It is appropriate as we approach the end of the year to reflect on what we have been through economically in the course of 2025. It has been another turbulent year for business owners and business leaders. We started the year with a lot of uncertainty around tariffs. There were fears of a potential trade war between the US and the EU. I commend all of the business owners and business leaders who steered their organisations through that turbulent time. I also commend our political leaders on the hard work they did i…

Before I call Senator Gallagher to respond, I welcome guests of Senator McCarthy to the Public Gallery.

The Minister is very welcome back to the House. I thank her for coming in to take my questions on this matter. She knows, as we all do, the importance of this issue for the mid-west. At the outset, I thank her for the wonderful news she gave us yesterday. We have had many sad days in healthcare in the mid-west, but yesterday was really positive. It is very important that we remember all the people who lost their lives prematurely while in University Hospital Limerick, UHL. I am conscious that this week is the third…

That distinction matters if we are to be clear and direct with the public about what is required to make UHL safe. I welcome the Minister’s commitment to maximise the use of space on the current site at Dooradoyle, option A, in tandem with identifying a nearby adjacent site for the extension of services at UHL, option B. I just have three questions. Does the Minister envisage the relocation of the maternity hospital on the Ennis Road in Limerick to option B, the second site adjacent to Dooradoyle under the governan…

That is great news. I am delighted to hear that Minister, Deputy Chambers, will be supporting us in this. I know he will not be found wanting. I am looking forward to hearing the Minister for Health’s decision on the maternity hospital relocation. We would, of course, advocate for the relocation and colocation of it closer to UHL. While yesterday’s Cabinet decision is very welcome and nothing less than what the people of the mid-west need and deserve, it is, of course, a long-term plan and pathway to safer care. Th…

I thank the Minister.

Last Saturday night at 6.15 an 80-year-old woman left the gate of her home in the village of Castleconnell in County Limerick on her way to mass. Walking up the street she slipped and fell. Unfortunately, this 80-year-old sustained a painful hip fracture. Passers-by on their way to mass came to her assistance immediately, as did neighbours, and the ambulance was called. It took five hours for the ambulance to arrive for that 80-year-old woman. We in Castleconnell live 14 km from the city centre. You can imagine the…

I welcome the Minister. It is great to have him back in the House again. I also welcome this Bill. I have heard the Minister speak many times since he took up his office and I have always been struck by how familiar he is with his brief. There is such rich tapestry of things happening within it. Hearing him speak again this morning I am struck by how much the Government appreciates and understands the link between our higher education sector, our skilled workforce and our economy and how funding and ensuring we put…

My apologies.

I draw attention, unfortunately, to a very serious accident that happened in Limerick in recent weeks. A woman who is a student at the University of Limerick was jogging close to a pedestrian crossing on Corbally Road in Limerick. She was seriously injured. Our thoughts are with her and her family as she is in hospital in Cork undergoing treatment. Limerick councillors in that area have been drawing attention to the fact that it is a very busy road and close to a primary school. It is also a huge area for commuters…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. It is lovely to have him back in the Seanad. I rise to welcome this Bill and to commend my colleagues, Senators Rabbitte and Paul Daly, for the work they have done. Senator Rabbitte in particular has been pursuing this since 2017, but, unfortunately, it has fallen foul of Governments falling and the election periods that followed. She has been pursuing this issue doggedly for many years because she understands not only how important it is to those in her area in Galway but also ho…

This morning, I rise to acknowledge and thank the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, for the significant committed moneys that we heard about yesterday for Limerick in the NDP sectoral plan for transport. We are delighted that key projects like the M20-N20 Cork to Limerick motorway and route, the N21 Abbeyfeale relief road, the N21 and N69 Limerick to Foynes road, including the Adare bypass, the Newcastle West relief road and the Coonagh to Knockalisheen distributor road all got funding. They are important roads to us local…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. As the Minister knows, the people of Limerick, Clare and Tipperary have lived with crisis conditions in our acute hospital system for more than a decade. What the HIQA review has done, bluntly and unmistakably, is confirm in black and white what patients, families, clinicians and communities have been saying for years - that the mid-west’s acute hospital infrastructure is not fit for purpose, not matched to the population we serve and not resourced in line with national norms. Last nigh…

I wish to highlight a wonderful venture launched yesterday, namely the collaboration of the Shannon Foynes Port Company with Associated British Ports and BrestPort. Associated British Ports runs the ports across the UK and BrestPort handles the ports across France. They have combined to establish an alliance of ports to handle floating offshore wind. It is hoped the alliance will be able to share best practice and experience and promote learning and the rapid adoption of floating offshore wind across Europe and the…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I thank the Minister of State for coming in to address this issue. I asked if the Minister for housing could provide an update and whether he could possibly relax the rural housing planning guidelines to facilitate more people who wish to build their own homes in rural areas. There is an urgent need to look at these plans and to revise them because there are so many people who genuinely wish to live in the countryside and build their own homes there. The decisions on these applica…

I thank the Minister of State. I acknowledge the fine work that is being done to facilitate a greater number of homes to be developed around the country, and congratulations on the publication of the new housing plan. We look forward to supporting the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Browne, in the coming years, and achieving those goals that we have set in government. The proposals that I have outlined today are practical small tweaks that can be made in this area of rural housing. I will send them to th…

Before we proceed to the next speakers, I welcome Senator McCarthy and his guest Deeksha Agarwalto to the Visitors Gallery. They are very welcome, and I thank them for joining us. Senators Kyne, Byrne and Conway are sharing time.

The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, is very welcome.

Before the Minister of State answers, I welcome to the Chamber the pupils in the politics classes of St. Brendan's College, and their teachers, who are guests of Deputy Danny Healy-Rae. They are all very welcome to Commencement matters in Seanad Éireann where individual Senators have an opportunity to submit a question to a particular Department and a Minister or Minister of State will come in here to answer. The Minister of State is about to respond.

An tAire is very welcome to the Seanad. It is great to have him back. I thank him for his ongoing engagement with Senators, and not just through his frequent presence in the Seanad Chamber. I know from stories from other Senators how hands-on and supportive he is on constituency matters, in particular roads projects that are very dear to us. Go raibh maith ag an Aire for his cross-party support on those projects. I thank the Minister for his time and bringing forward this important Bill, which I strongly support. T…