I thank the Minister of State for coming in. Energy security is something we heard all the previous speakers talk about. We generated 33% of our electricity demand last year from wind energy, which is welcome. It shows that some of these schemes are working at the moment. We are familiar with travelling around the country and seeing a lot of windfarms with propellers not moving at any given time. The reason for that is the lack of capacity in our grid. This country spent a lot of money in the 1970s and 1980s invest…

Surprisingly, I was going to raise the same issue as Senator Murphy O'Mahony. Yesterday there was an announcement of a 96% increase of households applying for home energy upgrades compared with the first three months of 2025. That is 29,000 applicants for home energy upgrades. This is on the back of a €640 million investment in budget 2026, €558 million of which is coming from the carbon tax. We have a target of 73,000 houses to be upgraded this year and we are well on our way to hitting that target. There is a cle…

The Minister is welcome once again to the Chamber. As my colleague has said, any motion or arrangement that can promote and enhance the relationship between the police in both jurisdictions must be welcomed. We share the Border and the ferry ports and we must support anything that can enhance the respective police forces' ability to do their jobs. I also note the window for this is 30 April, which is next week, so it is important we deliver this. I am fully supportive of it.

Recently, Senator Boyle gave me one of the reports from the health committee, which did a recent report on dental services. They constitute an issue that I have raised in this House numerous times. We know that we have not been producing enough dentists historically and that we do not have enough dentistry places. Last September, we welcomed the addition of 20 new places, but there is still a lack of places. Only something like 8% to 10% of applicants are getting places on dental courses in Ireland. This is not mee…

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber once again. The Commencement matter I present today is in regard to the safe routes to school scheme and it follows discussions with Fine Gael councillors in Roscommon: Councillors Liam Callaghan, Valerie Duffy, Ruth Conboy and Dominick Connolly, about their frustration at the introduction of safety schemes around their national schools throughout County Roscommon. The safe routes to school scheme is one of the most positive and forward-thinking initiatives we have see…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I believe in the scheme. I welcomed when Ballyfarnon was brought to the design stage recently following an intervention from us in relation to an accident that had happened earlier last year. When it comes to road safety, doing something now is better than waiting years for perfection. Children's safety must come first and while I welcome there are schools that have been introduced, councillors in Roscommon and I are still looking at three national schools on a main r…

On my way to Dublin this morning, I was listening to RTÉ Radio 1. Darren Freehill aired a piece on the Roscommon Community Sports Park group. It was highlighted on the radio that Roscommon is one of only three counties - the other two being Leitrim and Longford - that do not currently have an athletics track. Darren made a recording from a sand track or a sandpit, which I am familiar with because we used to play soccer there 30 years ago. We used to have blitzes there on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the summer. Af…

I find it hard to believe that four weeks on from the initial measures people are still wondering why such a small amount was taken off the green diesel. Some 15 cent was taken off petrol and 20 cent was taken off diesel, but it was from the excise duty and there is only 11 cent of excise duty on green diesel. That is the reason why there was such a small amount. However, that has been addressed, and we always knew it was going to be addressed and monitored as the situation developed. I also refer to Senator Noonan…

Last week, while I was using public transport, a train I was travelling on between Dublin and Roscommon had a small fire on board and had to stop. Too often we come in here and talk about a service not having done its job, but I want to compliment Irish Rail, the fire service, An Garda Síochána and our ambulance service on their quick response. They came to a remote part of east Roscommon where the train had to stop. We all had to disembark from the train and were transported to the nearest train station but it was…

The Minister is very welcome back to the Chamber. I also welcome Mary O’Reilly who has strong Roscommon links. I know she is the backbone to Senator O’Reilly. I welcome the motion from my Sinn Féin colleagues. We all know the importance of youth work. We know how it is preventative and how early intervention is very important in reducing long-term costs in health, justice and social protection. We also have to acknowledge that about 450,000 young people engage with youth services nationally every year. The work is …

I want to highlight the announcement this morning by the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, of €48 million annually for the new DEIS plus scheme and the DEIS strategy to 2035. It is a significant step up in addressing educational inequality across the country. As part of the announcement, it was confirmed that 121 schools will receive funding and the plan will deliver 400 additional roles, of which 350 will be teaching places. I want to mention that Scoil an Chroí Naofa in Ballinasloe has…

I welcome the Minister. I want to raise the issue of a post-primary school teacher voluntary relocation scheme. This is something the Minister will be familiar with from her former work. I have been told by a lot of teachers that there is a need for a scheme like this. They feel that there is no way out of the situation they face. When a teacher becomes permanent or gets a contract of indefinite duration, it is a recognition of their experience and work. However, if for whatever reason they decide to move school or…

I thank the Minister very much for her detailed response. I am glad she brought up the ongoing engagement with the TUI because the motion passed at the 2022 congress instructed the executive to negotiate with the Department of education and other employers to establish a national voluntary redeployment panel. It is good to see that there has been correspondence on that. It now looks like the Minister is still waiting for the TUI to engage with the other stakeholders. That is very important, especially at this time …

I agree with Senator Flynn. Senator Tully and I, among other Members of this House, have done an awful lot of work in the education committee around dyslexia and dyspraxia, and we have met young people and seen the opportunities for them. Their disabilities, as some people might call them, are actually their superpowers and we have to give them the opportunity to realise that power. I raise today the venerable status of Fr. Flanagan from Ballymoe in County Galway, conferred yesterday. He was born in 1886 in the dio…

I would like a debate on the provision of dental services in Ireland, especially by practices that accept medical cards. In my home county there are four dentists registered for the scheme, but between them being at capacity and other issues, no one seems to be taking on any new patients. There are 810 dentists nationally registered for the programme and I believe only about 600 of them are actually active. Back in 2019, there were 1,500 dentists accepting medical cards. We have had a huge loss of dentists involved…

Today, I raise the European Union Drugs Agency's report that has been covered in national media today about the increased levels of ketamine and cocaine use in the country based on water surveys carried out in Ringsend, Dublin, that showed increased levels on Fridays and Mondays. There is a new national drugs strategy and the focus is moving towards a public health approach, reducing harm, supporting recovery and improving healthcare access for people using. I do not believe that the education is working. The simpl…

I, too, commend Senators Murphy, Duffy and Kennelly on this Bill. It is a very topical issue at the moment. As all my colleagues have said this evening, the punishment must fit the crime. If the Minister did not have access to his legal briefs and staff and if the Cathaoirleach did not have access to the clock, bell and mallet, where would we be? What delays would we be looking at? As the previous speaker mentioned, delays in tradespeople completing their work only add to the national issue we have in trying to del…

Contrary to what Senator Stephenson brought up this morning, I compliment the Department of foreign affairs, our embassies abroad and the consular crisis office on the exceptional work they have been doing. Like so many Members in this House, I have been inundated with calls since Saturday night. On the response that we are getting from the staff on the ground, I have had situations where I have raised it directly with a team and ten minutes later, I have got a call back stating that they have spoken to that team. …

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Public transport should be simple, accessible and modern yet passengers on Bus Éireann services across the country are still required to carry cash. In 2026, that simply does not reflect how people live, travel and pay for services. Card and contactless payments should be accepted on board Bus Éireann services. Across Ireland, contactless payments have become the norm. Our Local Link services already accept card payments and, since 2022, all licensed taxi services have been legall…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I am glad to acknowledge Local Link because I know it is within his remit. It is great to see the 43% increase Local Link will be receiving to support its roll out of the services. Sometimes, we seem to overcomplicate these things. Local Link and the taxi services are able to do this. There are white-box solutions out there for just about everything at the moment that are very easily implemented, adapted and which are able to do this. We spoke about volunteering last …