The Minister of State is welcome to the Chamber. I thank her for taking this Commencement matter. She will appreciate that it is quite a local issue, but one very close to her in Clonmel. The CBS High School in Clonmel is a wonderful school that provides education to secondary school boys in Clonmel. There are more than 700 students in the school, which is led by the principal, Karen Stenson, along with her staff. It has a brilliant reputation and is a fantastic school. The school has 700 students but does not have…

I thank the Minister of State. She took my line exactly. It is always good to have a connection to a school and her son taught there. The principal is from Ferrybank in Waterford so there is another connection that way. I will say, and the Minister touched on this herself, from the point the approval was made in February 2020 to the point when construction happens, we will have students in Clonmel who will have gone through CBS High School without ever seeing any construction from when it was announced. In my view,…

Most people are speaking, certainly on the Fine Gael benches, about their abiding memory of the former Taoiseach, John Bruton. My abiding memory is him speaking and giving an oration on 20 September 2000 at my mother's funeral. As the Deputy Leader remembers recently, and John would have remembered recently as well, at a funeral of a loved one you do not remember everything. He spoke eloquently, and it was very emotional but I cannot remember what he said because, when you go through grief, you just do not. I remem…

I was not here yesterday and did not get the opportunity to express my condolences on the death of former Senator and TD, John Connor, and I want to do that. He was elected to the Dáil on the same day as my mother and they were great friends over the years. He fluctuated between the Dáil and the Seanad, which is a real sign of someone who is well liked outside of these walls but also inside them. I wish to offer his family and friends and supporters at home my condolences. I ask that we have a debate with the Minis…

I welcome the Bill and thank the Minister of State and his officials for being here. It is technical legislation but important nonetheless. It is important it is done by 17 February to make sure we are in line with our colleagues in the European Union to be able to fight against some of the challenges in the digital world. As Senators Crowe and Byrne mentioned, it is now clear that some of those tech companies and social media companies are not able or certainly are not willing to regulate matters themselves. This …

The N24 road is the link road between Waterford city and Limerick.

I am raising it again because it is at a very key point in the process. The route was chosen a number of days ago. That has meant that the buffer zone that will happen with the planning of the new road has been reduced significantly to 300 m. That has been presented to the public and, obviously, there is concern with where the new road is going and whose land it is going through and things like that. It is a positive thing, however, and it is progressing along nicely.

We have succeeded. It has taken a long fight but I will now start another fight. It has not got funding to continue to design stage yet. That needs approval by the Minister for Transport. It needs to be prioritised as quickly as possible. As the Leader knows, that route is divided into two sections, one of which is from Limerick Junction to Cahir. That is in design stage at the moment and moving along well. However, the section from Cahir to Waterford is approximately one year behind it, essentially. We cannot have…

It is good to see such a factual contribution. When we talk about having contributions on other things, it just shows that when the facts are there, we can actually have a reasonable debate. I ask that we have a debate with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Simon Coveney, regarding business closures in the hospitality sector. Two restaurants in Tipperary town have closed in the past number of days. Prime74 and Flanagan's were two fantastic restaurants with huge reputations built up over a nu…

I join in everyone else in wishing all the staff here, including Martin and Bridget, a very happy Christmas. I also wish the Cathaoirleach a happy Christmas. It is almost a year since he started his role. I thank him for his courtesy and the way he treats us here. I am laughing after yesterday's intervention, but on reflection, I think he managed it very well. I also wish Tom Hickey well in his retirement. As most people have said, he has had a stellar career here of professionalism. I have known him outside of her…

On a point of order, I thought the Leader said in her contribution a few minutes ago that she was going to go to the Chief Whip to get an answer to Senator Kyne's question about sitting later. It seems that almost everyone present wants to sit later. Every point of order that has been raised can be clarified and answered by the Chief Whip or by the Leader. One of the reasons we were given for not being able to sit until 8 p.m. is that people have to put kids to bed. The Minister has two very young kids-----

-----and is willing to sit late.

Could we just get an answer?

Even though almost everyone wants to sit later because this is really important, we cannot do it because one person does not want to.

Does the Cathaoirleach not want to know who the Acting Leader is?

I am honestly asking. The Cathaoirleach says it is a matter for the Leader. Surely, he will want to know.

The Cathaoirleach is going to have to go to the Acting Leader to propose a suspension or to propose to move on.

Surely, the Cathaoirleach will want to know who the Acting Leader is?

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. I thank him for taking this important Commencement matter I have tabled. It relates to St. Anne's Secondary School in Tipperary town. I have two questions for the Minister of State. One relates to an application for additional space, essentially for an extension or new building for the students and the school. It is important. They have a lot of space in the area to build on. I was in the school recently with the principal, John Cullinane. The principal, staff and boa…

I thank the Minister of State for his response, much of which related to the capital funding for developments. That is important in the long term. In regard to his response on school meals, he said the Department is going to liaise with the school with respect to its application. I thank him for that. The principal himself is willing to meet with either the Minister for Education or the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys. Essentially it is a communication issue between both Departments. If, as the Min…