I welcome the Minister here to have this discussion on the rail network and, moreover, the all-island rail review. Following the formation of Government and the announcement of an all-island rail review, as party spokesperson on Northern Ireland, I went to Derry and met with the leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, SDLP, Colum Eastwood. We discussed this on the back of that. The Minister then had negotiations with Minister Nichola Mallon. This became a two-way proposal on the all-island rail review. At…

I raise the situation we now face on this island in relation to the protocol and the situation we were sprung into at the weekend by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson when he put himself into the equation. It is important that Members of the Upper House and the Lower House stand strongly together on this issue because we need to find a mechanism on this island to move on with the EU. What has taken place is disturbing, as is the agenda that Boris Johnson and the European Research Group, ERG, in the Tory Party are…

I concur with the sentiments expressed by Senator Ó Donnghaile regarding the protocol. I rise today to deal with the tragedy, of which we are all aware, that took place in Creeslough in Donegal last October where many lives were lost. I have been contacted by numerous people over the past 24 hours about a documentary that is due to go out tonight on TG4. It is causing an awful lot of upset. People took part in this documentary under the belief that the documentary was to take place further down the line. As we know…

I wish everyone a happy St. Brigid's Day. I thank my female colleagues for taking on this campaign and being responsible for achieving a bank holiday that we will have from next Monday on. I raise the issues of the legacy Bill, the Bill of Rights and the protocol Bill currently before the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. The situation we face with the legacy Bill is an especially difficult one. The Cathaoirleach was with us when we discussed these issues in Strasbourg before Christmas. I was part of a deputatio…

I move: That Seanad Éireann, noting that the Government on 13th December, 2022, nominated Mr. John Curran, Ms. Maura Quinn, Mr. Alex Attwood and Professor Caroline Fennell for designation by the President to be ordinary members of An Coimisiún Toghcháin, recommends that, pursuant to section 9(9) of the Electoral Reform Act 2022, Mr. John Curran, Ms. Maura Quinn, Mr. Alex Attwood and Professor Caroline Fennell be designated by the President to be ordinary members of An Coimisiún Toghcháin.”

Fianna Fáil supports this motion recommending the appointment of four candidates nominated by the Public Appointments Service to the board of An Coimisiún Toghcháin. An coimisiún is scheduled for establishment in early January 2023, which is welcome. It must be established as a matter of priority to facilitate the review of Dáil constituencies in line with our constitutional and legal requirements. Its necessity was made clear by the recent census and I hope it is commissioned as soon as possible with a view to bri…

I raise an undesired situation in Donegal. The chief executive of Donegal County Council yesterday had to write to some of the protesters who attended the chambers in Lifford last week in respect of the mica scheme to raise the intimidation of his staff by certain individuals both online and at the protest that day. What is going on is completely undesirable. It is not on and a stop must be called to it. What is going on is beyond the pale. I have taken a great deal of abuse over the past 18 months. I am big enough…

I wish to call for a debate on safety in our sporting stadia, particularly in light of events in Markets Field in Limerick last Friday night. Galway was taking on Waterford in a League of Ireland decider match. The match was held up during the first half because of structural issues. Thankfully gardaí intervened quickly and got all the Waterford supporters out. In this day and age we should not be having such issues in our stadia. Thankfully there were no injuries in this case. I commend the gardaí and personnel on…

I welcome the Minister of State. I thank him, the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke and the Minister for the work they have done since coming to office. We can talk until the cows come home about this matter. Those in opposition can criticise us and we have a go at them, but there is a reality to the discussion of Housing for All. Facts speak louder than anything else. It is very difficult to listen to some of the Trump-speak coming from the Opposition. There seems to be a policy to the effect that if they keep…

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to hear this debate. I commend Sinn Féin on putting forward the motion on passport services on the island. It complements the Fianna Fáil motion brought forward by Senators Wilson and McGreehan not long ago. That is the approach taken by the House on this issue during this term. I could be petty and say we could do with a passport office in the north west where, in conjunction with Derry, up to half a million people live. The reality is there is a larger city on…

As party spokesperson on Northern Ireland, I express my condolences to Ambassador Johnston, his staff, everybody in the UK and not just the Protestant unionist community but everybody across all counties on the island for whom she was their queen. I would go further and second the proposal by Senator Craughwell. I believe we should write to the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste and ask that those people in the public sector who want to view the funeral and who deemed her their queen be facilitated. I ask that the private …

That is not true.

I reiterate what I said earlier. Sinn Féin has done an awful lot of spinning over the course of this debate. There has been no end to it these past few weeks. It is interesting that a review of this legislation was announced in June 2021. The party's spokesperson on housing was asked, like all of us in these Houses, to make a contribution to help fix the scheme. We knew there were issues with it and everybody pitched in, except Senator Boylan and her party and party spokesperson, who promised on national media that…

Senators are constantly referring to the foundations being an issue, yet nobody has come forward with a foundation that we can contribute to NSAI to be part of the scientific work that is ongoing. We are all talking about the bother with foundations, but nobody has yet produced a foundation anywhere where this problem does not exist. If Sinn Féin has knowledge of foundations, it would be helpful to all the people in Donegal and the other counties if the party gave that information to the NSAI. That is the proper ap…

The Senator is talking rubbish again.

The Senator is talking rubbish.

I support Senator Carrigy on these other buildings outside the scheme. The focus may well move to them after today. It is imperative that the community buildings mentioned by the Senator get some form of resolution to the mica, pyrite or whatever other deleterious materials they are dealing with in their buildings. A formula needs to be found to deal with these buildings and other public buildings throughout the country.

On a point of order, I wish to acknowledge the presence of the adviser to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage in the Public Gallery. I thank the adviser for the massive contribution that he has made to the Bill.

I acknowledge the work that has gone into this scheme and its evolution since 2020, as alluded to the last day. I have never witnessed legislation evolve like this, with such access given by a Minister to his departmental officials. I sincerely thank the Minister for that access to his officials. It was useful to work with them in changing the scheme dramatically. I acknowledge Senator Craughwell’s comments because I too would like a constructive debate today on the issues that still arise. This is our last opportu…

I understand where the Senator is coming from in relation to this amendment but I would have concerns that that review has to be sufficient and widespread, and comprehensive. As such, I do not see it being done in a timespan that will allow this scheme to take off. I believe the scheme has to start now. I have been an advocate of ensuring that the old scheme was never gotten rid of because there are many people in a logjam waiting to get their houses done. They have preparations done and they are ready to start the…