I know that this is something close to the Leader's own heart as a person who has been involved with the Defence Forces. My thoughts are with all of the soldiers in Camp Shamrock today. Hezbollah's actions are despicable in using the cover of the Irish camp in Lebanon as a foil to fire indiscriminate rockets into Israel. It is putting peacekeepers under threat and my thoughts - people from Mullingar and the midlands are serving there at present, including people I would know - are certainly with those members of th…

I raise the issue of trains and train timetables, particularly on the Sligo-Dublin line, which serves Mullingar, Maynooth, Enfield and a number of other large towns. Before Christmas, there was an extensive review of the Cork to Dublin line, with a new service for commuters and another service now leaving Cork at 6 a.m. and arriving in Dublin before 9 a.m. There was also a review of the Drogheda line, with additional trains provided. New lines were also opened, including the Athenry line and other connecting servic…

Today I want to talk about the cost of business and the imminent and upgraded scheme on the cost of business and the reliefs. There is quite an onerous amount of new red tape and regulation for all businesses, particularly small businesses that are operated by two, three or four people. First there is the cost of auto-enrolment for pensions. Somebody must physically set this up and maintain it every month or whenever the pension comes out. Certain expenses must now be reported to Revenue on a monthly basis, which w…

I am delighted to see the Minister here. As he knows we discussed a few details of this before the Seanad met this morning. He certainly has our full support. This is an important piece of legislation under his remit as Minister. We welcome it and he has our full support.

I want to be associated with the words about Mary on her retirement and Senator Gavan's nice words about James McClean. He has been an exceptional winger from his time in Derry all the way through to Wigan and Wrexham at present. No one should have to endure all the abuse he has had to put up with because of his beliefs and his nationality. I rise to speak about the serious concerns I have regarding the problems facing small business. Fianna Fáil has always been a party of small businesses. There is a slew of probl…

I submitted this Commencement Matter because I was curious about this issue when we were going through budgets, expenditure details and so forth. I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this matter today, which I have submitted on a number of occasions previously. I am seeking information in relation to a number of departmental expenditure queries I received. As outlined by the Cathaoirleach, this query relates to the amount of money being spent on the international protection accommodation service, IPAS, on Ukrain…

The figures are eye-watering to say the least. I am a supporter of what we have done for the people of Ukraine. It was curious, I was talking to a member of the Government of Georgia recently. It has a similar type of population to ourselves and is on the doorstep of Ukraine. Georgia has 40,000 Ukrainians in its country and Ireland has approximately 100,000. I have no problem with the number of Ukrainians Ireland is taking, or international protection applicants for that matter, personally - or as a party - we have…

I suggest that more than 100,000 refugees at the time of a housing crisis represents a hard number to crunch.

I welcome Deputy Grealish and his friends and colleagues to the Gallery. My colleague, Senator Crowe, who is from the same constituency, has already spoken; he will hardly get an opportunity to welcome them so I will do so on his behalf. The reintroduced tenant purchase scheme is long overdue, but I have encountered a problem. Perhaps some of the clerical officers dealing with it are not fully aware of the implications or of the relevant legislation, or perhaps I have it wrong. My understanding is that someone buys…

It is on the same matter. Dublin County Council does not have enough money to complete the refurbishment of vacant houses and give them to new tenants. The same is happening in some other counties, which is evident to anyone travelling through the countryside. Why do councils not give first-time buyers an opportunity to buy those houses? People could fit them out to their own standards, spend whatever money they wanted and refurbish them gradually, as all of us did when starting out. To leave houses idle during a h…

I rise today to speak about the new gambling legislation that has been before the House and is due to come back again. I certainly welcome many of the measures in it, especially around hand-held devices and ease of access without a lot of proof. It is important legislation, particularly for problem gamblers. However, one part I disagree with is that someone who looks at racing on a paid-for subscription racing channel will not be able to see advertising for gambling companies. That is really a bridge too far. Our e…

This is the first time I have had an opportunity to speak on the Order of Business since the shocking passing of Councillor Damien O'Reilly, my colleague and personal assistant. The Cathaoirleach and Leader said a few words at the time to mark his passing, which was a very nice thing to do. Damien's family very much appreciated it. My thoughts have been with his young daughter Carly, his stepson Kyle, his partner Lisa and his mother Phil. I have been in contact intensely with them over the past few weeks. As we com…

I cannot see what we would have in common with that particular ideology, particularly in view of some of the recent actions. Personally, I find it hard to understand.

I will not delay the House because I know there are people here with a lot of experience in the Defence Forces and that general field. Senator Gallagher is a former member. I concur with the previous speakers. I know this is a comprehensive Bill, as we can see from the size of it apart from anything else. It is as comprehensive a Bill as I have seen in quite a while. We have spoken about a lot of anomalies, which I am sure the Minister is doing her best to square. My greatest concern is that the garda on the front …

We are delighted to see the Minister of State here today. He is one of the hardest-working Ministers we have and he is no stranger to this House. As he outlined, no one can condone the incursions that have happened recently in the Palestinian area. From our experience here in Ireland over our 30-odd years of conflict in the North - or longer as some people could tell us - I think we have been quite successful and we do not praise ourselves enough for how far we have come in 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement.…

We are delighted to welcome the Minister of State back to the Seanad. He is quite a frequent visitor here. I would like to start by saying that I was in Estonia quite recently. I was over with CybExer, the company that was to the fore in dealing with the attack on the Estonian state in 2007. It was attacked by Russians of some sort, or whatever. The identity of the attackers is still a bit in the air. From then on, the Estonians have become very aware of these problems. They are at the cutting edge of it. Estonia i…

Before I call on Senator Warfield to speak on behalf of Sinn Féin, I note that a group from the Catholic University of America in Washington DC is here to join us. If I am correct, I saw them downstairs with Senator Mullen earlier. I am delighted to have the group here today.

Next Tuesday at 12.30 p.m..

Yesterday, I met two guys who would be classed as International Protection Accommodation Services, IPAS, asylum seekers. One of them had quite good English and I was talking to him for a little while. He explained to me the boredom he faces in his daily life and the sense of a lack of fulfilment from not being able to work. One was a qualified carpenter and the other chap was a qualified mechanic. Most of these men are of working age and they are fleeing wars, persecution and whatever else. Most of the asylum seeke…

-----we will listen closely. He could be carrying out counter-surveillance or something – I am not certain. I will not get into any more of that.