Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Chathaoirleach. I wish to acknowledge all of the St. Patrick's Day parades and the community groups who were involved in organising those at such short notice. The time on which the public health guidelines were lifted to when so many groups around the country co-ordinated bands, clubs, groups and organisations to come together was completely crucial. It was also a day of solidarity with Ukraine. As well as celebrating and coming together after a period of time with lockdown and Covid-…

I wish to share time with Senator Buttimer, if that is okay.

I welcome the Minister of State with responsibility for community development and charities. I also thank him for taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister. We are requesting an update from the Department of Rural and Community Development on how we can support open access to school buildings after hours for communities and youth organisations through the CLÁR programme or other measures. It is very important to note that we have a ready-made network of school buildings and we have infrastructure th…

This is crucial. The Minister of State mentioned in his response that schools are encouraged to make their facilities available for wider community use but we need something stronger to provide that where boards of management face challenges in that respect, we will engage with them to find out why school facilities are not being made available in certain areas. The Minister of State will note from the CLÁR funding area maps that the CLÁR areas are dependent on district electoral divisions, which are based on the P…

I appreciate that response and thank the Minister of State.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming.

I thank the Minister of State. Senators Casey, Keogan and Maria Byrne will each speak for seven minutes.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, for statements on the credit union sector and the importance of community banking. We have all spoken about levels of trust. We see that in all of our towns and villages. As Senator Murphy said, there are significant challenges to access banking services in our smaller towns when our traditional banks are closing down. It is incredible. People have to travel further to access banking services. I acknowledge our volunteers, particularly in my home town of Ballinasloe …

I wish to speak about the Skillnet funding that has been announced today for businesses in this country. This funding is for SMEs and microenterprises and has been allocated from the Brexit adjustment reserve fund, which totals over €1 billion. That fund, which was channelled through the Department of Foreign Affairs, was designed to support countries impacted by Brexit. We already have over 73 Skillnet business networks across a lot of sectors and regions in Ireland and the Government has just provided an addition…

We must be clear that the Irish people and the Irish Government condemn Vladimir Putin. It is not just that. There is a war on democracy. Democracy in countries around the world is failing. Ukraine, as a democracy of 40 million people, is being invaded and attacked. Increasing sanctions have been introduced. I know, through the Minister, that aid has been offered to the Ukrainian people. However, that has not stopped the aggression. We have to be more extreme in the sanctions taken and in locking Russia out of ever…

Today, 24 February, war was declared by Russia on the Ukraine, a European country of over 40 million people. This is war and the worst conflict in Europe since the Second World War. How many survivors of that war are alive? How long do we have living memory of a war that changed the course of history? We brought the EU into being to prevent this type of aggression that is now happening in Europe. I studied history and as part of my degree it was clear the importance of leadership at times of crisis. How will we, th…

The Minister of State is very welcome to the House to speak with us about CAMHS. I am a member of the Joint Sub-committee on Mental Health. As many colleagues have said this evening, we have seen the impact of Covid-19 over the past two years. It has been shocking. We have heard from our experts. We have heard from psychiatrists. We have had communities come in to speak to us. I know that the Minister of State is aware of this. I know that she has taken to this brief with commitment and with clear goals that she wi…

I thank the Cathaoirleach. He is very kind. It is a great honour to have my family here today. I welcome the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, here today to speak on EU plans to support the people of Ukraine and the measures to be put in place to mitigate against the potential impact of sanctions in respect of energy and grain costs. This is potentially the most devastating European conflict since the Second World War. There are over 41 million people in Ukraine, which is the second largest country on t…

I thank the Minister for giving his valuable time this morning. I welcome the acknowledgement of funding of over €1.2 billion in macro-financial assistance to Ukraine. Cyberdefence is also crucial because there is serious destabilisation taking place in Ukraine at the moment. It is crucial that we realise that the sanctions have to be effective. They have to change the course of action. As the Minister said, it is about ensuring that we have peace in Ukraine and that we are all working towards that goal. However, i…

Today is a true occasion for me. I thank the Cathaoirleach for his comments earlier. As is the case for so many colleagues, today is about being able to bring our families into the House. It is a true occasion because it is the first time we can do that in two years. I thank the Cathaoirleach, my colleagues and the ushers for making this a special occasion. Being a representative is about pride in where I come from. My family has an awful lot to do with that. I want to acknowledge my mother, Teresa Dolan née Caulfi…

I thank the Minister of State. His comments on the fire service are very true.

I welcome the €680,000 announced under the rural regeneration funds for Castlerea, County Roscommon. A state-of-the-art food training centre in Castlerea, An Chistin, trains the most amazing chefs and others in the catering business. As well as that, they want to look at food incubator units where start-ups and businesses can come in and start up their business in a place with a lot of support. I also want to thank the Castlerea enterprise team. They have an enterprise centre that is open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., wh…

I thank the Chair for the great Seanad 100 event this morning. It was absolutely wonderful to see former President Mary Robinson and Senator David Norris in full flow. I welcome the extension of the consultation period requested regarding the flood relief measure planned for Ballinasloe. It is excellent news that the OPW is going to co-ordinate an in-person public event. This will be crucial in making sure communities in our area can engage on the huge development, which is to involve flood walls and embankments ar…

I welcome the Minister to the House. We are discussing the Electricity Costs (Domestic Electricity Accounts) Emergency Measures Bill. The Minister is fully aware that we are in the middle of a global energy crisis and that the impact of inflation in the eurozone is nearly 7%, never mind what is happening in the United States. The Minister mentioned the short, medium and long term. In the short term we need to take action right now. That is the €200 that will be put into over 2 million household accounts by April. T…

I welcome the home energy scheme that is being rolled out. There is going to be 100% support for people in need. That is all across the country. We saw that there were supports being put in place, in particular for just transition areas that were especially vulnerable and affected, maybe, by changes in traditional industries. Now we are going to be seeing this home energy upgrade scheme to reduce costs. When people can put insulation into walls, attics and cavity areas they can reduce costs by two thirds. Under the…