I welcome our guests in the Public Gallery. They have a particular interest in this matter. I was on a train recently - not in inner city Dublin, but I will not say what part of the country - and I became aware of a gentleman being very abusive towards a staff member of Iarnród Éireann who was just checking tickets. There was no physical abuse involved but the person was being ignorant towards, and shouting and roaring at, a lovely employee of Iarnród Éireann. She was a lovely lady. I thought it was very bad form. …

Déanaim comhghairdeas leis an gCathaoirleach agus leis an gCeannaire. It is lovely to be back here. The problems we had in 2022 did not go away during the Christmas recess. I will speak about the ongoing attacks on members of An Garda Síochána. The situation is becoming very serious. We should remember that an attack on a member of the Garda not only affects the victim but also affects the community he or she serves. A garda out of action because of an assault means one fewer gardaí who can provide policing service…

I sincerely congratulate Senator Buttimer on his election as Cathaoirleach. A lot of words have been spoken, but Senators Doherty and Wilson spoke volumes about Jerry when proposing him. I think every single person in this Chamber would acknowledge that. Jerry has shown a lot of emotion today. I am one person who thinks that emotion is good. Men are not great at showing emotion at times and are sometimes ashamed of doing so. I really thought Jerry showed a beautiful sense of emotion earlier. It is a very proud day …

I acknowledge the role of the Minister of State. As has been said time and time again, he has stepped up to the mark. My former PA, Mairéad O'Shea, has been very much involved. The Minister of State met with her. Those people are doing a lot of work to encourage more women into local politics. Of course it is long past time that women had the entitlement to maternity leave. I hope this Bill will encourage more people. In my county of Roscommon the rate of female participation is about 22%. I acknowledge the female …

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I join the Leader and others in expressing condolences to our Army personnel and, in particular, to the family of Private Seán Rooney. It is very sad and even sadder coming up to Christmas. We hope the injured parties make a full recovery. I want to use my time to pay tribute to the Cathaoirleach and the way he has chaired the Seanad. A lot of fantastic work was done and the Seanad is in a far stronger position than it was. I join in the thanks expressed to Martin Groves, Bridget Doody and the other staff. They are…

I support the Acting Leader with regard to the Order of Business. I will speak about towns, villages and rural regeneration, an issue that is important to all politicians, especially councillors in every local authority region. We have seen another big investment by the Government today. The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Humphreys, has made an investment in excess of €27 million in the town and village programme up and down the country. It is good to see that a long-vacant building in Ballina…

I am not scheduled to speak but I know some of the people who have been appointed and I wish them well. They are incredible people and they have a job of work to do. That is all I want to say.

Like Senator Buttimer, I extend the fáilte ar ais go dtí an Teach seo to the Minister of State. She has been here on numerous occasions and I fully acknowledge that she is in touch with the situation and is doing her best to handle it. We do not get snow and frost in this country very often and when it happens it throws down a challenge. To be fair to everybody involved, we are not like countries that are dealing with these issues all the time. Having said that, we need to make sure the Dublin Airport Authority has…

I thank the Cathaoirleach for giving me a platform to raise this matter. I welcome the Minister of State. I thank him for the good work he is doing in the Department as part of the Government's programme. We appreciate it. The free school meals programme is outstanding. I compliment the Government, which has constantly acknowledged this. More schools will be in the programme from this year and there will be a significant increase in funding. In 2017, the figure was €47 million. In the most recent budget, €68.1 mill…

I welcome the response from the Minister of State. I am particularly glad he points out that this evaluation should be finished by the end of the year and that the cost factor in terms of the meals will be looked at because that is what is needed now. Again, I complement him on the work he does in that area. The funding is even more significant than I thought which is great news. As I have said, I spoke to one supplier last night and one or two others last week, and a few schools had contacted me as well. The cost …

I join Senator Kyne in complimenting the Cathaoirleach and all those who worked on yesterday's wonderful occasion. It was fascinating and fantastic. It was great to see so many former Senators back in Leinster House for the occasion. That was a nice touch. This is a significant week in terms of planning and development, as the Government is going to approve the planning and development Bill today. I hope it will move quickly into law. This should probably have been done years ago. The Bill is not being approved to …

The Minister of State is staying with us as we deal with the Committee and Remaining Stages of the Credit Union (Amendment) Bill 2022.

When is it proposed to take the next Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

When is it proposed to take Fifth Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

I welcome the Minister and commend him on his leadership in this area. He challenges us all at times in regard to the importance of our environment. In that regard, I join my colleagues and say again that the COP27 talks were a success. People question whether they were successful but when you get most of the world's nations coming together, meeting, discussing and acknowledging that we have a huge challenge on our hands in regard to the environment, that is success because at least people are recognising that ther…