I apologise. We will continue afterwards, with the agreement of the House. We have no choice. The Minister of State has to go. Is it agreed to suspend the House for the duration of the vote? Agreed.

I call Senator Nessa Cosgrove. With the permission of the Minister of State, I will allow Senator Cosgrove to start again because it is important to keep the flow of it.

We will stick to the time for the rest of the session in order that everyone can get their Commencement matter in.

Before the Minister of State responds, I welcome the exchange students from Georgetown Visitation School in the US and the students from their host school in County Louth, who are in the Gallery. How apt that we are having a conversation on education. Thank you for joining us today.

I must be very strict on time in order to begin the next business at 4 p.m. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Moran.

I thank the Leader for being here this morning. I will use my time to discuss universal design guidelines for changing places toilets. It was a good colleague of the Leader, the then Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, who brought forward the change in regulations for Part M 2022. The changing of the regulations was to ensure that all of our local authorities would be in a position to make their public buildings more accessible and inclusive, particularly as regards changing spaces. On top of that, the centre fo…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, back again. He has a busy agenda this morning in the Seanad.

I welcome Deputy Danny Healy-Rae and his visitors to the Gallery.

I welcome the Minister to the Seanad and wish her all the best in the role. In the two minutes allocated to me, I am going to focus on two important issues relating to accident and emergency departments, training and this environment. We need to ensure that when a parent brings a child, a teenager, young adult or an older adult who is neurodiverse or has intellectual disabilities that there is a space there for a sick person to be seen. They need to feel safe and have their rights protected. I welcome the Minister'…

I welcome the Minister to the Seanad. I thank Fine Gael for tabling this welcome motion. I appreciate being allocated time to speak on it. The motion is a comprehensive one that covers an array of what needs to be done in the older age sector. Last year alone, 24 million hours were delivered when it came to home care. Some 320 day care centres were open right across the country. We have 55 dementia-specific day centres and the motion is calling on a further 20 to be added to that. The budget for meals on wheels has…

Earlier today, I hosted Sonas in the audiovisual room, which represents a women's refuge from domestic violence. We heard harrowing stories from a number of articulate ladies with lived experience. While Cuan has been set up and progress is being made, a lot of progress is still needed in the delivery of support for people fleeing domestic violence. I ask the Leader for the opportunity to have statements in the Seanad to discuss the matter and open it up to all parties and none to contribute to the conversation. I …

I would like to second what Senator Fitzpatrick has said on acknowledging the 40th anniversary of LAMA. I would welcome the executive and the wider group of local authority members coming to meet the Members of the House. I have no doubt everybody here feels the same. This my second time this week raising the issue of co-ordination in respect of local authorities. At home in Portumna, we have a rescue boat for the River Shannon. For any colleagues who do not know, Portumna is at the mouth of Lough Derg. The rescue …

I ask the Leader either to bring the relevant Minister before the House or to have statements on safe routes to school. Active travel was incredibly positively received when it was originally launched. However, it got curtailed along the way, in 2022, when the definition of active travel and safe routes to school meant just the schools but did not take into consideration day services or respite houses that could be along the same pathways. For example, in Portumna we have a lovely development consisting of a respit…

The Minister of State is very welcome to the Seanad. I think it is his first time here and I wish him all the very best in his role. If ever there was one person who was fitting, he is the person for it.

My colleague who is over there, Senator Noonan, happens to agree with me and we have spoken about it. This is a debate I called for, along with many other Senators. It was great to have the senior Minister earlier and I welcomed his contribution, especially where he said there will be much to learn from. He said we are fully out of the response stage in respect of it and that the strategic management framework overseen by the Office of Emergency Planning in the Department of Defence will be reviewed through the Gov…

I welcome the Minister of State to the Seanad and look forward to working with him. This debate is on one of my pet subjects, specialising in transport as I do because I come from east Galway where we have many transport issues. I have written them down so that I do not forget any of them. I was delighted to see that we have focused on fairer fares in this motion because if one travels one way from Athenry to Galway, it is €5.10. We are trying to take cars off the road. It is not a fair fare. We look after people i…

The Minister of State is very welcome. I thank him for being here. I know what a strong advocate he is. He first introduced me to the Fianna Fáil Party when he was holding a meeting on rural crime. It gives me a great opportunity to speak about keeping communities safe while also focusing on the rural issues. No different to Senator Scahill, one of the biggest issues in east Galway is our strategic location. We are on the bridge of the Shannon. Portumna is on the bridge, so our entry point is on the bridge but the …

I thank the Cathaoirleach for the opportunity to raise the matter of digital and cyber safety for children. I note that in the programme for Government there is a substantial paragraph laid out on digital safety for young people. I would like a discussion to take place between the Departments of Health and Education to determine which Minister will fund and support the online safety programme for schools, giving them more flexibility in how they use it. One evening last week, I attended a cyber safety workshop in C…

I congratulate Senator Kyne on his role as Leader and I look forward to working with him during his term. I, too, want to discuss Storm Éowyn. In County Galway, where I come from, not only was the impact felt while the storm was going through the county, but it lasted until last Monday when the last person in Galway, in Dunmore, had their electricity reconnected. That is far too long to wait. We have to reflect and learn from this. Learning is great but we have to operationalise that learning. That does not fall to…

I welcome the TY students here this afternoon. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, is very welcome to the House and I am delighted to stand before him in support of the legislation he has brought forward. This legislation is really important, with the view of extending the numbers from 20 to 23. The key point of this is to improve cross-departmental working. When we look at the marine, we have not had a Minister of State with responsibility for the marine since 2011. Since then we have had Brexit and we need to protect …