He did not apologise to the Defence Forces

If he can speak about us, we can speak about him.

He brought it on himself.

Respect is earned.

Hear, hear. Up until now.

I would never do that to the Cathaoirleach.

Hear, hear.

Sometimes in this country bureaucracy goes mad. I am proud – we should all be proud – to have in our Visitors Gallery today retired Lieutenant Colonel Earnán Naughton, retired Sergeant Major Seamus Gannon and retired Sergeant Larry Carthy. These three men sent an email to all of us regarding the death of Billy Kedian, who gave his life to save the lives of 14 people in Lebanon. I have called time and time again for a medal for gallantry to be awarded to this man. These men wrote the citation for that medal. Why has…

He has gone a bit mad. It used to be one night off homework. Now it is-----

What I am about to say will be of great interest to the Acting Leader because of her connection with the Defence Forces. There was a lot of discussion of the independent review group, which, incidentally, concerned a series of allegations. Nothing has been proven as yet and we are waiting for a sworn inquiry into that. However, revelations over the past day or two in The Journal revealed correspondence between the Chief of Staff and the Secretary General of the Department of Defence. That Department pulled or cease…

I second Senator Boyhan's amendment. I have known Victor since I came into politics and I have to say that I stand here in awe of the man. The courage he has shown from his first day in the Senate, when he brought this issue to the floor of the Senate on his first day. He has never, ever backed down. He has put his private life on the public stage, and he has been the strongest advocate I have ever known in my life. Today, I believe he has spoken for the last time on this Bill. To my mind, the amendments he has put…

The Minister of State is welcome to the House. I congratulate her on her appointment as Chief Whip. I am sure it is a difficult job. I am seconding this Bill in loyalty to the late Senator Feargal Quinn. In 2015, when the Minister of State was a Senator, Mr. Quinn laid out its rationale. It was not to see the bourgeoisie of Irish society having more accolades bestowed upon them on top of what they already have; it was an effort to identify and reward citizens of this country who went above and beyond. These would i…

I welcome Madam President to our Chamber and I am delighted to see the ambassador here as well. I had lots of things written down that I was going to say but previous speakers have stolen my words so I have to ad lib from here on. I went to Cyprus in 1972, long before most people in this room were born. I remember fondly swimming in January off the coast of Cyprus. What a wonderful place. Limassol, Larnaca and Paphos were all places I loved when I was there. I also loved the beautiful city of Famagusta, which is no…

Yesterday afternoon, the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications had a most interesting engagement with the university and further education and training sectors, as well as indigenous software developers in cybersecurity. One of the key asks which came from that engagement was from the chairman of Cyber Ireland, Mr. Pat Larkin. Mr. Larkin looked for the State to ring-fence €1 billion for cyber training and education. It was a rather limited ask, given the seriousness of the damage which can be done by a cy…

Pat Larkin.

No homework for the week.

Garretstown is a beautiful beach; I have been there. The Department of Transport has set out its preferred tenderer for the search and rescue contract and that is Bristow Ireland, which I congratulate on the job. I am not one bit sorry to see that CHC has not gotten over the line. However, the people who worked for CHC are brave, solid heroes in my view who put their lives on the line on a daily basis to save lives both inland and on the seas around Ireland. I would like Bristow to now make a statement that it will…

-----or the qualifications they bring. We need clarity urgently.

Recently, in Mayo County Council, Independent Councillor Seamus Weir, cathaoirleach of the council, did something rather unusual. He organised for Mr. Larry Carty to make a presentation to the assembled council regarding the death of Private Billy Kedian. Billy Kedian, a soldier of the 1st Battalion in Galway, was killed on 31 May 1999. Yesterday, The Irish Sun carried a story about Billy Kedian and others in the Defence Forces who have lost their lives and have never been recognised for it – none of them. We allow…

I should have thanked Neil Cotter, who broke the story in The Irish Sun.