-----of €14,000. I suggest the Senator talks to Councillor Malone who was invited here tonight. He will confirm it because LAMA played a key role in increasing that. When we talk about actually wanting to do things to support councillors we need to recognise that over the past five or six years from previous Ministers, the Minister, Deputy Burke, and the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins at the moment, there has been more changes in support for councillors than ever before. That is not recognised by Senator Flynn's…

We will try to get the Senator back there.

I propose that we suspend the House until that vote is finished.

I gave a list of what has been done not what needs to be done.

There was an extensive list of what has been done.

The list was about what has been done.

I am delighted Senator Andrews said it was a long list.

On 24 January of this year, Storm Éowyn hit our shores and caused considerable devastation right across the country. If our incredible public servants, from gardaí and members of the Civil Defence to staff of the ESB and local authorities, had not been on the scene in the many affected counties to restore power and support people and communities at a very difficult time, things might have been very different. Local authorities, in particular, played a key role in putting money in place as quickly as possible to fun…

The Minister of State is very welcome to the Chamber. Ireland's whole-of-government circular economy strategy commits us to reducing waste, extending product lifespan and embedding reuse and recycling in every aspect of how we consume and do business. These are ambitious though necessary goals, but in reality our current system is being undermined by global e-commerce. Irish consumers now make more online purchases than almost any other nation in Europe, yet too many of those goods come in from distance sellers who…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. As he said during his contribution, it is important he recognises there is unfairness within the marketplace at the moment. Is it is possible to get further detail from the Minister's office on the legislative proposal that will be published next year? It is important we work with our EU market. This is essentially about fairness. We are talking about small and medium-sized businesses in Ireland that have a competitive disadvantage in relation to other businesses acro…

The Minister of State is very welcome. It is very important to have him here to outline the work that has been done in the area of overseas aid. Obviously, it is welcome that we are increasing our annual funding up to €840 million. Hopefully, over the lifetime of this Government, that money will continue to increase. It is important to have a debate for the benefit of the Irish public. We know that the money is going to overseas aid but many people do not really know where it is being spent, who is benefiting or wh…

Next Wednesday at 10.30 a.m.

I wish to be associated with the fine comments of Senator Kennelly in relation to the late Jim Finucane. He was an absolute gentleman and a pleasure to meet. As the Senator said, he did incredible work supporting Ukrainian citizens coming to Ireland initially. I extend my condolences to his family and friends. I ask that we have a debate with the Minister for housing on wastewater treatment. In Tipperary, we have ongoing problems with water quality and capacity. Huge investment is being made in Irish Water to build…

I will be very brief. I am just coming from the sports committee, so I am slightly out of breath. On a serious note, I wanted to speak on this really important debate. I welcome the Minister of State here. Post offices are the lifeblood of the community. I see that in Tipperary on a daily basis. I see the work they do and the support that they give to their communities. We have a very good post office in Cahir town. The postmaster there, Henry, does incredible work. Postmasters really appreciate what was done in th…

I am wrecked.

I am on the sports committee. I ran up the stairs.

I thank the Minister of State for being here this morning. I am looking for an update on conversations that have been happening with the European Commission on tariffs with America. As we are all aware, an agreement had been reached a number of weeks or months ago of a 15% tariff for the EU with America. There had been a certain level of fear that that might change for pharmaceuticals and the medtech sector. Thankfully we have got clarity that it will remain at 15% even though other countries seem to be up at 100%.…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. When the Tánaiste and our diplomats have discussions with the European Commission, I hope it takes on our concerns particularly in relation to medtech and pharmaceuticals. As the Minister of State said, there are still possibilities for lower tariffs in certain areas. Medtech is one that needs to be highlighted on behalf of Ireland. A lot of work has been done in the past ten years or so to try to develop our economy. We have built it into the fastest growing economy …

Before the Minister of State responds, I welcome guests of Deputy Edward Timmins from Wicklow - Annamoe, I believe. I hope they have an enjoyable day and I wish them well.

I, too, welcome the Speaker of the Parliament of Finland. Funnily, I was actually talking this morning to a Finnish citizen who lives in Ireland. She came back from Finland only yesterday. We are lucky to have her. I wish the delegates well on their visit. There was some very welcome news for my home county, Tipperary, this morning. Lonely Planet came out with its annual review of destinations to visit across the world and it recommended 25, including Botswana, Peru and Mexico. Tipperary was also on the list. This …