While I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on behalf of the Regional Group, I recognise how inadequate any words of mine must be in the face of such tragedy and loss. Nevertheless, I also want to pay tribute to the emergency services, both North and South of the Border, who rushed to the scene on Friday, once again answered for their courage and saved so many lives in so doing. I wish the injured, particularly those who are still in hospital, a full and speedy recovery and I commend the community in Creesloug…

We all go to retirement presentations from time to time. They are really important because they allow us to acknowledge and recognise the contributions of particular workers to particular workplaces. What is perhaps even more important is that retirement presentations signal to the remaining workforce that their contributions are also appreciated and valued. I mention this because I will today raise the precarious employment contracts enlisted members of the Defence Forces are forced to accept, particularly those c…

That is correct. There are a lot of rumours going around and there are some proposals on the table that 50-year-old sergeants will be forced to retire and be rehired on their birthdays, with drastically reduced terms and conditions for pensions and pay. I find that unacceptable and the Taoiseach probably feels the same. I do not think anyone would try to chance that with a garda, a nurse or a teacher. Does the Taoiseach know when these terms and conditions will be available? Will he intercede with his Cabinet colle…

The reason I mention this is that it is the most pressing issue relating to the Defence Forces at the moment. It goes back to the comment I made about retirement functions at the start. This will only affect eight sergeants over the next 12 months.

Yes. It is just eight troops but there are 8,000 troops watching very carefully to see how those eight people are treated. That is where the real downstream consequences are. We should be mindful that the Dublin Airport Authority tried something similar two years ago and we saw where that ended up. It was unable to fulfil its mandate and the public suffered accordingly. The take-home message is that the public service should be the employer of choice when it comes to employment rights. We should not just meet the s…

I too welcome the restart of negotiations between the EU and UK negotiating teams on the Northern Ireland protocol. It is a good thing. I also welcome the change in tone, in particular, the apology by Steve Baker during the week. It is quite a rare event in international relations these days that someone would apologise. That is also a good thing and he should be commended on it. My question relates to a matter raised during the Minister's comments. The draft legislation introduced in the UK House of Commons over t…

I thank the Minister for his response. I appreciate he has to be much more circumspect than me when speaking in Parliament; I can comment much more freely. My point is that our two islands have solved vastly more complex problems than the protocol. If the will is there, we can certainly do it again. There is a proposal floating around that we could treat goods travelling from Great Britain and staying in Northern Ireland differently from goods travelling from Great Britain through Northern Ireland and into this jur…

Ireland is the only country in the EU without a national security strategy. Development of such a strategy was commenced a number of years ago but there has been radio silence ever since. In light of events in Ukraine and in certain embassies in Dublin and in particular over the past 72 hours in the Baltic Sea will the Tánaiste update the House as to where we are on the development on this strategy? Is it completed? When will it be published?

On balance, in the circumstances, this is an okay budget. It is okay for just one reason; namely, all the hard work by people and businesses across this country that has provided this significant surplus for the Exchequer. We have not has such a surplus for approximately 15 years. Now we are able to redistribute that as fairly as possible. There are a few measures I would like to highlight that are good, and I will highlight the not so good ones also. First, I welcome the €600 energy credit for households and that …

I raise with the Tánaiste today the matter of the deliberate and outrageous ramming of a Garda car in Cherry Orchard on Monday evening, which I utterly condemn. Is it a disadvantaged area? Yes, for sure. Is that an excuse? No. There are plenty of disadvantaged areas across all our constituencies where that type of behaviour would not be accepted or tolerated. Of particular concern to me is that there was a very isolated and vulnerable Garda response. We are very lucky that no member of An Garda Síochána was injured…

I am the last man standing. I congratulate the Minister of State on his recent appointment. I very much look forward to working closely and constructively with him over the next couple of years. I also wish to compliment the Minister of State's staff. The format of his opening statement is excellent. It is the first time I have seen formatting like that. Whoever is involved, I hope we see more of it and that their lead will be followed across other Government Departments. I welcome the Bill. It is long overdue and …

Absolutely. I am happy to do so.

Not yet, anyway.

I thank the Minister for his closing remarks. One of the advantages of being in the EU is that we get to benchmark ourselves against the other countries on the Continent. Sometimes we are ahead, sometimes we are behind. One glaring anomaly that stands out is that this country of all the 27 has no strategic gas reserve storage facility and no strategic gas reserve. It is a major red flag and we should have alarm bells ringing in all our ears. A second advantage of being in the EU is that from time to time we get goo…

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute on this debate on the Siteserv scandal. Once again, we have a detailed and comprehensive report that outlines dubious and poor practices and conduct in the performance by certain elements of corporate Ireland ten years ago during the banking crisis. As Deputy Bríd Smith pointed out, the legacy of that crisis is unfortunately still with us. I welcome the publication, belated as it is, of the report and thank Mr. Justice Brian Cregan for his hard work. I agree with his …

I am grateful for the Taoiseach's update on his recent trip to Ukraine. It was important that visit went ahead. He got to see how bad things are out there and how much assistance will be required by Ukraine, in particular during the reconstruction phase. I also welcome the opportunity to comment on the outcome of the recent European Council summit on 23 and 24 June in Brussels. I agree with most of the recommendations and minutes, especially in regard to welcoming Ukraine and Moldova and granting them status as acc…

My first day in Leinster House was 25 years ago when I was a member of the Defence Forces security detail charged with protecting the campus. I admit to spending a little bit too much time in the Visitors Gallery looking down at proceedings. Little did I know how events would transpire and I would actually end up here today. It is on that basis that I want to welcome the additional funding that has been announced this morning for our military. It is very important because it is desperately needed. I welcome the inc…

I thank the Taoiseach for his response. There is a supplementary matter I wish to raise, relating to the €1,000 pandemic bonus payment. Not a single member of the Defence Forces has been paid the bonus yet, even though hundreds of them are eligible, entitled to it and have been told it is coming. It still has not arrived, however. We have heard that, rightly, 75,000 people in the HSE have been paid the bonus. That is fantastic and I say "Well done" to the HSE for paying its own staff, but there are members of other…

I am delighted to be in the Chamber to speak on a scientific topic such as this. It is an area of great interest to me. To paraphrase Deputy Quinlivan, space is the final frontier. There are great opportunities from a commercial point of view. There are also great responsibilities from environmental and peacekeeping perspectives. I join Deputy Catherine Murphy in congratulating the UCD team. It is a fantastic achievement. I believe they are in the Gallery and I say well done ladies and gents. It is outstanding and …

My question relates to a specific course, namely, the graduate entry medicine course run by a number of universities and medical schools throughout the country. As the Minister will be aware, the fees for such courses are absolutely enormous. They are some of the highest in the country at between €15,000 and €16,500 per year, which is incredible. Does the Minister have any plans to reduce these tuition fees, to reduce the burden on students and to keep medicine open to ordinary people?