I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for coming in. Across County Limerick and the wider region, we have seen a steady erosion of jobs, from Andersen Ireland a decade ago to Irish Dresden in 2021, Rettig in 2023 and, of course, Wyeth Nutritionals, which is closing next March. On top of that, last week we heard the announcement that Kostal in Abbeyfeale will be shutting down one of its sections, which could see up to 50%, that is, 200, of its jobs, being lost. It was confirmed that the company is moving tha…

I thank the Minister of State. This is great that it has not yet been announced to the Department but I have seen the internal emails to the staff. It is very important that the families of those who may be made redundant are looked after. However, if it does come to pass and 200 jobs are lost, I plead that the businesses in the area also be taken into account because of the loss of traffic that will be coming through and how the loss of those jobs will impact the wider community.

Today I want to raise an issue that happened last July. A town in County Limerick had severe rainfall within a very short space of time and flooding occurred. The local residents and businesses had been raising the potential for flooding for three or four years with the council and through their local TDs' offices. I do not know whether it fell on deaf ears or was just put on the long finger but nothing was done to the drainage system in the town. I acknowledge that since the flooding Limerick City and County Counc…

I echo what we have heard in welcoming Martin Hughes to his new role. Congratulations to him. I also thank Bridget Doody, who always had a welcoming smile on her face to put us at ease when we walked in. I hope she enjoys her retirement. Today I will speak about how our legal aid system can sometimes overlook victims of domestic violence. We must recognise the serious gap that exists in our current legal aid system. A victim of domestic abuse who is in employment can often find themselves excluded from free legal a…

I thank the Minister of State for being here this evening for what is a very important debate in this House. It is not spoken about very often and some might be afraid to speak about it, but it does need to be debated and we need to set the record straight on what is actually happening here in our wonderful country. At the moment, communities across Ireland are at breaking point. The Minister of State knows this himself from calls and emails to his constituency office. People are just at breaking point. Families ca…

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. I wish to discuss sport in the sense that it is not just elite sport we need to talk about, it is all sport. I wish to discuss one sport in particular, which is swimming. I spoke about this a couple of weeks ago here in the Seanad. Swimming as a sport is not just competitive. A swimming service has young and old people as beginners. It is there for physiotherapy and can be used for so much more than just competitive swimming. That is why it would be ideal to have publ…

I raise the issue of carer's payments in families where more than one person has qualifying care needs. As the Leader will know, carers currently receive half a carer's allowance on top of the full carer's allowance for any additional people they care for. Some families may have two, three or four children with qualifying additional care needs. Much of the time, the position of these families does not allow the person who is caring for those children to go to work, leaving the household with one wage. In the case o…

I will take amendments Nos. 19 and 46 together because they both speak to third-party observations. When a planning permission is paused, it can often be that many years have passed since the original planning permission was granted. There has to be some consideration for what might have changed within that time. There must be another opportunity for public participation in that part of the extension request. The State needs to be compliant when it comes to obligations under the Aarhus Convention, and the principle…

I move amendment No. 19: In page 11, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following: “(e) The Minister may, by way of regulations, provide for third party observations for consideration by the planning authority to ensure compliance with the State’s obligations under the Aarhus Convention and the principles of good planning and development.”.”.

I will speak on amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 47. Like the rest of our amendments, this one is out of concern about public participation in all these changes. The Government's changes to apartment sizes are madness. They are a repeat of past failures and will not work. It is rushed legislation, which could be open to legal challenge down the line. Public consultation was skipped. This will most likely have unintended consequences. The Minister of State should have sat down with Opposition parties and gone throug…

I move amendment No. 34: In page 12, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following: “(b) an explanation as to why the development has not yet commenced, a viability assessment setting out what has changed that would allow the development to commence if an extension of duration is granted, and a detailed schedule of works setting out when the various stages of development will occur,”.”. I will speak on amendments Nos. 34 and 56 together to save time. These amendments relate to the extension of planning permissio…

I move amendment No. 46: In page 13, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following: “(10A) (a) The Minister may, by way of regulation, provide for third party observations to the planning authority on any request for an extension of duration under this section. (b) The regulations may include provision for: (i) the publication of public notices, on site, in newspapers and on digital platforms, of any request for an extension of duration under this section; (ii) the publication, on the planning authority website,…

I move amendment No. 1 to Amendment No. 47: After subsection (1), to insert the following: “(1A) The holder of a permission shall notify the public of the application by way of a site notice. (1B) In order to ensure adherence with the State’s obligations under the Aarhus Convention and the principles of good planning and development the relevant authority shall provide for public participation in the certification process by way of inviting written submissions on the application from interested persons or organisat…

As the House knows, the Ryder Cup, a world renowned event, is coming to Adare, County Limerick, in 2027. It would be remiss of us not to look at the tourism prospects this could bring to Ireland. In County Limerick, we have what is called the Desmond trail. It has Adare Castle, Askeaton Castle and Desmond community centre in Newcastle West. Adare Castle only opens from June to September, with limited space so you will see minibuses going in there. Askeaton Castle has been closed for the past three years until furth…

I will share time with Senators Tully and Andrews.

It is great to have the Minister here. I will speak on a number of key areas in transport that would begin to address the great regional imbalance that is choking Ireland's potential. The regions outside Dublin must finally be given a fair share of investment and opportunity. The M20, the motorway between Limerick and Cork, is not a luxury; it is a necessity. This stretch of road, at present the N20, is not only outdated and dangerous but it is actively stifling the economic potential of the entire southern region.…

I wish to address an issue related to the provision of public swimming pools in County Limerick. On the N69, Askeaton swimming pool, which has been closed since 2023, is scheduled to reopen, thankfully, this autumn under the management of Swim Ireland. Other than that, the county has been without a swimming pool for the past two years due to this issue. On the N21, where there is a large population centre of almost 8,000 residents, west Limerick sports complex is run by a not-for-profit enterprise which is looking …

I stand in full support of Sinn Féin's [ Pregnancy Loss (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 ], not just as a legislator but as someone who has lived the reality that this Bill seeks to recognise. I commend my colleague, Senator Ryan, on the work she has put into this Bill and the thoughtfulness that is in it. Miscarriage is common, painful and too often invisible. I know this because I went through it myself. When I miscarried, I was in a job where I did not have the option to leave my post. There was no system, n…

I am sharing time with Senators Tully and Andrews. I will take four minutes and they will take three each. I welcome the Minister of State. I welcome the opportunity to speak today on an issue that goes to the very core of Irish communities: the future of our post office network. As has already been said, over the past ten years 257 post offices have closed across the country. That is a shocking figure. Behind that statistic, there are 257 communities, both rural and urban, that have lost a vital public service, a …

I welcome the Minister of State. Ireland is surrounded by some of the richest and most bountiful fishing waters in the world. Despite this, our native fishing and seafood industry is in a steep decline. What should be a cornerstone of our coastal economy is now a sector in deep crisis that has been battered by quota cuts, fuel price hikes and increases in costs, all compounded by decades of neglect, mismanagement and weak negotiating by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments. Not long ago the Taoiseach st…