I thank the Minister for his presence in the Chamber today for this Private Members' motion in the names of Senators Doherty and Seery Kearney and others. We know that the St. John Ambulance is an international humanitarian organisation with over 500,000 volunteers in over 20 countries. This is an extremely difficult situation. In his statement on the report, the Minister welcomed the people who have contributed to it by speaking about the experiences they have gone through. The situation is difficult. Tusla is the…

I welcome the Minister of State. It is nice to see him in the House for what for me is the first time. We are here to speak about the Housing for All plan. I thank the Minister for his overview. I will highlight some of the things I have seen in the Roscommon-Galway region, which is the area I represent. One of the key things has been the income threshold increase to qualify for social housing. We have seen an increase of more than 40% for County Galway, which means going from a low base of €25,000 up to €35,000. T…

I welcome the Minister of State. I welcome the Minister's comments just before he had to leave. Inland Fisheries Ireland's role is to protect, manage and conserve more than 74,000 km of river and 128,000 ha of lakes. It is an incredible amenity. I think of the operations teams. My thoughts are with the fisheries officers, environmental officers, inspectors, people involved in angling and the people who are working on the ground. Over the decades, they have done great work. Now the agency has this reputation due to …

I welcome the Minister to the House. Does he agree it is wonderful to see the welcome for this Bill across the Chamber? It is fantastic to see it. My question is on the Government commitment to provide approximately €30 million to cover the costs that would have been coming in from the €80 fee. I know that we have the highest ever budget in healthcare, at almost €23 billion. It is driving many of the crucial changes we are seeing. The Minister referenced other areas where we have seen real progress. I acknowledge t…

I would like to speak about childcare places. It is a real challenge and we are seeing this in Ballinasloe, Mountbellew and other regional towns where community crèches are full come September and maybe the following September. We are in dire need. We have brought forward funding of €1,200 for each child to support parents with childcare. We want to be able to ensure women have a choice and can choose to either be at home or go back to work and have access to the facilities to do that. I have knocked on doors and s…

I welcome that we have the next stage of the Galway-to-Athlone cycleway. Public information events will be announced the week after next. We had a preferred route corridor. We are now going to have an actual preferred route. This is thanks to engagement with landowners, community groups and using publicly-owned lands where possible. It will transform our communities. I have spoken on this issue several times. It is phenomenal to see that this cycleway will be coming to the town of Ballinasloe. It will transform thi…

As we are coming into spring, it is a beautiful, sunny day today. In April, the Tidy Towns clean-ups will begin throughout the country. I was out and about last weekend and it was amazing to see families come together to take part in keeping our towns and villages clean and tidy. Although it is chilly out there today, it is going to be great in the next few weeks to have our towns and villages shining. I highlight the role of CCTV footage for our local authorities. That legislation is now in place through the Circu…

I thank the Minister for coming to the House to speak on powerful legislation that will change patient safety. It is about patient rights. It is crucial legislation. He acknowledged the work of Vicky Phelan has been a key driver for this legislation on behalf of women and as part of that group. The key thing we want of the legislation is culture change in the hospital environment. We are changing that culture in order that people can come forward with disclosures. That is what is key to this. It is about legislatio…

I thank the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, for coming to the House to present to us on Project Ireland 2040. We see clearly Fine Gael in government has put plans in place and together we are looking at evaluating the 2040 plan under the current Government, but this dates back to 2018. It was about putting plans in place, and ensuring there is a reserve of funding to deliver on projects that are crucial. There are now more than 5 million people in the Republic of Ireland and there…

I thank the Senators for allowing me the time to come in. The Minister is aware I am based in Ballinasloe and that I am representing the west, which is why I am here to speak. We looked to speak with the Minister and, as I mentioned, we met briefly last week. There is a 6.25 a.m. train service from Galway to Dublin, stopping at Athenry, Athlone and Tullamore, but not at Ballinasloe. Ballinasloe has one train service leaving before 7.30 a.m. going east to Athlone, Tullamore and Dublin. In Athlone, there are five ser…

The station is 15 minutes outside the town.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, in her new role here. It is great to have the Minister of State here in Seanad Éireann. Deputy Naughton is representing the Department of Health and she is Minister of State now in her new role for public health, well-being and the national drugs strategy. In her new role, the Minister of State is coming here to us regarding the citizens' assembly on drugs use that we are putting together. We need this debate because we can see the impact of drug use on families and…

I will probably not need the whole eight minutes. I welcome the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, to the House today to speak about the report from the committee. There are 12 or so recommendations contained within it but it is really about the working conditions and payments within the tourism sector. I am aware that the Taoiseach, in his previous role, brought through the Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Act 2022. The issue around tips is one of the five workers' rights that we are fighting for…

I also thank the Labour Party Senators for tabling this motion. It is a serious issue. I speak on behalf of the Roscommon and Galway area and in particular, Portiuncula University Hospital which is in my own home town. Huge numbers of patients are presenting at the emergency department at the moment. The hospital is also seeing a lot more people presenting with addiction problems related to both alcohol and drugs. Such patients are presenting at the emergency department. What I would like to see the HSE addressing …

Hear, hear.

I will speak about the importance of family businesses in small towns. I welcome Pádraig Fahy and Úna Ní Bhroin, and their children Teegan and Tomás. They run a family farm and are neighbours of mine. They started Beechlawn Organic Farm more than 20 years ago. This is a small family farm. They came together and put a focus on organic, high-quality vegetables and fruit. The farm now sells to many retailers throughout the country. It has provided world-class food in our stores, such as SuperValu. Úna Ní Bhroin, who i…

It is a real day of honour for me because Scoil an Chroí Naofa is my national school, and these guys are the first student council from Scoil an Chroí Naofa. They are doing an absolutely amazing job.

These children, from fourth, fifth and sixth classes represent their classes. I ask the children from fourth, fifth and sixth classes to put their hands up. Well done. I am so proud of each and every one of them. I thank the teachers, Edel Moriarty and Declan Rynne, who brought the students to Leinster House today. This is my first school tour group and it comes from my primary school. It is the school that I have been talking about in here. We have been fighting for a school building for nearly 27 years since the …

Scoil an Chroí Naofa.

I support the Domestic Violence (Amendment) Bill. I thank Senator Martin for introducing it under Private Member's business. It is shocking, in all societies, that we are seeing this abuse and attacks against women, but I wish to speak to how we engage, at very early stages, to support women in coming forward about a domestic situation. There are always indications and symptoms and, yet, women put up with this type of aggression in the home. We are seeing other types of legislation coming through with regard to non…