Thank you for the clarification.

Just to let the last speaker know, Sinn Féin is very aware of what is happening with the haulage industry. Last week, Sinn Féin brought forward a motion in the Dáil mandating the Government to tackle the cost of driving. The measures outlined, particularly those relating to tolls, insurance and carbon tax, would have provided relief to our haulage sector as well as to the ordinary motorist yet last night TDs from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and their backers in the Lowry Independents shamefully voted down that motion…

Introducing the occupied territories Bill to the Dáil in January 2019, Deputy Niall Collins, who is now Minister of State with special responsibility for international law, challenged those who would seek to dissuade the Dáil from passing the Bill and asked "If this is not the time to act, when will that time come?". According to the Government he became part of a little over a year later, it was not the time in 2022, which marked the deadliest year yet for children in the West Bank, with 34 Palestinian children dy…

So now we are millionaires.

The Government failed .

The targets were down.

How many did the Government get last year?

You are in the Government.

I know about farming. There you go. You did not know that, did you?

I welcome all the farming organisations here tonight. As a TD from rural Monaghan, I very much support them. Time and again, Irish farming families have been tasked to rise to challenges, whether it is absorbing inflationary shocks within their already too meagre margins or meeting ever-increasing environmental challenges. They do exactly what is often asked of them. What they expect in return is a Government that puts in place a framework that they can work within. Successive Governments have failed to live up to …

My question relates to the timeline in the strategic rail review for the return of rail transport to County Monaghan. The Minister of State may or may not know that in counties Monaghan, Cavan and Donegal we have no railway network at all. The strategic rail review provides for this and I ask the Minister of State to consider it.

I thank the Minister of State.

It would be very helpful if the Minister of State could do that. I suggest he use the shared island fund as it takes in the North and South. There is a big pot of money there that he could tap into. We in Monaghan and Cavan would like to have a rail network running through Portadown and right up to Donegal. It would be very much appreciated.

I can swap with Deputy Gibney if she wants to take my time.

I am down the list a bit, so I can swap with Deputy Gibney and she can take my slot.

Will the Minister outline to the House his work on the promotion of cross-Border tourism?

I thank the Minister and welcome his response. As Ireland's largest indigenous industry, tourism is a crucial sector and our largest regional employer. It is right that Ireland is marketed by Tourism Ireland on an all-Ireland basis and I welcome efforts to link the Wild Atlantic Way and the Causeway Coastal Route. In effect, this is nearly a circuit of the island of Ireland for tourism trails. Will the Minister speak to any plans to complete the circuit and to link and extend Ireland's Ancient East into the North b…

I look forward to seeing that tourism policy. I hope the Minister incorporates a rail network that runs through Monaghan, Cavan and Donegal. If you look at the top of Ireland on the map, we have no rail network up there. I know it is not the Minister's Department but I hope he is working with the Department of Transport to ensure that happens. It is not on at this stage. The maximum potential across the avenue of tourism will require an accurate understanding of how the tourism sector is performing. For some time n…

I commend Science Foundation Ireland, SFI, on the 30th anniversary of Science Week, along with parents, industry, colleges, schools, libraries, teachers and researchers but mostly the students. It is time to reflect on our own role as legislators on the theme of this year, which is: "Then. Today. Tomorrow." We have produced world leaders and are home to domestic and multinational companies at the forefront in their fields of science. Our healthcare workers provide among the highest standards of care and we have mor…

Budget 2026 left many people disappointed, upset and angry. In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, which is continuing unabated, the Government has chosen to utterly abandon the most vulnerable in society. The meagre increase of €10 to the disability payment will see people with only that payment struggle, and that is the best the Government has done since 2020. Analysis from the Irish Wheelchair Association shows that people with disabilities are €1,400 worse off after the budget and the Bill. Did the Government…