Now.

Now.

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to discuss the very important issue of the bus route between Trim and Kilmessan. I will give the Minister of State a small snapshot of the texts I receive as a parent. One message read, "Slight delay this morning due to breakdown private bus on the way". Another read, "Private bus tomorrow thanks". Another text read, "Hi all private bus again tomorrow". Another read, "Hi bus running a little late due to breakdown". On the same day, I got a text saying "I found a…

There have been far more than three incidents between 2025 and 2026. I would be happy to work with the bus driver and produce a proper list for the Department so it can see how bad the situation is. I know there is a rule whereby buses should not be older than 20 years, but they do not need to be that old. We speak about it being hard to recruit bus drivers. We have a precious one called Linda who drives this route, and also gets out of the bus to check the engine. We will not get people like that if we do not give…

I second Senator Kennelly's wonderful idea for an event in recognition of the lovely Jessie Buckley. Allow yourself to bend like a willow in the wind, so that you will not break. A willow tree represents resilience and adapting to the wisdom of life's storms. Last week, I had the honour of going to the Solstice Arts Centre in Navan where Meath Women's Refuge changed its name to Willow Domestic Abuse Services. My council colleagues have approved plans by Meath County Council for a new women's refuge on a 1.3 ha site…

I thank the Minister of State for being here today. Sometimes when we get opening speeches, I find them hard to follow and understand. The Minister of State's opening statement very much explained what we are talking about today in an informative way for businesses and employees. Rather than going through a lot of what was said, I will set out a few points myself. The Protection of Employees (Employers' Insolvency) (Amendment) Bill 2025 is important because it provides greater protection for employees in the event …

Next Tuesday.

I thank Fianna Fáil for tabling this motion. I acknowledge that it is getting much cross-party support and has stimulated much debate here this morning. My colleague Deputy Keira Keogh has done a lot of work on online safety and, as she rightly says, the primary motivation and aim is securing our children's future. She has said that parents are doing their part in trying to protect their children from online dangers like pornography, cyberbullying and harmful algorithms that can lead to exploitation. Recently we ha…

I welcome the Minister of State and thank her so much for coming in. I am going to talk about dental care, particularly in schools. Access to dental care is in crisis and staffing has become a very serious issue, with staff shortages the main concern for dentists and dental staff. In 2024, 65% of dentists were unable to recruit candidates for dentist positions. A quarter of dentists said they were not taking on any new private adult patients and a third stated they were not taking on any new child patients. My conc…

I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate emergency care is provided to children up to 16 years of age but we should not be letting them get to the emergency care situation. The teeth of primary schoolchildren who cannot afford to go to a private dentist are not going to be good. I feel really privileged that I could afford to go to a dentist, but if my children had to wait until sixth class, they would have no back teeth. There would be no enamel. They would be so uncomfortable and it would be emergency procedur…

I welcome the ambassadors. Last week in the Seanad, Fine Gael tabled a motion on road safety. Many of us spoke on it, including me, and it of course had cross-party support. Little did I think that, four days later, a 16-year-old girl, Mia Lily Keogh O'Keeffe, would be tragically killed in my hometown of Navan. As the mother of two young girls, I simply cannot imagine what that family are going through. Mia Lily was struck at a pedestrian crossing on the Slane Road in Navan. It was a hit and run. Her dog, Bowie, wa…

I am sharing time with Senator Ní Chuilinn.

I thank Senator Harmon for bringing this Bill forward. Nothing ever becomes real until it is experienced. I know Senator Harmon has spoken to people who have experienced this, which is why she is so passionate about bringing the Bill forward. I spoke to her last week about it. Fair play to her. We all feel that. This is a very important Bill, which contains Parts dealing with injury leave for people who work in jobs that are nearly like a vocation. When it comes to SNAs, parents cherish the fact that their child ha…

This morning, I had the privilege of going to Meath Travellers' Workshop with Maria Walsh MEP. I had been there a few times previously, but sitting and listening to the people there today was a real eye-opener. It was a good experience. Something I am ashamed to say I did not know as a public representative is that every year we have a week called "Traveller Pride Week". This year, it will happen in late May. I think it will be around 25 May. Listening to some Travellers this morning, we discussed how education and…

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber to discuss this very important Bill. I will begin with a quote from Robin Sharma: "Passion plus production equals performance". I also love the quote from Steve Martin where he says, "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture". I am glad to get the opportunity to speak on the Bill. It is legislation that marks an important step forward in supporting creators' performance and rights holders across Ireland. Copyright is really about fair recognition and fair reward. …

Next Tuesday.

In November, I was invited by the Rotary Club of Navan to attend the Just 1 Life event, an event I know the Minister of State will go to, which is a powerful young driver awareness programme. Approximately 350 students filled the Solstice Arts Centre in Navan. The event featured deeply impactful presentations from An Garda Síochána, a roads policing sergeant, Dr. Ahmad Jamal, an on-call consultant at Our Lady's Hospital Navan and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, alongside a critical care nurse, ambulance call centre s…

Last November, I mentioned that I had met representatives of Johnstown Football Club. I spoke about its desire to provide a football club in the Johnstown area of Navan. I mentioned that there were around 4,000 homes in the area with 12,000 people living in them, without even a playground, never mind sports facilities. There is nothing really there in Johnstown. It is larger than many towns across Ireland but does not have anything close to the community facilities that other towns have. I am delighted to be able t…

This morning, I would like to highlight the issue of a very important respite and day services centre in Navan, County Meath, called Clann Mór. I had the absolute privilege of going out to visit the Clann Mór centre on the Commons Road in Navan last year and got to see the wonderful service it provides. My goodness, it really does. The people within the service are just so happy to be there. However, although Clann Mór welcomes the increase in the budget for this year for disability services, it is under massive pr…

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, for coming to the House to discuss this Commencement matter. I would like to discuss the issue of bus escorts and transport for special schools. When the Minister of State and I spoke at the Joint Committee on Education and Youth on 16 July last year, he gave me a commitment that he would look into this. I look forward to getting an update from him. I am on the board of an amazing special school in Navan, County Meath. It was a big eye opener to see the work o…