I want to talk about a campaign that Members will have seen in the media recently about the buses connecting the part of the city in which Chapelizod is located with the city centre. I invite the Minister to come to the House to explain what is going on with the National Transport Authority, NTA, in the context of how it is either communicating or not communicating with the communities in Chapelizod, Islandbridge and Palmerstown. There was a time when six bus routes ran through the village, but because of BusConnec…

I thank the Minister of State for all her work. As she said, she has worked on this for four, five or six years. Everybody in this Chamber acknowledges that and we thank her for it. As the Senator said, everybody who is here cares about this legislation and the people who will be impacted by it. As others have said, this is not a personal thing, but I want to go on the record about the dual diagnosis piece and the lack of understanding, from my reading of it. I look forward to the Minister of State's comments on it…

I want to return to the amendments on dual diagnosis. We cannot trip up over language. This cannot be a debate about semantics. If "dual diagnosis" is the wrong term, then find a new term. The Minister of State said that people who presented with mental health problems were being treated for their mental health problems, but we cannot separate the two in these instances. It is really specific and does not apply to a dual diagnosis of a severe learning disability, ADHD or addiction. I do not care if people want to c…

I thank the Minister of State for being here to take this matter. Given that she is not based in the Department to which it relates, I really appreciate her being here. I want to raise awareness of what I and others believe is an undeclared public health issue that needs to be made the subject of a legal and policy framework as a matter of urgency. Every day in Ireland, tens of thousands of people of all ages manage the risks of living with food allergies. The constant threat of accidental exposure shapes their cho…

I have the rest of the written response, which I will go through later. I want to reflect on some of what the Minister of State has said. It is really disappointing that there is no plan to roll out OIT in Ireland. The average cost per year for an allergy sufferer is €1,600; this has been worked out and many people have done research on it. The OIT cost would be €4,000 per year, but it would be finite and would only have to be done for a couple of years. The cost per year would disappear or be significantly reduced…

I thank the Minister of State for being here. He has had a busy day in the Seanad today and we appreciate that. I support this Bill, the Irish Film Board Amendment Bill 2025. It is, as the Minister of State says, a very technical Bill, but also crucial to the sustained support of the audio, visual and film industry in Ireland. Essentially, it raises the ceiling on the total cumulative amount that Screen Ireland can invest in the making of Irish films and training in all aspects of film-making, from that €500 millio…

As a former sports journalist, nothing pleases me more than when Irish football makes headlines for all the right reasons on the field of play. I pay tribute to all the Irish teams. They are really showing us that there is a wave of positivity around the game at the moment, perhaps in spite of reported shortcomings at governance level. I pay tribute to all the teams, all the footballers, all the coaches and all the ancillary staff who make these things possible for us to celebrate the way we have done over the past…

I congratulate a group of people following the announcement in the past week of a €1 million philanthropic fund for the provision of a long-awaited sports facility and playing pitch at St James's Primary School on Basin Lane. It really is an example of the type of reward that can come with amazing campaigning, fundraising and awareness efforts by Sporting Liberties in Dublin 8. There has been a lot of work done over the years because there is such a need for playing facilities and sports pitches in that area of the…

The Irish Postmasters' Union is certainly getting a great airing in the Seanad today, and rightly so. The union told us in its pre-budget submission last September that ine out of ten people said that their post office was essential. It went on to say that it was not just public sentiment, but a call to action. Communities want their post offices and they want the Government to act now to save them. I welcome the opportunity this afternoon to discuss our post office network once again. We had a very engaging and in…

I take this opportunity to congratulate Pico Lopes, who is originally from Crumlin. He plays centre back for Shamrock Rovers in the League of Ireland, has played in the League of Ireland for a long number of years and, due to his father's patronage, is now playing for Cape Verde and will go to the World Cup, which we learned last week. It is an amazing opportunity. He is quoted in the Dublin Gazette today as saying he is the luckiest man in the world. He is; he is very lucky, but he also became a father on Friday a…

I echo a couple of things before I get started. The first is about Ann Woodlock. Ann is from Drimnagh. I know her well. I see her every Saturday doing the park run. She is the best of us and she beats the best of us every single Saturday. Congratulations to her on her gold medal at the weekend and the best of luck this weekend in her next event. I also echo Senator Nelson Murray's comments about an Tánaiste, Simon Harris. Notwithstanding the fact that I would not be here without Simon Harris, the benefit or advanta…

D'ardaigh mé rud éigin an tseachtain seo caite mar gheall ar mhaoiniú ar son TG4 ionas go mbeadh neamhspleáchas eagarthóireachta aige ina sheomra nuachta agus sna cláir nuachta a chuireann sé ar fáil. Fáiltím roimh an mhaoiniú sa bhuiséad inniu ón Roinn a chiallaíonn go mbeidh €65.4 milliún ar fáil do TG4, lena n-áirítear méadú €5.4 milliún, chun ábhar Gaeilge ar ardchaighdeán, cláir do pháistí agus seirbhísí nuachta níos leithne a chinntiú. Níl na mionsonraí againn go fóill, ach mar a dúirt mé an tseachtain seo ca…

Bhí sé iontach an tacaíocht ar fad maidir leis an nGaeilge agus an chraoltóireacht trí mheán na Gaeilge a chloisteáil mar is é sin atá ar intinn agam a phlé tráthnóna. Ba mhaith liom aird a tharraingt ar an éiginnteacht atá ann go fóill mar gheall ar sheirbhís nuachta neamhspleách do TG4. In 2022, ghlac an Rialtas le moladh ón gCoimisiún um Thodhchaí na Meán go mbeadh "ceannas neamhspleách eagarthóireachta" ag TG4 ar a sholáthar nuachta chun seirbhís níos fearr a chur ar fail dá lucht féachana, rud a luaigh an Sean…

Ní raibh mé anseo ar an Máirt agus ní raibh deis agam comhghairdeas a dhéanamh le Martin Hughes. I was not here on Tuesday as I was in Brussels. I congratulate Martin and look forward to working with him over the next few years. We had a very robust debate relating to the FAI's safeguarding issues at yesterday's sitting of the Oireachtas committee on sport. I will not get into that here, but I will just say the committee is not satisfied with the answers we received. Senator Comyn was also there. We have to call th…

Before I call the Minister of State, I welcome Deputy Cahill and his guests to the Chamber. You are very welcome here today.

That concludes the statements for this afternoon. I thank Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, and the Minister, Deputy Chambers, and the departmental officials for their time and engagement here today.

I echo the sentiments of many Members today in wishing everybody the best of luck over the recess. There is lots of work to be done elsewhere, but thank you to all the staff here in the Seanad, the ushers and everybody who has looked after us so well, particularly us newbies just getting used to everything. There is a group of workers here in Leinster House who face into a lot of uncertainty over the recess. The broadcast workers for Oireachtas TV face going onto social welfare while we are going into recess. Every…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht bheith anseo. Tá fhios agam go mbeidh an t-Aire, an Teachta McConalogue anseo níos déanaí.

Tá sé sin go breá. Tá fáilte rompu ar fad. Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh Mary O’Connor chomh maith, CEO of the Federation of Irish Sport. Sport in Ireland goes to the very essence of who we are as a nation. We define ourselves in tribal terms, whether this is by club, by county or by province. We punch above our weight as well and find creative ways to make a bigger impact globally than the small but mighty population of 5 million that we are. Sport, though, means different things to different people, and I ho…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. Tá muid fíorbhuíoch go bhfuil sé anseo chun an t-ábhar ríthábhachtach seo a phlé. I join my colleagues in commending Senator Ryan on her work on this Bill and for the courage of her convictions that she has taken with this matter and other deeply sensitive and personal issues. It is not an easy thing to do to speak out publicly about something so private and past trauma and pain. I put on the record my appreciation for the Senator's willingness to be a voice and an advocate for herself …