We all have our own interpretation of how we have arrived at the happy condition of prosperity but I will not go into that. Now that we are in a prosperous and good budgetary position in this country, the great contemporary challenge is to end the waiting lists for assessments of our children for conditions such as autism, dyspraxia, dyslexia and so on; to improve the services after the ending of those waiting lists; and indeed to end waiting lists and similarly intervene in CAMHS. Two initiatives have been taken b…

I welcome one of our successful alumni, the Minister of State, back to the House. I want to address a few issues I would like the Minister of State to respond to in his concluding remarks. The infrastructure fund is important. It has been brought into sharp focus by what has happened in Spain. There are particular climatic factors there, but it is predicted that in about 30 or 35 years' time in this country we can expect extraordinarily heavy rain to fall on the western section of the country and a lot of drought a…

I welcome the discussion initiated by my two colleagues and I welcome the Minister of State. I share the view that the Curragh is an extraordinarily important national resource and centre. The horse racing industry is very important with horse breeding being a hugely important sector that is closely associated with the Curragh. We have a huge international reputation in this area and it is a huge part of our heritage and culture. The Army presence there is of extraordinary significance. Since the report of the Comm…

I welcome and support the Bill. I hope it will be supported unanimously. "Catfishing" is a new term. It is a real issue for a great many people. From anecdotal and newspaper reports, we are all aware of vulnerable people and people who may not be so vulnerable whose money has been taken from them through this process. They believe they have developed a relationship with somebody akin to a romantic relationship or love affair. They give money to somebody to travel to meet them or to assist them in some area. This ca…

I will begin where the Acting Chair left off. I concur with her remarks about my colleague Senator Carrigy who has taken this as his personal crusade in his first term in the Seanad. It is truly impressive that he has achieved so much in this area in one term. I know he is particularly committed to it. His achievements are mammoth and I congratulate him on that. I am certainly proud to be a colleague of his. I welcome the Minister of State. I have been at meetings with her with a number of groups - I will come to s…

I would be interested to hear the Minister of State's responses on the specifics and the general. I hope a good discussion can arise. I do not think there is one person in the country who is not totally committed to this. Through prudent management of the economy over years, we now have the money to do it. Money should be thrown at the problem insofar as money will resolve it, but there are other issues as well.

I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this matter, which impacts upon the lives of all our constituents. I welcome our colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, to the House. I am not sure if I have had occasion to congratulate him in this setting before. In any event, it is no harm to renew my welcome to him. Group sewerage schemes are generally a success and alleviate many difficulties for people trying to live outside or adjacent to small towns and villages. They are crucial in villages, towns and rural …

Yes, although we could have finished this matter in a minute.

Well done. I accept that.

I thank the Minister of State for his response. To refer to one point, I am delighted with the increase in the septic tank grants. That is good news. I take all the points the Minister of State made about investment. He said €100 million is available to Uisce Éireann and that is now being invested in smaller clusters of settlements in smaller schemes to provide wastewater treatment facilities specifically. There are also other water schemes. My sources still tell me that the issue is the number of people who can ge…

I thank the Minister of State.

I join with the Cathaoirleach and Senator O'Loughlin in paying tribute to the late Mary O'Rourke. Mary O'Rourke was humorous, witty, personable and formidable. One of my first public encounters with her was when I and the late Senator Mary Jackman - herself a highly intelligent, formidable woman - many moons ago decided to trip up Mary O'Rourke on a section of an education Bill she was putting forward here in the Seanad. We went in maybe slightly unprepared but, prepared or otherwise, we went in full of gusto. Both…

Now.

I join in the welcome to the gentlemen from the Men’s Shed. Like me, I can see that they have a lot of accumulated life experience. They can only be impressed by being present in the Seanad when we are discussing such a serious matter. It has to give them some confidence in the institution that this is the material we are dealing with and that we are trying to alleviate one of the greatest social ills of our time. I will revert to a sentence I said last night, in that it is great that we are here and it is wonderfu…

I want to make the same point here as then.

I told him that we could not know who would have ended up on Skid Row and whose lives would have been devastated without the intervention of the GAA in their youth. Similarly, we will never know who would have been victims of compulsive and problem gambling were it not for what we are doing today. I broadly support the principles of the amendments and am interested in hearing the Minister of State’s response.

As one of a trio of Senators, including Senators Wall and Cassells, who raised this matter and called for this legislation day after day in the Seanad on the Order of Business and so on, I congratulate the Minister of State on introducing this legislation in its totality and for his steadfastness in the face of very wealthy and powerful vested interests. It is to his eternal credit that we have this legislation and have got to this point without giving way to those vested interests in the process. Of course, nothin…

In welcoming colleagues back I must strike a sombre note, a really tragic note, by saying that over the summer things have gravely deteriorated in Gaza to the extent we have 40 dead that we know of and 120 as an indirect consequence of the lack of supplies and hospitalisation. I have this information from NGOs. Some 120 are collaterally deceased, making a total of 160. We have so many injuries and the place is razed to the ground. It is a horror, it is genocide and it is shocking. There is no other word for it. The…

On a point of order-----

-----with great respect to my colleague, I do not think you could compare this legislation to the dreadful events in Guantanamo Bay. It is not a valid comparison.