Since I came into this House, I have tried to do certain things behind closed doors and I found it quite effective. An issue has come up in the west of Ireland with regard to the ambulance service that is not being resolved. The front page of our local newspaper carries a story about a man in his mid-80s who had symptoms pointing towards a stroke or a bleed on the brain. He was in the doctor's surgery locally and had to wait nearly four hours for the ambulance to arrive after repeated attempts by the doctor and the…

The Acting Chair is very good at that himself. The Minister is very welcome to the Chamber once again. The key point I want to begin with is that special needs assistants are an essential part of our education system and the Government is committed to ensuring that children who need support in school continue to receive it. Across the country every day, SNAs work alongside teachers and special education teachers to support children with additional care needs. Their work helps children participate in school life, ga…

I hope Senator Casey was not saying that we cannot talk about balanced regional development-----

-----because that is where I am about to go. I welcome Fianna Fáil's motion. It is very timely. We are all fully aware of the constraints that obtain in respect of housing delivery, balanced regional development, economic competitiveness and climate transitioning, but how we experience these and see evidence of them on the ground is completely different. First and foremost, we are very close to opening the first section of the N5, a €450 million investment in Roscommon that will allow people to access Mayo and the …

I am sure the Leader is aware that this is enterprise week. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend the enterprise awards in Roscommon and I want to acknowledge some of the winners. In the social enterprise category, we had Triest Press in Roscommon, an organisation providing a great service to the community while The Upholstery Company, Dunbar Pharma and Waldron Family Meats were also recognised. Tully Forge, an engineering company in Ballaghaderreen, was the overall winner in Roscommon and will now go on to re…

I welcome the Minister. I thank my Fianna Fáil colleagues for tabling the motion. I will begin by referring to a short film available online called "Let's Change the Norm". I am sure people are familiar with it. It was released by Smartphone Free Childhood in the US. It struck a chord with millions of people because it highlights something that many of us, especially parents, can see happening every day. The film shows how smartphones and social media place huge pressure on our children and calls for a return to a …

The Minister is welcome. This Bill deals with a deeply sensitive and painful part of our history and it is important that we approach it with care, respect and balance. The Institutional Burials Act 2022 was designed to allow the State to step in where there is clear evidence of inappropriate burials, while also respecting the dignity of those who are buried and the wishes of their families. This proposed amending legislation would significantly lower the threshold for intervention. It would allow excavations where…

I thank the Acting Chairperson. I hope I am allowed the same additional time everyone else has received.

There is an issue raising itself across Ireland at the moment. While on the surface it might seem quite minor, in reality, it points to a much deeper failure in how we manage our national infrastructure. Following last year’s storms, communities saw widespread damage to telephone lines. Poles were strained, wires were brought down and networks were disrupted. To their credit, service providers acted quickly. In many cases, lines were restored, connectivity returned and phones and broadband worked again. That is onl…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I welcome the investment in this infrastructure and I know what we are trying to do. However, there is the reality on the ground. As I drive around the Roscommon-Galway constituency, I see areas in Fairymount where 500 m of cable are hanging down at the side of the road. I drive to Lisalway, heading out to Castleplunkett, and see the same thing. I have been up in County Donegal and when one drives to places such as Carndonagh, one is not oblivious to these cables hang…

The Minister of State is very welcome. When I think of volunteers, I refer to Churchill when he said, "Never ... was so much owed by so many to so few". He was speaking about something different at the time. Volunteering is something very special in our country and it is not written into law, as the Minister of State mentioned. Rather, it is written into who we are and what we do in this country. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Minister of State and his Department, along with the Minister, Deputy…

It takes a lot of effort.

Today, the families of more than 300 children in north Kerry have received details of the findings of a review into the care their children received. This comes on the back of the south Kerry CAMHS review earlier this year which found that 227 children were exposed to risks of serious harm and 46 suffered significant harm. Behind those families are children and families who trusted the system for help. The review showed that long-term vacant consultant posts and weak governance played a major role in how those fail…

It is also about how the NCSE engages.

I welcome the Minister once again to this Chamber. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Education (Leave for Injuries) Bill 2025. I acknowledge Senator Harmon and her colleagues for their work and the care and commitment that has clearly gone into bringing this legislation forward. It is evident that this Bill is rooted in real experiences and genuine engagement with those working on the front line of our education system. I also want to recognise Sophie Cole and her husband Shane O'Brien for their advocacy an…

I welcome and recognise the decision of the Minister, Deputy Naughton, today to pause the review of the SNA allocation. The decision sends an important and reassuring message to children with special educational needs, their families and the school communities that their voices have been heard and their concerns are taken seriously. It is right that time has now been taken to listen carefully to parents and schools and to ensure SNAs are supporting the children who most need their care. I also welcome the continued…

I thank the Minister of State once again. When it comes to road safety, I always try to mention the safe routes to school scheme and the large number of primary schools applying for that particular scheme. I think of places such as Trien and Lisacul in Roscommon, to name two, where there are main roads in front of the schools and vehicles speeding by at high speed, but they are not even being considered for that particular programme, never mind having applied for it. Vehicles have become an awful lot safer in recen…

Senator Davitt raised men's health earlier. I support the call for awareness campaign on that. At the recent young scientist of the year exhibition, I met two exceptional ladies from Coláiste Mhuire, Ballygar, Zofia and Emma. I committed to raising their project with the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. A discussion is also needed in this House. It relates to women's health, particularly their menstrual and reproductive health. It remains one of the most underdiscussed areas of healthcare despite its clear impact…

I have never been shy in this House to profess how wonderful a county I come from in Roscommon is, how safe it is with our low crime rate and how a recent report came out and said it was one of the safest counties in the country to raise a family. Last Friday, however, for the third allocation in a row, we unfortunately were not allocated any additional Garda resources. This was disappointing after raising this issue on numerous occasions. I spoke to someone last weekend and in 2023 and 2024 there was a campaign ac…

The Minister of State is very welcome to the House this evening. I had been looking for this debate for some time so I welcome the opportunity. Senator Daly mentioned his baptism of fire in metalwork. I have to compare that to my introduction to the Seanad. Two weeks ago, I was at the launch of a showcase for an electric vehicle maintenance skills course and a wind turbine trainee programme, which has been running in Roscommon, funded by the EU just transition fund. That is exactly what that fund was created to do,…