I welcome the Minister back to the Chamber this afternoon. I compliment him and acknowledge the great energy he has taken to his new role and the progress he has made across a large number of areas. I ask him to continue the good work. From a Fianna Fáil perspective, we are happy to support the measures outlined here this afternoon by the Minister. It is important, whether it be security or migration, to have an EU approach as they are global issues. We need an EU approach to try to deal with whatever it may be, wh…

The last time the Minister of State was in the Chamber, he and I had a conversation about the delays in people getting driving tests. I take this opportunity to compliment him on his work in that area. He set out ambitious targets and I am delighted to congratulate him this afternoon on the work and the progress he has made there. Maith thú in that regard. Ireland's system of local government has been described as one of the weakest in the EU, with a 2023 Council of Europe report describing it as one of the most ce…

I thank the Minister of State for that comprehensive response. We are, and I am sure the Minister of State will agree, very fortunate to have so many hard-working councillors throughout this country, and we must always strive to expand their role in their local areas and enhance the terms and conditions of those elected members. As these young people leave the Gallery this afternoon, we need more platforms for those young people to enter politics. Currently, that is cut off from them. By having town councils in pla…

I, too, wish my learned colleague, Senator Wilson, a very happy birthday. I sit beside him as sometimes he needs assistance to go from A to B, but Members can rest assured that I am always here for him. On a more serious note, I ask the Leader to arrange for the Minister for agriculture to come into the Chamber so we can have a discussion on TB incidents in our country. TB has been around almost as long as Senator Wilson. Unfortunately, we cannot seem to get a handle on it. To be honest, that baffles me. Unfortunat…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Teach inniu. I commend my colleagues on the Fine Gael benches for bringing forward this motion. It is vitally important that we can have a calm and fact-based discussion on this particular issue. Often, unfortunately, particularly on social media, that space is not available to us. Looking at the figures for last year, we can see how Ireland as we have known it, and as I knew it as a young person, has changed. There were 125,300 immigrants in Ireland in the past 12 months…

I, too, express my sincere sympathy to the family, friends and wider community of the five young people who tragically lost their lives in an horrific traffic accident in Dundalk last Saturday night. My thoughts are especially with the families of 23-year-old Chloe McGee and 21-year-old Shay Duffy, both from Carrickmacross in County Monaghan, and the families of 23-year-old Dylan Commins from Ardee, Alan McCluskey from Drumconrath in County Meath and 21-year-old Chloe Hipson from Scotland. I can only imagine the se…

Cuirim fáilte mhór roimh an Aire Stáit chuig an Teach seo ar maidin. I thank the Minister of State for his presence. Earlier this week, as he knows, a case of avian influenza was confirmed on a commercial turkey farm in Clontibret, County Monaghan. This case comes after two last week, one in County Meath and one in County Carlow. There was also one in Northern Ireland. As the Minister of State may be aware, around three quarters of poultry produced in Ireland comes from the Cavan-Monaghan area. This is therefore a …

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I have a number of questions, the answers to which the Minister of State may not have but I would appreciate if he could get them for me as quickly as possible. Have the turkeys at the Clontibret site been culled yet? If not, when will that take place? What assurance can the Minister of State give regarding adequate and secure supply of CO2 gas to support humane culling operations, particularly if further outbreaks occur? Will the Minister of State share the evaluatio…

Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Teach inniu. The newborn bloodspot screening, NBS, programme, commonly known as the heel prick test, is carried out on babies in their first 70-120 hours of life and currently screens for nine rare but serious conditions. Approximately 120 babies with these conditions are identified per year through this test. However, parents are still calling for the urgent roll-out of the potentially life-changing heel prick test for spinal muscular atrophy, SMA, nearly …

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I welcome the fact that progress has been made on the recruitment of recruitment of staff and the necessary equipment. It does seem to take an awfully long time, which he outlined in his response, not just in this country but in different jurisdictions as well. As he rightly outlined, this is a terrible, stressful situation for parents who find themselves in such in such a position, and it is vital that we move to get this up and running as soon as we can. I would lik…

Yesterday marked the 18th anniversary of the murder of 21-year-old Paul Quinn near Oram in County Monaghan. This young man from Cullyhanna in County Armagh was murdered after being lured to a shed by a number of men. He suffered a horrible, violent death and the perpetrators showed no mercy. Up to ten individuals were involved in beating him with iron and nail-studded bars for upwards of 30 minutes. He was a 21-year-old lad and they broke every single bone in his body. His mother Breege, father Stephen and the exte…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit chuig an Teach. Before I outline my case, I thank the Minister of State for taking time out of her very busy schedule recently to visit County Monaghan and the Errigal Truagh Special Needs Parents and Friends CLG. We look forward to that project and many others in the region progressing. I raise once again the issue of the much-needed replacement facility for day services at Clogher House in Cavan. Last year the area's disability services, supported by HSE estates' north east depar…

I thank the Minister of State for her response. I am delighted that a preferred end user has been identified and that the HSE will now progress to finalising matters with that preferred provider. Has the Minister of State any idea of the timelines involved in that or when that process will conclude? Can she give us any idea as to when approximately - I do not expect her to give the exact date - the people can expect this facility to be up and running? It is very much needed and in many instances long overdue.

Maybe not after this.

At 2.30 p.m. next Tuesday.

Cuirim fáilte mhór go dtí an Teach roimh an Aire Stáit. Gabhaim buíochas léi as an obair an-mhaith atá á déanamh aici. The Minister of State is welcome to the House to discuss the urgent need for additional accommodation at St. Aidan's Comprehensive School in Cootehill, County Cavan. The school has been a huge success and has grown exponentially. It now suffers from a serious lack of space which is affecting its ability to operate safely and effectively on behalf of its staff and students. There are 654 students on…

I am happy to share. I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive response on behalf of the Minister, Deputy McEntee. Clearly, there is urgency attached to this. The last thing we want to do is turn 37 local people away from the secondary school in Cootehill come September next year. As I see it, there are two strands to this. There is the new build, which, as the Minister of State knows well, will take a considerable length of time. In the meantime, additional accommodation is required by way of modular or …

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, is very welcome to the House. This is the first opportunity I have had to debate him in his new role. I congratulate him on his appointment and wish him every success with it. The subject I am going to discuss, driving test waiting times, is nothing new to the Minister of State. The average waiting time for counties Monaghan and Cavan is approximately 28 weeks, with the national average having stood at approximately 18.4 weeks. Granted, the fi…

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive response. I will take this opportunity to compliment him.. Since he came into office, he has grabbed this issue by the scruff of the neck and it is clear that progress is being made. I am disappointed, however, in the times for Monaghan. It just seems to be a bit of an outlier in that regard. I ask that the Minister of State would give particular focus to Monaghan to bring it to a level similar to the national average and to that of the neighbouring county of Cava…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. It is estimated that there are 137,000 people in this country living with heart failure. Last week, a cross-party delegation of Senators and Deputies met a group from the Irish Heart Foundation to hear about this condition. The group is calling for greater access to cardiac rehabilitation, psychological support and help to ease the financial hardship caused by this condition. I thank the two patient champions, as they are known, who spoke at the meeting, namely, Teresa O'Hanlon, w…