I will speak briefly as my colleagues have made the relevant and important points I was going to raise. Senator Currie raised very important points and I wish to acknowledge that the situation to which she referred is an issue for some people. I have received good reactions to the July stimulus initiative, including from small businesses. People need the support and help it will provide. I am sure the Minister of State has noticed in his constituency that small businesses are resolute about surviving and getting ou…

I want to raise the closing of the fire station in County Roscommon's second largest town, Castlerea. It has a population of about 2,000 people and is a very vibrant town with a strong local community. To say they are aghast at this announcement made by the CEO of Roscommon County Council last Monday is an understatement. The CEO said there was an adequate fire service to cover the area. In my view, taking fire services from a town the size of Castlerea is alarming. I have made my position known on this. I ask the …

I welcome the Minister and wish her well. I commend her on the work she did in her last Ministry. If we are to be fair here, with what has happened in this country, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection is a baptism of fire for the Minister as well. It is not simple or easy. I am constantly reminded that while we need to be fair and make sure people are treated as equal, we are in the middle of the greatest pandemic that any of us have ever seen and we do not know where it is going. We have to …

I can see I am loved by my colleagues. I sincerely wish the Minister well. I served in Dáil Éireann with her and chaired many a debate, and I found her very co-operative and fair. I think she will do a good job. I have known her brother very well for years but the Minister is catching up in terms of his wit and company. I wish her the very best of luck. As our time is limited, I will not go through the whole stimulus package, which contains a great deal. I return to the area of entertainers, many of whom are sole t…

I propose to share time with Senators Gallagher and Crowe. We will have approximately two minutes each.

I will do my best, although I will not be able to get in everything I want. Comhghairdeas to the Minister and I wish her well. As has already been said, she had a baptism of fire. There was some veiled criticism in the background but fair play to the Minister because she kept her head down and did not come out with half a statement. It is a credit to her and her team the way that she addressed this matter today and yesterday. I was very impressed listening to her on the way from Roscommon this morning when she was …

I apologise to my colleagues; I am not wearing a face mask because I have mislaid it but I have one on the way. I notice all of my colleagues are wearing one and I offer my sincere apologies. I want to tell the House a very short story.

When I came to the Oireachtas as a Deputy in 2016, I met many bright people, many new and old faces from politics and many staff. The same happened when I became a Member of the Seanad. One of the questions I was asked was where I was from. When I said I was from County Roscommon, what was the reply 70% of the time?

No. People said they had never been in County Roscommon, except to drive through it on the way to Westport. I will not spend my time speaking about Rooskey, the River Shannon, Lough Key, Arigna, Loughnanane Park and Slieve Bawn. I will use my slot to speak about tourism. I am very glad to see one of our colleagues, Senator McDowell, seeing the good fresh air and good people of Roscommon. He joins us there frequently but I know that because of the lockdown, he has not been able to spend as much time as usual with us…

Before the Order of Business is agreed, it was mentioned that the former Senator, Farrell McElgunn, had died. Perhaps the Leader would correspond with the McElgunn family in Carrick-on-Shannon along with the Brennan family.

I begin by expressing my sincere good wishes to the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, who has been a good friend in politics for many years and lives not far from me in the Longford-Westmeath constituency. He has always been a very good worker in the constituency and he did some tremendous work on the Front Bench for Fianna Fáil in recent times. I agree with Senator Bacik and others that this is, in effect, a technical Bill. We have to remember that we are dealing with the extraordinary situation of a pandemic and, q…

I will just take a few minutes to make some comments on the Bill. There is not much point in repeating much of what has already been said. First, I give the Minister my sincere good wishes. He has great enthusiasm for the job. They say nobody wants the job of Minister for Health. When in opposition, he was always enthusiastic and listened to people's point of view. He came up with some very good suggestions. Every minister for health in the world faces a major challenge at the moment in respect of the pandemic. We …

I want the House to reflect for a moment or two on another sad situation that occurred recently. I refer to the words of Dr. Samar Fatima Ali about her father, who worked in Tallaght University Hospital, Beaumont Hospital and the Mater Hospital. She stated in an RTÉ interview: There are no words for the pain that we are experiencing. We did not think that at such an age that we would experience this pain but our father has been incredibly selfless not only through this pandemic but his whole life ... It has been a …

I must say that the debate has been good from every side of the House. Some good points of view are being expressed and some genuine concerns are also being expressed right around the House. Like my Fianna Fáil colleagues, I welcome the legislation, which provides, as has been said, the largest credit guarantee in the history of the State. I welcome the Minister of State. I have no doubt he will give all his energies to ensuring this scheme is a success. As everyone knows, we are in a unique situation. We all know …

That is good. The Minister of State might give us an explanation of that role. The most important thing now is getting this legislation through the Houses and implementing it as quickly as possible. That is so important. We must move forward and help those businesses and the many small business people to whom I have spoken who are so determined to get back, to survive and to take back their employees. They want that helping hand from the State. This legislation and the stimulus package that will be announced this a…

I wish my colleague the best of luck in his new role in this Ministry. I have known Deputy Collins for several years, and I have gotten to know him particularly well over the past four or five years when I served with him in Dáil Éireann. It is acknowledged that he is a man of vision and of thinking outside of the box. I have no doubt rhetoric will not be involved here but it will be work and innovation. I agree with Senator McDowell in that it is important this Ministry will deliver. However, I find this announcem…

I fully support the sentiments expressed by Senator Black regarding people in the arts sector, particularly the music industry. She puts the case very well. Due to my past involvement with media and so on, I have been dealing with representatives of those groups over recent weeks. I do not mean to repeat everything Senator Black said, but we must remember that those people are definitely going to be at the very end of the line. That should be remembered. They are facing a very bleak autumn and winter so something n…

I sincerely congratulate the Minister on his appointment. I had the privilege of joining Dáil Éireann in 2016 and one of the greatest working relationships I had was with him. I come from a rural community where people often say that the Minister does not care about them. He does care about people. If I am not mistaken, he has a strong association with County Tipperary. I assure the House that the Minister would speak to any rural community he was asked to. To be quite honest, I want to stop the sense of "us and th…

I support the amendment, which widens the scope for communities in an appropriate way. Senator Higgins raised a very important point about communities and community projects. I am very much involved with the Lanesborough community as it is literally down the road from me. Every second household had a job with Bord na Móna or with the ESB. This is why I am so strongly committed on this. The real way to keep a community together is to create jobs. We do not want people going from the area and we do not want unemploym…

I will adhere to that request. I wish the Minister, Deputy Calleary, and the Ministers of State, Deputies Fleming and Chambers, the best of luck. I am sure none of my party colleagues would have liked to get the appointments in the way they did. To the Cowen family, I say that we all feel a certain sympathy for them. There is not a person in this House who does not feel sympathy for them, given the way this occurred. To Barry's wife and children, who have suffered enormous hurt, and I ask people to reflect on that,…