Anyone who lives in Wexford has long sought the finishing of the road that runs from Belfast to Rosslare Europort. The motorway from Oylegate to Rosslare has had well over a year added to its design as a direct result of section 15 of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act. In Galway planning permission was granted for a ring road but was subsequently overturned on judicial review as a direct result of the same section. As a direct result of that court decision, all motorway projects now have to have a s…

Now.

Now.

I welcome the opportunity to engage with the Minister of State on what is a vital and crucial issue for rural Ireland. My county of Wexford is a predominantly rural county. For the five and a half years I served on Wexford County Council, not a week went by without engagement from somebody making an application for rural planning permission. My view on this is very simple. We have to allow local people from the local area to be able to build on local land. With that in mind, I very much welcome the commitment of th…

I wish to raise a query in relation to subsection (3), which provides that "The person or driver who is the subject of a search referred to in subsection (1) may, at any time, make a request in writing to a superintendent of An Garda Síochána in the Garda Síochána district in which the search was carried out for a copy of the record." In circumstances where that person's agent, representative or solicitor acting on their behalf makes that request, I assume that would be permitted. While the section does not refer t…

But this is a search.

Senators Ruane and McDowell spoke about the situation where a car is stopped by a member of An Garda Síochána. Let us say that there are four occupants in the car and it is searched. With the way the Bill is currently drafted, the garda will request the occupants' names, addresses and dates of birth. If they fail to comply with that instruction, it will be an offence, under section 15 in Part 2, to fail "to comply with a requirement of a member acting under the powers conferred by this Part". Senator Ruane spoke ab…

It was remiss of me. I did not congratulate the Minister of State. I wish her the best of luck in her new role.

I propose that the House be suspended for the duration of the vote in the Dáil.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor, for coming in. This is a serious and profound issue I will raise, based on the latest figures from the HSE for people awaiting physiotherapist services in the south-east health region. The figures show 6,693 people have been waiting for those services for more than 12 months. In the Minister of State's area of Carlow, Kilkenny and Tipperary, there are 295 people. In the south Dublin and County Wicklow area, there are 100 people, but in the Waterford and Wexfor…

I thank the Minister of State for her response. I welcome the fact that the Minister will engage with the athletic therapists’ representatives. Perhaps, after that meeting, we can see progress on it. This is a unique opportunity to assist in tackling the waiting lists. I am particularly struck, as I said earlier, that people living in Wexford or Waterford will be ten times longer on the list than those living in Carlow, Kilkenny or Tipperary. Something has clearly broken down in the HSE model when it comes to provi…

I refer to the lack of roads funding provided to Wexford County Council in the aftermath of Storm Chandra. We are now 120 days on from the storm, which occurred on 27 January. Unfortunately, despite a request for an emergency budget of €22 million, Wexford County Council has not received any funding to date. I am seeking answers in this regard. The council has identified 157 roads in the county as damaged to the point of being in an immediate and dangerous state of disrepair as a result of the storm. It is the larg…

I join with colleagues today in expressing congratulations to our former colleague and former Leader of Seanad Éireann, Seán Kyne, on his election to Dáil Éireann. One of the big things that stands for me about Seán is his interest in public service, his decency and also the respect he had for the institution that is Seanad Éireann. In the time that he was the Leader of the Seanad, he recognised the important role we do here as a legislative Chamber made up of different groupings, parties and people who have very d…

Now.

I note the specific importance of this legislation and recognise the work that was done by the Minister and his officials in the Department of justice. Many different viewpoints were expressed during the debate, but the main viewpoint here is to try to get the truth and a proper sense of accountability for what was done in the past. It is important that this legislation has passed. I encourage a speedy implementation on behalf of the Fine Gael Senators.

I recognise the purpose behind the amendment being put forward by the Senators. Recognising the importance of the protection of journalists' sources and the recognition afforded to it by the courts over many years, will the Minister clarify whether this matter is already addressed by section 2(2)(b)? The section states that references to material being privileged: shall be construed as a reference to the material being, by or under any enactment or rule of law— [...] (b) the subject of privilege, other than legal p…

Me?

There was a bit of confusion, but there is no need to worry. I raise an important point for this time of year, which is the issue of school transport and bus passes. Last year, I raised what I felt was a very unfair situation for students who live in Wexford town but are unsuccessful in securing a secondary school place in the town because of capacity issues. They were forced to apply outside the town and ended up attending Good Counsel College in New Ross, which is in a different part of County Wexford. As those s…

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber on behalf of the Fine Gael group, as Fine Gael spokesperson on infrastructure. The Bill before us is probably one of the most important pieces of legislation that will be brought forward by this Government over the entire course of this term. It gets to the core point of delivery and ensuring this Government can deliver on the key infrastructure challenges we have. It also ensures some of the largest key infrastructure projects we are talking about bringing forward, such as the…

I wish to share time with colleagues.