This week, the Minister of State at the Department of Education, Deputy Madigan, made an announcement about the importance of ensuring children with special needs have access to school places. We are now seeing mainstreaming and our schools are embracing that. We are seeing the special needs educational teachers who are being rolled out. There are over 19,000 SNAs, which is a huge number. However, in my area I am getting many schools that are still crying out for more supports in order to have more special classes.…

I want to speak a little bit about our programmes under Housing for All to tackle vacancy and dereliction in our towns. The Croí Cónaithe or living heart fund has been launched recently. Under the town centres first policy, the Croí Cónaithe cities scheme focuses on how we develop apartments within city centres but I want to speak about the Croí Cónaithe towns scheme. We might request the timeline for the launch of this fund. We are seeing that town regeneration officers are being allocated to local authorities. Th…

The Minister will come in again at the end. I thank Senator Higgins. I remind Members that all contributions should be made through the Chair.

I thank Senator Boyhan. Since there are no other speakers, perhaps the Minister would like to respond.

I thank Senator Murphy for his very kind invitation to visit the National Famine Museum in Strokestown. It is a phenomenal facility. We got a chance to view it on Sunday. For anyone who is visiting and travelling around as part of their summer holidays, I suggest that they take time to stop off at Strokestown, to explore and to learn what our history means. As the Taoiseach has said, it is incredible to note that there has been no recorded famine in any democracy in the world. That makes one realise the importance …

The excitement of elections is something we should never forget.

I thank the Minister for being with us today. A little bit of the feedback I have been getting locally on the funding models we are seeing in childcare, and perhaps the Minister might comment a little on it, has been around the idea that smaller childcare providers can still survive with this new funding model. I know it may be challenging in terms of having to expand their premises or being able to take on more staff, but perhaps the Minister might have some comments about how we can protect smaller childcare prov…

This morning, I attended a briefing at and tour of the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, with the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly, Professor Shane Higgins, the master of the hospital, Ms Mary Brosnan, the director of midwifery, the senior clinical team, and other Members of the Oireachtas. The hospital building dates from the 1930s. There are two wards, one with 15 rooms. Women going into labour are separated by a curtain and there is one toilet. We walked around the hospital and noted that the corri…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke. I was elected as a Galway county councillor. As with Senator Flynn. it was a brand new world for me. I had little understanding of what is done by a local authority. It was a steep learning curve to understand how the local authority in any particular county, such as, for example, Galway County Council, is involved in so many aspects of our day-to-day lives. In terms of water supply, Irish Water is working with Galway County Council and local authorities and coun…

I welcome the Minister of State. The European Union was a vision of bringing our countries together after the horrors of the Second World War for peace, understanding that all nations have to work together for success. Some 50 years ago, Ireland voted to join the European Union and seek peace and prosperity. That was in the 1970s, at a time when there was so much poverty. There was so much poverty in the 1940s and 1950s. When I was doing my Irish oral and aural exams for the leaving certificate, they were all about…

I welcome the Minister. I thank Sinn Féin for tabling the motion. I recognise and congratulate the MLAs that have been elected in Northern Ireland. We celebrated Europe Day on 9 May. It was about peace and prosperity. We have seen how it has been so crucial for peace and prosperity. We see the threats to democracy across and outside of European borders. On the island of Ireland, we need to protect the people of Ireland. We are now yet again at a critical juncture. The Minister has faced pressure over the past numbe…

Tomorrow at 10.30 a.m.

I want to pay tribute to our Seanad colleagues Senators Ahearn and Ward and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney. It was a difficult experience to travel to Ukraine and to bring back the real experiences there and tell us what it is like on the ground. That helps our resolve and helps us to show how important peace will be. I know that on Sunday, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy put out a video that was so strong. It was in black and white and he spoke with such heart. He spoke about the walls of buildings…

I also acknowledge how you spoke, Acting Chair, about your own experience. Hopefully, that will mean an awful lot to people listening today as well. This is an historic day. The Birth Information and Tracing Bill means that all adopted children can now access records. As the Minister clearly states, in all cases, any child that was born in Ireland that was sent abroad is included under the legislation. That is crucial. The law that we make today is having such an impact on so many people's lives. I acknowledge the …

I want to acknowledge and speak a little about the conference that is happening in Tullamore on Saturday on agriculture and rural development. It is important for us to come together. A great list of speakers will be involved. We also have the principal from Mountbellew Agricultural College, Edna Curley, who will speak with groups about what is important in how we develop communities, towns and villages. What is phenomenal about Mountbellew is that it is now part of the Atlantic Technological University. It is our …

Today, the funding the future report was launched. It is crucial. It will involve an investment of €307 million in our third level sector. We have close to 245,000 students in higher education in Ireland, an increase of almost 20% from 200,000 in 2010. It is crucial the investment reduces lecturer-student ratios and is used for infrastructure and facilities. It is also about accessibility. We need to encourage students coming through post-leaving certificate, PLC, courses and further education into higher education…

I ask the Deputy Leader to arrange a debate or to update us on the Connecting Ireland rural mobility plan, which deals with the bus networks between towns and villages located outside of urban areas. The submission deadline was last December and people ran campaigns in local areas. The Department made very good proposals on ways to connect different towns so people could reach hospitals, third level institutions or services. Bus networks are even more crucial now as an increasing number of families have come from U…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins. It is great to be talking about the measures that have been put in place to support students from Ukraine who are coming to Ireland. We are not just saying it; we are doing it. We can see this in every town and village in Ireland. The supports are in place and volunteers are helping out in all the centres. There has been real accelerated change under the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. New technological universities…

I thank the Senator. She is a strong advocate for women's rights.

I wish to acknowledge the absolute power of having the three female leaders of the Government parties here. We can see that power today. It is a power to make change and change legislation. What we are talking about here is the protection of victims in terms of their experience of the courts system. I wish to acknowledge the work done by Senators Doherty, Chambers and Pauline O’Reilly. In this Bill they have collectively brought together their legislative experience and their background in legal expertise. I thank …