording a doubling year-on-year volume decline, resulting in a serious financial impact for the company. To put this into context, every 1% decline in mail volume equates to a loss of revenue for An Post of €4 million. The impact of a 2.5% Labour Court pay recommendation last year has added further pressure to an already difficult financial situation. Reflecting the scale of employment provided by An Post, a 1% increase in pay adds €4.5 million to payroll.
As soon as I became aware of the financial situation in An Post late last year, I acted swiftly to examine a number of options to assist in giving the company financial headroom. I met with the chair and CEO of An Post to discuss this matter in detail and also met other stakeholders such as ComReg and the Communications Workers' Union. In order to stabilise the company's financials, the repeal of the price cap mechanism was identified as the only measure which could be implemented quickly. I received Government approval in December to introduce legislation to repeal the price cap. I am glad to acknowledge the co-operation of Deputies across all sides of the House in supporting the passage of the legislation which was enacted last week. It is important to restate that this was not a decision that was taken lightly. NewERA had conducted an in-depth review of the company in recent months on behalf of myself and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, as the shareholding Ministers, and confirmed the seriousness of the situation facing An Post. It is worth noting that stamp prices in Ireland are well below the European average and it is expected that the proposed increases will bring the price in line with European norms.
The repeal of the price cap is only one of a series of measures which will be necessary to provide the financial underpinning to An Post to allow it to continue to provide mail and post office services. Fundamental decisions are required about how the company will operate in the future, and the company has started an in-depth review to identify the best approach to the necessary restructuring, the outcome of which is expected in the next month or so. I continue to monitor the position closely and meet regularly with the chair and chief executive of the company. I look forward to hearing the outcome of the An Post review but it would not be appropriate for me to comment further while this process is still under way.
The Government is acutely aware of the value placed on daily postal deliveries by communities in both rural and urban areas and recognises the importance of ensuring that An Post has the capacity to continue to fulfil its obligations in that regard. It is important to remember that An Post provides a high quality mail service to businesses and personal customers across the country. The mail network undertakes the delivery of 2.5 million mail items every working day to 2.1 million homes and businesses. It includes 7,620 collection, processing and delivery staff, 160 local delivery units, and four national mail centres. The company has a number of strengths such as its brand and nationwide reach.
I accept that the scale of the price increase proposed is significant for both business and personal customers of An Post. While the price increase should provide additional financial headroom for the company, it is important, in the context of any restructuring proposal that management, unions and staff of the company engage in meaningful discussion in order to position An Post to meet the current and future customer requirements.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
The operation of the post office network is an operational matter for An Post and not one in which I have a role. On foot of a reconfiguration of Departments in July last year, responsibility for the post office network transferred to the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. The implementation of the Kerr report and plans in relation to the network are a matter for that Department and the company. Any decisions regarding the network of post offices will be given due consideration by all parties in the context of the overall review of the company as a whole.
The Government decision of 19 July 2016 agreed, in accordance with the programme for Government, to transfer responsibility for the post office network from my Department to the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. As the network is an integrated business run by An Post it is not possible to disaggregate urban and rural post offices and therefore the network as a whole is transferred to that Department. Delivery of the programme for Government commitments, in particular, implementing the report of the post office business development group and actions on post offices and Community banking will be the responsibility of the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
I am disappointed to say that the Minister has failed to even make a stab at answering the question. I asked him how he plans to secure the long-term future viability of the Post Office network. The Minister has given me a couple of pages from the annual report of An Post. He has reflected on what has happened and what he has done to secure the short-term viability of the company. We have had that debate here on umpteen occasions. The fact of the matter is that for many communities, particularly for those worst affected by this Government's callous cuts of services to rural Ireland, the local post office is the most important social hub. It is the nucleus around which so much other activity is dependent, whether it is the activity of small and medium enterprises in the region or retaining the fabric of rural communities.
This is, without a doubt, a period of change. Government intervention is clearly required. All I am getting from the Government side is that it is an issue for another Minister, such as the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ring, or the Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys, but not an issue for the Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten. Will the Minister inform the House, and give some confidence to the people who will be affected by the changed structure that An Post is detailing, that the Government cares about those communities and is prepared to act to protect that vital service?
The situation at An Post is critical. I am not too lifted by the response that we have received. We need decisive action and we need it quickly. An Post does not have time on its side. The 1,150 post offices around the country do not have time on their side. An Post is a trusted service. The current difficulties provide an opportunity. We need to make a move. We have been hearing talk about what should be done to broaden the number of services for years. Previous Governments of all hues have not acted decisively. We would not be where we are now if they had. We are where we are and we need to move on from that.
When are services for motor tax, business rates, Government services and banking opportunities going to be rolled out? The Kerr report has been around for months. We have seen the outcome of the initial report. It needs to be grabbed. This is not something that we can play around with for another year, two years or three years. We cannot have paralysis. We combined here to pass the Bill. We took decisive action here a couple of weeks ago in support of the Government Bill, because we saw the need for it.
I am saying to the Minister, and one of the problems is there are too many Ministers responsible for it, that we need decisive action on the post office network and to use its difficulties as an opportunity.
The operation of the post office network is an operational matter for An Post and it is one that I do not have any role in. It is also important to point out, as I have pointed out here in the past, that on foot of the reconfiguration of Departments, responsibility for, and accountability to this House for, the post office network transferred to the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Heather Humphreys. On 19 July 2016, the decision was taken by Government, in accordance with the programme for Government, to transfer responsibility for the post office network from my Department to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys' Department. The delivery of the programme for Government commitments, in particular, to implementing the report of the post office business development group, and the two groups established on foot of that - the post office hub working group and the network renewal implementation group - and the actions on the post offices and community banking are the responsibility of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and her Department.
The Minister has succeeded in confusing just about everybody. The Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ring, makes it very clear that his role is about looking at a group of services that could enhance activity within the post office network. He claims to have absolutely no responsibility whatsoever for the operation of the network. The Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten, is telling us something different.
The sooner the Government comes clean and tells the people who are affected by this change who is responsible, the better.
On a number of occasions the Minister told us that he has corporate responsibility for An Post. The last time I checked, however, the contract is between postmasters, who, by and large, run the post offices, with the exception of 50 or so that are owned by the company, and An Post where the Minister has effective overall corporate governance responsibility.
It does not take a corporate lawyer to make the connection between the Minister's responsibilities, the effective operation of the contracts and ultimately the delivery of the service. The sooner the Minister accepts his responsibility for a holistic approach of the entire An Post entity and stops shifting responsibility between himself and a fellow Minister, the better.
We have three Ministers with some level of responsibility for An Post and the post office network, which is a ludicrous situation. While I have admired the Minister for some things he has done, I have criticised him for others. I am approaching this matter constructively, however, as I know that Government Deputies are also frustrated with the situation. I am asking the three relevant Ministers to go to the Taoiseach and ask him to make one of the three of them responsible for An Post. The Minister said he is responsible for the corporate body of An Post, while his colleague, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is responsible for the network and the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, is responsible for developing the smaller less viable post offices. That system cannot work, however. There can only be one Minister with one line of responsibility because all of An Post's services are meshed together. This applies to the GPO and the four mail centres, one of which is in my constituency in Portlaoise.
I am respectfully asking the Minister to do so because they cannot be separated. I think the Minister is frustrated, annoyed and unhappy with this situation. A solution has to be found, so I ask the three Ministers to go to the Taoiseach to sort out who is responsible.
As regards anything that I have responsibility for in An Post, my form has been to take quick, decisive action. When the issues concerning An Post were brought to my attention, I did just that. The reality is that a decision was taken on 19 July by the Government to transfer responsibility for the post office network to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and her Department.
Naturally enough, as a Deputy from a rural constituency, I know the impact this issue is having on the post office network. I have a huge personal interest in this matter and I have been involved in discussions on it with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, to see how the Government can acknowledge the fact that the post office network is a government network. There is a responsibility on all Ministers to put work through that network which would sustain the maximum possible number of post offices. As Deputies have said, there is an opportunity here to maximise the retention of the network if every Minister takes responsibility and examines how we can improve efficiency within our own Departments and put work through the post office network. When the Kerr report sought submissions, I made a submission as a Deputy which I believe still stands today.
The Minister is in a position to deliver on it now.
31. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his plans to speed up the roll-out of the national broadband plan; if there is a timeframe on the urgent points identified in the implementation programme on mobile phone and broadband access document; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14098/17]
View answerI wish to ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment about his plans to speed up the roll-out of the national broadband plan; if there is a timeframe on the urgent points identified in the implementation programme on the mobile phone and broadband access document; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The national broadband plan, NBP, aims to deliver high-speed broadband to all businesses and households in Ireland through a combination of commercial investment and State intervention in areas where commercial investment has not been fully demonstrated. The NBP has been a catalyst for an increased level of investment by commercial operators. Since the publication of the NBP, investment by the commercial telecommunications sector has been considerable with over €2.5 billion spent in upgrading and modernising networks. As a result, today, approximately 1.4 million premises or 61% of premises in Ireland can get high speed broadband of a minimum of 30 megabits per second. Significant further investment is anticipated over the next two years.
My Department is running a procurement process to select a company or companies who will roll out a high speed broadband network within the State intervention area. Finalisation of the intervention area is the next key step in the procurement process. I expect this to happen in the coming weeks and it will allow bidders to prepare for the next stage of the procurement process, which is the submission by bidders of detailed solutions. After the submission of detailed solutions, the procurement process will move to the final tenders and contract award stages.
A number of initiatives have been developed to speed up the roll-out of high-speed broadband. My Department will engage with winning bidder or bidders on the best roll-out strategy in order to target areas of particularly poor service, business needs and-or high demand and a prioritisation programme will be put in place in consultation with the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. Two regional action groups have been established to work with local authorities, local enterprise offices and other relevant agencies to help accelerate broadband roll-out in rural Ireland.
The mobile phone and broadband task force has moved to the implementation phase. The implementation programme on mobile phone and broadband access identifies 19 of the 40 task force actions as areas where immediate and direct action by Departments and State agencies can ensure accelerated benefits to consumers. Each of the actions and implementation programme has its own timeframe for delivery. A copy of the report is available on my Department's website.
I am still not clear, and neither are those who seek the implementation of this plan, on when we can expect to see the roll-out begin, let alone be completed. The national broadband plan has been talked about since 2012, although I will not lay at the Minister's door responsibility for the tardiness with which successive governments have dealt with it. The Minister has been in office for almost a year, yet we still have no tender in place. People are absolutely frustrated as a result. It is impacting on the way in which people do business in 900,000 premises across the State. It is also impacting significantly on the way families live their lives. I am inundated every week by mothers and fathers whose children are unable to complete dissertations or access information required for college and course work. In addition, small and medium enterprises, and farmers, across the country have the same broadband connectivity problems.
As more and more services go on-line, the demands for broadband are increasing. Greater demand for access to these services requires greater band width, yet there is a poor level of service in so many areas. The Minister cannot allow this to continue so he will have to find a way to get this contract completed and begin the work. It is an emergency for many communities.
My focus is on delivery, not dates. I am very much focused on delivering this matter. The roll out of the national broadband plan has already started. Commercial companies are spending €1.7 million per day on foot of the plan. In the coming weeks we intend to make significant progress on that. I included in the programme for Government a mobile broadband and wireless task force due to the challenge in reaching some communities and some homes. That task force will have a significant impact on the delivery of 4G and wireless services over the coming 12 months.
Next month will see the auctioning off of the 3.6 gHz spectrum, which will provide additional bandwidth for wireless and mobile operators. That will help them to roll out their services and expand the services currently available. In tandem with that, I have allocated €8 million to RTE to release the 700 mHz spectrum.
They will start work on that this summer and that will facilitate us in rolling out 5G throughout the country.
It seems the Minister raised the issue of spectrum auction. Will he confirm to the House that the criteria around the auctioning of the spectrum will concentrate more on the geographic spread rather than on the amount of money that can be generated for the State coffers? The Minister is well aware that, notwithstanding what different mobile companies advertise in terms of their coverage, the bulk of their service, as a result of previous auctions, concentrates on population. That is because the criteria were in the past based around the return to the State. We have seen the folly of that in terms of the poor coverage in many less densely populated areas but yet it is vitally important to provide cover to ensure access to emergency services etc. Will he confirm to the House that at last he has understood the necessity to look at the geographic spread rather than following the population dispersal?
Prior to becoming Minister I understood the difference between geographic and population. I have always insisted that we should be looking at geographic coverage. I have made my views quite clear on that, both publicly and privately. In regard to the 3.6 GHz spectrum, the auction is slightly different in terms of its objectives. The country is broken into nine different areas, both urban and rural. It will facilitate the roll-out of wireless broadband across the country and it will assist the mobile operators in regard to backhaul capacity as well. It is structured in such a way as to do that.
The big issue is the next auction, which is the 700 MHz spectrum, which relates to 5G. It is my intention, and I will be pressing for it if at all possible, to ensure that is rolled out on a geographic rather than a population basis. The frequency of the 700 MHz spectrum allows for it to have far greater coverage. That would see high speed mobile broadband being provided right across this country. That is needed. I hope it will have the support of all sides of the House.
32. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will prioritise investment in the rehabilitation of the former mining sites around the Silvermines area; and if he will consider compulsory purchase orders for land within the proximately of the proposed hydroelectric plant. [14229/17]
View answerI thank the Minister. He is a big supporter of the proposed hydroelectric plant in Silvermines in County Tipperary. There has been mining in Silvermines for 1,000 years. What is left there can be turned into something very positive by the €500 million potential investment that will go into the hydroelectric plant. Unfortunately we also have a legacy issue there, which is environmentally hazardous and has caused issues in the past with regard to human health and is currently causing issues with regard to animal health. There are lands there in which millions have been invested. A compulsory purchase order process has been started in relation to the tailings pond in Gortmore. I ask the Minister to execute that order and that the State consider the compulsory purchase of the remaining lands, which are currently for sale and which I do not believe it is appropriate to be maintained in private ownership.
Since 2007, my Department in co-operation with Tipperary County Council, has undertaken an extensive programme of remediation works at a number of former mining sites at Silvermines, County Tipperary, with expenditure on the works totalling €11.2 million to date. The last substantive phase of the programme of remediation works to be completed is the work at the Garryard site. Progression of this phase of the programme is currently under consideration by my Department. My Department continues to work to ensure the protection of the investment already made and a long-term approach to the programme. The Department also has an ongoing programme of environmental monitoring of the sites concerned.
I understand that SIGA-Hydro Limited is working on plans to develop a pumped storage electricity generation plant at Silvermines. The proposed development would utilise the flooded open pit at the Magcobar site which was used to produce barite from 1963 to 1992. Limited remediation works have been carried out at the Magcobar site under the programme of remediation works including re-grading of spoil piles, demolition of derelict structures, fencing off dangerous areas and areas of mine heritage interest. It should be noted that the land and minerals at the site are privately owned and were registered as excepted minerals by the Mining Board with primary responsibility for any necessary rehabilitation resting with the owner.
There are no proposals to compulsorily purchase lands in the proximity of the Magcobar site.
This is an ongoing legacy issue. A number of people before me have spoken about this. My own family worked in the mines for generations up until the 1980s. This cannot go on. The CPO process for the Gortmore tailings pond was started by the Minister's predecessor and I understood it was ongoing. There is no way we can allow €11 million to be invested into lands and then have the owner of those lands run horses across the lands, destroying the investment. We also have other sites now that are for sale.
Currently, as I stand here in this Chamber, there are two families, who are dairy farmers, whose land is contaminated to the point where their milk is no longer accepted. There are other issues here. There are legacy issues here that are so deep that it will not be possible to remediate these lands and invest in them unless the State compulsorily purchases them. We need to complete the compulsory purchase order of the tailings pond area in Gortmore. The idea that these lands could be sold for development is absolutely criminal. The State needs to own these lands and I ask the Minister to ensure that it happens. I am not expecting it to be done tomorrow, but I would ask him to ensure the lands around this very positive development are mapped out and a process and plan is put in place to compulsorily purchase these areas for the benefit of all the people living there, for human health and animal health.
I acknowledge the role the Deputy has as a constituency Teachta Dála, and his family history. I have spoken to him on this issue before. Regarding Gortmore, I understand from my Department that it is in discussions, through the Chief State Solicitor's office, with solicitors for the owners of the property. That is not to say it is expediting a CPO but it is in discussions to purchase the land. With regard to the unknown causes of cattle deaths, I am aware the Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the environment section of Tipperary County Council are investigating the issues. They are taking water samples, which seem to be satisfactory, and they are looking at all possibilities, including paint or batteries that may have been dumped in the general area, to try to ascertain why exactly there has been animal deaths in the area. Clearly, regarding Gortmore, it is the largest section of concern within the Silvermines complex. We are trying to expedite a purchase of that through the Chief State Solicitor's office and we will continue with that.
There have not been animal deaths there for some time. There were animal deaths due to lead poisoning. The issue now is that the actual soil is contaminated from the river. The lead levels have gone across into the soil and into the grass that was cut to make silage, which is fed to the animals. It will take a period of time for us to figure our exactly what is going on here.
This will not end even if they find out what the issues are relating to those two farmers and their cattle. This will not end there. Until this State firmly takes control of this situation there will be ongoing issues here. The patience of the people living in the community there is worn out. I ask the Minister to at least meet with them or with the county council in the coming weeks to discuss this issue. I believe this can be solved over a short period of years. They are not looking for solutions immediately. They are just looking for a mapped way forward.
There is a huge development going on there, more than €500 million worth of an investment. It will provide 10% of the county's electricity when it is finished. It is a brilliant development that will clean up the Magcobar area. The ancillary side of this is that these lands need to be compulsorily purchased by the State, for what I would perceive to be very little money, and rehabilitated. At least if they are owned by the State we can put in place a plan to do that. Human health, animal health and the food that results from those animals are all the consequences of that. The State needs to intervene.
I am happy to arrange a meeting in my office here in Dublin with county council officials, local residents and, obviously, the Deputy himself to discuss these issues.
I thank the Minister.
I know the Department is actively pursuing the issues related to the cattle deaths and, as I said, the EPA and the environment section-----
There are no cattle deaths. It is contamination.
As I understand it, in the past few years there has been.
I do not want to put a fear factor out there.
Regarding the existing site at Gortmore, I know that a third of the site was remediated through my Department a number of years ago, another two thirds of the site through the company and there was in-sowing of metal-resistant grasses.
I know there are particular issues with horses. Discussions are ongoing through my Department and the Chief State Solicitor's office.
In respect of the Magcobar site, I understand that it would not be legally possible for the Department to compulsorily purchase any site unless it was necessary to remediate the land. The Department would not have a direct legal basis to do so. The county council may have a legal basis but it would need to check that in respect of very small sections of it. I would be very happy to discuss these issues with council officials and members of the community at a date to be arranged.
33. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when he plans to implement the motion regarding the North-South interconnector that was passed by Dáil Éireann on 16 February 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14228/17]
View answerWhen does the Minister plan to implement the motion regarding the North-South interconnector that was passed by Dáil Éireann on 16 February 2017 and could he make a statement to the House on the matter?
The North-South interconnector is important for improving the efficient operation of the single electricity market and increasing security of electricity supply across the island of Ireland. On 21 December 2016, An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission for the North-South interconnector project in Ireland. The decision concluded a lengthy planning process which included an oral hearing completed over 11 weeks from March to May last year. The planning process in Northern Ireland is ongoing with the planning inquiry concluding on 27 February 2017.
I am aware of views that have been raised by communities across Cavan, Meath and Monaghan that the transmission lines should be laid underground rather than built overhead. However, all evidence available to me indicates that developing the project underground would cost substantially more and deliver less. In particular, I would highlight the independent expert commission report of 2012 that estimated that the cost of building the project underground would be three times the cost of the overhead solution.
In light of the motions passed by Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann, I have requested officials in my Department to prepare a proposal for an updated independent report that would consider any changes in cost and technology in the five years since the 2012 report by the independent expert commission. My officials are currently preparing the terms of reference for this study which will bring further clarity to the relative cost and technical merits of overhead and underground solutions for the North-South Interconnector. I intend that this report would provide a comprehensive and independent analysis and it is my intention that the report be completed and published before the end of this year. Finally, I re-emphasise the Government's continued strong support for this project.
The bottom line is that the majority of Deputies in this House agreed that there should be an entirely new independent expert analysis of the North-South interconnector complete with estimates of the cost of the project for tourism, agriculture, heritage, health and local communities, a decision with which Seanad Éireann agreed. In my view, that motion must be respected rather than overridden in any shape or form by the Minister and the Government's endless pursuit of what it believes to be the current situation.
I understand that the Government Chief Whip, Deputy Regina Doherty, went on local radio the morning after the motion was passed and told the people of Meath that the Fianna Fáil motion would be implemented in full. Irrespective of whatever terms of reference the Minister intends to introduce in respect of this independent review, will he consult with our party, which put down the motion? I hope he would consult with all spokespeople on this side of the House. What I want from the Minister is a commitment that he will honour the motion that was passed by a majority of Deputies in this House. I received a bound copy of the motion from the Ceann Comhairle. It was passed by a majority of Deputies in this House, so surely that makes it incumbent on the Minister with responsibility for this area to give effect to the democratic wishes and will of this Parliament.
I listened intently to both debates about issues that were genuinely raised by people who had concerns. Similar motions have been passed by both Houses. I have directed my officials to prepare a proposal for me. I have not yet seen it. I have been pressing my officials on that because the argument made by the groups representing local communities I met here was that we did not have the most up-to-date information on costings. Examples were given of other projects in Europe. The advice that is available to me is that they are not comparable but I accept that we should look at these issues independent of the advice that is available to me.
I must also say that judicial review proceedings are taking place. As Minister, I am party to one of those three judicial reviews. One of those reviews includes the North East Pylon Pressure group and an individual who have challenged An Bord Pleanála's decision to grant permission and its status as the lawfully designated competent authority.
Will the motion passed by this House be the starting point for the Minister's request to his officials to develop the outline of this report of the terms of reference? I accept that the Minister listened to the debates intently. Listening is one thing but taking heed of the motion that was passed is another. In my view, what will show the Minister's sincerity is whether he is prepared to accept the legitimacy of the democratic wishes and will of this House and initiate a report. I accept that terms of reference need to be drawn up but the starting point and finishing point for those terms of reference must be in accord and in concert with the motion passed in this House. Will the Minister confirm to the House that he intends to follow the democratic wishes and will of the Members of this House?
I will be honest with Deputy Dooley. The starting point was not the motion that was passed by this House. The starting point was the meeting I had with the communities where I thought they raised very valid questions. On foot of the raising of those questions, I immediately sought advice from my own technical adviser about the issues that were raised. There are legitimate questions that need to be clarified and this is what I intend to do. This is why I have asked my officials to take action on foot of what the communities have said to me and what has been raised here through the motions in the Dáil and the Seanad. I have not seen the detail of that as of yet. It has not come to me. I am awaiting it. What we need is to provide clear and definitive answers to the questions that have been raised by the communities on numerous occasions.
