When is it proposed to take Fifth Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

I also congratulate the Minister on this legislation. It is important for all the agricultural community. Health and well-being, from our land right up to our animals, are very important. This is an important step towards ensuring those aspects and the longevity of our very fine agricultural community. I call Senator Ahearn.

The Senator cannot accuse the Minister of lying.

I thank the Minister of State for being here today and I acknowledge the apology of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, for her absence due to an unavoidable issue elsewhere. I ask for an update on the children's therapy and assessment waiting lists and staff vacancies in County Louth children's disability network teams, CDNTs. As a public representative, the Minister of State knows this is one of the most heartbreaking issues we come across, that there are gorgeous, amazing little children who are not getting …

The Minister of State outlined a fairly depressing picture of staff vacancies in County Louth. I am aware the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, is absolutely relentless and that it is also up to us to be relentless in this cause and in pushing the HSE to implement the recommendations of all these reviews and scoping exercises. We must work. The HSE has a responsibiltiy to pull out all the stops to hire staff. It has a responsibility to ensure those waiting lists are covered. If it is the case we go to private ope…

I thank the Minister and call Senator Paul Daly, who has eight minutes.

I too remember the late former Senator Paul Coghlan from when I worked here as a staff member. He was a wonderful gentleman with a very respectable dose of rascal. He was a real gent and I remember him very fondly. At college, I also knew his daughter Aoife. I send my condolences to all his family and all who loved him, and all his Fine Gael colleagues with whom he had an awful lot of fun and did a lot of work. In the spirit of what Paul Coghlan stood for - community spirit and loving where you come from - this is …

I ask the Leader for a debate on the cost of living with the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, specifically in the context of the cost of electricity. The truth is that bills continue to rise while input costs are decreasing. We have the highest prices in all of Europe. Something is seriously wrong when our energy market is 60% above the EU average, and that is before taxes. Whether that is due to anti-competitive behaviour, inefficiencies in generating electricity or a combination of many t…

Next Tuesday.

Tomorrow at 9.30 a.m.

I move: That Seanad Éireann: - celebrates the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement; - acknowledges the thousands of lives saved over the past 25 years; - recognises the personal and political risk that participants in the multi-party talks undertook on all sides; - remembers the lives lost and families bereaved during the Troubles; and calls for: - all parties on these islands to recognise the spirit and respect shown by each political party involved in bringing about this agreement. The Tánaiste is very w…

I thank all Senators for their contributions this evening. There is a collective agreement that we are all very grateful for the sacrifices many men and women have made. They pushed for better and they dreamt of what could be. For me, as a new Senator and having been given an opportunity to be in this House, probably one of the greatest privileges I have had is to meet people who were part of that. Genuinely, they were my superstars when I was growing up. I was not too interested in music or whatever: I was interes…

The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. I am very glad to have an opportunity to speak about a desperate situation in County Louth whereby Louth County Council has closed applications under the housing adaptation grants for older people and persons with disabilities. We are all aware of the importance of these grants. We know they make a significant difference in the lives of older people and people with disabilities. These grants help fund house renovations to make homes more accessible and create spac…

I thank the Minister of State and accept everything in his response. As I have said, Louth County Council, like many other county councils across the country, has received increased funding for housing adaptation grants. I will, however, continue to advocate for the families in County Louth who are not able to apply for funding and for the 400 families who have applied but have no hope of getting an adaptation grant this year. I urge the Minister of State to support all of us and bring back to the Department the im…

The Minister of State is very welcome to the House and I appreciate him being here on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin. I am very grateful that she sent her apologies to me yesterday. I want to speak about the importance of inclusive and accessible tourism. As a society, we recognise the necessity of ensuring everyone can participate in activities without restriction or barrier. This includes ensuring all people have the ability to travel and enjoy tourism experiences. Tourism is an essential compone…

I thank the Minister of State for the response and encouraging words. Like so many issues, there is goodwill in many policies but the end user does not get the best value. Part M has been amended to ensure there is provision in certain buildings and relates to the Minister of State's Department but nothing has been made compulsory. Currently, it is not compulsory to provide "changing places and toilets" when public toilets are being upgraded. We are moving into a new Ireland and a new accessible and welcoming world…

I ask the Leader for a debate on inclusive sport and how the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport, Gaeltacht and Media is going to encourage and support sports clubs all around the country to welcome people with differing abilities. I raise this after an incredibly successful event last Sunday when my club Glenmore Athletic Club had a come-and-try day for the second year running. Volunteers in the club worked for weeks to make sure that we had an accessible and fun day for everybody. We focused on people wit…

I will speak on amendment No. 36 in support of the concept of going after those responsible for the drug trials. All of us in the House agree that illegal vaccine trials were done. The Bill is not the place for it and this amendment is not the amendment for it. However, I am in agreement with Senator Boyhan that we should look at the next steps and how we can work. I know the House will support the Minister on it. Fianna Fáil will do so absolutely and I will do my very best to support the Minister on it. There is a…

On behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party, I welcome this Bill. Like other contributors, I acknowledge the great work of each Civil Defence unit in every county around the country. I thank the volunteers for the time they give to each and every community they serve. They are highly motivated and highly trained. They come from all across our workforce. As Senator McDowell said, people join who are, for example, nurses and ambulance drivers. I know so many people who are embedded in the community in different roles in their…