I compliment Senator Craughwell on that particular point. One of the beauties of this House is our ability to raise a particular topic and raise awareness of it. When it comes from lived experience, Helen's legacy could be simplifying that process to future people who experience it. It is an important thing to raise in this House. I compliment the Senator on that. Last week, I met with an individual who is a recipient of disability allowance. They are supported by our disability services and were talking to me abou…

The Minister of State is welcome. I too acknowledge Senators Ní Chuilinn and Harmon for bringing this motion before the House today. It is very timely. It is a very important issue to raise. All of the Oireachtas committees always do great work. The publication of reports with recommendations is really at the core of the work we do in this House. It is where we do not have the theatrics of the Chambers or the influence of social media. It is where people sit down to discuss the issues and see what recommendations t…

I too was not available yesterday but I would like to be associated with the condolences to Senator Craughwell on the passing of his wife Helen. May she rest in peace. There are a number of issues I would like to raise. I could talk about the ongoing difficulties with school transport, the serious concerns across rural Ireland about synthetic and semi-synthetic cannabinoid vapes and the pressures on our National Educational Psychological Service, especially the lack of an educational psychologist available to schoo…

The Minister is very welcome here this evening. I welcome the opportunity to speak on childcare. I commend my Government colleagues on bringing this motion to the House today because we have to be fair about where we are right now. There has been real progress. There has been record investment. The national childcare scheme has reduced costs for families. Average out-of-pocket childcare costs are down 36% since 2022. Budget 2026 provided almost €1.5 billion for early learning and childcare while core funding for 20…

I am shocked to hear that.

At 9.30 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Can we reset the clock? I will start by mentioning the "parents notify" portal on the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, website for special classes and special places, which has a deadline of 1 September. The whole principle of the early notification this year is to determine demand, plan ahead and provide the special class places and special classes for 2027-28. To clarify for people, the portal is open 12 months of the year but the deadline is to allow the NCSE to plan and prepare a budget. The additi…

I welcome the Acting Leader to his new role and wish him well with that. I will refer to a report that appeared in our local paper this morning. Local councillor, Micheál Frain, from Ballaghaderreen, County Roscommon, is calling for a 24-7 staffed Garda station in Ballaghaderreen due to an increased amount of antisocial behaviour, including reports of people with e-scooters on paths and loud music at night. There is no presence in the community on a regular basis when these situations present themselves. It highlig…

I welcome the Minister to the House. Like so many of the previous speakers, it would be disingenuous of me not to concede I agree with some of the points in the motion. However, having read the countermotion and having benefited significantly from the Our Rural Future policy in the past and looking forward to its future iterations, I note that none of the speakers so far have mentioned that budget 2026 was the largest the Department Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht has ever had. There was €611 mill…

I too wish to be associated with the welcoming of the deputy head of mission from the French Embassy. I wish him a happy Bastille Day and the best of luck tonight. I am not going to be as blatant and pick a side before the game, but it is hard to go against France on a night like tonight. I also acknowledge a colleague from Roscommon, Dympna Daly-Finn, who is in the Gallery. I welcome her to the House. She is a guest of Deputy Clendennen. I am calling for a debate in the House on the regional spatial and economic s…

The Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, is very welcome to the Chamber this morning. I welcome Ireland's first national financial literacy strategy and the recent publication of the first annual review and action plan for the period 2026 to 2027. It is a comprehensive piece of work and demonstrates that the Government recognises that financial literacy is no longer simply about understanding money. It is about consumer protection, financial literacy and confidence throughout every stage of people's lives. I also welc…

I thank the Minister of State for her detailed answer. I acknowledge the progress that has been made and our position in second place, but as she said herself, we need to avoid complacency. The Central Bank reported last year that €160 million worth of fraudulent payments were made in Ireland in 2024 alone. That is a 24.5% increase on the previous year, while the volume of fraud increases by 40%. That message is replicated by what I hear from gardaí all across the country as well. In my own county of Roscommon, a c…

The Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, was in the House yesterday talking about the Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Bill 2026. The discussion suggested that removing the cap for our national airport would have a detrimental effect on a lot of our regional airports. The Minister made a very good point that it would increase capacity in our areas and the numbers are showing that already, and hopefully will continue to do so. While the Minister was in the Chamber, a press release came out that €2.3 mi…

I wish to discuss accessibility in our towns and villages. On 29 May 2026 we had Make Way Day, which was the day when historically our local authorities go out with a number of organisations led by Disability Ireland to highlight the lack of accessibility around many of our towns and villages. I have raised this issue a number of times before but I do not believe it is being looked after properly. The NTA is predominantly responsible for funding this within the local authorities. We look at such issues as tactile p…

Yes, the Senator did start it, but we may as well all get the promotions done. It is a great opportunity to promote.

When people are finished in Rush they might come and see the wonderful offerings we have in Roscommon. I wish the very best of luck to all the voluntary committees that have put extensive work into that.

I move: "That Committee Stage be taken now".

I want to speak on the amendment relating to a report on regional development. Supporting this Bill should not in any way be interpreted as going against balanced regional development or supporting our regional airports. Like a lot of rural representatives in this House, I have regularly spoken about Shannon, Cork, Knock, Donegal and Kerry airports and how important their role is in bringing people, business and industry to our country. They support tourism, indigenous enterprise, inward investment and employment t…

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. I commend Senator Mullen on this Bill on online age verification. It comes at a very good time. I know the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, has this as a key priority for the Presidency of the European Council. My colleague, Deputy Kiera Keogh, has done an awful lot of work in this particular area, along with the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport. All of that work must be complimented. All of the previous speakers have spoken abou…

We often talk about engaging with kids and meeting kids where they are but, unfortunately, these media companies and these vultures that deal in this particular area are also trying to meet kids where they are and they are adapting every day. As a member of the AI committee, I am very enthused by the opportunity that artificial intelligence is going to bring to us across health and so many sectors like enterprise and research. The opportunities it presents are immense but there is also the dark side to all of this.…