I thank the Cathaoirleach for giving us this opportunity to mark International Women's Day in the Chamber, and thank the Leader and the leaders of the different groups in the House for agreeing with that. I also thank the Cathaoirleach for inviting me, as chair of the Oireachtas Women's Caucus, to chair this session. As we gather in this Chamber to mark International Women's Day, we must thank all those who have gone before us and upon whose shoulders we stand. We remember Countess Constance Markievicz, the first w…

I thank the Minister. In the spirit of true co-operation and solidarity among female representatives, I thank Senator McGreehan for agreeing to swap her time allocation with Senator Chambers before the Brexit committee begins.

I thank Senator Craughwell, who was honest as always.

We are running very tight on time. I am very conscious that the Minister has to come in at 4.24 p.m. We are bound by the rules of the House. We have three remaining speakers and I am keen to let them in, but the only way for it to work is if speakers can shorten their contributions. Senator Ardagh is next. I ask her to shorten her contribution to two and a half minutes and then we will take Senators Currie and Clifford-Lee.

I am sorry, Senator.

I must cut the Senator off because the debate is already over time, and Senators Crowe and Martin did express a wish to speak but I told them that they could not. I call Senator Clifford-Lee and she has two minutes.

I thank everyone. We had to shave a little time off contributions during the past 20 minutes.

Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Aire go dtí an Teach. Is mór an onóir domsa a bheith ag caint i nGaeilge don chéad uair sa Teach seo mar gheall ar Sheachtain na Gaeilge. Ba mhaith liom cúpla focal a rá faoi Ghaelscoil Chill Dara agus Gaelcholáiste Chill Dara. Tá aithne agam ar na múinteoirí sna scoileanna sin agus molaim iad as a tiomantas agus grá dár dteanga dhúchais. Ba mhór agam cloisteáil na daoine óga ag caint faoin nGaeilge. D'fhoghlaim mé mo bheagán Gaeilge i nDaingean Uí Chúis sa teach tábhairne agus…

As somebody who rented for 16 years and who could have paid a mortgage during that time, I have great sympathy for those renting who do not have security of tenure or the security of knowing what their ongoing payments will be. Many people are in this category, including single people, couples and families. To an extent, they are living from month and month until the next rent review. Where challenges and issues exist within the rental sector, that leads to a certain amount of stress within households. It is also i…

I appreciate the opportunity to speak about the important issue of eating disorders. I mention that this is international eating disorders awareness week, a week providing information around eating disorders. I refer to the correlation with Covid-19 over the past 12 months. We are aware from a recently published article that sadly there has been a sharp increase in admissions for eating disorders during the Covid-19 pandemic in Ireland. Bodywhys has provided good information over the week and I recommend that anybo…

I acknowledge that the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, contacted me to apologise for not attending and to assure me of her commitment to this issue. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, for his response. It is good to hear that three more teams will be established this year. That is important because the longer a habit is established, the more it takes on a life of its own. Young people are finding their lives being taken over by this difficult disease. As such, early intervention is very important…

I thank the Labour Party and Senator Wall for bringing this important issue before the Oireachtas. Many of us have struggled with the issue of illegal dumping in our areas and the frustration of seeing repeat offenders not being prosecuted for destroying our lovely local environments. The Curragh plains is an area I have often spoken about in this House as the problem of illegal dumping there has been a major scourge for many years. I acknowledge, however, that the same activities are happening all over my county a…

Well done to Michael for sending that to the Senator. I completely agree with Senator Carrigy, in particular in regard to horticultural peat. The Minister of State has four minutes to respond.

I thank the Minister of State. We are ending on a positive note.

Today is the start of local enterprise week. I pay tribute to Jacqui McNabb and her team in Kildare, who have been doing amazing work, pre-Covid and during Covid, in supporting our local businesses and helping them through this difficult time. Not so Bank of Ireland. We had the devastating news this morning that branches in Kilcullen and Monasterevin are to close in these two vibrant small rural towns, which are on the cusp of really good things. That really goes against what we were speaking about over the last fe…

I support the Order of Business as read out by the Leader. There are a number of points that I wish to raise. The Kerry Group, as we know, is a company that prides itself on its Irish heritage, from its modest beginnings as a dairy co-operative in Kerry to how it has always stayed close to our food heritage and to its roots. The Kerry Group has also benefited significantly from project support from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment through Enterprise Ireland. We were all very excited a number of ye…

I thank the Minister of State for being here to engage on this important topic. While level 5 restrictions have caused all sorts of issues and challenges for our economy, it has been particularly difficult in the aviation sector and for those employed in it. Many years ago, a job with an airline was always thought to be the best one could get. My aunt was one of the first Aer Lingus air hostesses. As a child growing up, it was the most glamorous job anyone could have. There was always excitement when one knew someb…

I welcome the almost €20 million that Kildare received this morning in respect of much-needed bridge rehabilitation and road works. I wish to refer to a report that we received recently from Bainne Beatha on a breast is best policy and examining ways in which Irish breastfeeding support services could be improved. Reading the report was interesting. According to it, Irish maternity hospitals have not fully implemented the 2016-26 national maternity strategy or the HSE's 2016-21 breastfeeding action plan. A study pu…

Yes.

I second the proposal.