I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to take this important matter. This is slightly off topic, if the Chair will allow me, but I wish to thank him for the announcement this week on the built heritage investment scheme. He has given €10,000 to Knocklofty House in my parish. He met the group Save Knocklofty House. He committed to supporting it and he has now done that. On behalf of the people involved, who are very grateful, they wanted me to thank the Minister of State for supporting them. This wil…

I thank the Minister of State for his response . I agree with him. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine should play a greater role in this. The Irish Farmers Association, IFA, has taken this onboard in Tipperary. We have very good members in the gun club, including Pat O'Sullivan, who I mentioned earlier, Robert Phelan and Brendan McGill. There are almost 100 members and they do incredible and fantastic work. If a body is set up, perhaps the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine would take a …

I also welcome the announcement of extra hours for home help for people with dementia. I agree with what loads of people said today. I only have a minute and a half to speak so I will focus on one topic in terms of home help and carers. The work they provide is phenomenal. I have seen it myself. My uncle passed away last year from dementia and the care he received was phenomenal. We need more people, however. We need more carers and people working in that sector. I am the spokesperson on enterprise and trade, and o…

I second Senator Malcolm Byrne's motion to invite President Zelenskyy to address this House and the Lower House. It would be a very useful exercise. I wish everyone a very happy International Women's Day. Last year, as colleagues might remember, we were in the Dáil Chamber and I had an opportunity to read an extract from a book published last year that had a speech my mother gave in the Dáil. I read it with great pride. This year, when we talk about women and International Women's Day, I cannot help but think about…

Now.

I thank the Minister of State for being here this evening. I thank him and his Department for all the supports that have been put in place for businesses right across the country throughout the past two years. The work the Minister of State's Department has done has been greatly appreciated and acknowledged from an employer and employee perspective. This is an element of something that happens after the fact of Covid-19, which we acknowledge needs to be rectified. As the Minister of State said, it is an important B…

Next Tuesday.

Tomorrow at 10:30 a.m.

I have just come from a committee. I am getting a number of calls from sports clubs in Tipperary eagerly awaiting confirmation of the funding announced by the Minister of State, Deputy Jack Chambers, two weeks ago. We rang clubs to let them know the good news that Tipperary got €7 million in funding, an incredible increase from the previous figure of €1.5 million. The sports clubs have been waiting since October or November, expecting an announcement, and we have gone past February. They are thrilled they are getti…

Tomorrow at 10.30 a.m.

I normally ask for a Minister to do something, but I will be different this time. I want to thank a couple of Ministers. Yesterday there was an announcement in County Tipperary of the go-ahead for Fethard primary care centre. Members will be aware I have brought this up a number of times in the Seanad and I tabled this as a Commencement matter. It is a very important primary care centre for Fethard, Killenaule and Mullinahone. I know all the GPs are delighted, as I met them yesterday. The community as a whole is de…

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. I have been listening to debates in this Chamber for over a year and a half and I have heard some strange comments in that time but I struggle to think of a more daft comment than what I have heard from one Senator tonight. I do not know if the Minister was here when it was said. The question was put as to whether Ireland is on Russia's side. These sorts of comments are infuriating when we are trying to have a conversation about supporting and protecting a vulnerable country. …

Yes. If Ukrainian citizens who are also Irish citizens want to leave Ukraine but are male and aged between 18 and 60, how does the Irish State deal with that? I listened today to Ms Adi Roche, who is from Clonmel and an expert in matters relating to Chernobyl in Ukraine. She said Ireland will never leave people behind when it comes to humanity and protecting people. I commend the Minister and the European Union on the work they are doing with this.

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber and thank him for taking this Commencement matter. It is appreciated. Many good people work in local authorities. They are very proud to work in them and they give great service to the State. When negative comments are made, either in these Houses or elsewhere, about local authorities and public servants and what they do, it tarnishes all those who work in the public service. I have spoken to a number of people working at different levels in local authorities across th…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. He is correct that the work of the staff of Tipperary County Council during the pandemic has been phenomenal. They are very much to be credited for that. The Minister of State made the good point that local authorities already have shared services. My argument is that what I propose should be part of these. If you ask chief executives privately, they will tell you they do not want to be dealing with the sorts of staffing issues in question. They are best placed to und…

I follow on from the comments of Senators regarding the shocking news of what is happening in Ukraine. I express my solidarity to the people of Ukraine on what they are going through. It has been a difficult number of weeks but today is different from the events of recent weeks because it is actually happening. People's lives have been drastically changed in the past 24 hours. I have raised the issue of the N24 on numerous occasions in this House. The construction of a new road between Waterford and Limerick was re…

This was committed to in the national development plan last October. One cannot just change one's mind overnight but tell no one about it, with Oireachtas Members finding out about it in an email a week before Christmas. That is not the way government performs and it is not the way the Green Party should be treating us in government. This is a really significant investment in the area and the decision needs to be reversed before the end of the month.

I thank all the MEPs for their contributions. It has been a very worthwhile discussion. To follow on from what Senator Malcolm Byrne said, I ask that they call out some of their colleagues, who went a different route in terms of supporting Russia and others. I was at the launch of a regional enterprise plan last Friday for the mid-west region of Tipperary, Clare and Limerick. The region has recorded the highest employment growth in the country. I think it was more than 13%, which is very positive. They spoke about …

I welcome the three young McGreehans to Seanad Éireann today. They should be very proud of their mother. From looking at them and how well behaved they are, I think Fianna Fáil will be well represented in Louth for the years to come. The town and village renewal scheme is an important scheme for towns and villages in my county of Tipperary. It is part of a number of schemes in the Department of Rural and Community Development, which is a Department that was set up by the Fine Gael Party in 2016. It benefits rural a…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, and thank her for taking this Commencement matter. I understand that the Tánaiste is abroad. I thank him, his staff and the Minister of State, Deputy English. While I wish to discuss the frustration among employers and people who are coming to the country with the work permit system, it is first important to acknowledge that the Tánaiste and the Minister of State, Deputy English, are committed to solving this problem. They have a plan in place as well as people who …