Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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5. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on economy and investment will next meet. [36691/24]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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6. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on economy and investment will meet next. [36726/24]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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7. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on economy and investment will next meet. [41381/24]

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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8. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee that deals with transport will next meet. [39725/24]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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9. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee that deals with transport will next meet. [43249/24]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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10. To ask the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee that deals with transport will next meet. [43251/24]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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These questions get more interesting the closer you get to the end of this Dáil. I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 to 10, inclusive, together.

The Cabinet committee on the economy and investment was re-established by the Government on 10 April and most recently met on 1 July. The next meeting of the Cabinet committee has not yet been scheduled. The membership of the committee comprises the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Defence; the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth; the Minister for Finance; the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform; the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment; the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, and Transport; and the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Other Ministers or Ministers of State are invited to participate as required.

The committee oversees the implementation of programme for Government commitments aimed at sustainable economic recovery, investment and job creation, including Harnessing Digital, our national digital strategy. Despite many external challenges, we continue to see very strong economic performance in Ireland, with more people at work than ever before, low levels of unemployment and a return to real wage growth. Inflation, thankfully, continues to fall while households and businesses have been supported through the cost-of-living crisis. That support is ongoing, because while I know inflation has fallen, we have not yet seen the corresponding fall in the cost of living experienced by people in the real world. Our economic model continues to be founded on a well-established and successful pro-enterprise policy framework which tries to provide a stable and sustainable regulatory and tax environment, sound management of our public finances and significant investment in the infrastructure and skills required to ensure our future competitiveness.

Transport-related issues can arise in a number of different Cabinet committees, given their relevance to multiple policy areas. This includes the Cabinet committee on the economy and investment, the Cabinet committee on the environment and climate change and the Cabinet committee on housing. As with all policy areas, issues relating to the economy and transport are regularly discussed at full Cabinet meetings, where formal decisions are made, and, of course, in bilateral conversations between me and relevant Ministers.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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There is €25 billion of a State surplus but not enough therapists for special schools in Cork, brown water coming out of the taps in Cork and bus services in a state of real crisis in Cork. We have buses that never arrive, buses that arrive late and buses that are jam-packed and just sail past the queues at the bus stops. This week, Bus Éireann has cut approximately 800 bus runs from five city services. Commuters and drivers are not happy and many of them will give their verdict at the ballot box. Make no mistake; the issue of the buses will be a major issue in Cork at the general election. The Minister for Transport visited Cork yesterday and promised that the cuts would be reversed within 15 weeks or, in other words, after the general election, another post-dated cheque from the Government. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, will not be sticking around for the next Dáil, where he might be held to account for that promise, but I intend to be here to see that promise is kept.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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A survey reported yesterday that close to 1,000 teaching positions in primary and special schools are vacant. The impact on students is huge. Tens of thousands of kids are being taught for extended periods of time by unqualified teachers. The situation is particularly bad for schools in disadvantaged areas of Dublin, including in Dublin South-West. The housing crisis is so out of control that teachers simply cannot afford to live in our capital and are emigrating to places like Dubai to work for a number of years to save for a deposit. The Taoiseach’s party has had 11 years to fix this, and I think we will be at 5,000 days of Fine Gael being continuously in power in a couple of weeks' time. Instead, however, the crisis has got worse and worse under its watch. Will the Taoiseach tell people where he stands on this issue ahead of the election? Does he support higher wages for all teachers? Does he support pay equality and permanent positions as standard for young teachers? Does he support a Dublin cost-of-living allowance? Will he abolish masters fees for secondary students? They are a real obstacle and a barrier to training new teachers and the small cut in fees that has been agreed is nowhere near enough.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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St. Augustine’s in Blackrock is a school for children with additional needs. It caters for children with those needs from as far north of the city as Santry, the many places in between, Wicklow, the Dún Laoghaire area, which is my area, and other areas of south Dublin. The school is still without two buses to take those children to St. Augustine's, those being the one that comes from Santry and the one that comes from Wicklow, the Taoiseach's constituency, because it cannot get bus drivers. I do not know if this is directly connected but is the Taoiseach aware that bus drivers who are certified and who reach the age of 70 are not allowed to drive children to school? That is crazy.

The HSE will allow them to bring people to school. There are bus drivers I know in my area who take children to crèches and other after-school activities but cannot take them to school. It is insane, it is discriminatory and it is madness when we cannot get bus drivers. Can the Taoiseach do something for St. Augustine's to ensure it has school transport for those children to get them to school? Second, will he do away with the bizarre situation whereby people who want to drive buses to take children to school are told they cannot do that once they reach the age of 70. It makes no sense.

Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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I join with the comments of other speakers about Michael Reade. I very much enjoyed any of the times I appeared on his show. He was a very fair broadcaster and will be sadly missed.

I wish to ask the Taoiseach about the DART+ Coastal North project. On 21 May 2024, at Cabinet, the Taoiseach gave approval to this project, which could result in the loss of DART direct services for commuters using Howth, Sutton and Bayside. At a time when we need to encourage more people to use public transport, this would have the opposite effect. When I asked the Taoiseach about this in June, he promised to engage with Irish Rail on it. What was the outcome of this engagement? Did he ask Irish Rail to maintain the direct services for commuters using Bayside, Sutton and Howth?

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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We all know that there are significant issues around road safety. I will use the example of the N53, which is the Dundalk to Castleblayney road, because there have been a number of car smashes on it. I am talking about Sheelagh. There is basically a double turn-off. There is one for Ballybinaby and one for Crossmaglen. When I ask questions about this, I am generally told that the national road speed limits will be reviewed in the next 24 months and that particular attention will be given to this issue. These speed limits need to be looked at. There is a similar issue regarding speed limits on the route from Knockbridge to Stone Trough. We need a system within local authorities for a rolling audit of this. I know Councillor Kevin Meenan in Dundalk is trying to get an audit of estates that do not have the traffic calming features found in other estates. We do not necessarily have a proper system for getting ramps. You are almost waiting for a disaster to happen. We need an overall review of this. Could the Taoiseach engage with the Minister for Transport because we need this audit and a better system?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Regarding Deputy Barry's point about bus services, the commitments given by Minister for Transport yesterday were given in good faith after his engagement with Bus Éireann on these matters. I will continue to keep a close eye on this. I hope to be back in this House too. If we are, I am sure both of us will continue to monitor this issue and no doubt, Deputy Barry will continue to hold the Government to account on that matter. I know it is an important issue for people in Cork. I have heard this directly from people in Cork.

In response to Deputy Paul Murphy's point about vacant teaching posts, I would point out that more teachers than ever before are working in the public education system. Of course, the population has grown. That is also true. Pupil-teacher ratios in our primary schools are at the lowest level we have ever seen but there are a number of issues and the cost and availability of housing are certainly contributory factors. The Deputy asked about the Dublin allowance. I have an open mind on it but I live in County Wicklow. If someone has a Dublin allowance, what does do that do for a school in Kildare, Meath or Wicklow trying to attract a teacher? How that begins and ends is an interesting question. The report of the Dublin city centre task force, which we launched yesterday, comes at it in a different way. It suggests developing a significant amount of housing in Dublin city centre and making it available to key workers, including teachers and nurses. That may be a different way of achieving roughly the same result. I favour higher wages for teachers, which is what we are delivering through our public service pay agreement. There has been a reduction in the professional master of education fees. I would like to see that go further in the time ahead.

In response to Deputy Boyd Barrett, St. Augustine's is a school I know well. A number of my constituents attend that school. I will see what the story is in terms of those two bus routes. It is not often that the Deputy and I can agree on issues for political reasons but I do believe the ban on over-70s is nuts. I have made this view very clear to the Department of Transport and the Department of Education. My reason for saying it is nuts is similar to that of the Deputy. If the view is that somebody over 70 cannot drive a bus, which is not my view, why then can that person drive schoolchildren to a football match at the weekend? It does not make any sense in terms of consistency. It is inherently ageist. I would much rather see a situation where people are medically assessed. I know people would be willing to do that. I also know a number of people who would be willing to drive buses and they tell me this as I go around the country. That is a source of frustration. I know the Minister for Education shares this view. We have both asked that this matter be reviewed by Bus Éireann. I am not passing the buck but it is a decision that must made formally by Bus Éireann. We have asked the RSA to look at that. For what it is worth, I do not believe it stands up to any level of scrutiny. I will continue to pursue the specific case of St. Augustine's.

I have heard from Deputy Cian O'Callaghan's constituents very clearly about the DART+ Coastal North project. I know this issue could arise in other parts of the country, including my constituency, as people seek to expand the DART network, which is a good thing. I know it is a particular issue in Howth, Sutton and Bayside, where people are concerned about the lack of a direct service. I did correspond with the Department of Transport following our last engagement on this and highlighted the concerns raised by the Deputy. I will do so again and seek an update. I do not have a further update on the floor of the Dáil today but I am aware that it is an issue of significant concern to many thousands of the Deputy's constituents.

In response to Deputy Ó Murchú's point about the N53, I will ask the Minister for Transport to see if anything can be done on that in the intervening period and to engage with the local authority.