Tomorrow at 9.30 a.m.

Ar dtús báire ba mhaith liom fáilte mhór a chur roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Teach an tráthnóna seo. I thank the Minister of State for taking time out of his busy schedule to be here. This is the first opportunity I have had to have a debate with him in the Seanad. I wish him every success in his role. I have no doubt he will bring his usual vigour and determination to that post and will be a great success in it. I raise the retirement age of 70 years for Bus Éireann drivers. This needs to be re-examined because i…

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive response. I am heartened by it. I know he raised this himself in the previous term as a Dáil Member. I look forward to progress being made on the issue. As the Minister of State knows well, the heat will come on come September when we are all inundated with inquiries about school transport. Does the Minister of State have any idea as to when we might see progress on this important issue? It is a win-win for the families, the school kids and those people over 70 ye…

I thank the Minister of State.

The Bus Éireann school transport portal is open for applications and expires on Friday, the 25th of this month, so I encourage all families who intend to send their children to school via Bus Éireann school transport to make those applications before that date. Today, however, I wish to talk about the mandatory retirement age of 70 years that Bus Éireann insists on for drivers driving schoolchildren to school in the morning. This is discriminatory and an ageist policy that needs to be addressed and re-examined. We …

Ar dtús, ba mhaith liom fáilte mhór a chur roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Teach seo um thráthnóna. This is the first opportunity I have had since the Minister of State's elevation to high office and I would like to take this opportunity to wish her every success. I have no doubt that she will take her hard work ethic to her Department and that she will make a great success of it. I come here today for the second time inside a week to talk about the lack of ambulance cover in counties Monaghan and Cavan. There seems …

I thank the Minister of State. I too acknowledge the commitment, hard work and dedication of the National Ambulance Service throughout the country. In many cases, those personnel are left in a very difficult situation. I want to ensure that the people of Monaghan and Cavan have an adequate ambulance service, but there are concerns about that. I sincerely hope the response given on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, goes some way to assuage the concerns and fears that people genuinely hold. I assure th…

I raise my grave concerns about the lack of adequate ambulance services in County Monaghan. This week, 16 12-hour shifts in the county will not be covered by local personnel, while next week, an estimated 19 12-hour shifts will not be covered by local personnel in Monaghan. Until now, we have had about 22 fully rostered staff in the county, located in both Monaghan and Castleblayney. There have for some time been four vacancies, which the National Ambulance Service has been unsuccessful in filling. The four vacant …

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit chuig an Teach ar maidin. The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. This is my first opportunity to have a dialogue with him in an official capacity in this Chamber. I wish him well and I have no doubt that he will make a great success of the role he finds himself in. I would like to talk to the Minister of State about the stretch of roadway between Castleblayney and Ardee that forms part of the N2, which is the main Dublin to Derry road. Unfortunately, this particular st…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. As he said, this particular section of road has been in the national development plan for a number of years. In excess of €5.5 million has been spent on the different phases since 2018. There is a concern that some of the surveys that were carried out in conjunction with this have a shelf life and unless this project is moved on, that funding will be lost because the surveys will be outdated. It is important that this funding is found. It is only in the region of €900…

There is much debate and commentary about the lack of prison spaces in our country. There is no doubt that there is urgent need for prison places and we should get on with it as a matter of urgency because it is so badly needed. With the best will in the world, it will take years to have a new prison or two new prisons as the case may be. With that in mind, it is a very opportune time for us to have a debate on and conversation about community service, how we can expand community service and what we can learn from …

The Minister of State is very welcome to the House this morning. I am seeking an update on the proposed extension of services at Errigal Truagh Special Needs Day Care Centre in Knockconan, Emyvale, County Monaghan. The Minister of State's colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, kindly met this group on Tuesday last at my request for the second time this year and was very impressed by the group's enthusiasm for the service it is providing down at Errigal Truagh. Indeed, I commend the Minister of State aga…

I thank the Minister of State for his response on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte. Respite is essential to all families, be it adult or children's respite. When we talk about respite, it is important that we know exactly what we are talking about. It gives families time to breathe and time to get on with other duties with other family members. It is absolutely essential. There has been an awful gap in Monaghan for a long number of years. I am glad that the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, has go…

I refer to one of the most dangerous stretches of roadway in the country, that is, the Ardee to Castleblayney road. It forms part of the N2, which is the main Dublin to Derry road. Since 2013, 18 people have lost their lives on the road. My heart goes out to all the family members whose lives have been changed forever. The Government recently committed €600 million to the upgrade of the A5, which is the stretch of roadway that runs from Monaghan to Derry. I very much welcome that. Unfortunately, no such commitment …

I welcome the Minister of State back to the House this afternoon for the debate on this very important legislation. As others have mentioned, it is a very short but nevertheless very important Bill. I am delighted to see it moving forward. I compliment my colleague Senator Ward on his work in this area. He has been very vocal on this. He alluded to the retrospective aspect in section 4, which is a very welcome development. I will not delay matters. I very much welcome the Bill. The Fianna Fáil Party is delighted to…

I move: That, pursuant to subsection 2° of section 2 of Article 25 of the Constitution, Seanad Éireann concurs with the Government in a request to the President to sign the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024 on a date which is earlier than the fifth day after the date on which the Bill shall have been presented to him.

At 9.30 a.m. tomorrow.

At 9.30 a.m. tomorrow.

I congratulate Senator Nikki Bradley on her appointment to the Seanad. It is a very proud day for her and for her family, who are from Milford and whom I met on the way in. From the Senator's contribution, I can see that she is going to hit the ground running. I can claim to be a neighbour of the Senator's. My home patch is not a million miles away from hers in Milford. It is a very proud day for all of the family and for the Senator's fiancé, who is from South Africa. I hope they have a great day. It is one day in…

The cross-Border healthcare directive has been a hugely successful healthcare plan for those in the Republic who find themselves on waiting lists for whatever procedures. Very many people have availed of the directive. An issue has now arisen in respect of those who seek cataract surgery. I understand that the success of the scheme speaks for itself. Since 2017, over 4,000 people have travelled to the North of Ireland, in this instance, to avail of cataract surgery and the HSE has reimbursed people a certain amount…