The Department has not.

The Kerry senior football team is to play Tyrone at 3.30 p.m. on Saturday in the quarter final of the football championship. However, thousands of supporters in Kerry who have paid their licence fee will not be able to watch this match on RTÉ. They will have to pay for GAAGO, if they can master the technology, and watch it on that. It has been pointed out to me that Dee Forbes, the former director general of RTÉ, was also a director of GAAGO. They are asking if there was a conflict of interests in this regard. If t…

I, too, thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this timely motion. We have all known for a long time that the nursing homes are in trouble. I acknowledge the presence of all the people in the Gallery, who include managers and staff from small nursing homes and Mr. Tadhg Daly who is in charge of the representative body. I also welcome Timmy Murphy from Brosna who, with his family, runs a number of small nursing homes in Dublin, Kildare and other places. These people are busy and would not be here only that they have a…

I wish to raise with the Minister the very serious matter of how Government policy is being fine-tuned to cut farm production by rewetting, cutting dairy cow numbers and the nitrates directive. This will impact directly on farmers’ incomes, reduce vibrancy in every sector of rural communities and impact on food security and increase the cost of food to everyone in our country. As we export high-quality food products all over the world, who is going to replace us? Will they create a greater carbon footprint globally…

I thank the Minister for his reply. The Government is not being truthful to the farmers. It is not telling them what is needed or what is going to happen. Earlier this year, the Government agreed that farmers would have to cut their emissions by 25% and said this would be achievable. The Government should tell us what it is going to do and what farmers have to do because farmers want to know what they have to do. Farmers are already sequestering carbon and they are getting no credit for that. How can the Government…

What about food security and the increased cost of food?

I thank the Regional Group for this timely motion. Home help is something every public representative is dealing with. On an hourly basis, there is someone ringing about home help. When people get elderly and have little problems, they want to stay in their own homes for as long as possible. We should be doing a lot more to help these people stay in their homes and give them the home help they need. There are desperate anomalies. In Kerry, there are people granted home help and being notified they will get it, yet …

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk on this very important issue. The youth are our future and as has been said, it is very important to keep them active and working. We appreciate all of the voluntary groups that help youth, whether it is the local youth groups in Kenmare, Kilgarvan, Glenflesk or wherever. All of those people do great work with the youth, and they know them by name. In the GAA clubs, the underage teams are very active both in hurling and football in Kerry, all over the county. There are clubs…

It is here that it should be discussed.

Lyme disease is causing fierce problems for many people in County Kerry. It is not even recognised by the Department of Health as a disease, never mind providing treatment for it. Many people have to travel abroad for treatment, to Germany and the USA, at a massive cost. Councillor Maura Healy-Rae brought a motion to Kerry County Council before Christmas last year and she was supported by the members. Kerry County Council wrote to the Minister for Health, asking that he receive a deputation or that a meeting be con…

What about the question of the meeting?

First of all I want to say that I respect everyone's sexual orientation, whatever it is. Equal treatment of all has to be respected. However, like many others, I am very concerned about what is happening to minors, the early transitioning of minors, the shift in focus at Pride events, the influence of the transgender movement on minors and potential connections to paedophilia advocacy, the lack of scientific evidence for medical interventions, the denial of biological reality, the role of political, academic and co…

I am glad to get the opportunity to speak on this motion and I thank Sinn Féin for bringing it forward in the Chamber tonight. Every one of us elected here recognises that we must assist people in every way to ensure that our children can access education. Whether this is in primary school, secondary school or at third level, we must ensure it is available and accessible to all children. There is no question in this regard about every boy and girl who got up this morning and went to school. Some are finished now fo…

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk about young people's work. I have been an employer for many years and as an employer I know too well that Friday evening comes very fast. I believe in paying people equally for the same type of work but there is a thing called starting off and training people and getting them used to rules and regulations. They have to be up for that. In all this talk, we have to appreciate employers in the same way as we appreciate workers. We are in the market now and the workers are in th…

I, too, asked the Minister about the local schemes last night and I spent six minutes talking about them. Again, that issue is at the top of my list. Deputy Ring made a good case for Fine Gael here tonight but I have to remind him that all of the money he is talking about which is being given out has been collected off the taxpayers and off the people who are out early in the morning and who are paying through the nose for gallons of diesel and litres of petrol for fuel to try to keep going. There are paying exorbi…

The sewerage scheme in villages is being given no attention at all.

My time was not up at all when you interrupted me. You are Labour and you have no other-----

You started at me and I have ten seconds left.

I had ten seconds left. You will not bully me.

I can read the time too.