I very much welcome the opportunity to speak this morning on a very important topic. It has been almost three months since Storm Chandra ripped through Wexford, leaving a trail of devastation. Since then, Wexford County Council road crews have been out surveying the damage and have concluded that 157 roads are now impassable in Wexford, to the point where it is not safe to drive across them. The council has submitted a request to the Department of Transport for €20 million in emergency funding. This is a one-off re…

Yesterday and over the past number of days, I met with many of the people who were protesting across County Wexford. They are not the same people who are being portrayed in the media. These are ordinary working people who get up early in the morning in the dark and work through the day until dark. They are people who drive machinery and tractors. They are truck, lorry and bus drivers. They are the people who bring food across the country and take it out of fields. They are the people who bring children to school in…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I will speak for a moment, as I did earlier today, about the protesters I met and listened to, and whose stories I heard, over the past number of days. They are ordinary working people who get up at 4 a.m., get onto machinery and work hard all day in the darkness of night right through to the darkness of night in the evening time. They are contractors, hauliers, fishermen, farm labourers and people who drive buses, trucks, lorries, diggers and other heavy mach…

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, for coming in to take this very important Commencement matter. This relates to Ramsgrange Community School, a school in south Wexford. It is a very large provider of secondary-level education to people from as far south as the Hook Peninsula and as far north as Murntown on the outskirts of Wexford town. The school has a massive catchment area and currently has approximately 630 students enrolled and attending. I recently visited the school at the request of acting princ…

I thank the Minister of State for the response. I very much welcome the fact that the Department will commit to engaging with the school. I cannot overemphasise the importance of the project. I know Ramsgrange Community School will engage with the energy and conditions survey the Department will open shortly. I know from my interactions with the school how keen it is to engage with the Department on that, in particular to ensure that the special classes, of which there are currently four, will be in a position to m…

The Minister of State is most welcome and I welcome the opportunity to make a short contribution on Second Stage of this legislation. About ten or 11 years ago, I was a law student while this legislation was being introduced. I remember hearing in lectures about the background to this legislation and the reason it was so important that we moved away from the previous system, which had operated in Ireland from 1871 to 2015. What we have before us is legislation that will have a profound impact on the lives of 1,400 …

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I merely want to welcome the passing of this Bill. I thank the Minister of State and her officials. Obviously, this is emergency legislation which had to be prepared at short notice. It is important to recognise that. In the overall context, I encourage the Minister of State and the Department to take an in-depth look at the enduring power of attorney system. The point was made earlier that so many solicitors have clients come in to them to make a will who should be also getting an enduring power of attorney prepar…

I move: That, pursuant to subsection 2° of section 2 of Article 25 of the Constitution, Seanad Éireann concurs with the Government in a request to the President to sign the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2026 on a date which is earlier than the fifth day after the date on which the Bill shall have been presented to her.

I join the Leas-Chathaoirleach in welcoming the guests from Raheen National School to the Chamber. It is a coincidence that I am speaking when they are present. I wish them the very best on their visit to Dublin. I hope they really enjoy their tour around Leinster House and get to see what we do here as representatives of the people through passing laws and trying to make decisions that benefit the lives of all those back home who sent us here. In that vein, I would like to raise some of the issues that Raheen, a s…

I am grateful to Senator Conor Murphy. I agree with the point he makes about the need for any long-term future electoral planning to incorporate the ultimate consideration of what will hopefully be a successful reunification referendum. I just want to make contribute on two points. I thank Senator McDowell for bringing forward the motion. My understanding is that it is not being opposed by the Government. It is very important that we remind ourselves of the role of the Dáil, which is to represent the people who hav…

I want to raise the issue of the urgent need for emergency funding following the recent storm that affected roads in County Wexford. Wexford County Council has submitted an emergency application for just over €20 million, which is based on the scale of the devastation that was caused by the recent storm. I support the county council's application for emergency funding. I recall that in December 2021, when there was similar storm damage, the Government at that time came forward with a €5 million package to help addr…

I raise the enormous impact the war taking place in Iran is having on the day-to-day lives of people across the country. I will speak to the impact it is having in Wexford. I was contacted by a constituent who had agreed to purchase a lorry load of home heating oil for her house about three weeks ago and had paid upfront for it. The date it would arrive was agreed with the delivery company. Two days before it was due to arrive, she was asked to pay an extra €800 to ensure the delivery was made. Unfortunately, this …

Today, I rise to speak about the plight of families living in Ballyhealy in south Wexford, an area that has been devastated by coastal erosion. The Wexford coasts are currently eroding at a rate of about 1 m to 3 m a year but unfortunately, in Ballyhealy at the moment, it is eroding at about 5 m to 6 m a year. You can imagine the devastation and fear that is causing for families living in that area. About 200 m upstream, there is Seaview, an area that has been protected to the tune of €657,000 by the OPW, where 14 …

I begin by putting on the record the importance of this legislation that has been introduced by my colleagues in the Fine Gael Party and particularly by Senator P.J. Murphy, who has been a victim of this crime of tool theft in the past and who, having worked in the industry, has dealt and engaged with so many victims of this crime over the past 20 years in his work as a joiner. I want to read for a moment the words of somebody from Duncormick in my own area of south Wexford who described the impact that tool theft …

In 2017, then Taoiseach Enda Kenny, together with others, secured a commitment from the EU that if Ireland were to be reunified, the North of Ireland would be automatically subsumed into the EU. The estimated cost at the moment is in the region of approximately €20 billion per annum. As a republican and someone who wants to see a referendum on the unification of Ireland, but also a referendum that passes, there is an important role for the EU in this. My question is for all the MEPs. In the next round of budgets, w…

The Minister of State is most welcome to Seanad Éireann this evening. I will be supporting this legislation. I want to focus specifically on the part of it that deals with amending the litter Act. Unfortunately, as in many Senators' counties, County Wexford has a serious issue with illegal dumping. It is a scourge. The county is absolutely blessed with a beautiful coastline, immaculate mountain ranges and scenic beauty throughout. Unfortunately, though, people take it upon themselves to dump illegally. Figures just…

I welcome the Minister of State. I acknowledge the presence in the Gallery of guests Barry Murphy and Ian Moran from Wexford. I welcome this debate on the important topic of road safety. I fully support the motion put forward by my colleagues. Last year, six people lost their lives on Wexford roads, with a nationwide total of 185. Every single one of those losses is a severe tragedy for the families, communities and all the people whose lives will never be the same after experiencing that loss. We in this Chamber c…