Next Tuesday.

The Minister is very welcome to the House and I thank him for coming. I have submitted this matter for inclusion in the Commencement debate a few times and I am delighted to be called today. My ask today is for the Minister to consider including a disability accessibility adaption grant for farming families under the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS 3, in order to make farm equipment, farm machinery and farmyards more accessible for persons with a disability. As we know TAMS 3 is a vital programme t…

I am glad to hear of all the positive work the Department is doing. What sort of accessibility funding has been drawn down and what are the results of that? Are there reviews of the wear and tear allowances and the farm assistance equipment scheme? What is the results-based knowledge on that? Is a review built into the system to ensure it is disability proofed and does what it is supposed to do? These are very positive schemes and the Minister has taken a proactive approach to them. I thank him for his presence in …

This morning I wish to highlight a despicable physical assault on a Wicklow farmer, Pat Dunne, who has for more than 15 years allowed walkers across his land. He asked walkers last week not to bring their dogs. Unfortunately, that appeal was not adhered to or listened to, and he was physically assaulted. I have raised the matter of dog kills and dog walkers in recreational areas in the Cooley Mountains before. Every single week I hear from farmers in the Cooley Mountains of either dog kills or verbal assaults on fa…

I second the motion. I thank the Minister for being here this evening. I also thank the many family members of the disappeared, who are here with us this evening, for their relentless, courage, composure and dignity. I acknowledge the incredible work of WAVE Trauma Centre, which has provided care and support for people affected by the Troubles for more than 30 years. It is with a really heavy heart that we gather to remember the people who are known as "the disappeared". These were individuals who were murdered dur…

I call on Senator Blaney to reply to the debate.

I thank everybody who contributed to the motion. It is a motion of great emotion and meaning. Let us hope someone hears it and peace is given.

When is it proposed to sit again?

I wish all my colleagues, the staff in Leinster House, all the people who support me and all the women in my life who made me the woman I am a very happy International Women's Day. I am thinking of my mother, my sister, my nieces, my best friends, my aunties and my grannies. We are all so lucky to have such people in our lives - well I am. I am completely biased about that because they are the women who stood with me, kicked me forward and told me to cop on and that I could do it. They also reined me in when I need…

The Minister of State is very welcome. I am asking for a discussion on the introduction of a digital accessibility grant to offer financial supports to enable companies to meet web content accessibility standards in the development of their websites and mobile applications. I will explain what digital accessibility is. It is the process of making the digital world, such as websites, mobile apps and other online tools, accessible to everyone. It is about ensuring that everyone in society can access the same informat…

I thank the Minister of State for the response on behalf of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, which is not his Department. The response does not directly address my request that there would be a digital accessibility grant. Such a grant was proposed by the NCBI last year to the former Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy English. I understand that the regulation has yet to be transposed into Irish law and that international standards have already been dev…

Next Tuesday at 12.30 p.m.

The Minister is welcome to the House. It is an opportune debate and it is important that all present are of one voice - a welcome voice. None of us can imagine the hardship faced by people who have to leave their country and everyone and everything they have ever known. We must breathe all that in. They did not choose to come here; they had to flee here for assistance, accommodation and the right to exist. It is a mammoth task and a significant ask for the Government. The number of people who have come here, at 75,…

The Minister of State is welcome for my Commencement matter. I raise this matter because every Thursday morning, members of the Joint Committee on Disability Matters hear from people with disabilities and how barriers are erected that prevent them from taking part in everyday life. Employment opens a door to so many opportunities. It is about independence and people as individuals being able to articulate for themselves and have ambition. I ask the Department to highlight the rationale for barring self-employed peo…

I note from the Minister of State's response that the scheme is for self-employed people. I ask that it be more fully brought through to those self-employed people because I know of several with disabilities who are barred from that grant. I am grateful to him for bringing word on the employee retention scheme because if no one is drawing it down, there is something wrong. People do not know about it. It is a fantastic idea for upskilling, keeping people in work and making sure they are welcomed and encouraged into…

Next Tuesday.

Today, I call for a debate on the sheep sector. I have stood in this House on many occasions and discussed the failing sheep sector and how sheep farmers are crying out for support. For instance, in 2022 we exported sheep meat to 35 different countries, €476 million worth of sheep to factories. Yet the net returns for sheep farmers fell by 81%. Costs of production are going up and margins are clearly reducing. We really need to improve the sheep welfare scheme. I raised a Commencement matter with the Minister a cou…

Before I call the next speaker, I offer a huge welcome to the pupils of Scoil Mhuire in Marino. I hope they enjoy their visit to Leinster House. I thank their teachers for bringing them here today. I call Senator Ward.

Is that agreed? Agreed.

It is very nice to have my mam and my sister right behind me as I speak on this really important issue today. I thank the Minister for his time. Since I came into this House, we have spoken about this issue quite a lot. We are waiting for the moment when we will come in here and say that we have got somewhere but every single week and every single day we see something in the news that brings us back down and back to a point at which women are in a place of serious vulnerability. I welcome what the Minister said abo…