Aontaím go mór leis an Teachta go bhfuil sár-iarracht ar bun, go háirithe le haghaidh na nGaeilgeoirí sa Bhruiséil. Is iontach a fheiceáil, in gach cathair san Eoraip, agus níos faide i gcéin, go bhfuil muintir na Gaeilge beo agus ag úsáid Gaeilge. Go háirithe sa Bhruiséil, tá dream iontach inti atá ag baint a lán úsáide as an nGaeilge. Eagraíonn siad Seachtain na Gaeilge gach Márta sa Bhruiséil agus oibríonn siad leis an bParlaimint agus leis an gCoimisiún. Bhí mé i láthair an tseachtain sin cuid mhaith blianta ó …

Is é sin an rud is tábhachtaí faoin gceist seo. Tá dúshláin ann chun iarrthóirí a fháil a bhfuil na scileanna acu chun obair ar chaighdeán teanga an Aontais Eorpaigh. Tá an caighdeán sin tábhachtach. Tá oifigigh i mo Roinn i gcónaí ag obair leis na hinstitiúidí tríú leibhéil ionas go mbeidh na daoine agus na graduates leis na scileanna ann chun na scileanna sin a úsáid. Tá níos mó ná €1 milliún á chaitheamh ar an advanced Irish-language skills initiative ionas go mbeidh daoine réitithe le poist a fháil san Aontas E…

I thank Deputy Timmins for his question. Our Rural Future is the whole-of-government policy for sustainable rural development in Ireland. More than 170 measures are outlined to support sustainable economic and social development and environmental and cultural well-being across all our rural areas. The delivery of these measures is clearly based on a cross-governmental approach, with a range of Departments contributing to their own areas of responsibility. Supporting employment and careers in rural areas by creating…

I cannot speak specifically to the Airbnb question. As I said, however, my Department has invested significantly in remote work and remote working facilities. We will be publishing a new national hub strategy, which will include measures to underpin ongoing sustainable development. As we discussed here previously, hubs in 2025 are different from what they were in 2020, and we need to make sure we keep up to date with them. In terms of the local authority issue, local authorities and the enterprise units are central…

Absolutely, I agree. The cost base of every business is of concern to the Government. With regard to the small rural regionally based builders, we made it very clear that they need to be given support from the banking system to allow them to make the kinds of developments in rural areas the Deputy has spoken about and that we all want to see. The Minister, Deputy Browne, will be writing to every local authority in the coming weeks to ask them to reopen their development plans to designate more land specifically for…

The community centre investment fund, CCIF, is my Department's primary funding vehicle for new and existing community centres. It was first introduced in 2022 in recognition of the need for a dedicated funding stream to support investment in the hundreds of community facilities that are at the heart of both rural and urban communities. In Cork, my Department has provided more than €8.9 million for the enhancement and refurbishment of 158 existing community centres in both the city and county. In early 2024, funding…

I do not disagree with the Deputy. That is why we have invested in the community centre investment fund and why we have put money aside for new centres, new builds, in communities such as Ballyvolane. Twelve of those have been funded and Rylane in Cork is one, and that is why I hope to have another scheme next year for new builds. I am more than happy to work with the Deputies here and the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, on Ballyvolane but the application has to come in. I would put it back on the city council …

It is clear that Deputy O’Flynn has done a lot of work. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, tells me he taught in the area so he knows it very well. I cannot give Deputy Gould a guarantee. Local authorities have to prepare plans but judging by the scoping work, site identification work and community meetings, it sounds as though they are doing the necessary preparatory work. It sounds like an area that needs it. With the Minister of State’s experience in the area, the Deputies will be pushing an open door. Neve…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 93, 95 and 105 together. The three letters most feared by my officials are LIS. We are actively reviewing the LIS, looking to make it more effective and to deliver more consistently. It is a key support to rural communities in improving non-public rural roads and laneways that are not typically maintained by local authorities. We reintroduced the scheme in my Department since 2017 following years of no funding, and since then we have provided almost €170 million to local authorities…

I agree with the Deputies. In the interests of fairness, we have provided €170 million for a scheme that was not funded prior to 2017. We are working with local authorities. Neither Monaghan nor Tipperary are offenders in this regard, but quite a number of local authorities have a cost per road that is way above the national average. Believe it or not, there are also local authorities which have underspends in the LIS scheme. We are working with local authorities to address that issue and to get extra resources and…

Since 2021, 4,800 roads have been dealt with under LIS. I agree that we could do with extra funding. We are actively pursuing that and ensuring that people have proper access to their homes and farms.

As Senators know, in January 2024 the Supreme Court overturned the Department’s decision not to pay the widower’s contributory pension to Mr. Johnny O’Meara. At the outset of this debate, and as I have done constantly throughout all of the debates, I want to acknowledge the tremendous loss that Johnny O’Meara and his family have suffered. Johnny’s long-term partner and the mother of his three children, Michelle, died in January 2021. In bringing this legislation forward, I had the privilege of meeting Johnny with D…

I apologise. I have been called to the Dáil for a vote.

I will be back.

I first apologise to the House for the suspension. There are no pairs available. I have great respect for the House and did not wish to interrupt Senator Craughwell's contribution and the business of the House. I thank all those who participated in this debate for their contributions. While there are individual differences on aspects of the Bill, it is clear there is broad support for implementing this important measure. I note again, as I did in the Dáil debate, that this is rooted in many Members' personal storie…

I thank the Deputies for their remarks. I will speak to the amendments first and then speak to some of the queries that were raised, which were dealt with on Committee Stage. Amendments Nos. 1 and 2, and 21 to 23, inclusive, are grouped together. As I said during the Committee Stage debate, it is not appropriate to include commitments to producing reports in primary legislation, particularly legislation that is as complex as the Social Welfare Consolidation Act. That is my view in respect of all of the proposed rep…

This is an area the Leas-Cheann Comhairle has also expressed an interest in. On Deputy O'Reilly's comment about the lady whose partner passed away while she was expecting, we have based the qualifications on the 2010 civil partnership Act and the issue from the Department of justice. I am writing to the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, to highlight this case and also on the points reflected in Deputy Wall's amendment, which was ruled out of order, in relation to civil partnerships outside the jurisdiction. I have just…

I thank Deputies O'Reilly and Wall. I do not propose to accept amendments Nos. 7, 8 and 14. To accept them would remove the ability of any future Minister for Social Protection to make regulations to clarify the circumstances where a couple may be living apart for more than two years due to medical circumstances. This definition is linked to the regulation-making power inserted into section 123A of the Act, for the Minister to consider time spent living apart due to medical reasons as not bringing the relationship …

If one part of the couple said something different to what had been signed up to, for whatever reason, there would have to be further investigations. I assure the Deputy that I would not want any intrusion into a relationship and the Department does not intend to intrude. If evidence was presented by a member of the couple that contradicted what the other member of the couple had said, that would have to be checked.

Yes.