I thank the Cathaoirleach. This is a really good idea. Ever since being elected to the European Parliament and in the run-up to that campaign, one of the things that I noticed was that sometimes people feel left out and a bit excluded. They may not fully understand what happens in Europe and feel disconnected from it. However, as the Cathaoirleach said, a huge amount of our legislation originates there. It is really important that there is a connection between the work we are doing, the work done in the Dáil and in…

You would never get an opportunity of six minutes. It is nearly unheard of nearly. For someone who might want to use the language but who does not always have the confidence to use it, this is a really good opportunity to encourage and use our language. Regarding the technicalities of that, we would like to see during the Presidency the end to the technical derogation on Irish interpretation that is currently in place, as it limits the rights of Irish speakers in the EU. Obviously, at Parliament level the translati…

There I was bragging about the one-minute-----

I am happy to finish for now and come back in on some of it if that is okay.

I thank the Chair. I thank everyone for the questions. I will try to go really fast because three minutes to answer all those is quite challenging. I agree with the comments about Shannon Airport. Part of the reason I was so anxious to run for Europe was that my region of the south east gets left behind a lot. That is the same for lots of areas of Ireland South. We need to see balanced regional development, which we try to bring to the REGI committee I referenced. It makes so much sense from so many different point…

On the issue of Iran, we abstained from the vote because of other details in the resolution. To explain, resolutions that come before the Parliament contain a huge amount of information. Obviously, we totally condemn this situation and everything that the Senator has laid out in relation to rapes and people trying to access contraception. However, sometimes there is other detail in a resolution and it is really important that the EU plays a really strong role in the peace-building, in trying to bring stability and …

I am in the middle of speaking.

Maybe if I am allowed to finish my contribution.

There is a lot of things to get through in six minutes.

I am moving on to the referendum on Irish-----

Sorry, I am not going to have this situation.

I am not here to have a back and forth with Senator Clifford-Lee.

I answered the Senator's question. I was in the middle of answering it and she was cutting me off.

I have three minutes to answer everyone's questions.

We basically abstained in relation to that motion. When a resolution comes before Parliament there can be an awful lot of detail in it. In some situations we would agree with a lot of the detail. Obviously, we condemn the situation and we support people's right to protest and the protestors there. However, sometimes there are details in resolutions that we do not agree with in relation to the situation. We think the EU has a role to try to make the situation better and not to try to make it worse. Some of the sanct…

-----and I have really tried to stick to my time all along. There does need to be an honest conversation about funds but for me it is about political priorities. If you are under pressure, you need to see where your priorities are. Certainly, from my point of view and that of Sinn Féin, it is not towards military and defence.

I thank my colleagues who, on our last day, on a Thursday, stayed the course to be here. I appreciate that. It really represents teamwork, that is for sure. I want to mention my constituency of Carlow–Kilkenny. For the past eight years, I have had the honour and privilege of representing that constituency. It has been a real honour. Sometimes, that word is overused and sounds a bit clichéd, but it genuinely has been. As a lot of people who know me well know, I never imagined that I would ever end up in this Chamber…

I thank the Ceann Comhairle very much. I really appreciate that. It is a fantastic opportunity but I have to say that I will miss working alongside my colleagues in the children's committee and the Minister. Even though we have not always agreed, we have always worked really constructively together. With regard to the Bill, I have come in to support Deputy Sherlock's amendment. I have always used childminders. I have probably spoken about that. My youngest child is 13 today so I am getting out of that part of my li…

Thanks so much.

I remind everybody that we have a surplus of money in this country. We are not in any way a poor country. However, yesterday the Children's Rights Alliance released figures in its annual child poverty monitor which clearly show that for many families rent affordability is still the single biggest driver of child homelessness. The number of children living in emergency accommodation increased from 2,811 in March 2022 to 3,472 in March 2023. As of March 2024, 4,147 children call bed and breakfast accommodation or a h…