I did not interrupt you.

I am asking you questions. Why do you not hold a referendum about what you are proposing to do?

You are not being honest with the people. Look what you did last Wednesday night. Look at what you are doing - diluting our neutrality. When Ireland fought for independence, no one came to our aid. For 800 years, nobody came. It was Ireland itself that gained its independence.

You are chipping away at it now day by day. First the migration pact and now joining PESCO. Our neutrality will be gone with what you are at. You have to be honest with the people. Why did you not hold a referendum? You talked before about getting rid of the triple lock. You know what you are doing but you are not telling the Defence Forces. This will affect them and jeopardise them. The triple lock meant that missions had to be approved by the UN. China and Russia are part of the UN. We could have troops stranded …

Be honest

People do not trust-----

Put it to the people and call a referendum.

Call a referendum.

I am concerned about the fair deal scheme. I highlighted my concerns when we originally debated the Bill. Nothing will ever change my opinion that assessing the farm for the fair deal scheme is wrong. In every other instance, only the dwelling house is assessed. If the Government were to be fair, only the dwelling house on the farm would be assessed in these cases. This decision is putting a burden on the young person who is trying to run the farm. It need not even be a large farm. For example, a farm could be valu…

The Government is accepting dwellings in every other instance, but where the dwelling house is on a farm, it wants the farm and all. That is not right. I will provide an example of something that happened today. Invariably, I take elderly farmers – recently, I even took a young farmer of 50 years of age – up to Belfast to get their cataracts removed. Today, the HSE has reduced the reimbursement to patients from €1,918 to €863. Many people will not be able to foot this bill and will have to wait two, three or four y…

The one thing I notice is that people from Dublin do not have to go to Belfast at all because they are being looked after in Dublin.

The people in Kerry are being left behind.

It does not happen in Dublin at all. People are looked after in Dublin.

How do you expect people to go up to the North? Do you want people to walk up or to cycle up?

We have to order the buses to bring people up because the health service here will not do anything about it.

The case I am making is where a son or a daughter takes over the running of a farm, hoping to keep the farm going and to keep food on the table. If the farm is worth €500,000 and it is assessed, it means the son or daughter will have to pay €35,000 per year for three years. To find that money during the three years is a burden for someone who is trying to keep the farm ticking over. The farm should not be included in the assessment in that kind of a scenario. I feel very strongly about it. There was talk about peop…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this important debate. Clearly, I agree with some of the points that are being discussed relating to the firearms and offensive weapons and increasing of the maximum penalties for carrying knives. This situation has to be addressed because every second day when we listen to the news, someone has been stabbed or knifed again in Dublin and indeed in different parts of the country. It is sad that there are no checks. Checks should be carried out. Knives are made of steel too …

That is right and I ask her not to shake her head. We know that it is right and I cannot understand how these people are let onto the plane in the first place. That is where the Government needs to have people and officials, immigration and custom officials, to ensure that these people do not get onto the plane. I do not really think it is the responsibility of the carriers too much at all because it should be our officials who are monitoring these people getting onto the planes and if they do not have the proper d…

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for allowing us time. Like all elected representatives, I am aware of the pressures on students seeking accommodation, especially in places like Limerick and Cork. When they cannot get accommodation, they have to travel every day by bus or some other way. Travelling from Killarney or Tralee to Limerick takes two hours. Going there and back adds four hours to the day for students. It is happening a lot. There are fewer going to Cork but it is still not fair. It is putting undue pres…

I am glad to get an opportunity to say a few words about the late, great Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh. He was a great Kerryman who had a unique voice and created excitement in all the games he commentated on. It was better to listen when he commentated on the radio than to watch the game on the television because there was more drama. He created excitement and he knew so much about hurling and football, the players who were playing, the rules and so forth. He was a powerhouse of a man. We send our condolences to his wi…