I second the Order of Business. Members will remember my raising in the House the case of Mr. Pat Tinsley and his very difficult and debilitating disease, amyloidosis. I called for a debate on how the extra €50 million in the budget for battling rare diseases is being spent. This morning, Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan is launching a Bill that would address this matter. It is very similar to the Bill that former Deputy John Brassil introduced to the Dáil two years ago. It would reform the Health Service Executive's curr…

It is lovely to see Senator Flynn in the Chair. As we are approaching the recess, I wish her the very best of luck with her impending arrival in September. I, too, welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, to the House. When she was last here to address another Commencement matter I tabled on this issue, I was delighted. I noted at the time that July provision was to become summer provision and that the budget for summer provision had been increased. That is important. This provision is not a luxury for famili…

I thank the Minister of State for the response. As I said, I was delighted to note the increase in funding. I agree with the Minister of State on the need to remove barriers to encourage schools to take part and also in regard to the need for children to maintain connectivity with their places of education. However, at this point we need to move from the opt-in, opt-out model of summer provision. This is a vital community service and no State body, be that a school or otherwise, should be able to opt out of support…

As we know, the just transition objective is to fund innovative projects that contribute to the economic, social and environmental sustainability of those especially impacted by the move away from carbon. My county is impacted both with regard to employment and those who used the bog as a source of fuel for their homes. We were happy when Kildare was one of the counties where the retrofitting pilot project was to be rolled out. Eligible residents in four different parts of Kildare, in local authority estates, were …

I thank the Minister of State for his response. He mentioned the delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which are completely understandable. I accept his Department will engage with Kildare County Council on the matter. The Minister of State mentioned the 750 local authority homes in the midlands across the eight counties included in the programme. If a third of participants have dropped out, as we have seen in the area of Rathangan, then only 500 local authority homes will be part of the programme. The Minister o…

I congratulate the Cathaoirleach on the first anniversary of his election as Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann. He has served and represented all of us with great dignity. He has brought in innovative practices, in as much as he could during the Covid-19 period. I congratulate him on that and wish him well in the time ahead.

You are welcome. Kon'nichiwa . For those non-Japanese speakers of which I am one, that is basically “Hello, how are you?” in Japanese. That is to mark today which is the last day of the leaving certificate in 2021. Japanese is the last exam subject to be taken. It has been a difficult and arduous year for those leaving certificate students. They have shown terrific resilience throughout the last 18 months. They deserve not our gratitude, but our best wishes for what lies ahead of them. There are two important dates…

I say "Well done" to Senator Ruane. She is feeling the love. Senator Martin mentioned John Lonergan, who had a very enlightened view with regard to how we treat crime and prisoners. We need more voices such as his and, indeed, that of Senator Ruane.

It is a great pleasure to support this very worthy Bill. When we think of solar energy and the impact of having it in our schools throughout the country, what greater lesson and what greater leadership can we give our young people who, as we know, are often leaders in this area. It is a very strong statement in any community when we see public buildings, be they schools, Garda barracks, community centres or council offices, with solar panels. It is very much to be welcomed. Of course, planning permissions are neede…

The issue I bring to the attention of the Minister of State relates to the Teaching Council. A friend of mine contacted me about a month ago because of issues she was having registering with the Teaching Council. We had an interesting conversation. She then reached out to her peers and asked them to contact me about their experiences. To say that I was inundated with correspondence from teachers throughout the country is putting it mildly. They contacted me with problems, issues and challenges they have had with th…

I understand the reason for the Teaching Council and it is important it is efficient and effective. For the 109,000 teachers who are registered, there is a €65 fee, so there is quite a substantial amount of money going into the Teaching Council every year. However, the Teaching Council is not serving the teachers. I have a full file on those who have contacted me and that is just the tip of the iceberg in the issues they have had. I am sending that to the Minister for Education and I have also asked the Committee o…

I support the Order of Business as outlined by the Leader. Last week, we had world blood donation day. This is a very important day when we get to highlight the importance of blood donation and thank all of those who give blood. The theme was to give blood and keep the world beating. I want to highlight inequality and inequity in the system. At present in Ireland, gay men must abstain from sexual contact for a minimum of 12 months before they meet the criteria for donating blood. The same criteria do not apply to h…

As we are running short on time, I will not contribute, as I had intended. The final two speakers, Senators Paddy Burke and Aisling Dolan, have two minutes each.

I agree. I am not taking my speaking time.

Senator Burke did very well with his time.

I thank Senator Chambers for agreeing to share her time with me. I thank the Minister for being here, for listening to the positions we are putting to him and for the legislation itself. It is really important because the county development plan and indeed the local area plans are the blueprints for how we live our lives into future as they look at both the economic and the social side of how people live their lives. Building sustainable communities is hugely important in the sense of having a balance of residentia…

I support the Order of Business as outlined by the Leader. As we see the return of football, I commend the Kildare players on their terrific win against Meath yesterday. I am sure the Leader does not mind me saying it. I also congratulate the Kildare ladies who played against our other neighbours in Laois. This week is Men's Health Week. It is a week when we raise awareness of preventable men's issues. The theme for this week is making the connections - check in, check up and check it out. That is an important mess…

I welcome this debate and it is good to see that the Bill has been strengthened since its incarnation in 2019. I also pay tribute to my colleague, Senator Clifford-Lee, and Sonya Lennon who started the very good WorkEqual campaign in 2016 which certainly educated me and many others about this particular issue. Closing the gender pay gap is a priority for the Government and completely rightly so. It is estimated that at the current pace of change it would take 55 years to close the pay gap. That is quite shocking wh…

It gives me great pleasure to second the motion, which goes to the very heart of the party I am proud to represent, Fianna Fáil. It is a party that has done much work in providing homes and sustainable communities. We are in a crisis. The time we have spent here discussing housing in the past week shows that it is the most crucial issue we are dealing with and rightly so. Much of our time in the Dáil and the Seanad in recent years has been consumed by the Brexit and Covid-19 crises. We must completely redirect our …

I thank the Cathaoirleach. Today is Global Day of Parents when we celebrate parenthood. There is no doubt that over the last 15 months parents have had to learn a lot more about parenting, and homeschooling as parents, than they would have anticipated before. It is important parents at every level get as many supports as possible to help them on their journey. One of those areas is the Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill 2019 from the Department of Education. It has already gone through Committee Stage. We …