I want to speak on this because as we move forward and improve infrastructure in the Defence Forces, which is important, there will be the inevitable sale of equipment as equipment is upgraded. It is important that some of the mistakes of the past are not repeated, including the one made a decade ago with those iconic Dauphin helicopters with the bubble front cockpit on them. They were sold to a company in Las Vegas for €360,000 and subsequently sold on for approximately €19 million. I do not suggest we will ever g…

I must visit it.

I want to raise the issue of Garda rostering with the Minister. Right now we have a shortage of gardaí and yet in spite of this, the Commissioner, Mr. Drew Harris, is hell bent on overhauling the national Garda roster. This overhaul would seriously dilute our Garda force and see many rural stations becoming unmanned and many specialised units being stood down so that rosters in larger towns and stations can be backfilled. Commissioner Harris's roster overhaul would see the entire removal of community policing in ma…

I have a question for the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health. I have just left a meeting across the road in Buswells Hotel with representatives of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO. Many Deputies have been over there meeting with them this afternoon. The INMO is suggesting legislation to underpin and secure staffing in hospitals. I said that sounds good but legislation takes a long time. It is cumbersome and involves red tape. Surely there are shorter term ways by which we can do this - perhaps ev…

Much of the discussion at the European Council last week was dominated again by the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, which is very much a one-sided war of course. I am glad that the collective position, certainly of this House, is that Russia is the aggressor and Ukraine is the victim. I note that last week there was an exchange of prisoners of war. In this instance I believe the Turkish Government brokered an exchange of 45 Russian soldiers for 45 Ukrainian soldiers. Why is nobody in European or global poli…

My question relates to the plans to have a pilot scheme to provide sewerage in currently unsewered villages. I am looking for an update on the implementation of that.

When we went into government we were asked to feed in ideas as to what kinds of projects we would like to see in the programme for Government. The provision of sewerage in villages like Broadford, which the Minister mentioned, Cooraclare and other rural village which are unsewered was one of the suggestions I made, and I am delighted the Minister has led the way on this. There is a lot of money ring-fenced for this: €50 million. It is a pilot scheme. I expect that it will be very successful when it gets under way a…

The Minister's tones are definitely positive, and that is to be welcomed, but what we are talking about here is intrinsic to so many other debates that happen in this House. The provision of sewerage provides for the ability of a village to grow and to have housing for people to come back to rural areas, for the local school to survive and for the local shop, the local pub and the post office network to be viable. This is intrinsic to so much. Then there are all the environmental reasons why Broadford, Cooraclare a…

There are two pieces of law that cover horse control and horse welfare in Ireland. There are many people who live within those laws and many who do not. Nobody in this country has a cultural entitlement to unconditionally own a horse. Many of our families in the 1940s and 1950s had horses and carts before the family bought a motorcar. That does not confer a right on any of us nowadays to own a horse. I would have loved a horse growing up, and perhaps the Taoiseach would too, but my parents did not have land. We did…

The resourcing is poor. No one has any right to own an animal unconditionally and treat it like a horse was treated recently in Ballymaley in Ennis. A two-year-old mare had all of her ribcage showing and no water or fodder to eat.

I beg your pardon.

The Irish Coast Guard unit in Killaloe, County Clare, is located on the shores of Lough Derg. All 22 volunteers there are out nearly every day of the week, not just because of the proximity of the unit's base to the lake but also because it is close to the motorway. There is also the question of the station's accessibility to other rescue missions around the country. The 22 volunteers are based out of a steel shipping container that has a single toilet. They are looking for a proper base. The Irish Coast Guard has …

Amendments Nos, 1, 10 to 15, inclusive, and 17 are related and will be discussed together.

Amendments Nos. 2 and 18 are related and will be discussed together.

I should have said at the outset that this is a timed debate. There are 45 minutes remaining.

Deputy Catherine Martin, le do thoil. Gabh mo leithscéal, I mean Deputy Catherine Murphy.

The youth justice strategy is quite a positive document that has the young people of Ireland front and centre. I taught in quite a sheltered community where my local school was located. Many teachers I trained with in college told me of their immense despair when, several years after teaching a lovely innocent child in a classroom, they found out that a couple of years later the same youngster had got caught up with gangs or criminality. Some of them paid the ultimate price with their lives. It is important Governm…

I congratulate the Minister on how she is leading her Department. She is doing a great job. She has been to County Clare many times and she has been a good friend to the county by providing plenty of funding. In particular, I am delighted to see our digital hubs now enabling people to work in high-tech, smart and pharmaceutical companies in Dublin, but be domiciled in County Clare. They can nip down to the local village to work remotely and be connected to a global market and global network of colleagues. I would l…

I think Deputy Ring is also mad to get his hands on that Ministry. I will make a few points. Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, stepped in recently with respect to the Clare County Development Plan, which is in a state of flux at the moment. TII stated that there should be no planning permission granted for one-off houses on national and regional roads. That makes perfect sense most of the time, but not in a county like County Clare. West of Ennis, are the N67, N68 and N85. Pretty much every inch of roadway wes…

I thank the Minister and the Minister of State for taking today's debate. I am little bit puffed because I got the train just a short while ago and as I was pedalling up the quays the Whip's office said my slot was coming up shortly. I was hoping Deputy Bruton would filibuster for a while but there is only so much one can say about agriculture. Happily, I made my speaking slot. We are now in a space where we have to disclose everything, which is important. I have skin in the game in that I am a farmer in County Cla…