I do not claim in any way to have the legal mind that Senator McDowell has. I am just trying to get my head around the legislation and understanding it. I am coming at it from a lay-person's point of view and from listening to business owners. Imagine a scenario in Senator McDowell's butcher shop where merchandise is scattered around the shop in lanes, aisles and areas that staff cannot see. Somebody might slip something into their pocket and maybe the staff see it, but then, by the time the person gets to the fron…

I move amendment No. 9: In page 8, lines 22 and 23, to delete “it shall be a defence to a defamation action for the defendant to” and substitute “no cause of action shall lie where the defendant can”. I will withdrawn this amendment because the Minister has indicated that he will look at something to do with retailers.

According to the most recent census, Meath had a population of 230,000 in 2022. No doubt the figure is more than that now. Only yesterday, I left my house in County Meath at 7 a.m. and it took two hours to get here - a 27 km journey. This morning, I left at 8 a.m. and I got here at 9.55 a.m. I cannot get those four hours back. We have an excellent bus service, the NX. When I say "excellent", it is excellent on weekends or at off-peak hours. Try getting it at peak times and there is a high chance it will drive strai…

I will have to take the Minister of State's word for it. Say something wonderful now.

As a spokesperson on enterprise here in the Seanad I very much welcome the opportunity to speak to the Minister today and to the budget for enterprise and tourism, which we learnt of last week. I thank the Minister for taking the time to join us here. Ireland's overall international competitive position is strong and currently ranks as the seventh most competitive economy in the world. Ireland has experienced a decade of very significant economic expansion, a strong increase in population, rapid gains in employment…

I appreciate that the Minister, Deputy Calleary, has come here this morning. While I was running in the convention, I used a quote about women to sum up myself and my late mam, who loved a strong cup of tea: a woman like me is like a tea bag; you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water. There are many women in County Meath who are strong women and who are fighting for a home for their groups. Those are the Trim women's shed, the Navan women's shed and the Meath cancer support group. Trim women's…

I thank the Minister. Of all the Ministries, Deputy Calleary has a wonderful Ministry. It is a great Department because the Minister can do so much good with it. When I looked at all the different sources of community centre funding that increased in the budget, I was delighted to see that nearly all of them went up by €1 million, €2 million or €3 million. I welcome that. It is fantastic news. I recognise the money that has come into County Meath. I worked with the Clady Hall project in Dunderry, County Meath, whic…

I would like to bring up the horrible issue of graffiti. More and more, when I travel through towns in County Meath, graffiti is becoming a major issue, especially in Navan, the town I come from. Graffiti is criminal damage and it is against the law. The people doing it may not think they are causing much harm but this can come with a huge economic cost to the building owners. There are clean-up costs, it is unsightly and there is an increased fear of crime in the area. It encourages other crime, people do not want…

Like my colleague, Senator Fitzpatrick, I also want to speak on this amendment. Senator Fitzpatrick mentioned RGDATA. We have been inundated with correspondence on this. It seems to me that everyone wants to see something happen with regard to defamation to support businesses and shop owners. Retail Excellence Ireland has been in touch, as has ISME, RGDATA, and the Alliance for Insurance Reform. I have been inundated with emails about this and we have spent a lot of time discussing it because it is so important. On…

I also appreciate that the Minister is going to look at and take into good consideration what myself and Senator Fitzpatrick have said. We both really do have the interests of small shopkeepers and small businesses at heart. We both work a lot for them in this Chamber. I appreciate that. To go back on what the Minister mentioned about our cases falling, I had a quick look. In 2024, there were 289 cases in Ireland but there was only 209 in the UK where there is ten times the population. Something has worked over the…

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the Chamber to discuss the budget. This is my first budget since being elected and it is great to be here. I would like to discuss a couple of parts of the budget that I welcome. I do not need to repeat much of what has already been spoken about. Since the onset of the pandemic, we have added more than 440,000 jobs to the economy. That is just since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. We have record levels of women at work, as well as many people coming to Ireland to work…

I welcome Mr. Martin Hughes to his new role. Today I would like to speak about the importance of some vaccines that are now available. I will also speak about the HPV vaccine. Tremendous work is being done by the Department of Health under the Minister for Health, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, and the HSE in rolling out the RSV vaccine. The RSV immunisation programme will run throughout winter 2025-26. The immunisation will be offered in maternity hospitals to all babies born between 1 September 2025 and 28 Feb…

Hear, hear.

I thank the Minister of State for coming in today to debate my Commencement matter. As a former Member of the Seanad on the cultural and educational panel, I am sure he will be interested in what I am talking about here. As an employer and having spoken to parents, I have noticed the unfair nature in which holiday earnings are calculated for the Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, grant. At present, if you are a student registered on a full-time course and you are working, SUSI can deduct a portion of your inc…

Okay, so it is going to cost €35 million to do it, but there is a tax gain to the Government, there is a gain for businesses, there is a gain for students, and there is a gain for parents. We should not even have to think about this. The minimum wage is €12.15 for a 19-year-old. If they earn that, or the current full minimum wage of €13.50, and work the summer, Christmas and Easter holidays, they are covered for their holiday earnings. I do not know whether the Minister of State worked during college or not, but st…

I echo Senator Ní Chuilinn’s thoughts and wishes for the support we have received from everyone in the Seanad since we began. We are total newbies. Lots of us are brand new politicians and greatly appreciate the support. I echo what Senator Ní Chuilinn said about the workers in the background because we all use our social media clips and little videos so I support the workers in all of their endeavours. I have spoken on this previously, but I wanted to finish off the year by speaking about it again because it is so…

I will raise two important issues. The first is housing adaption for disabled people. We all know about the housing adaption grant, and how valuable it is to older people and people with disabilities. More than €3 million is the budget used by my local authority, Meath County Council, which does an excellent job. However, a couple, say, earning only the minimum wage and working full time, are only entitled to €20,000 towards any building works in their home. I have been speaking with Tracy Carroll, who is a strong …

I very much welcome our distinguished guests to the Gallery. They will enjoy sunshine at the weekend. The weather is looking good so they are very lucky. I feel the need to speak today because the rejection yesterday of the personal injuries guidelines was momentous for every hard-working small business and for every community group, festival about to be organised, sports club, GAA club and motorist. It was the right decision. I thank the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, for that decision. I thank the subcommittee on …

I am speaking on behalf of small businesses. It is my thing. From speaking to retailers and in particular to Retail Excellence, which is the body that nominated me for election to the Seanad, defamation is of huge concern. The Minister was gracious to me a few weeks ago when he gave me a few minutes of his time to talk to him about that. I thank him for that. I appreciate it. Retailers need to be able to ask questions if they suspect someone of stealing. I also appreciate that shoppers need to be protected, but as …

First of all, a massive hug to Senator Ryan. You were very brave when you spoke, so well done. It took a lot for you to do that. I really admire you. David Platt said, "There is a unique pain that comes from preparing a place in your heart for a child that never comes." I thank Senator Ryan for bringing this Bill to us. It has been a pleasure to discuss this with her over the past couple of weeks. As someone who has suffered miscarriages, including my eldest daughter's twin, I know what that ache is like for thousa…