I thank the Minister of State for being present for this debate. I acknowledge the work done by Senators Ruane and Higgins on the Bill and the Minister of State's constructive engagement on it, which Senator Higgins acknowledged. Like Senator Murphy, I agree with the Government's proposal of a 12-month timed amendment. It would give us an opportunity to discuss this more. I think a great many of us agree with the spirit of the Bill of driving the reduction in the level of greenhouse gas emissions by companies and p…

This Friday is Black Friday, which promotes a huge amount of Christmas shopping, predominantly done online. We see today promotions about buying on Black Friday and they will get greater and greater in number over the coming days. It is the day on which you can get products cheapest, supposedly. If there was ever a year when we should try to promote local shopping, it is this year. The Government has supported businesses throughout the pandemic, over the past 18 months and longer, but there is no greater support th…

I echo the comments made by Senator Keogan in respect of encouraging people to get into foster care. I had an opportunity to meet many foster families in Tipperary when I was a councillor. The work they do is incredible and the love and support they give to these kids is phenomenal. The Senator does a great deal of excellent work in that field and I support her call. I ask that the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, be invited to the Chamber at some point to speak about cycleways and walkways around the cou…

I will indeed. I thank the Minister of State for being here and taking this important question on the support the State needs to give to people going through IVF treatment. I brought it up for a couple of reasons. It is very important and we, as a Government, have made a commitment to the people in this State to support them through IVF treatment, just as other EU countries do. The Bill brought forward is called the assisted human reproduction Bill 2017. We are one month away from 2022. Time is not on people's side…

I thank the Minister of State for her response. I agree with her there are other things we can also do, as time is of the essence in addressing this issue. The quicker somebody finds out that they need treatment, the better. When women get a standard medical, they could get a blood test to assess their ovarian reserve, known as an anti-Müllerian hormone, AMH, test. It costs an extra €80 because it has to go to a different facility to be tested. The State should support that. That would mean a woman could find out m…

I ask for some clarity for childcare providers. When there was a Covid outbreak in their facilities a number of months ago, before September, they would have a contact within the HSE to call to do contact tracing and get advice on what to do with the management of their facility. Childcare providers are being treated like schools in that there is no more contact tracing. I disagree with that, but that is the decision which has been made. The problem childcare providers now have is they are not getting any advice fr…

I welcome the Minister of State and thank her for taking the debate. I know she treats this issue with the same importance as everyone else. I want to acknowledge that. I thank her for coming back from her trip to COP26, which I hope went well for her and for the Department. To follow on from other speakers, I want to share the frustration that farmers and others in the sector have in terms of the process and the licensing delays. I listened to the Minister of State's speech and she is correct to say things have im…

Yes.

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. She is always welcome and I thank her and the Cathaoirleach for facilitating this debate. I am raising this issue because the Minister of State will remember that a couple of weeks ago there was a lot of controversy about the continuation of the Covid digital certificate and the recommendations being brought in by the Government. The issue that seemed to upset some people was the continuation of the Covid digital certificate. My question is how successful that digital…

I thank the Minister of State. The question is fairly simple and the Department might be able to respond to it. The key figure I am seeking is how many first doses have been administered since 19 October, as this would give an indication of how many people have been vaccinated since the announcement. How many people took a first dose in the two weeks prior to 19 October, as it would indicate the percentage increase of people who have taken a first dose? This could strengthen the Government's case for how it takes d…

Following on from the contributions of others, I also wish to mark the sad passing of Austin Currie. I pass on my condolences, as others have done, to Emer and the whole Currie family on their sad and sudden loss. I spoke to Emer this morning and she asked me to pass on her appreciation to everyone who has contacted her and the family. It is a great source of strength to them at this time. Mr. Currie was elected in 1989, the same day as my mother. They were very good friends and Emer and I often joke about how we, …

I have a young fella at home and he kicked a ball for the first time last weekend, so I support the previous comments. He is a future corner forward for Tipperary. Given the way Meath is performing at the moment, it would provide a good training session for him before the championship starts. On a serious note, I ask that the Leader get an update from the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Butler, on the proposed Fethard primary care centre. I brought this up as a Commencement matter last May. In…

I agree with many of the points made by Senators Craughwell and Malcolm Byrne on protests and the abuse that many people get. This issue affects not just politicians but also many other people who work in very important roles and do what is not just very important but also what is very good. Will the Leader get an update from the Minister of State with responsibility for sport on sports capital grants? We had an announcement in early August with regard to the equipment side of sports capital grants and this was hug…

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber and thank him for taking this Commencement matter. Agriculture has been in the news for the past number of days, or even weeks at this stage. I welcome the climate change COP26 meeting that is taking place in Glasgow, Scotland. I know the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Martin Heydon, is there today. There has also been talk in recent weeks about the ongoing CAP negotiations. In fairness, I acknowledge that the Minister, …

I thank the Minister of State for his response. He is right that there are a number of initiatives under way. The multispecies grass will make a difference and there will definitely be buy-in from farmers on this. Farmers recognise that they need to change many of their ways and they are totally in favour of that but what I am talking about needs to be done immediately. It will take time for some of these initiatives to come in and to get farmers on board. There will be an immediate crisis in the next four or five …

The HSE has published a new list of locations around the country served by BreastCheck vans. The service provided by the vans stopped during Covid for the last 18 months. Before Covid, it generally did a yearly visit to Tipperary and did all its checks in one visit. However, the new list which was published has no location in Tipperary. The Irish Cancer Society has said higher numbers of late-stage cancers are being diagnosed as a result of the screening delays caused by Covid-19. The longer we let these services l…

I welcome the four MEPs, and particularly my colleague, Ms Fitzgerald. The EU recovery and resilience facility, RRF, is a huge funding programme all about building back better. It took a serious amount of negotiation. Everyone will recall the five days of the European Council summit back in July 2020 where EU leaders agreed on its broad outlines and a seven-year EU budget. How was the Parliament involved and what level of parliamentary scrutiny will there be over the RRF in future?

I will follow on from Senator Craughwell's comments regarding the emails, which I am sure everyone will have received, in respect of the Leader's comments last week. These comments were in response to comments I made to her in respect of the digital Covid certificate. I just want to show support for the comments she made. Everything the Government is doing in bringing forward measures is meant to protect people, people's lives and industries. The comments made in emails such as those we have received are also made …

I welcome the announcement by the Taoiseach earlier today on the continued use of digital Covid certificates. It is something I raised in the Chamber last week. I did so because I felt there was an opportunity to protect businesses and people. It is good that the announcement was made today, and it is significant because a number of measures would not have been possible today if we did not continue using digital Covid certificates. Those measures include unlimited numbers of people being allowed to attend weddings …

That is correct.