I will talk a little about all of the celebrations all over the country yesterday for St. Patrick's Day. We are incredibly lucky that it is a feast day celebrated all around the world. People come together to celebrate Irish culture, music and tradition. Buildings in cities turned green. There were festivals. It is a day that highlights a sense of joy and community. It showcases the very best that we have in volunteers and in our community and sporting clubs. The parades I attended in Kildare were particularly good…

The Order of Business is No. 1, statements on Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union, to be taken at 11.45 a.m. and conclude at 1.15 p.m., if not previously concluded, with the time allocated to the opening remarks of the Minister not to exceed ten minutes, group spokespersons not to exceed eight minutes each, all other Senators not to exceed five minutes each and the Minister to be given no less than ten minutes to reply to the debate.

I thank the 13 Senators who contributed to the Order of Business. I also welcome our very important guests in the Gallery. Senator Fitzpatrick spoke about the horrific situation in Iran and the Middle East that we are watching unfold in front of our eyes and we are all very concerned about. Senator Fitzpatrick spoke about her concern, which we all share, about the ordinary citizens, the civilians, of Iran and the surrounding countries who are being impacted and, indeed, have been impacted for many decades. The Sena…

I extend my welcome to all our guests who are here. I also wish to be associated with the Cathaoirleach's kind words in relation to former Senator Tony McKenna, who has left an enduring legacy in education and inclusion. I offer my very deepest sympathy to his family and the Fianna Fáil family in Tipperary. Yesterday, I spoke about the horrific situation we saw over the last few days in the Middle East. It is good news that at least some flights are resuming today. Having been in touch with a number of people who w…

I live among women who are in poverty and who feel disenfranchised and disadvantaged. I hear their stories every day, and I am proud to represent them here today. The theme for International Women's Day this year is "Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls." There is another campaign with the theme "Give to Gain", which is really important in terms of what we can all do in order to bring other women along with us, empower them and give them a better life. Because it is International Women's Day, we obvious…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir Curley. I welcome the Minister here. We all appreciate the opportunity to speak about this important issue because, no more than those in the Dáil, many of us have addressed this over the last over week or two, both on the Order of Business and through Commencement matters. I always use the term "school communities" in talking about education because there are so many pieces to the jigsaw of the education of a young person. Of course, parents are the primary educators but the scho…

I thank the Cathaoirleach for choosing the Commencement matter today and I also thank the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, for coming to the Chamber to deal with it, which I greatly appreciate. Today is such a lovely day. It is dry and the skies are blue and we would be forgiven for forgetting all about the really bad weather we had at the start of the year with all of the rain. There is something in us Irish that we tend to be positive and not to look back. However, it is really important that we set everything up…

I acknowledge the OPW is funding two engineering staff in Kildare County Council to support delivery throughout the county. I accept it is not feasible to deliver all flood relief schemes concurrently due to constraints in relation to personnel, etc. However, I was very clear that I was looking for a timeline for Newbridge and the Minister of State did not give me this in his response. I ask him for that. I acknowledge he is saying the Government is committed to progressing the schemes under the NDP. I also mention…

The Minister of State has a pairing arrangement.

I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate it.

I add my voice to the welcome for the Bulgarian ambassador. I congratulate the Local Authority Members Association, LAMA, and its president, Damien Ryan, general secretary Brian Lawlor and executive. We had a really excellent evening on Saturday. A number of Fianna Fáil Senators and I were delighted to be there to support the local authority members from all around the country. It is the 20th year of the LAMA awards, the 40th year since the establishment of LAMA and the 100th year of IPB Insurance. As a result, the…

The Order of Business is No. 51, motion 1, regarding online safety, to be taken at 11.45 a.m. with the time allocated to this debate not to exceed two hours.

I hope the paper cuts will not last too long. If he wants to come to any of our offices, we will find similar work for him. I thank all of the Senators for their contributions. Senator Fitzpatrick greeted us with very positive news this morning, and it is always good to get positive news about positive affirmative actions that are making a difference in the lives of people. She spoke about the Taoiseach launching the ninth annual report of the north inner city task force in St. Agatha's Hall yesterday. This task fo…

I move: “That Seanad Éireann: recognises that: - we are at a pivotal moment in our digital transformation; - Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping how we live, how we work, and how we interact as a society; - Ireland has strong digital foundations with our well-established reputation as a digital hub, our exceptional talent base and our vibrant innovation ecosystem; - Digital Ireland – Connecting our People, Securing our Future sets out the Government’s ambition to 2030 to strengthen our position as a digital l…

Yes, Senator Curley and I will share time. The Minister of State, Deputy Collins, is very welcome to the Chamber. We really appreciate him being here. This is an important motion. We may have different views on this but we are all concerned about it. Another commitment we have to make - and our party, Fianna Fáil, is committed to it - is to make the online world safer for everybody, especially children and young people. Our children now are growing up online. It is not all bad. The Internet offers endless opportuni…

We have had a really good debate. It was very worthwhile to air all of the different views and opinions. The motion speaks for itself as it reads. There were very worthwhile contributions from those who wanted to go further, and from some who did not agree with everything that was in it. I take on board what the Minister of State has said about how the views will be reflected on. One thing is incredibly clear: we are all concerned about online safety and we want to do the best we can to ensure our young people are …

We were all shocked right across the country at the level of road deaths over the weekend, particularly the accident in Waterford that took the lives of Brian Frisby and Grace Elliott in such a shocking and immediate way. Brian and Grace lived in Naas with their sons Theo and Fionn. Grace was an SNA at Scoil Na Naomh Uilig in Newbridge and I was speaking to some members of the school community there this morning. They are obviously in complete shock and sadness so our very deepest sympathies go to Theo, Fionn and t…

I am not our spokesperson on defence. I leave that to my esteemed colleague, but, coming from Kildare and knowing many of my friends, neighbours and community members who are members of the Defence Forces, I always take the opportunity to speak on these issues, which are important not just to my county but to my country. I thank those who are in the service because we depend on them in a huge way. The last time I spoke about defence matters in the House was on 21 January when Fianna Fáil had its own motion on the D…

I propose we extend the debate by five minutes.

I add my voice to the Cathaoirleach's words of support for the people of Ukraine. It is always a pleasure to see and meet H.E. Larysa Gerasko. As the Cathaoirleach said, it is sad that we have to meet her so often and to think we have seen four long years of a war of aggression against a very fine, courageous and resilient people. I am thinking of all of those who are still living in Ukraine, those who have had to leave and, of course, all of those who have chosen to make Ireland their home. Last week, we saw the C…