I thank the Minister of State for his comments. I acknowledge the work he has committed to in engaging with me and listening to further suggestions, and the time he gave recently in west Cork looking at various stretches of road. The majority of the response from the Department and TII refers to projects in other parts of the county. I asked clearly for a co-ordinated corridor plan for west Cork. The town of Clonakilty is not mentioned in the response and there is nothing planned for the village of Innishannon. Acc…

I want to raise the issue of the serious challenges facing the fishing community. On Saturday I spent some time in Castletownbere with a friend of the Cathaoirleach's, and a former Deputy, Noel Harrington. We engaged with many in the fishing community. To say that there is a sense of shock and fear about what lies on the horizon is an understatement. We Senators speak passionately in this Chamber on issues and inequality as we see it in society on the national and international stage. The fishing community is sick …

I thank the Senator for his kind offering. Like other speakers, I want to commend the Minister on his work on this budget. It is a prudent budget and what we have come to expect from the Minister, Deputy Paschal Donohoe. The Minister said in his contribution that there are 2.82 million people in work. When I left college in 2011, the jobs market was quite bleak. We can never forget where we have come from and where we are now. People have a reason to get up in the morning, go to work and earn a fair living to suppo…

I want to speak briefly on two aspects of the budget. As a newbie Senator, this is the first opportunity I have had to witness and see how the budgetary process works. As a member of a party that is in government, I also had an opportunity to see how the issues we raised formed part of the budgetary process. Regarding the 9% VAT rate, I put on record the appreciation of the many businesses in west Cork that sought a reduction in VAT and contacted me in recent days. I thank them for their work in campaigning for it.…

I welcome the Minister of State. I broadly welcome the cross-party support for the motion. The essence of it is to highlight the positive impact that agriculture has within our communities but also the issues the sector is facing. Agriculture is the lifeblood of many rural communities across the country, including those in west Cork. It is not only the foundation of our local economy; it is also the thread that holds our culture, environment and way of life together. For generations, farming has provided livelihood…

I thank the Cathaoirleach for his kind words on my marriage. I got a new job in recent weeks and have probably the most important work of my life ahead. I also thank colleagues for their kind wishes. On a sadder note, this is my first time back in the Chamber since my colleague Councillor Patrick Gerard Murphy passed away in west Cork. I want to put on record my appreciation for the work he did in west Cork. He did politics the right way. He worked behind the scenes with officials and long before there was a formal…

Like other speakers, I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. It is the first opportunity I have had to speak to the Minister officially in this Chamber and to wish him well in his role. Obviously, there was a deep sense of personal pride to be appointed as a Minister for Deputy Calleary, his family and his supporters and the people of Mayo and I wish him well in the years ahead. This is very important legislation and I thank the Minister for being in the Chamber. I pay tribute to the Minister for meeting with the fa…

My constituency colleague in west Cork pipped me to the post in congratulating Cork GAA on its success at the weekend. I congratulate the Cork set-up both on and off the field and my own clubman, Kevin O'Donovan, the CEO of Cork GAA, on his work in recent years with Cork GAA. I hope it will bring us back to the place we want to be. As Senators, we all see the value that sport and GAA bring to communities. It is great to see communities in County Cork coming alive again in red. I will raise two matters in support of…

I rise today to put on record my appreciation and that of the west Cork community for the efforts of An Garda Síochána, our Naval Service, the Defence Forces and the Revenue Commissioners on the seizure of more than €30 million worth of drugs off Courtmacsherry yesterday morning. The community there is in shock, although delighted about the seizure. We are aware that the seizure is the tip of the iceberg of what comes in to our coast. This highlights the need for an increase in garda numbers in rural areas, althoug…

Like all other speakers, I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. I welcome the fact that we have a Minster for fisheries now working on behalf of the Government. It is a really positive step forward in terms of the fishing industry. I thank the Minister of State for his engagement so far across the country and for recently visiting Castletownbere and attending the AGM again. That is what we need to do. We need to listen to the communities, the stakeholders and the people who go on the boats because they kno…

I will be brief. A lot of valid points have been made, and I do not want to repeat what has already been said. I thank the Minister of State for being in the House for this debate. When talking about dentistry, certain words come to mind. When we go to dentists, we are all reminded of proper dental hygiene and brushing our teeth in the morning and evening. Some of us may well be guilty of not following through on that. This is how I see the issue of dentistry. People have become a bit complacent. This is not an iss…

I rise to discuss an issue in the town of Kinsale. The town is widely known locally, nationally and internationally as a major tourism hub and place of immense beauty. It is the gateway to the Wild Atlantic Way. An issue around the development of a commercial mussel farm at the gateway harbour entrance to the town has arisen in Kinsale. I am not a politician of protest and believe that working with others is how to achieve solutions, but this development in Kinsale has brought widespread frustration and anger withi…

I join in the comments of Senators across the House on the topic of the situation in Gaza. There are no words we can use in the House today that can express the wrong - the sheer genocide, the sheer murder - of what is taking place at the moment. We talk about issues in our constituencies in this country, such as disability and infrastructure issues, but it behoves us all, as legislators and Members of the Oireachtas, to call out exactly what is going on. We can all do more - we genuinely can. I spoke to a group of…

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber and wish him well in his endeavours in the years ahead. I raise the issue of student accommodation and the shortages thereof. It has been mentioned a few times by my colleagues here. There is no denying we have major issues when it comes to a lack of housing, which is also creating significant issues with homelessness, but the lack of housing is also having a serious contagion effect for students. The lack of student accommodation is taking away the opportunity of studying for …

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber and thank him for being here to discuss an issue that is really important to me, the Minister and the farmers of west Cork. I refer to the issue of derogation. The Minister will know that, during a discussion on the CAP in this Chamber a number of weeks ago, I discussed the importance of derogation for the farmers of west Cork, many of whom I represent. I congratulate the Minister on the work he is doing to ensure we have a derogation in the years ahead and on the setting up of…

I thank the Minister of State for his words. I genuinely see and understand his conviction about holding the derogation. For the farm families I represent, this is a business that needs certainty like any other business. On holding a section at 250 kg N/ha, if we can statistically check the water quality in streams and rivers surrounding an area that is at 250, I believe it would support our argument for holding a 220 or a derogation in general. It is a point to be made to EU officials and it would help if we can s…

I want to raise the issue of the driver test wait times at present. It has been raised in this Chamber previously. Specifically, in west Cork, the Southern Star did some research recently and the wait time is six months at present. That is absolutely ridiculous. I am calling for a debate in this Chamber with the Minister for Transport directly on the matter because the RSA is not fit for purpose on this issue. A root-and-branch review of the system needs to be carried out. I accept we see movements to employ new te…

I want to raise an issue I spoke about some weeks ago when the Minister for agriculture was in the Chamber, the nitrates derogation. A specific issue has come to light in recent weeks in the Timoleague–Kilbrittain area of my constituency, Cork South-West. Farmers in the area have been farming to a stocking rate of 250 kg N/ha, but in the week before the Easter recess a map was released showing the rate for the area is to be reduced to 220 kg N/ha at the end of the year. That is really serious for the farmers in the…

Like other speakers, I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber and, like my colleague beside me, I wish him a very happy birthday. I know that on birthdays it is customary to receive presents but we are looking for presents today so I hope he will give us many.

I might not go that far. Seriously, the issue of flooding affects all of us right across the constituencies we live in and indeed this country. I want to discuss not only Bantry and the flooding issues we have encountered there but also the issue of road maintenance and river clearance and drainage. As has been mentioned, Councillor John Michael Foley is here from Timoleague. I welcome him. He has been raising the issue predominantly in the Kilbrittain area during recent flood events, so it has been raised at Cork …