Today, I want to start by wishing the Cully Coders from County Donegal a safe trip. They are travelling to Canada next week to represent Ireland in the First Lego League Canada Cup of robotics. The Cully Coders are aged from 11 to 14. They are Zoe McElhinney, Abby McElhinney, Rebecca McElhinney, Sienna Deane and Georgia Green. They are coached by Stephen and Adele McElhinney. I wish the girls the very best of luck in Canada. I know they will do Donegal and Ireland proud. It is a great achievement for these five girls.

I want to raise the ongoing shortage of taxis affecting people across the country. Last week, I spoke about the WAV grant and how it is not working properly. The grant is supposed to help people to buy wheelchair-accessible taxis, but the funding runs out almost immediately. Many drivers cannot access the support they need. The rules are that new taxis must be wheelchair accessible. It is now making the market too expensive for new drivers to join the industry. These vehicles can cost up to €60,000. Without proper financial support, many people simply cannot afford it. At the same time, taxi numbers continue to fall. We have fewer taxis now than in 2009. People are waiting long times for taxis. Workers, older people and people who are trying to get home safely at night from pubs are affected. Nobody is saying accessibility is not important; it really is, but the system is not working. We need a balanced approach to protect accessibility while increasing the number of taxis on our roads. The Government needs to increase the WAV grant significantly and review the current rules for new taxi licences. More importantly, we need a proper national taxi strategy to deal with the shortage and improve the services for people across our country.

Finally, I wish Donegal all the best against Cork in Ballybofey on Sunday.