We are not going to be taking lessons from you.

I welcome that the publication of the new planning guidelines will be later this year because this is well overdue. We have been waiting for about a decade for these guidelines. I welcome that they are going to be published and that they are subject to proper consultation and scrutiny. There is a lack of consistency across rural areas in the planning sections, and the Minister of State acknowledged this himself. In fact, there is a lack of consistency within county councils between the different planners. Many peop…

I want to raise the case of a woman in her 30s who is the mother of children, two of whom are very young. She is currently in Cavan General Hospital and has experienced pain for years due to kidney stones. The failure of the hospital and Beaumont Hospital has robbed her of her health and life because she has put up with years of antibiotics, painkillers and steroids while being told her case will be addressed. She has been in and out of hospital. A year ago, she was admitted to the hospital when very ill with an in…

I second the amendment to the Order of Business. I will raise an issue around a recent EPA report on domestic wastewater treatment system inspections in 2025. There are nearly half a million domestic wastewater treatment systems in the country. Most of them are septic tanks. Homeowners are required to register their septic tank with the local authority. The local authority is required by the EPA to carry out inspections but they only carry out a limited number every year. Most local authorities do and even carry ou…

I am sharing time with Senator Collins. I have absolutely no problem with the motion. There is nothing in it I oppose. We all agree with its calling out of the absolutely terrible treatment of the Palestinian people by the Israeli regime. More than 70,000 people have died and God knows how many have been injured. People have had life-changing injuries, including lost limbs and severe burns. The destruction of property is such that Gaza is flattened at this stage, with no effort being made to rebuild the country. Ai…

He did.

I second the amendment.

I second the amendment.

Cuirim fáilte roimh na Feisirí Eorpacha go dtí an Seanad inniu. Is deis é seo chun scrúdú a dhéanamh ar na naisc idir Rialtas na hÉireann agus an tAontas Eorpach agus breathnú ar na naisc idir muintir na hÉireann agus an Aontas Eorpach. I will begin my comments by addressing Irish unity. I will start by saying Ireland's Presidency of the European Union is a historic opportunity to focus on Irish unity. It cannot be allowed to be just six months of chairing meetings and putting on a show for Europe. It must be seen …

For God's sake. Fianna Fáil's record speaks for itself.

We have had a housing crisis in this country for some time and the reason for it is that Fianna Fáil crashed the economy in 2008 and decided to stop building houses. It had no foresight whatsoever and allowed our construction workers to leave the country and go elsewhere. Now we have in excess of 17,000 people in homeless accommodation, including 5,000 children. This does not count all the families who do not access emergency accommodation, including those who sleep on our streets, in their parents' box rooms and o…

Ar dtús, déanaim comhghairdeas leis an mbeirt Teachtaí nua, an iarSheanadóir, Seán Kyne, agus Daniel Ennis. Today, I will raise the issue of the autism protocol brought to Cabinet by the Ministers for disability and Health this morning. As a member of the Joint Committee on Autism of the previous Dáil and a member of the all-party parliamentary group on autism, I want more clarity on what exactly this protocol is. It is to be launched today with the HSE. It is a new autism assessment process for children and adults…

The lack of availability and the unaffordability of what is available are proving a barrier to some pursuing further and higher education options. We see many young people forced to live at home with parents, which is the last thing they want to do. After doing their leaving certificate, they want to experience college life and get away. I know a lad doing his leaving certificate next week and he cannot wait to get away. Hopefully it will all work out for him in the autumn. The fact that students are living at home…

Before I start, may I ask why there is no Minister or Minister of State for health here? I was not notified that there would not be one. This is nothing against the Minister of State, Deputy Grealish; he is here to represent whatever Minister there is. This is very disappointing. This is a very important health issue, yet there is no Minister or Minister of State for health here. The Minister of State is not going to be able to give me a comprehensive answer because it will be a pre-prepared statement. It is very d…

Yes, please.

I know, and it is nothing against the Minister of State.

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. I wish to raise a couple of cases relating to Cavan General Hospital. Aaron is a 12-year-old boy who was admitted to Cavan General Hospital in severe pain on Monday, 27 April. An ultrasound was carried out and it was determined that he had appendicitis, so he would have keyhole surgery on the Tuesday. On Tuesday morning at 3 a.m., he was in extreme pain and a nurse constantly called for a doctor, but no doctor came. Later on Tuesday morning, he was prepped to go to theatre for the o…

The people of Cavan and I are delighted that we have a general public hospital in our county but we want a hospital we can trust. We want to know that when somebody goes in there for whatever reason, he or she will be cared for in a timely fashion. I have had wonderful experiences in the hospital and there are wonderful staff in there but they are overworked. Hospital management has said that it operates at safe staffing levels and so forth and the Minister of State's response says the same, but that is not the fee…

Yes, they do.

Much has been said about the good work the OPW does, and I acknowledge that. However, there is also deep frustration about the number of buildings which are left lying idle for many years. Some of these buildings could be used as dwelling places and community spaces. I want to raise a couple of them with the Minister of State in the context of County Cavan. I live near the village of Kilnaleck in County Cavan. There is a house there that is attached to the Garda station. It was used to house gardaí over the years. …