I want to talk today about something that has come up here a couple of times in relation to swimming, swimming pools and swimming lessons for our young people. Swim Ireland recently launched a report about the provision of swimming pools in Ireland. This is something I know Swim Ireland has been working on for a good few years. It has done an inventory and looked at the provision of swimming pools in Ireland. Unfortunately, at the moment there is one swimming pool for every 81,000 people in Ireland compared to, say…

I want to talk about a place I visited last week. It is a new residential hub in Inchicore village called Richmond Place. We have 68 new neighbours in Inchicore in Richmond Place. It is a great facility. It is a pilot programme that has been in the making for years between the HSE and local government and it is funded by the Government as well. The Minister of State, Deputy Kieran O'Donnell, was out and we met all of the residents who have moved in there in the past couple of weeks. These are older people. Some of …

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. Nach iontach an rud é gur beirt bhan iad an tAire Stáit, an Teachta Higgins, agus an Cathaoirleach Gníomhach, an Seanadóir Rabbitte, agus muid ag plé Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan. I am going to use my few minutes to raise the issue of women in sport. I feel a responsibility to do it. I probably sound like a broken record at this point but we have to keep talking about the agendas that we want to push in the Oireachtas. There is a theme for the International Women's Day and there is …

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as teacht chuig an Seanad inniu. I welcome her to Seanad Éireann. As she may be aware - I know she is because she put up a video on social media - last Saturday, 28 February marked rare disease day. It was very welcome to see Leinster House lit up in the colours of blue, pink and green in acknowledgement of this important day. While we mark and acknowledge rare disease day, it must not be lost on us that such diseases are not in fact so rare. That is something the Minister has pointed …

I know how busy the Minister is and I appreciate her coming to the Seanad today with that update. The 180-day target is obviously a huge improvement on the 710 days, and even an improvement on European best practice. When does the Minister expect that to be met? It is very easy for us to forget, when we are talking about these figures and price agreements, that a lot of the time we are talking about children, because a lot of rare diseases will present in childhood. The unpredictable nature of these reimbursement p…

Tá fáilte roimh an Aire. Nach iontach an rud é go bhfuil an díospóireacht seo ar bun againn go hiomlán trí mheán na Gaeilge? Cuirim fáilte roimhe sin. Tá Gaeilge an Seanadóra Noonan go breá ar fad agus ba chóir dó leanúint ar aghaidh á húsáid. Aontaím leis go bhfuil athbheochan ar bun faoi láthair leis an nGaeilge, agus is iontach an rud é sin. Tá sé sin le feiscint i bhfianaise an chlú agus cáile atá ar an scannán "An Cailín Ciúin", an podchraoladh "How to Gael" agus fiú an grúpa ceoil Kneecap. Cé cur ceart dúinn …

I put on record my dissatisfaction, disappointment and shock regarding the news concerning the planned neonatal unit at the Rotunda. I know it has been spoken about quite a bit in this Chamber but the more voices are raised, the better. This is not a political issue; it is a human issue. I wrote of a letter of support for the application and met the master of the hospital, Professor Sean Daly, in September or October of last year, as did lots of people. Letters of support were written. This application was meticulo…

I promise it will not take me longer than that. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Gabhaim buíochas leis as ucht a bheith anseo. Molaim an obair atá déanta ag an Seanadóir Harmon ar an mBille seo. Is saothar suntasach é agus leagann sé béim ar an dualgas atá orainn mar reachtóirí iad siúd atá ag obair sa chóras oideachais a chosaint ó dhíobháil, bíodh sé d'aon ghnó nó ná bíodh. I commend Senator Harmon on her work on the Bill. She is supported by Senators Stephenson, Noonan and Cosgrove. I also welcome Sophie Cole …

I thank the Minister for sport, Deputy O'Donovan, for coming to Crumlin last week. This is not just a "thank you" to him; it is also an acknowledgement that in 14 or 15 years living in Crumlin, I do not remember previously seeing a Minister for sports around those parts. I am very grateful he came out at my request last week. It is really important that the voices of sportspeople in Crumlin and Drimnagh are heard. As I mentioned previously in this Chamber, the biggest issue in regard to sport in the area concerns p…

I thank the Minister of State for being here to take this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy O'Brien. It is good timing. We have another set of residents of Chapelizod and other parts of Dublin protesting outside Leinster House today. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, agreed with Deputy Cummins last Thursday in the Dáil that they should not have to, but I will tell the Minister of State why they are here again today. Hopefully, we can get to the bottom of it and get some movem…

I know this is not the Minister of State's portfolio and I appreciate her taking the Commencement matter, but I am really disappointed. I printed something this morning because I was afraid that what just happened might happen. The Minister of State has read, word for word, what was said by a Minister in the Dáil last week in response to questions from Deputy Jen Cummins on the 80 bus route. This means that the feedback, fixes and implementation the NTA says it wants to identify and hear about from public represent…

It is unreasonable.

I thank the Minister of State.

Over the last several weeks, I have had the pleasure of hosting two transition year students, Kate and Saoirse, as interns in my office. During their time at Leinster House, they have been learning about the purpose and functions of the Houses of the Oireachtas including the differences between the Dáil and Seanad Éireann and the role of the Government. They have provided administrative assistance in my office and learned about the workings of a political office and the different workflows in political life such as…

I want to talk about a campaign that Members will have seen in the media recently about the buses connecting the part of the city in which Chapelizod is located with the city centre. I invite the Minister to come to the House to explain what is going on with the National Transport Authority, NTA, in the context of how it is either communicating or not communicating with the communities in Chapelizod, Islandbridge and Palmerstown. There was a time when six bus routes ran through the village, but because of BusConnec…

I thank the Minister of State for all her work. As she said, she has worked on this for four, five or six years. Everybody in this Chamber acknowledges that and we thank her for it. As the Senator said, everybody who is here cares about this legislation and the people who will be impacted by it. As others have said, this is not a personal thing, but I want to go on the record about the dual diagnosis piece and the lack of understanding, from my reading of it. I look forward to the Minister of State's comments on it…

I want to return to the amendments on dual diagnosis. We cannot trip up over language. This cannot be a debate about semantics. If "dual diagnosis" is the wrong term, then find a new term. The Minister of State said that people who presented with mental health problems were being treated for their mental health problems, but we cannot separate the two in these instances. It is really specific and does not apply to a dual diagnosis of a severe learning disability, ADHD or addiction. I do not care if people want to c…

I thank the Minister of State for being here to take this matter. Given that she is not based in the Department to which it relates, I really appreciate her being here. I want to raise awareness of what I and others believe is an undeclared public health issue that needs to be made the subject of a legal and policy framework as a matter of urgency. Every day in Ireland, tens of thousands of people of all ages manage the risks of living with food allergies. The constant threat of accidental exposure shapes their cho…

I have the rest of the written response, which I will go through later. I want to reflect on some of what the Minister of State has said. It is really disappointing that there is no plan to roll out OIT in Ireland. The average cost per year for an allergy sufferer is €1,600; this has been worked out and many people have done research on it. The OIT cost would be €4,000 per year, but it would be finite and would only have to be done for a couple of years. The cost per year would disappear or be significantly reduced…

I thank the Minister of State for being here. He has had a busy day in the Seanad today and we appreciate that. I support this Bill, the Irish Film Board Amendment Bill 2025. It is, as the Minister of State says, a very technical Bill, but also crucial to the sustained support of the audio, visual and film industry in Ireland. Essentially, it raises the ceiling on the total cumulative amount that Screen Ireland can invest in the making of Irish films and training in all aspects of film-making, from that €500 millio…