My family is very much connected to the post office network. My grandfather - my mother's father - served as a postman virtually all his working life delivering post in north-west Cork. He speaks fondly of his time there. I remember the pride of place his certificate of recognition of long service held in my grandparents' home. I know he certainly left a very strong mark on his local community, serving as its local postman. I acknowledge the investment of €15 million per year committed to the post office network by…

I join the Cathaoirleach in welcoming our guests to the Seanad. I hope they have a very enjoyable day and that Senator Scahill looks after them very well, as I have no doubt he will. After last night's meeting of over 2,000 farmers, I will speak about the risk the loss of the nitrates derogation presents to our farming community. We have around 7,000 farmers who avail of the derogation, which allows, on average, for 2.5 cows per hectare. The loss of the derogation would limit the number of cows on each individual f…

I also offer my condolences to our Seanad colleague on the very sad passing of her father. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam. I welcome the peace that has come to the people of Gaza. I hope it will be a long-lasting peace. We in this country know how difficult it can be to sustain a peace and the work that is required by those on all sides, both internal and external, to ensure it lasts. We have all been horrified by the scenes we witnessed over the past number of years in Gaza as a result of the bombing and the devastat…

I thank the Minister of State for joining us. On behalf of the Fine Gael Party, we support the proposed budget. I listened carefully yesterday to both Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and Chambers, when they outlined this budget and the proposals around it. When I consider the key priorities a budget should be measured against, I think of safeguarding the economy, supporting families, improving access to vital public services like education, health and disability services, prioritising those most in need and, most of al…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor. I wish to raise the issue of prison spaces. One of the commitments in the programme for Government in the area of justice was to increase the number of spaces for prisoners. I am highlighting this because I am concerned by recent commentary by members of the Prison Officers Association, who said that because of the shortage of prison spaces, many of the recreation halls and other usable spaces in our prisons are currently being used to house prisoners. Their…

I thank the Minister of State and the Department for the response. I very much look forward to seeing the increase in prison places that has been outlined. I will come back to this issue again because it is one of the utmost importance. The public must feel confident that those convicted of serious crimes who are sent to prison have a space available to them and that prisons are adequately staffed by prison officers. I again thank the Minister of State for her response.

I raise an issue about the tillage sector that came before the agricultural committee yesterday. I spoke in this Chamber recently about the impact that low grain prices are having in my home county of Wexford, where we have a very strong and vibrant tillage sector. Unfortunately, as things are at the moment, tillage farmers have told me that they do not see a future in the sector and that this is the worst year in a generation. One of the issues highlighted yesterday before the Oireachtas agricultural committee was…

Over the last number of weeks I have met many principals, deputy principals and teachers across County Wexford in the context of the upcoming budget next week. Among the issues highlighted to me is the fact that at the moment Ireland has the highest pupil-teacher ratio across the EU, at 22.5 pupils per teacher. When it comes to next week's budget, I urge the Minister for education and the Minister for public expenditure to make available the resources necessary to ensure that we start to bring this pupil-teacher ra…

I want to speak briefly about a social enterprise project I recently visited in south Wexford. I refer to the Helen Blake lifeboat restoration project, which is a really wonderful example of what is possible in the area of social enterprise. This is a story which was born out of a tragedy. On the 20 February 1914, a Norwegian ship, the SS Mexico , ran aground on rocks off the coast of Wexford during a serious storm. A lifeboat was dispatched from Fethard-on-Sea to rescue those on board. Unfortunately, nine of the 1…

The Minister is most welcome to the Chamber. I would like to speak on the upcoming budget in the context of the importance of keeping some of the agricultural tax reliefs currently in place and what they mean for rural Ireland. I want to speak in particular in the context of the fact that one in three farmers is now aged over 65 and, of the 50,000 farmers across the country, only one in 20 is aged under 35. I am sharing time with Senator Eileen Lynch, with the agreement of the Cathaoirleach.

I refer to agricultural reliefs, in particular to the exemptions that exist for young trained farmers. They allow for the transfer from one generation to a farmer aged under 35 years who can claim a full exemption from stamp duty. At a time when the stamp duty rate is 7.5% on all non-residential land, it would be quite a significant burden were that tax exemption to expire. It is important that the tax relief is retained in next week's budget. I refer to consanguinity relief, which is the reduction of the 7.5% rate…

I thank the Minister of State for coming in to discuss and debate this issue. As he is aware, Wexford town is the capital town of County Wexford. It is home to a population of about 21,500 people and, like many towns, it is experiencing very rapid population growth, with an increase of approximately 9% over the last census. One of the issues with the rise in population in Wexford town is access to secondary school places. At present in Wexford town we have five secondary schools: Wexford CBS, Loreto Secondary Schoo…

I thank the Minister of State and welcome his commitment to engage with me on this issue. It is very important to point out that the reason these students are travelling from Wexford town to New Ross is they could not get access to a secondary school place in their home town of Wexford town. That is an anomaly in the current rules whereby the State has failed to provide them with a secondary school place at their closest secondary school and therefore is denying them a school bus ticket because they are not attendi…

I thank the Minister of State for attending. I have a number of points to make. I have been in communication with the Minister of State about several bus routes in Wexford where we are looking for additional capacity on services. I acknowledge the 7,000 students who have benefited from a school bus ticket in Wexford. I will highlight, in particular, one instance where I would like a change in how we are currently operating the school bus model. It is a point that I raised in the Chamber earlier today and I have spo…

Last night, I met with representatives of Wexford IFA. I was particularly struck by their words about the tillage sector, which in my rural county of Wexford delivers so much income and employment. One of the issues they highlighted is the unsustainable prices that are currently being achieved in the tillage sector. They described how this is the worst year for tillage in a generation. I support their call for a €250 per hectare income delivery by the Minister for agriculture as part of the upcoming budget. The rea…

I acknowledge our guests in the Visitors Gallery, including my friend, Councillor Paddy Meade, and his guests the Carters. My understanding is that both his father and his brother served as TDs in the Dáil in the past. They are most welcome to this Chamber. I thank the Minister, Deputy Chambers, very much for joining us today. I pay tribute to him, the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, and the officials in the Department on the work that has been done to date. I am the Fine Gae…

Too often in this country, we are too afraid to speak out on these issues. It is only right and proper that in the people's representatives' Chamber in this House, we actually discuss and debate these issues on every occasion. Since having been elected as a Member of the Seanad, I have come in here and spoken on migration. It is only right and proper. I thank the Minister of State for his engagement in the portfolio to date. It remains my view that we have a need in this country for an immigration system that is fa…

I place on the record my support for this Bill. It is important that this House, as a Chamber representing people throughout the country, takes stock of the fact there are now so many people living together as a committed couple in the context of a relationship that is cohabitant, which traditionally might have been a married couple. Society has moved on. It is very important that everybody in this Chamber takes stock of that, reflects on it and incorporates into it the fact that if somebody's partner is bereaved, …

The Minister is most welcome to the Chamber. This is an issue that has been raised with me by local councillors in my home county of Wexford, near Mount Leinster, but also those in Waterford, affecting the Comeragh Mountains. The key issue is that there is a feeling in farming communities that the restrictions in place to control and restrict the controlled burning of scrubland on our mountain ranges, particularly in areas grazed by sheep, are too onerous and that there is not clear communication from the National …

I thank the Minister for bringing a bit of clarity to this situation because there is a genuine feeling among farmers that attempts are being made to fully prohibit controlled burning. While I recognise that there is a closed period, this fact may not be as well known among farmers as it should be. From speaking to many farmers, particularly those in Kiltealy, which is on the Wexford side of Mount Leinster, I know there was a substantial fire in that area. There were also fires in north Wexford near Gorey only a fe…