-----that Kerry people can travel to this match. We are playing Tyrone on Saturday at 6.15 p.m. It is not a great time for Kerry people who will be trying to get home, maybe leaving Croke Park as late as 9 p.m. I ask that enough trains be put on for that event to make sure the people of Kerry can get up there and get back home again. I have to say to the Minister it is unfortunate Kerry people and elderly people cannot watch this massive game on TV when RTÉ got millions of euro - it got €725 million - to keep it fl…

-----to help them with the cost of diesel. Do not forget us, Minister-----

------it is very important the people of Kerry can see the game, come up and get home again.

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this serious and important motion to the Chamber this evening. I have encountered many people looking for orthodontic treatment for their children as well as elderly people looking to get seen by a dentist when they only have a medical card. More than 2,000 people, mostly children, are waiting for dental and orthodontic treatment in the south-west region, Cork and Kerry. Deputy Michael Collins came at it from his side. Children are waiting for braces for more than two years. We all kn…

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk on this topic, even though I have only a couple of minutes. I could talk for a whole day about it. I do not agree with many people here. The climate is changing but the climate has always changed. It is not man-made. We are not causing it here on this Earth. The climate changed back over the centuries, and those are the facts. History will show that to us at different times. We had periods of severe cold and severe rain. A famine in the 1740s was caused by two years of inces…

They are still being charged carbon tax. They are using AdBlue. They are doing everything possible and yet the Government is charging them carbon tax.

You will not change the weather. It would be too late for that.

I, too, wish the Minister of State, Deputy Ardagh, the very best in her new position. I am concerned. Every one of us would support the objective of protecting people from the threat that guns or illicit firearms pose to people’s lives. To reach this general objective, it is important to reduce the number of illicit firearms and the activity of the illegal firearms market in the EU, to reduce the discrepancies between EU member states, to harmonise firearms-related offences and penalties across member states, and t…

Garda vetting is an important process to ensure the safety of children in many settings, such as schools, creches and sports clubs and, in the case of bus drivers and escorts, school buses. It takes at least three to seven weeks in some instances to get Garda vetted. Could this process be streamlined? Many people find themselves having to be Garda vetted three or four times if they are driving a school bus or working with schoolchildren, even as a volunteer. People working in creches have to do it if they want to w…

Could it be streamlined? Could we have a card or something like a driver's licence-----

----that would show a person had vetting for a number of years? The card could be used in each place.

I am glad to get the opportunity to speak. I welcome the introduction of this Bill which will ensure that electronic evidence needed for criminal investigations can be requested by law enforcement from service providers. What I am thinking about is the apprehension of drug lords who are ruining our society and causing so much mayhem in families. We see youngsters committing suicide and the disruption of families. As I said, the mayhem it causes is terrible. I support any way that we can apprehend these people rapid…

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk on this. I cannot support Sinn Féin's Bill nor did I support the Social Democrats a week or so ago. It is my firm belief that the birth of a child is a wonder. It is better than anything. The child is entitled to the right to life, like we got a chance at it. On this three-day wait, it surely is not much to have to wait when the birth of a child is at stake - a human being who has a right, once they are conceived, to be born and to live. Three days more cannot be that much a…

I am glad to get the opportunity to raise this issue again. I will tell the Minister of State why I am doing it again. I raised this matter exactly a month ago, on 12 May, with the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell. We spoke at length about the need and the urgency of opening the community hospital in Killarney. On 29 May, there was a meeting arranged between the HSE locally and the five TDs from Kerry, one of whom is me. It was laid out clearly in front of us by the HSE people, who I believe are in charge of Cor…

It is hard to see the children's hospital ever opening-----

-----if the Government cannot open a community hospital in Killarney.

All right. Thank you very much.

I thank the Minister of State for her reply but practically everything she read out was read out by the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, a month ago. Here we are with this confusion again placed upon the people of Killarney and the surrounding area. Surely the HSE knew the hospital was to be finished before the end of last December. Surely it knew staffing arrangements would have to be agreed with the INMO. Surely it knew HIQA would have to have everything certified. Why was that not done? It has had nearly two…

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk on this very important topic this evening. Tourism is major moneyspinner for businesses in Kerry. I want to thank the businesses of Kerry because they do it so much better than anywhere else. Our hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, bars and all the entities we have in tourism - our jarveys, boatmen and busmen - all do their work so professionally. That is why people keep coming back to Killarney. We have an issue, or the Government seems to have an issue, with Airbnbs. It is a…

Many people are in a desperate state. I appeal to the Minister of State to acknowledge that. While I welcome these energy supports, which are badly needed, a lot more needs to be done. With over 300,000 people in energy arrears, there is no question as to the impact the increase in energy costs is having on people. Something needs to be done about the ever-increasing costs of electricity. Since Bord na Móna closed, the cost of electricity has gone up each and every day. Electric Ireland is putting prices up by 8% a…