I might have been in some other capacity. Perhaps the Minister of State was. However, I was certainly there when then Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, came, as were the Leas-Chathaoirleach and others, when the big review of the estuary was launched. We had the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and several Ministers at the time. As a side-script to something I will perhaps raise next week, perhaps we should hold statements on the review and the implementation of that report because a lot of money was spent on it and it was certainly …

That is a reasonable period for the Government to formulate its position on this. When it is doing so - the Minister of State will agree with me about this - it needs to think about the people who have been affected, including the businesses, farmers, homeowners, elderly people who are frightened and the people who are up at night wondering whether they will be flooded. At the end of the day, they are the citizens of this country and the ESB is a big, powerful organisation. These people, as far as I am concerned, h…

I agree wholeheartedly with Senator Boyhan regarding the Minister's attendance here to discuss HIQA. The mid-west and the situation at the hospital in Limerick have been at the top of all representatives' agendas for some time now. Along with me and others, the Leas-Chathaoirleach has been to the fore in this regard. I hope we will see good attendance. I thank the Leader's office for facilitating and organising that debate. We finally have a roadmap to increased capacity in the mid-west. That is very welcome. I am …

The Minister is welcome to the House. The meeting the Minister had with representatives from the mid-west yesterday and her opening statement here today show that she understands the urgency and purpose of the work she is doing, that she gets how important it is and that it is receiving the detailed attention at the highest level it deserves. I pay tribute to HIQA. It produced a very good report, which is informing the Minister. Many of us in the mid-west would have been able to summarise the recommendations oursel…

I express my sympathy and condolences to the Carey family on the passing of former Minister, Deputy and Senator, Donal Carey. Donal served the people of Clare with distinction. He was a Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas for a long time and a Minister in rural development. I would say he was the first Minister for rural development. That was back in the rainbow coalition Government between December 1994 and 1997, when a lot of significant work was done to prepare rural Ireland for what we experience today. Dona…

Hear, hear.

I, too, would like to wish Senator Wilson a happy birthday. Reaching the new figure of 21 is always wonderful and I know he will enjoy himself as he always does. We wish him well. The debate on last night's Private Members' motion was very powerful and some of the contributions were outstanding. I commend the House on having a good quality, respectful debate and it was good to have the Minister for State, Deputy Brophy, in for it as well. Along with the Leas-Chathaoirleach, the Leader and others, I attended the aud…

I congratulate the former Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, on his new position as managing director of the World Bank. It is testament to the standard he brought to his political roles as public expenditure Minister, finance Minister and Minister for transport. He is one of those giants of politicians who did his business right, made hard decisions, said "No" quicker in many ways than he said "Yes" but always had the public interest at heart. The fact his appointment has been welcomed across the board is testa…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. As has been said, the Bill gives respect and credence to an industry that has served us very well over many decades, but very much so over the last decade. Going back 40 or 50 years, Cong in Mayo became famous through film. There are so many other fantastic examples. Down where I live in County Clare, people will know it is particularly quiet in the months of November, December, January, February and March. However, a number of years ago, three seasons of a television s…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I apologise for my throat but I will say a few words because it is an important motion. I thank my colleagues for tabling this motion and bringing the Minister of State in. I have listened to the Minister of State being interviewed on this on many occasions and he has showed empathy, humanity and practicality in dealing with the issue. The issue is complex, difficult and challenging, but it has to be embedded in compassion, empathy, decency and doing the right thing. By…

I agree with my colleagues. The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. The greening of the corporate fleet is a good idea; there is no point in saying otherwise. However, elements of that which do not make sense should not happen. The car rental business is going to be decimated if this directive is introduced and if we are required to green all of our car rental industry. Car rental is particularly important in counties that the Senators raising this matter and Senator Kennelly are from, such as Kerry, Cl…

I am in unison with my two colleagues on this. I believe we need to withdraw our support for this directive, specifically when it comes to the car rental fleet. We need to make it abundantly clear to President von der Leyen and her team that this is not acceptable, it is not going to happen, and we are not supportive of it. We cannot turn around and decimate the car rental fleet and, by extension, have a serious impact on certain important elements of our tourism industry.

I want to follow up on a very good contribution made by my colleague, Senator Cathal Byrne, regarding the situation he experienced in Wexford in 2021. I can recall similar experiences on Christmas Day in 2009 and 2010, which other colleagues will remember. One was a flood and the other was a freeze. We have an orange weather warning and orange and red warnings are becoming more prevalent than ever before. I ask the Leader if the Minster, Deputy Browne, who is the lead Minister for emergency planning, could come in …

I very much welcome the Government's proposed new housing plan that is at Cabinet today and will be launched tomorrow. I welcome the increased targets that form part of this plan. I note the Taoiseach said on his way to Cabinet this morning that it will be more ambitious than any other housing plan and that it will deliver. I sincerely hope it does. I call on the Leader to organise a debate on the new housing plan, Delivering Homes, Building Communities, in the next couple of weeks so we can get into the teeth of i…

The Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, is most welcome to the House. I know that he fully understands the challenges when it comes to farm safety. This year so far has outpassed last year in terms of the numbers of people who have lost their lives on Irish farms. Unfortunately, the profile of the people who have lost their lives shows that nine of them were over 65, which epitomises the age profile in farming generally. That would follow on to another conversation entirely about the inheritance system and passing…

I commend Senator Curley on taking the initiative and tabling this critically important motion. I am sorry to have to say it but the State Examinations Commission's special arrangements for people with disabilities are not fit for purpose. I did my leaving certificate in 1992 and I got extra time of ten minutes per hour because of my vision impairment. I typed my exam. I missed getting into UCD by ten points. Back then there was no higher education access route, HEAR, programme so you had to get the points. I repea…

The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. It is good to have him here. I thank him for coming in and taking this Commencement matter because I understand the Minister is abroad. That is just the reality for a Minister in Government. The issue of the maternity hospital in Limerick has been on the health political agenda for some time. I am 51 years of age. I was born in Ennistymon Community Hospital. Maternity services then moved to Ennis and were then centralised in Limerick, but the building in Limerick …

I thank the Minister of State. With the greatest of respect to the Minister of State, who is just delivering the information, sometimes it is good to get a summation of facts we already know. My big issue here is the fact that it is next in line. Why can it not run in tandem with the one in Elm Park? That is the issue. Obviously, there is some necessary planning work taking place now that should have taken place heretofore. We are where we are, however. The maternity strategy covers the period 2016 to 2026. It is a…

It is with great sadness, in a sense, but also great pleasure I am here to say a few words about a person, Billy Lawless, I considered a true parliamentarian and a good friend. I extend my sympathies to Billy's family on their loss but they can take great solace from the fact that he lived a great life and did a huge amount in industry and business. I think his proudest time was his time here in the Seanad. He believed in equality and in treating everybody equally. He respected people irrespective of their backgrou…

I, too, would like to be associated with the sympathies expressed to the Finucane family on the passing of the legend that was Jim Finucane. I had the privilege of having a cup of tea with Jim about three or four weeks ago after he was appointed to his position as honorary consul for Ukraine when he was in Dublin. I believe it was the day after he had been appointed. He was a great and lovely man and will be sadly missed. I also echo the welcome to Michelle Madden and her daughter, Sinéad, in the Gallery and wish t…