I join with Senator McDowell. Senator Norris is a Joycean scholar who has brought so much colour to the Seanad. To have been in the Chamber to at least hear him speak has been a real honour for me as well. Everything that Senator Norris achieved and what he did by bringing his case to the European Court of Human Rights was crucial in changing legislation here in Ireland, and we can never forget the importance of that court. What I want to speak about today is the report that has come from GREVIO, the group of exper…

County Roscommon has no provision for an apprenticeship sector. In the space of three years, the Minister's new Department, the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, has led on significant achievements. We can see landmark changes, with a new funding agency for research and innovation and the Minister's focus on apprenticeships. At a recent meeting of the education committee, an official referred to 26,000 people doing apprenticeships here in Ireland. We need to see access to…

I thank the Minister. This is really positive progress. It is important to see this business case completed. Of course the Minister is welcome, along with officials from SOLAS, to come to Roscommon town to meet with Galway-Roscommon Education and Training Board and local representatives, who will fight this case. The Minister must not forget that County Roscommon is within the just transition area. We have seen huge impact around just transition. We have seen the loss of jobs in Lanesborough and Shannonbridge. We n…

We have a new Local Link service. It goes to Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim. I thank the manager there, Fiona O'Shea, because one of those routes is being extended with enhanced service to Ballaghaderreen and Castlerea in Roscommon. It is excellent to see they are being smart. They are looking at existing bus routes and extending them to surrounding counties. This route, 977, will operate up to eight daily return services, Monday to Saturday, between Sligo and Ballaghaderreen. Four of those services will extend to Cast…

We had a new store opened at home by Vision Ireland, which is the new name for the NCBI. The new name has been chosen to show that the organisation's work is to do with visual impairment. Sometimes people think of complete blindness but many individuals have a vision impairment throughout their lives. When I was at the shop, I got to meet two older ladies who have macular degeneration. They spoke of how Vision Ireland provides equipment. They were grateful for the help they get from this charity. For all the things…

I thank the Minister of State for being with us. It is great to hear the numbers relating housing, whereby almost 30,000 homes were delivered in 2022, and the targets in Housing for All. In my home town of Ballinasloe, more than 70 units are going to come on stream as a result of a particular development. These are homes for families in our town. They are crucial. This was a turnkey development. Funding was provided to local authorities to purchase the site for a turnkey development in Ballinasloe. Allocations are …

Today in the education committee we heard an update from Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science officials on targets the Department achieved under its performance review. Over 209,000 people are in higher education and over 32,000 people are in postgraduate education. We know the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science has placed a significant focus on increasing places on apprenticeship programmes. Over 26,000 people are doing apprenticeship…

Our guests visiting Leinster House, Josephine Kelly and Margaret Rogerson, represent Ahascragh-Fohenagh in County Galway. They are here because we were fundraising for a community centre in Ahascragh. People might remember that area was made famous by Seán Moncrieff in "Don’t Feed the Gondolas" way back when. This town does not have a community centre. Currently, the old hall is condemned. We are fundraising for a new hall so that they will be able to demolish that and rebuild a new community centre. As part of tha…

I welcome the Minister of State here today, and support Senator Pauline O'Reilly in her call around access for women to hormone replacement therapy. We have spoken on this before and had many discussions and debates. It was mentioned once about the word "menopause" being mentioned more times in this Chamber than in a lot of previous Seanadaí and Governments to date. We are openly discussing something that has not had a lot of time for discussion, and that is really crucial. We know it is a normal life event. Like s…

Hear, hear.

It is important that we will be discussing the upcoming budget. People from Ballinasloe had an opportunity on “Morning Ireland” today to voice their concerns about the cost of living. People spoke about the importance of supports for college students and the challenges posed by rising costs. There was a young man in the solid fuel business who was trying to change his business operation. Representatives from Solid Fuel Merchants Ireland came to Leinster House to meet us. The Deputy Leader is knowledgeable about the…

I very much welcome the Minister, who is here to discuss the Animal Health and Welfare (Dogs) Bill 2022. I thank our colleagues for bringing this forward. I grew up on a farm and around animals and I respect animals both large animals and small. I respect large animals because when you are in a field with a bull and cattle, you quickly understand that you are safe if you respect them. That is how you keep yourself safe. Farm safety has been a big thing. It s also a big thing within the Department and for the Minist…

I welcome the Minister coming to the House to speak to us on the opportunities and places at third level. He recently announced funding of more than €5 million for the further education and training, FET, sector. That is topping up funding he issued in April into the FET sector. Under his watch in this new Department we have seen a phenomenal focus on the opportunities under further education and apprenticeships. The development of the new technological universities throughout the country means third level qualific…

Not at all. They are very welcome. I will return to my points, which the Cathaoirleach will have to remind me of. I was speaking about the apprenticeship programme, which has 70 courses available. Those opportunities are so people can work for a period of time and get a qualification. The qualification can be a diploma, a degree, or can go the whole way to a PhD. We have that across so many courses and apprenticeships. I really want to call for is the availability of those types of courses in what are now our campu…

The Minister is welcome. He is here to deal with a very difficult subject. I acknowledge Senators Doherty and Seery Kearney, who worked with our group to put forward this Private Members' motion. It is crucial that the Minister sees that motion calls for action on the part of the HSE in the context of these families that are awaiting surgery. It really is about taking urgent action to make alternative arrangements in order that families and children are not waiting any longer. It is an extremely difficult situation…

I congratulate Katalin Karikó from Hungary and Drew Wiseman from the US who won the Nobel Prize for medicine for their work on the mRNA vaccines. I want to speak a little about the story behind this and about these two researchers who moved to the US and who fought for funding. They then worked at BioNTech SE. BioNTech SE is a couple from Türkiye who moved to Germany and were first-generation migrants. They studied, did research and were able to develop BioNTech SE. They then worked with Pfizer to develop the vacci…

I welcome the Minister to the House for this debate on senior cycle reform of the leaving certificate. Ireland ranks highly across the world in its educational attainment and the quality of education we deliver. We see this both at our post-primary, secondary school level but also at third level, which is fantastic. Ireland ranks high over the European average, even when it comes to qualifications at third level, in Europe and globally. I welcome the Minister's objective to "innovate, improve, and inspire". The Min…

As a Taoiseach's nominee, it is an honour to be a representative from the west for the Roscommon-Galway region and a voice in the Seanad over the past three years. His recognition of the importance of balanced regional development is also reflected in the investment in the national broadband plan. It connects every home, farm and business and will drive jobs in the west with remote working and digitalisation to deliver e-health. It builds equality in terms of access to education and jobs. This week alone, the Cabin…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, who has responsibility for special education and inclusion. There is little to no capacity available for national school places in Ballinasloe town. What is the strategy from the Department of Education for school places for children in Ballinasloe now and for the next five years? What happens when home tuition grants have to be put in place? There is the cost of that alone, but there is also an issue with the lack of teachers or school tutors to perform this role. S…

Eglish National School is trying to get a bus to bring 23 children to school. It co-ordinated and got letters from principals from the surrounding schools, so it is not just Ballinasloe urban area and the three primary schools there. Scoil Náisiúnta Naomh Treasa in Killure, County Galway, St. Catherine's National School in Aughrim, County Galway, Newtown National School in Creagh, County Roscommon, St. Augustine's National School in Clontuskert, County Galway, and St. Ciaran's National School in Moore, County Rosco…