I raise a national issue which is about respect and manners among our citizens. We have people across the country dumping rubbish and letting their dogs off leads attacking sheep and we need to legislate for all this. We need to put far more restrictions on people and to spend resources on upping the number of litter wardens and dog wardens. It is about respecting our countryside, our walkways and what we have in this country. I am pushing for harsher dog controls because if anyone has witnessed a dog attack on she…

I thank the Minister for coming here. This is an extremely important issue and I welcome this amendment Bill coming before the House. It is a matter that needs to be rectified and I am glad the process is starting today. I commend Senator McDowell, who brought this Bill before the House, and I want to acknowledge the work, as he did, that he and my colleague, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, have done on the matter since the anomaly came to light. I also must mention a similar Bill that Deputy Jim O'Callaghan laid before th…

I was not going to speak. Having listened to the contributions and all the advertising about Fine Gael's new telecommunications company laying the pipes and fibre broadband across the country, however, I had to say something. I commend Senator Currie on the motion. Remote working has been the only way my family has been able to operate over the past five or six years, having a business at home and being lucky enough to have broadband. Now more than ever, we are at home constantly. As Senator Lombard said, it is abo…

I thank the Minister for attending today. For many this January has been a dark month and the report has definitely made it worse. First, I will briefly address the leaking of the report before its publication. Shame on whoever did it. Obviously, that person has never had their agency and their rights taken away from them and I hope the Minister investigates the issue. It was an extra cut to the many wounds these women and children have already. I consider myself privileged to be tasked with responsibility to speak…

Like my colleague, Senator Currie, I want to raise my worries and fears over the Covid numbers. Senator Currie articulated very well the problems in the North. We need to hold tight and strong on Covid. We had 41 new cases in Louth last night. We can think of all those people's close contacts who are now in quarantine for Christmas. I beg people to mind themselves, watch what they do and listen to the Chief Medical Officer's advice for people to reduce their contacts because none of us wants to give Covid to a love…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to the House. Before I address my Commencement matter directly, I welcome the announcement from the HSE this morning that women will be able to have their partners present at anomaly scans. I have been one of those women who has received the worst news from one of those scans. It is coming up to the fourth anniversary and there is not a day when I do not think about that little person. It is great that women going through similar experiences, and who will get simila…

It is great news. As the Minister of State has said, €12 million has been set aside in the budget for gynaecological services. She has also highlighted the good news about the provision of three new clinics and that 19 more clinics will be rolled out. However, I insist that we do not take the foot off the pedal.

I am looking forward to the Minister of State's reply.

I must add my penny's worth. I know of many female councillors who are very joyously expecting at the moment and they will not get maternity leave. Our colleagues in Europe are absolutely shocked that this is the case. They do not believe me when I say it.

The Minister, Deputy Foley, is very welcome to the House.

I want to raise a serious local issue for the people of north Louth, that is, the Louth County Council draft development plan and the fact that this process is going ahead during the Covid pandemic despite the restrictions in place in terms of meetings, including in people's houses, to discuss the plan's detrimental consequences. To say that it restricts one-off housing is not true. It does not restrict one-off housing, it prohibits it in many locations. The McGreehans have lived in Castletowncooley since the 1700s…

I want to put on record my deep disappointment with the British Government at its announcement this week that there will be no public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane. We all sat here last week and passed a motion on our support for a public inquiry. We have come far as a country but a tweet was sent on Saturday that threw reconciliation right out of the window. I am from Dundalk in north Louth, have lived through the Troubles and have seen the hate and hurt that has been inflicted. Living near Narrow Water,…

I thank the Minister for coming into the House. As Senator Fitzpatrick said, this is a really important issue. We all have cried a tear and listened to many of the survivors in this country and the adoptees of those survivors who lived in the mother and baby homes. There are a few things I will mention that continue on from what Senator Fitzpatrick was saying. Tusla has stated in the media over the past couple of days that it fears it does not have sufficient staff to deal with the complex work that has emerged fro…

I thank the Minister. It is reassuring that there will be adequate supports and that he has ensured that the counselling services have upped their capacities. I reiterate the care and consideration that is needed. These women have been through horrendous abuse. Their children have been torn from them and their lives were changed forever. The Minister must remember that when he takes any action.

I wish to speak on a few issues this morning. First, I request the Leader of the House to ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs for an update on the Brexit negotiations. Every single day we get a drip feed of new crises from Tony Connolly from RTÉ. As the news reporting seems to be the best source of news we can get as Members at present, it would be really good if we could get a Minister into the Houses to talk us through what is actually happening, and what will happen on 1 January 2021. As someone from the Border…

I thank the Minister for coming into the House this evening. John Finucane is very welcome also. This is a very important week for the Finucane family, Anglo-Irish relations and, in my opinion, for justice. I absolutely support this motion. I think of the Finucane family sitting at their dinner table and such normality of a Sunday evening and then to have their father and husband brutally and viciously murdered, their lives destroyed and their futures changed forever. For 30 years, Geraldine Finucane and her family…

The Minister is welcome to the House and I congratulate her on her appointment. It is very important that we have this debate. It has been called for by many of us in the House since the start of this Seanad. I am very proud to be part of Dundalk Women's Aid. It is one of 39 Safe Ireland domestic violence member services across the country. It does tremendous work against all odds. It is under-resourced, under-staffed and under-valued by many. The importance of organisations like these is often not understood. They…

Is that agreed? Agreed.

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House today to discuss disability matters and disability day services in particular. As she highlighted in her opening remarks, difficulties with the provision of disability services arose during lockdown but great efforts have been made to reopen the services. I extend my sympathy and condolences to the 14 families that have lost loved ones. It is incredibly difficult for them to live with that loss now. There is no doubt that many families, carers and service provid…

I welcome the Cathaoirleach's invitation to President-elect Biden. It is great news for Ireland that we have such a steadfast supporter of the Good Friday Agreement in the White House. As other Senators have said, we need all the support that we can get coming up to a critical time in the Brexit negotiations. As Biden is a Border politician from the Cooley Mountains he will know very well how important an all-Ireland economy is and how important the Border community is. On a lighter note, the west tried to steal so…