I move: That Seanad Éireann approves the exercise by the State of the option or discretion under Protocol No. 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to take part in the adoption and application of the following proposed measure: Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on automated data exchange for police cooperation…

I welcome the Minister to the House. Because this is the first opportunity have had to address the issue, I congratulate the Minister and the Department, as well as An Garda Síochána, in particular, for the work that has been done in Ireland and internationally in regard to the Kinahan gang. We have taken extraordinary steps forward. If ever there were a case for international co-operation, what has been done with the drug enforcement administration in the United States and the freezing of assets in the United Arab…

Amárach ar 10.30 a.m.

I join the congratulations that have been extended to Senator Clonan. It is great to have another Blackrock person here because there are now only four of us, as far as I know. We can never have enough Blackrock people.

Senator Clonan has been a friend of mine for a long time. One will meet him, Aideen and Duke around Blackrock and Dún Laoghaire, whether it is on the pier or wherever else. What is very important is what has been spoken about in the context of the competitive and involved nature of the campaign we had for the seat. It is very important and shows the level of interest and commitment from all the people who put their names on the ballot paper. It is not easy to do that. Most people will never do it in their lifetimes…

Táim ag roinnt mo chuid ama leis na Seanadóirí Lombard agus Dolan. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire agus déanaim comhghairdeas léi as an méid oibre a dhéanann a Roinn. Tá a lán ráite anocht faoin obair atá déanta agus an t-airgead atá ar fáil do rudaí atá ar siúl ar fud na tíre. I want to focus on two things. The Minister and I would be familiar with the same area, having served in the same local authority, so these will not be new issues to her. There are two things in particular. The first is in relation to tourism pr…

Other Members have mentioned the census, which is coming up on Sunday. It is an exciting opportunity with regard to the time capsule that has been included. I congratulate the CSO on that idea. I am not sure it exists anywhere else in the world. When I looked at the 1911 census in respect of my grandparents, it was fantastic to find their households recorded. I encourage people to think about what they will put into that time capsule. I heard somebody on the radio suggesting they might record the name of their pets…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit ar an ábhar tábhachtach seo. I support the motion and I am delighted that Fine Gael has brought it forward. With regard to the support we are offering Ukraine, I have to say I am tremendously proud of the response of Ireland and the Government and of our communities and people throughout the country. We have had the generosity and céad míle fáilte for which we are famous. Unfortunately we do not always live up to it. It has been very much evident in the response to this crisis. It …

Today, the Government announced the auto-enrolment scheme for pensions, which I welcome. Nobody has ever accused pensions of being sexy, but there is the reality in the demographics in Ireland and in the changes in the population that mean that we have to prepare for a pensions crisis that is coming down the road. It is entirely appropriate therefore that the Government would put this scheme in place. I welcome the fact that employees will benefit both from contributions from their employers and from the State. It …

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the Chamber to deal with this issue. It has been ongoing for some time and I have raised it in the House on a number of occasions. A group in my area called SOS Dublin Bay, made up primarily of sea swimmers, is concerned about the quality of water in Dublin Bay and has raised this issue with me on a number of occasions. The group has written to the offices of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, and has had meetings. We are comin…

I recognise that the Minister of State is here on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and may not be in a position to answer some of the questions I have asked. What the Minister of State has been given by the officials as an answer to this question does not advance the issue one iota. The reality is that there has been a commitment to change the regulations in this State with regard to the definition of the bathing water season. I understand there has been a commitment to change the definition of bathi…

I recognise the Irish Air Corps and congratulate it on its centenary. Brigadier General Rory O’Connor and the more than 700 personnel who work within the Air Corps deserve our recognition for the good work they do. They have a history they can be very much proud of and, in the context of the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, a future they can look forward to. To a large extent, the Air Corps has been underutilised. We look at, as a particular example, the lack of capacity we have as a nation in terms …

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit agus roimh an mBille chomh maith. Tá a fhios agam nach mbeidh gach aturnae agus gach abhcóide sa Stát sásta leis an mBille ach, ag an am céanna, feicim an fáth go bhfuil sé ann. I understand the relevance of this Bill and the reason it is being introduced. In my profession, I have seen instances in which gardaí have had to react to violent circumstances, such as when a melee breaks out. Where members of An Garda Síochána are present in such situations, people turn to them, expectin…

I welcome the Minister. I would like to start where she finished because what is really important about this debate is that we recognise it is not academic. The reality is that there are people who suffer hugely from the behaviour of others in terms of hate speech and, ultimately, hate crime. I regret to say that I have been involved in a case in the criminal courts involving activities that undoubtedly constitute hate crime but that are not properly defined in our laws. I welcome the proposed legislation the Minis…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach agus cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Tá an-bhród orm as an méid atá á dhéanamh ag Rialtas na hÉireann faoi láthair. Is uafásach na heachtraí atá ar siúl san Úcráin. Táimid bródúil as an méid atá á dhéanamh ag an bpobal, ag muintir na hÉireann, ar son muintir na hÚcráine. Sular tháinig mé anseo, bhí mé ag caint le hambasadóir na hÚcráine, a bhí anseo i dTeach Laighean. Bhíomar ag iarraidh rud a dhéanamh le Cros Dhearg na hÉireann chun cabhrú. Bhí sí ag labhairt li…

Ba mhaith liom a rá go bhfuil an-mhuinín agam de bharr an mhéid atá ráite ag an Aire Stáit. The description of a whole-of-government response is tremendously important. I welcome commitments the Minister of State made to having people in the airports available to meet people as they come off planes because, as has been said already, they will be in a distraught condition in no uncertain terms. I hope that we can extend that famous céad míle fáilte to them in every respect and accommodate them in every way that we c…

Níl mé ach chun cúpla focal gairid a rá. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire chuig an díospóireacht ar an ábhar tábhachtach seo. I do not want to speak today because I can match, particularly experientially, any of the comments of my colleagues on this issue, with the possible exception of Senator Warfield. Throughout the horrible issues we have faced in recent months in this House, one of the things I have always said is that men must not step back from these issues. Men must centrally involve themselves. The danger is th…

What we see and have seen in this debate is just how much dementia and Alzheimer's disease affects every family and household in this country. I, for one, do not have a difficulty with talking about it. Every family, including my own, has suffered from it to one degree or another. We all have personal contact with people who ring us to tell us about the problems they are having getting home help, respite or whatever it is, and those stories make politics. They are the reason that most of us are here and the things …

This is an issue with which the Acting Chairman is very familiar. I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to deal with this matter. He will be aware that in 2012 An Garda Síochána undertook a rationalisation programme, which meant that it looked at whether it needed all its stations throughout the country. As a result of that review, a decision was made to close a number of them, some more controversially than others. Specifically in my area, the Garda station at Kill of the Grange, 300 m away from wh…

I am not sure I agree on how comprehensive the reply is, to be honest. Obviously the Department has set out the basis on which these buildings are repurposed and disposed of. It does not account for the glacial pace at which it is done. The people who live in Dalkey and Kill of the Grange are entitled to expect that these significant buildings in their areas, in the case of Dalkey an historic building, are properly repurposed. It should not take a decade to do that. It should not be the case that I ask this questio…