First, I am delighted to support my Donegal colleague’s motion on sea fisheries I congratulate him on bringing it forward. Fianna Fáil welcomes this debate and will not be opposing the motion. I am delighted that the Minister of State is here. That he has his key officials with him shows the importance he is offering to the motion put in front of the House today. I commend him on being here. Ireland’s waters are one of our most valuable natural resources. Our coastline of 7,500 km is one of the longest in the EU. F…

I rise this morning to raise a matter that is important for me and for many Members from the north west. It is the N2 and A5 road and specifically the A5. That project was thrown out in a recent court case and is due back in court in the next few weeks. It is important that we work collectively on this project to ensure we get it right this time. I ask my colleagues in Sinn Féin to do everything they can. The Northern Ireland minister, Liz Kimmins, has the wherewithal to do the necessary. I ask the Leader that the …

-----to show their voices and put them behind the project. They have been silent. It is not like them to be silent. We need them to stand up, show they are with us and that they want the project to be delivered as well. It is important for their political tenure that they be vociferous about this project. With the indulgence of the Leas-Chathaoirleach, my last point is that my colleague, Senator Gallagher, asked that we also ask the Minister for funding for the southern end of the road to ensure the Castleblayney t…

I move: "That Second Stage be taken today".

I thank the Minister of State for presenting the Air Pollution (Amendment) Bill 2025 to the House. I categorically make it clear that Fianna Fáil Senators welcome this debate and support the Bill. It is true to say that Ireland is currently not in exceedance of any legal requirements for air quality levels but as the Minister of State said, we can always do better. As the start of his presentation, the Minister of State made a very stark comment in relation to the amount of premature deaths on the island in a year.…

Next Tuesday.

Tomorrow morning at 10.30.

The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, is welcome to the House. I thank him very much for outlining the plans thus far in relation to all-island rail projects. We have had statements in the House numerous times, certainly during the last term, where the all-island rail review was talked about. In particular, I remember when the former Minister, Eamon Ryan, was here. We were pushing hard to have it published. The Northern Ireland minister, Ms Nichola Mallon, was a great advocate for the Belfast-Derry link, given the …

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, back to the Seanad. I am delighted to see him being recognised for his Trojan work over the years, with him now being a Minister of State. I wish him well in his term. I wish to raise the issue of the A5. All of today's discussion has been around bus and rail - I will come back to the rail aspect in a bit - but following the national development plan roll-out post 2000, the one route left out was the A5. There has been much lobbying over the years and I have constan…

The Minister of State is very welcome. I commend the ongoing efforts at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, with the senior Minister and the Ministers of State. I find it laughable to hear some of the comments from the Opposition, particularly the previous speaker, in relation to developers. Who are we going to depend on to build these houses that we all so badly need? They are constantly put down. No other part of society would accept it. I never heard one solution from any of them. This idea…

There was reference to a figure of 40% and an all-encompassing remark was made that was on the basis of greed. That is wrong and I would like it withdrawn.

If she wishes to withdraw, she is welcome to do so.

We will need to check the record. It is on the record of the House.

It is on the record of the House. Maybe you want to review that and you can come back at a later stage.

Either way, the contribution was reckless. Moreover, this idea that the downsizing of apartments is also in relation to conditions, whether it be in relation to ensuring that developments meet standards or in relation to fire safety in any aspect of a building, is first and foremost a load of nonsense. Second, there is some belief that because the standards are dropped, every apartment in the country has to go to that size. It does not. What we are actually doing here is ensuring that people who cannot afford apart…

I wish to be associated with the welcome to the Clonakilty women's shed group and the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, in his new role. It is clear that he is hitting the ground running. I welcome his officials. I will address what the Minister of State finished on relating to the new fisheries EU-UK agreement and that 12-year extension. Fianna Fáil welcomes that agreement. The party also welcomes these statements on this important sector. Ireland's waters are on…

I rise today to raise the decision in recent days on the A5. For us in the north west, it is not just the A5 but is also the N2. The decision by a judge in the Belfast courts has hit the headlines in recent days. It is shocking news for many of us. The first time we had a shock in relation to this was when funding was first put in place for it. The Executive was pulled down in 2016 over an Irish Bill that still has not been passed. There was no beef on the bone. We now have an incompetent Minister who could not tak…

I thank the Minister of State for coming here today and wish her the best of luck in her new role. I have no doubt that she will do more than well. I am also delighted to see her mum here. She is keeping a close eye, I am sure, full of pride sitting up behind there. I commend my colleague Senator Ollie Crowe on bringing forward this timely motion. I support the vast majority of what has been said about the supports and the lack of supports for SMEs. I want to focus on sole traders. Sole traders are the backbone of …

I too welcome the Minister to the House and wish him well in his portfolio. It is appropriate that we are discussing balanced regional development because the Minister is well-equipped to know about balanced regional development and what we in the western and northern and midland regions are missing. Like others, I was at the Northern and Western Regional Assembly presentation last week. Many Members have alluded to the fact that there is a population of almost 1 million over there, including 500,000 workers, but t…

The Minister is welcome. I thank her for staying for the whole debate. I am certainly no expert when it comes to breast cancer diagnosis, but I have been lobbied by people in my constituency, and one in particular in County Donegal who is part of Lobular Ireland. Senator Costello and others discussed breast density. What Lobular Ireland is calling for is the introduction of standardised mandatory breast density reporting for all women who have mammograms. It is saying that software is available, and I am told it is…