I ask Senator Mullen to keep to the section under discussion.

When is it proposed to take Report Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

When is it proposed to sit again?

Consultation on the Ballinasloe flood relief project with the OPW starts today. Ballinasloe was devastated by floods in 2009 and again in 2015. Millions of euro worth of damage was done. I am sure many here from the west will remember that. St. Michael's Square, businesses and Derrymullen were underwater. It was huge. As a result of that, Ballinasloe was prioritised under CFRAM, the catchment-based flood risk assessment and management programme. That was wonderful. In 2011 there were scoping exercises. In 2016 ther…

I also extend my congratulations.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne. We have a new procedure in the House. The combined speeches by both the proposer and the seconder shall not exceed 16 minutes.

I note that Senator McDowell spoke for 16 minutes and all other Senators will now have six minutes.

I understand there is a lot of interest in this topic. To be clear, the guide we have is that at 5.25 p.m. Senator McDowell will be invited to speak again. Senators will have six minutes each and if other people wish to speak they may need to share time. I invite Senator Horkan to speak again as he did not speak after moving the amendment prior to the Minister of State speaking.

We have emerged from almost two years of lockdown where at each step of the way the Government protected jobs and income through the pandemic unemployment payment and the employment wage subsidy scheme. While there has been a strong return, there are shortages in respect of staff and skills, and challenges regarding the ramping up of supply chains to pre-Covid levels. We are also now in the middle of a global energy crisis. We need to act now. We in Fine Gael favour an approach to benefit all households, including …

I welcome the Minister of State. I welcome the legislation to prohibit fur farming in Ireland. We are looking at promoting more sustainable fashion but also that we in Ireland would be leaders in animal welfare. It is crucial that there be a package for the farmers that are impacted by their loss of income. I am particularly interested in the small-scale planting of native trees that is part of the Bill whereby we can increase the native tree planting area by removing the requirement for an afforestation licence fo…

I join with my colleagues today to pay condolences to family of Mr. Noel Treacy from Gurteen, Ballinasloe. It is a really sad loss. He was a proud student at Garbally College in our town. He was an auctioneer and a public servant for his community and this country through the 1980s and 1990s for Galway East. He was also an advocate for the west. He never forgot where he came from. Locally in Ballinasloe there is a great deal of recognition for Mr. Noel Treacy's achievements. As our local Ballinasloe Life magazine h…

I welcome the Tánaiste to the House today. We are here to discuss the Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Bill 2022. I acknowledge in particular the work of the Leader of the House, Senator Doherty, and other Senators on this. I welcome the Tánaiste's and Fine Gael's commitment to protecting workers' rights here. As the Tánaiste has mentioned, this is one of five rights the Government is bringing forward this year. It is timely to discuss this Bill on St. Brigid's day, Imbolc, which is the promise of…

The consultation process for the Dublin to Galway cycleway has been extended. It was due to close on 31 January but has been extended until the end of February. This gives more opportunity for landowners and farmers to engage with our cycleway project team and public liaison officers. Our Fine Gael councillors in Galway engaged with the project team to request an extension. It is so important that we acknowledge these corridors for public consultation. The only way we can achieve this project is through engagement …

I welcome the Minister’s appearance before the House. We are speaking on such a difficult topic. She is here to say what the Government is going to do to combat domestic and gender-based violence against both women and men. She is getting to hear the voices of both men and women in the Seanad as we express our feelings on the subject. We know about the shocking loss of Ashling Murphy's life and, of course, our thoughts are with her family and friends and the people of Tullamore. Women's Aid has spoken out about vio…

We will now hear statements on the roll-out of broadband. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, who has joined us and thank him for giving his time. I look forward to hearing an update on broadband.

I apologise for interrupting the Minister of State, but I must allow other speakers to contribute because we have to finish at 3.30 p.m.

I will share time with Senator Paddy Burke. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, today and thank him for his very detailed update. It was extremely detailed in terms of going through the thousands of different homes that will be connected. It is crucial because for the likes of County Roscommon, for example, which Senator Eugene Murphy will also know, we are talking about 19,000 to 20,000 homes. That is almost 50% of homes in the intervention area. We are talking about 50% of homes in a county. The…

I welcome the Minister of State, who is here on behalf of the Minister for Education. I will share time with Senator Carrigy. There is much concern and anxiety among parents and leaving certificate students, especially given the number of absences due to Covid-19 infection or close-contact status. It has been a big issue over recent months, particularly because of the Omicron variant, for both teachers and students alike. Meetings were held last week, on 20 January, with the advisory group on planning for State exa…

I thank the Minister of State. I will share my response time with Senator Carrigy. When are we going to have a response in regard to the leaving certificate? As the Minister of State mentioned, the advisory group will meet in the next few days but when will we have a decision for these parents and students? In terms of my comments and the issue raised by Senator Carrigy, the Catholic Secondary Schools Parents Association and the Education and Training Board Schools National Parents' Association are not represented …