Fine Gael Waterford Deputy and Vice Chairperson of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications, Paudie Coffey, has today (Wednesday) welcomed confirmation that in excess of €1 million is being allocated to address the recent storm damage at Plunkett Station in Waterford. Deputy Coffey added that the funding illustrates the Government’s commitment to helping communities affected by the recent severe weather.

Fine Gael Cork North Central TD, Dara Murphy, has today (Wednesday) welcomed confirmation that €2.8 million is being allocated to repair the roof of Kent Station in Cork, which was severely damaged in the recent bad weather. Deputy Murphy added that the funding underlines the Government’s commitment to helping communities affected by the storms.

Fine Gael Meath East TD, Regina Doherty, has today (Wednesday) welcomed an announcement that a new €20 million fund is being established to help distressed local authority mortgage holders. It will be used to offer the ‘mortgage-to-rent’ solution to local authority mortgage holders who are unable to meet their monthly repayments.

The Government today (11/2/2014) considered a Report on the severe weather that affected Ireland from 13 December 2013 to 6 January 2014. It announced that it has decided that a sum of up to seventy €70 million euro will be made available for a programme of repair and remediation works.

Fine Gael TD for Roscommon/South Leitrim, Frank Feighan, has said that the 250 jobs announced for Roscommon in the last week by a number of global pharmaceutical companies are a massive vote of confidence in the county’s infrastructure and its people.

Tourism Ireland has lined up a fairytale ending for St Patrick’s Day this year, as Sleeping Beauty’s Castle at Disneyland® Paris, the Holmenkollen ski jump in Oslo and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Petra in Jordan will join its Global Greening 2014. And, in another major coup for Irish tourism, the Pyramids of Giza are set to go green once again this year around 17 March.

On behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, I would like to thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The Minister regrets that he is unable to be present today due to other business.

Olympic silver medallist, Kenneth Egan, has today (Monday) been unveiled as Fine Gael’s latest candidate for the upcoming local elections in the Clondalkin Local Electoral Area.

I would like to begin by emphasising the important public role played by An Garda Síochána as the police force in this State and by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) as the independent body with the important remit of investigating allegations of police misconduct. Each is a crucial pillar in our constitutional democracy and each plays a vital role in the public interest.

Fine Gael Dublin Senator, Catherine Noone, has today (Tuesday) encouraged the Government to speed up legislation to ban smoking in cars carrying children, after the UK parliament voted in favour of the measure. The UK ban is due to be introduced before the next general election in 2015.