As this is my first interaction with the Minister of State in the Chamber, I wish him the very best of luck. He brings an enormous amount of experience to the role, having served at local authority level, in this Chamber and now in the Dáil as a Minister of State. I sincerely wish him the best of luck. I wish to make a number of points, particularly given my experience of having been elected to Wexford County Council on two occasions. The point has been made repeatedly in this Chamber that being a councillor at loc…

I welcome the Minister of State. I thank her for facilitating us with her presence. I welcome our guests. I hope they have a wonderful and enjoyable trip to Leinster House. I am the Fine Gael spokesperson on public expenditure and infrastructure. I look forward to working with the Minister of State and the ongoing engagement we have had on some of these key issues. The whole idea of public procurement has to be based on securing value for money for the taxpayer. At the moment, 99.8% of businesses in the country are…

At 2.30 p.m. next Tuesday.

I want to highlight a meeting that I attended with the representatives of the Irish Postmasters Union, IPU. The tradition of the post office is very close to my own family. My grandfather served his entire working career as both a small farmer and the local postman where my mother is from in north-west Cork. This morning I met with Sean Martin and other representatives of the IPU who highlighted the urgent need for increased levels of Government investment. At the moment, the Government through the Minister is fund…

I want to highlight the need for more to be done to ensure we have a functioning taxi network across the country. In recent years we have seen a reduction in the number of taxis available to people. Studies by Arup have shown that the number of taxis available has shrunk by 10% since 2014. That means in my area of Wexford, people who go out in the evening to a restaurant, the cinema or a bar and who have a drink or a meal are not able to access taxis. A reduction of 22% is evident in the number of taxi licences ava…

I begin by wishing the Minister of State the very best of luck in her new role. Mental health is one of the biggest issues that face this country. It is an enormous challenge. As somebody who represents Waterford, the Minister of State is more than aware of the issues in my home county of Wexford. I specifically want to highlight a motion that was recently passed by the members of Wexford County Council, which called on the Minister of State to intervene and deliver in Wexford a ten-bed unit for local urgent need, …

Like my colleagues, I welcome this Bill. I want to highlight a number of specific things in section 5. Like so many people, I have tended to avail of having my bank card on my phone and making payments through Apple Pay. I notice that when I seek cashback from, for example, a petrol station that is not possible when using contactless payment through Apple Pay. I understand the Bill seeks primarily to deal with ATMs, but it is also important that we recognise the fact that while there are traditional ATMs, where peo…

I echo the comments that were made previously relating to Garda Kevin Flatley and offer my condolences to his family. I can only imagine how difficult today and the past few days have been for them. I offer my condolences to all members of An Garda Síochána who served closely on the force with him. I support the amendment tabled by my colleagues. I thank Senator Ruane for her and her office's work. I thank Senator Flynn for her work and contribution in this area. As a solicitor, I appreciate the contribution that h…

I thank the Minister for his overview of this technical regulation. It is appropriate, given the changes at European level, that there be an opportunity in the Oireachtas to debate this. I mentioned when the Minister's colleague, the Minister, Deputy Byrne, was in the Chamber a few weeks ago the fact that while we are recognising insolvencies across the EU, access to credit is not available on a European level and it is not possible for a deposit-holder in Ireland to gain access to deposit rates in banks in Germany…

I thank the Minister for coming to the House. As this is our first interaction, I wish him the very best in his role over the coming term and I look forward to plenty of engagement. The Fine Gael group of Senators has tabled this motion tonight recognising the importance of third level education for both the economy and wider society. Access to education at third level, be that through universities, our technological university or apprenticeships, will be important over the course of this Government and into the fu…

Yes, I second the motion.

As this is my first interaction with the Minister of State in the House, I wish him the best of luck in his role for the term ahead. I wish to address Ireland's upcoming EU Presidency and the opportunities it brings for Ireland. Specifically, I want to speak about three key areas, the first of which is the further integration of banking across the EU. It should not be the case that an individual can go into a bank in another European country and put money on deposit at a higher rate than is available to depositors …

I will start my first engagement with the Minister of State by wishing him the very best of luck in his role. I sincerely hope he succeeds in his endeavours. I rise to support the Bill on behalf of my good friend and colleague, Senator Joe O'Reilly, who unfortunately cannot be here today. I am from a rural part of County Wexford. There is an opportunity underpinning this Bill to help to bridge the urban-rural divide that at times can lead to a big gap between the facilities available in large cities and towns, and …

Now.

I congratulate the Minister of State on the successful shepherding of this legislation through the Oireachtas. It is important to pick up on one of the points the Minister of State mentioned relating to the public. This service is a free service and it is important to stress that there is no levy or charge. This is a free service provided to make protection a key priority for financial consumers.

It is proposed to sit again at 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 29 April.

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the Chamber to discuss this important Commencement matter. The reason I have raised the issue is the most recent census showed that in my county of Wexford, the proportion of people going to third level is 37%, which is 8% below the national average of 45%. Wexford has the fourth lowest level of third level education of all counties. The South East Technological University offers us an opportunity to have a technological university based in Wexford where we can work to he…

I thank the Minister of State for confirming that specific funding has been set aside within the Department's budget towards the cost of the site. I recently met Professor Veronica Campbell, the president of the SETU, along with my colleague, Councillor Robbie Staples. I commend the great work taking place on the current Wexford campus of SETU at St. Peter's College and the work being done to put the word out that there are courses available there. This is about securing a purpose-built, designated, state-of-the-ar…

I thank the Minister of State for accepting my invitation to visit Enniscorthy in the not too distant future to address the long-standing flooding issues that we have had in the town. I look forward to working with him in my role as Fine Gael's Seanad spokesperson on public expenditure and infrastructure. I want to highlight the sheer devastation I have witnessed, and I am sure the Minister of State is the same as me, that flooding can bring to houses, residences and business properties. On Christmas Day in Decembe…

I thank Senators Harmon, Cosgrove, Noonan and Stephenson for introducing this Bill in the House today and commend them on doing so. It is safe to say I can speak for everybody in this Chamber in saying that anybody who chooses to perpetrate the practice of, or promote, sex for rent is abhorrent. It is completely and utterly against what good, decent Irish people stand for. It is only right and proper that there be legislation in this area and, indeed, a criminal statutory offence for anybody who engages in the prac…