There were a number of questions. Senator O'Loughlin referred to the 1926 census, which was released this week. There have been 20 million hits on the website, which is phenomenal. Most families have been talking about it. Members of my family have been discussing our ancestors. There was a discussion in my house about how there were four in the family working full-time on the farm in 1926. The farm is now twice the size it was 100 years ago, and we have two people working part-time on it. Lifestyles and work are d…

I thank the Minister of State.

Amendments Nos. 30, 33, 39, 40, 42, 44 to 54, inclusive, 56 to 62, inclusive, 64, 66 to 89, inclusive, 91 to 106, inclusive, 108, 109, 111 to 119, inclusive, 122 to 126, inclusive, 128, 132, 134, 135, 137, 138, 141, 142, 144, 145, 148, 150, 152 to 161, inclusive, 168, 169, 171, 178, 180 to 183, inclusive, 188, 190 to 195, inclusive, 197 to 219, inclusive, 221, 222, 231 to 233, inclusive, 235 to 240, inclusive, 242 to 265, inclusive, 267, 270, 271, 275 to 284, inclusive, 303 to 305, inclusive, 307 and 308 are relate…

I thank the Minister of State very much. Before I ask Senator Boyhan to speak, I welcome to the Visitors Gallery Jayde Daly and Conor Doherty, who are guests of Senator Curley. I hope they have a good day.

Before asking the Minister of State to respond, I welcome Paul Duffy and Colm Healy from the Dublin drug and alcohol task force who are here as guests of Deputy Barry Heneghan. I welcome them to the Chamber. I hope they have a good day. Does the Minister of State wish to respond?

Amendments Nos. 31 and 32 are related and will be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Does the Minister of State wish to respond?

Before I put the question, I welcome students from St. Christophers Special School, Longford who are guests of Deputy Micheál Carrigy. They are very welcome. They are in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery so are very honoured to be there I am sure.

I will move a motion of expressions of sympathy by the House at the end of the Order of Business. The Order of Business is No. 1, statements on fuel protests, to be taken at 5 p.m. and to conclude at 6.30 p.m., if not previously concluded, with the time allocated to the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, group spokespersons not to exceed eight minutes, any other Senators not to exceed four minutes, time may be shared, and the Minister to be given no less than five minutes to reply to the deb…

I agree to the motion proposed by Senator O'Loughlin and seconded by Senator Harmon to amend the Order of Business. There were a large number of speakers - over 20 - so you would know we had been on recess for a week or two. Senator O'Loughlin spoke about Jennie Poole on the fifth anniversary of her passing. She spoke about the incredible work Jason and Jennie's children, Nevaeh and Zack, have done since her passing in trying to push forward domestic violence law, which will hopefully be done by next year. What hap…

They will still vote for him in Galway.

I move: That Seanad Éireann – - expresses its deep sadness on the death of Brian O'Shea; - conveys its sincere condolences to his family; and - expresses its gratitude for his notable contribution, as a Member of Seanad Éireann, to Irish public life and for his dedicated service to the people of Ireland.

Now.

As students of media and journalism, I am sceptical of them already. I am fearful about how they might misinterpret what I am going to say. That is always the paranoia in politics. Our guests are very welcome. I hope they enjoy the day. I will not speak for too long. We spoke about this matter last year when the measure to which it relates was extended. I will raise one point with the Minister of State. I do not know if it is possible, but it was an issue last year and the year before. The decision that is made to …

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber and thank her for being here. I acknowledge the good work and intervention by the Minister, Deputy Foley, last week in relation to an issue in Tipperary with St. Bernard's therapeutic fostering support service, which provides foster care support across counties Tipperary, Kilkenny and Carlow. Tusla, because of the Minister's intervention, has agreed to continue that service for 2026. This is a service that is critical and extremely important in the area. While the deci…

I thank the Minister of State very much for her response. As she said, it needs to be acknowledged, through the Minister's intervention. The work the Irish Foster Care Association has done and the support it has given me over the past week on this issue played its part in Tusla rolling back on that decision of ending the service with St. Bernard's. It is hugely welcome that has been done, as was the acknowledgement from Tusla that not enough consultation had happened. However, we do not want to be in this situation…

Through the Chair, please.

Amendments Nos. 19, 37 to 42, inclusive, 45, 46, 48 to 52, inclusive, and 53 to 57, inclusive are related. Amendments Nos. 49 to 57, inclusive, are physical alternatives to amendment No. 48. Therefore, amendments Nos. 19, 37 to 42, inclusive, and 45 to 57, inclusive, may be discussed together by agreement.

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber and thank him for coming in to speak about the upcoming EU Presidency. I do not think we can start a conversation about the EU Presidency without acknowledging our diplomats across the world and the officials working in the Department of foreign affairs. The work they do on a daily basis is very impressive. It makes us proud to be Irish when we go abroad, as Mary and I did in September, to see the professionalism of our diplomats right across the world. The work they a…

This week is foster carers awareness week. I acknowledge the work Foster Carers Ireland does to support around 4,000 foster carers and families who care for about 5,600 children across the country. I want to raise the decision by Tusla to discontinue the funding of the St. Bernard's therapeutic fostering support service in Fethard as part of its move to a standardised national model. Foster carers in south Tipperary have expressed real concern about the removal of this specialised therapeutic, relationship-based su…