I will second the amendment.

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber and wish him and his family a happy Christmas. I hope he gets a chance to rest over the Christmas period. Electricity is an essential service that every household and business in this country relies on every day. That is why decisions around electricity pricing, network investment and charges on consumers must be rooted not only in technical necessity but in common sense. In the coming year, electricity customers in Ireland will see increased costs of up to €1.75 per m…

I thank the Minister of State. I will look into the network repair guarantee. This Commencement matter was timely because it is highly likely that before this House sits again, a lot of my constituents and other constituents across the west will have experienced some outages due to storms that may come. Considering that we did not deliver the guidelines for corridors in forestry this year, which led to a lot of power outages, I had to come to the House and ask for some measure to support constituents during outages…

I, too, would like to be associated with the seasons greetings to all of the staff of Leinster House and the Seanad. There was a moment when Senator Andrews was giving out his greetings that I thought he was about to extend them to Government Members. I would like to send greetings to everybody in this House. One of the first times my name was mentioned in this particular House was in relation to safe routes to school. I believe it was Senator Ahearn who raised it when I was looking for access for some local school…

Since I came to the Seanad in February, I have brought up the need for apprenticeships almost monthly. I was delighted to read that the Minister of State with responsibility for apprenticeships, Deputy Harkin, raised a point recently in the Dáil to say that an increase in the number of construction workers was the only way Ireland would meet its optimistic housing targets and an increase in apprenticeships was essential for achieving and developing our renewable energy. I have constantly called the Minister, Deputy…

Last week I called for a debate on the trend of small towns and villages losing financial services. It was covered in local media at the weekend and that resulted in one of the institutes I mentioned, the credit union in Elphin, getting in touch with me. It is closing down the service it was providing in Elphin. That is based on trends it is looking at but the closure still deserves inclusion in a debate in this House. A number of the credit union's members use its online services and a number use services in other…

The Minister of State is welcome. He has answered more of my Commencement matters than anybody else this year. If the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, had been appointed sooner, he would be up there with the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan. I thank him for that. The local development levy waiver scheme has been one of the most effective measures introduced to support people to begin building at a time of rising cost and uncertainty. It formed part of a wider suite of actions that helped to deliver housing co…

I thank the Minister of State. The number is small. In my own local authority I believe there is a maximum of 40 applicants. Considering this scheme has benefited over 60,000 people, it has done what it was created to do. I understand it was created as a temporary measure. It was designed and introduced to make building viable. Under facilitating investment and addressing viability, the programme for Government that the Minister of State and I, and all my colleagues, signed up for commits to measures such as develo…

Single.

I call for a debate on the wider trend of small towns losing essential financial services facilities. In the recent budget, additional funding was provided for An Post, which was very much appreciated. We have all received correspondence following that. We had a recent debate in this House on the provision of access to cash to try to ensure that those in predominantly rural areas will be served by and have access to these facilities. Despite that, I read last week that the credit union in Elphin in north-west Rosco…

It is the only light.

The Vision Zero project aims to eliminate road deaths by 2050. We are coming into the time of year when, unfortunately, there are a lot more road crashes and fatalities. Mary Ward's name was etched into history back in 1869 when her death in Ireland was recorded as the first road fatality in the world. The explanation in the record was "road death". Since then, we have had a long litany of such deaths. We need a debate in this House, not just about highlighting visibility and small measures but looking also at the …

I highlight the great work of our fire services nationally, both the full-time and the part-time services that support our communities all over the country. At the same time, I highlight the recent National Oversight and Audit Commission, NOAC, report. NOAC evaluates all of the local authorities and looks at their spending. I highlight the disparity across the country in what is being spent on fire services and in the service that is provided. Based on the 2024 figures, the average cost per capita is €74.85. Howeve…

Now.

I welcome the Minister of State. I compliment my colleagues Senators Boyle and O'Donovan for leading on the motion. I will not, like Senator Paul Daly, say that I am on a coastline or anything like that. I am a County Roscommon man but I understand the impact of certain sectors on rural communities, and I do not believe it is too late to be making changes. Looking back, we can always think of a time when it might have been a better decision but the next best time is right now, and that is what this motion is leadin…

The Minister of State is very welcome to the Chamber. I wish her the very best of luck in her new role. I congratulate her on that. She has always been a great supporter of this Chamber and someone who has always shown up. We hope we can rely on her to do the same in the future. I hope she does not forget her Roscommon roots if there are ever any favours I need called in as well. Inclusion does not begin in the workplace; it begins in early childhood. If we are to be serious about building an inclusive society then…

I thank the Minister of State. In relation to the AIM programme, 69% of participants saw an improvement in peer interaction and more than 95% of providers reported a positive impact on inclusion. That is what we want to see. I did, however, highlight that in some cases parents of children with additional needs are paying more and receiving less. That is an anomaly that we cannot stand over and one that we need to address. In my first call, I asked that the review include AIM's flexibility, so that the Minister woul…

This morning I raised the issue of access and inclusion in child care as a Commencement matter with the Minister for children, Deputy Foley. Unfortunately, the Minister was not able to attend. However, following that, the Cathaoirleach of Roscommon County Council, Councillor Liam Callaghan, was in touch with me. He raised the issue of the Boyle community childcare committee. The latest census, in 2022, highlighted the fact that 175 children living in the Boyle urban area were under the age of four. Out of 63 childc…

I was going to sing, but I was beaten to it. I wish to be associated with the well-wishes to Senator Wilson. I also support the call for a debate in this House on the national cancer strategy. We were at a good discussion this morning, and with the current strategy coming to an end next year, it is timely we have an opportunity to debate it in this House. I am hearing more and more stories of UK-branded vapes being sold in Ireland. A lot of them are being sold across the counter and a lot on street corners. While i…

Sing.