I agree with the comments by Senator Craughwell on the need to reform the enduring power of attorney system. I have said in this Chamber before that the system is not working. It needs legislative change and, ultimately, the goal has to be to make it accessible, user-friendly and fully available throughout the country, which, at the moment, it is not. I want to raise the lack of early morning commuter trains from Wexford to Dublin. If you live in Gorey, you can get on a train at 5.45 a.m. that will have you in Dubl…

The Minister of State is most welcome to the Seanad Chamber today. I commend him and his officials in the Department of justice on bringing forward some changes to how the citizenship procedures, processes and laws work. I think these are changes for the better, and I commend the Minister of State and the work he has done in the whole area of temporary protection, the closing down of IPAS centres, the establishment of deportation flights and the speeding up of the processing of applications for asylum. It is very i…

I would like to offer my condolences to Senator Craughwell and his family on the sad passing of his wife. I want to speak about the school bus transport scheme, in particular some of the anomalies in how the scheme is administered that appear consistently and repeatedly year after year. I want in particular to addreess a point I raised in the Chamber on a previous occasion. There is anomaly in Wexford town with students who were unable to attain a secondary school place in the town and had to take a school place in…

The MEPs are all most welcome to the Chamber today and I thank them very much for coming in. I have a very specific point to raise with them, which I raised it with some of their colleagues when they were before us a few months ago. It is the issue of a united Ireland. A number of years ago the former Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, secured a commitment that when a united Ireland takes place, it would automatically become a member of the EU. It is important there are funds put in place in this EU budget to prepare for that …

It is good to see the Minister of State in Seanad Éireann again. I want to commend our Fianna Fáil colleagues on putting a very important motion before us this evening. It is important to recognise that while there are obviously policy differences between different parties and different Members of the Seanad, there is no doubt in my mind that childcare, looking after and supporting young children, and making sure they are looked after is an issue that is above party politics. Really it is about ensuring that those …

I join colleagues in thanking so many of the staff here who make it possible for us to do our day-to-day work. That includes not only Martin Hughes and the team here in the Seanad, but also the ushers and all those who make the day-to-day life of Leinster House possible, including those who work in the restaurant, the canteen and behind the scenes. The work they do is very much appreciated. It would be remiss of me, as we come to the conclusion of another term, not to join in what many other colleagues and Senators…

The Order of Business is No. 1, Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Bill 2026 - Committee Stage (resumed) and Remaining Stages, to be taken at 12.45 p.m., with the proceedings thereon, if not previously concluded, to be brought to a conclusion at 3.45 p.m. by the putting of one question from the Chair, which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Government; No. 2, Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2026 - …

Today, 15 Senators contributed on the Order of Business and I thank each one of them for that. Senator O'Loughlin spoke about artists, creativity, the protections they need from AI and the damage AI can do when there is not copyright protection for artists' important work. She congratulated Des Egan, a Newbridge poet, on a milestone birthday. She also spoke of Áine Lawlor's retirement from RTÉ and wished her well. She called for a debate on antisocial behaviour on blueways and spoke of the impact an alleged assault…

I welcome the Minister to the House. I will also be supporting the countermotion. I will make a couple of brief points in relation to the Department. I very much appreciate the high level of activity that the Minister has brought to the role since he took it up and the many visits he has made to my own home county of Wexford. These successful visits have been an opportunity for the Minister and his officials to meet and engage with so many of the people who make up the real fabric of the rural community right acros…

I wish to begin by acknowledging Councillor Marie-Thérèse Duffy from Ballina, who has joined us in the Public Gallery. She is the sister of our colleague, Senator Mark Duffy, and does a fantastic job in representing the people of the Ballina area. Today, I wish to speak about an act of heroism that took place off the coast of Wexford down in Rosslare on Sunday evening. When a child got into difficulty swimming, a man jumped into the waters to try to rescue the child. That man then got into difficulty himself and fo…

I very much welcome the move by the Government to recognise Rosslare Europort as a tier 1 category port. This is a significant development, not just for Wexford, but also for the entire south-east region. The issue that I want to highlight is the long-awaited and much discussed road that will run to Rosslare Europort and will ultimately connect it all the way up to Belfast. The stretch of the M11 motorway from Oilgate to Rosslare has been under discussion since 2009. Finally, the route has been selected and detaile…

Next Tuesday.

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the Chamber to take this important Commencement matter. I was recently contacted by a teacher who had returned home from Canada looking to take a job as a PE teacher. He described his situation to me. In May 2025, he completed his qualified teacher status. He applied to the Teaching Council and was told that that was a requirement. He had previously completed a PE course - a postgraduate certificate in education and a masters in physical education with the Liverpool John …

I appreciate the Minister of State’s coming here to speak on behalf of the Department and the Teaching Council. I recognise that each application is assessed on an individual basis. I will supply him and the Department with the individual details of this constituent. The key point is there does not seem to be a clear timeline for a decision. I appreciate there were 680 applications from individuals who had qualified as teachers outside the State and who are looking to teach in Ireland. Will the Minister of State ad…

I would also like to join in the comments to the new Leader of the House, Senator Ahearn, and to congratulate him and say that I very much look forward to working with him. It is a very nice moment to be joined in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery by a distinguished set of visitors. I congratulate the entire Ahearn family, a family with deep roots in public service and with a proud tradition of serving both in this building and also in council chambers in the past. It very much is appreciated, in particular, by th…

I welcome my office staff, Maeve, Marion, Angelina and our intern, Charlie, to Seanad Éireann. I know from experience that I would be lost without the work they do, day in and day out, in my offices in Enniscorthy and Wexford. I am very grateful to have them working for me and it is a great honour to be able to host them and bring them to Seanad Éireann. I know I speak for all Senators, if I might be so bold, in saying that we would all be lost without the staff we have in our offices. We are lucky and fortunate to…

I request that we bring the Minister for higher education before Seanad Éireann to speak about our technological universities and get an update on where things are at. I am speaking specifically about the Wexford campus for the South East Technological University, SETU. Earlier this week, we had a significant announcement of funding which will open up a 1.3 km link road from Ballynagee in Wexford town out to where the new campus will be located. The funding will allow Wexford County Council to construct that road, …

I raise the need for some amendments to be made to how the CLÁR programme is being operated. There is a call out requesting CLÁR funding from various different groups. Last Friday, I met a voluntary group, the Kilmore Area Community First Responders who are trained and work in a co-ordinated manner to be the first responders on site, particularly for people who are suffering from cardiac issues, strokes and heart attacks. They are volunteers and all of them live locally in the community. They explained to me that t…

The Minister is most welcome to the Chamber this evening. I have said on the record of the House before that I believe this to be among the most important legislation that Senators will debate and discuss during the entire term of this Seanad. It is really important that, from the outset, we acknowledge the work the Minister and officials in his Department have done, together with the various task forces the Minister has also established. I am a member of the Oireachtas infrastructure committee. Over the past 13 or…

As a member of the infrastructure committee, it is important to note that when it comes to pre-legislative scrutiny we have a very narrow and focused remit on the infrastructure committee. That is to see what exactly can be done, as a parliamentary committee, to reduce the delays and the barriers that we have in infrastructure. We had spent many months focusing solely on that and there was a vote on the committee to waive the pre-legislative scrutiny, which was based on the idea that as a committee we had examined …