I commend my colleague, Senator O'Loughlin, on bringing forward the motion, not just in her role on the administrative panel but also as chair of the women's caucus. She does a fabulous job. Politics, as we know, is not a normal job. Public service does not start at nine, finish at six and come with leave entitlements. Our families know and accept that, all too often, politics comes first, but there are times when it should not and cannot. However, we allow ourselves to be part of a culture in which women who have …

I welcome the Minister of State and congratulate her on the budget and her securing of investment in special education in addition to that of last year. I thank her for her support to date in Dublin West. She came out to visit Rath Dara Community College, as it is now known, in Dublin 15. She understands the building issue concerning Danu Community Special School. I thank the Government for the opening of Danu Community Special School in November 2019 with the patron, Dublin and Dún Laoghaire Education and Training…

It is great to know NEPS is to visit the school in the next week. I have been raising this issue for nearly a year and I am not getting around the full-time behavioural therapist requirement. The school community feels that it is not being heard on this. They need the full-time behavioural therapist. The Minister of State said that they get access to more resources but when I speak to the school they want to know the definition so they have something by which they can measure what they have, and to know what the ne…

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach.

I have been contacted quite a lot by Ongar Chasers Basketball Club in the past 24 hours, because of the guidelines issued by Sport Ireland which relate to basketball, volleyball and squash. This is a club, like so many other clubs around the country, that has kept going throughout Covid. Even in the deepest, darkest winter last year, they were playing outside, rallying around the community and the sport. What has been said is that children under 18 who cannot show proof of vaccination cannot play indoors, which obv…

I am sharing time with Senator Dolan. It is great to see the Minister of State here. I support the motion. Since I was elected as a councillor, there have been many public consultations, which is fantastic. There was one for BusConnects. There have been two for DART+ West although they have been conducted during the pandemic. There have been two consultations on the Royal Canal urban greenway. One of my first motions as a councillor was about safe routes to school before it became a project. Obviously, the communit…

I wish to raise the issue of antigen tests and five to 12-year-olds, who are without the protection of vaccines. Cases are rising at a worrying rate for parents and teachers. This is affecting teachers and the need for substitute teachers in schools as well. As we read in the newspapers today, there is concern about people at home who are vulnerable who have children at school. Parents are not reassured by the Chief Medical Officer's comments at the weekend that international evidence tells us that in the vast majo…

It is great to see the MEPs here. As a Senator based in Dublin, I welcome this access, especially after the past couple of years. Ms Daly mentioned how difficult it is to get what they are doing into the media. That is true. The media here are absolutely dominated by Brexit. It is good, therefore, to hear about everything else. At the same time, I am Fine Gael Seanad spokesperson on Northern Ireland so I will focus most of my remarks on Brexit and Dublin. This is a very sensitive time in EU-UK politics and of cours…

I thank Senator O'Sullivan. That is a hard one to follow. I wish to raise Circular 0050/2021 on teacher substitution. We need to take the word of principals on this issue. There has been a chronic crisis regarding substitute teachers, or a chronic shortage of them, over the past few years, not just as a result of the pandemic. I have spoken to principals about this, and the panel system is a really good initiative but is effective only for well-flagged and planned absences. In Dublin West, the substitutes are booke…

I thank Senator Boyhan for referencing the Private Members' motion on British Government proposals on legacy issues, which we will debate later. I know he is very invested in discussing and debating legacy issues. I thank all those who will, hopefully, take part in that debate this evening. Today, I want to raise the issue of obesity. We saw in the media the worrying projection that 90% of people in this country will be overweight or obese by 2030. The World Health Organization predicted that Ireland is on course t…

I move: That Seanad Éireann totally rejects the British Government’s proposals for ‘dealing with the past’ including amnesties for those who committed murder. No individual, group, organisation or State forces/agents can be immune from prosecution. Investigations, prosecutions, inquests and civil actions cannot be abolished and due process must take place. I am sharing my time with Senator Barry Ward. I will take 12 minutes and he will take four. At the outset, I thank the Cathaoirleach for his support and I thank …

I thank the Cathaoirleach. I also thank the Minister for his words of comfort and reassurance and the compassion he has shown on this issue. It matters a great deal to victims, as does his commitment not to let this go, not to give up on reaching a consensus on legacy and if there are issues with the Stormont House Agreement, to try to reach consensus on something else. Some weeks ago, I brought my father to Offaly to view a piece of art showing the late John Hume. In the picture, John has his hand out. The artist …

I too want to raise the heart-wrenching interview that I heard on "Today with Claire Byrne" this morning. Any parent who heard that interview could feel the pain that family is in. My wee girl underwent an operation in Crumlin children's hospital some years ago. Everything went smoothly, but I remember waiting for the date. It is terrible that a child who has been on the urgent list since August 2019 and who was told his surgery would take place next spring has now been told that he must wait another six to nine mo…

I want to say how fantastic it is to have a Minister of State with responsibility for special education and inclusion in this room to talk about dyslexia month. It is an acknowledgement of where we are. There is a lot of work to do but it is a commitment to where we want to get to. I cannot think of a better person to do it. Everyone has heard of dyslexia but I am not sure there is enough general awareness of what it actually is and the specific supports that people need. Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty …

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach. Tomorrow is the last day for submissions to the DART+ West project public consultation in regard to permanent closure of the level crossings and how communities are facilitated. That involves my area of Ashtown, Coolmine, Porterstown and Clonsilla. I encourage everyone to get their submissions into DARTWest@irishrail.ie. The deadline is tomorrow, Wednesday, 6 October at 5 p.m. It is a much-needed project and it is great to see the commitment to it again in the national devel…

As the Senator said, this online portal is good news for Irish passport holders who were vaccinated in the North whereby they can apply for an EU digital Covid certificate. I, too, have technical questions. What is the proof of vaccination that is required from the North? The Northern Ireland Covid vaccination certificate is issued by the Northern Ireland Department of Health so one must go through that portal process initially to get official proof of vaccination from the North. That comes from the nidirect.gov.uk…

We have to promote this with all the technical information to answer the questions people have. The important thing is that unless one gets an email from the Department to confirm that one has this, one does not have it. If it is arriving by email, we have to tell people that. It is not enough for them to go through their tracker apps. People have to go through the process of two portals and then it will arrive in their inboxes. We have to accept that we do not have control over the efficiency of the first process …

I believe in building sustainable communities and part of this is sustainable transport. I acknowledge that in my area the DART+ west consultation is under way at present. We have had BusConnects, the Royal Canal greenway consultation and the Phoenix Park transport strategy consultation. We have secured significant investment under the safe routes to school programme. There is forthcoming consultation on a canal loop between the Grand Canal and the Royal Canal. A dizzying number of projects are also under considera…

I welcome the Minister. I say "Well done" to the Chairman of the committee on the report. I am only at page 31 but I am making my way through it. There is no such thing as a good Brexit. It has forced us to make decisions we did not want to make. We have had to work to protect our island from a hard border and we are dealing with the fallout of Brexit every day. The issues relating to Brexit are not going away but what strikes me about the report is the hunger within it. I know from my experience as a member of the…

I support this Bill on the simple premise that this is our national lottery. It is independently regulated. It should have an ethos of care that goes above and beyond. It should be a more controlled environment. Thirty cent from every euro collected goes to good causes and that dividend, on which the national lottery is based, is not going where it should go when a ticket is purchased in the bookies. I am very much of the opinion that we should be separating the national lottery and good causes, low-odds draws and …