I appreciate that.

Well said.

I am sorry that I missed the opening part of the Minister’s presentation. I was down with the Ukrainians, but as I came through the door I thought “what a breath of fresh air”. He is speaking the language that I want to hear. I know that we differ on other things but not on this. I have longed for the day that I can get on a train in Dublin and change to a train that will bring me to Ballina, Donegal, Rosslare or wherever. I long to see long trains carrying freight across the country instead of 40 ft trailers every…

That was excellent timing; I thank the Cathaoirleach. This week, we learned again of an assault on gardaí. We are in a situation where the uniformed services are falling apart. Seven or eight years ago, I started talking about the problems in the Defence Forces. It took six years to get a commission in place and we are still waiting to see its output. The strength of the Defence Forces is now below 8,000. An Garda Síochána is finding it impossible to recruit. The truth of the matter is that the overarching hand of …

The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. He will be aware that I have spoken on issues relating to my electorate, county councillors, for many years. I am delighted to see some of them present in the Public Gallery having travelled all the way from Donegal over the mica issue. It is something we have to take on board. It is not for the good of their health that these people travelled for three and a half hours to get down here and will spend the same amount of time travelling back home. Today, however, I…

I came in here with some degree of hope. I am going out more depressed than I came in. We are creating a dangerous precedent. The public service has always been based on the fact that when staff come to retire, they get a lump sum based on current salary. I am mindful of my career, where I started work as a private soldier and will finish on the single pension scheme as a teacher. At the end of the day, my entitlement to a pension will not be directly differentiated from that of any other member of the public servi…

And no ball.

Thank you. All is forgiven. On 15 July 2021, the report of the independent review group into the siege of Jadotville was brought to the Seanad. The Minister at the time was quite taken aback by the response he got to that report. To say it was welcomed coolly would be to understate the situation. It was rejected by this House and by most who spoke. The Minister in his summing up stated, “There are also things on which we need to reflect over the summer and I certainly look forward to coming back to this House at th…

I beg the indulgence of the Chair. There is a rumour out there that the judicial review that Leo Quinlan and I took into the independent review group was struck out by the courts. We agreed to strike out the case because the Department of Defence gave us what we looked for except for the fact the independent review could not be adjudicated on by the courts because it is not a statutory report and it has no status outside the Defence Forces. For that reason, no judge was about to adjudicate on it. Therefore, it has …

I thank Senator Keogan for sharing her time. As the Minister of State knows, when I was first elected to the Seanad, he and I stood in this House side by side. I congratulate him on his appointment; it is the first time I have met him in his official capacity. We destroyed education when we changed the contract for teachers at secondary and further education levels by substituting hours for jobs. We fought long and hard to change that. Young teachers looked for this famous contract of indefinite duration. Some of t…

It is not the education-----

It is the teaching profession.

First, I wish to express my condolences to the family of Acting Sergeant Major Declan "Doc" O'Connell from the Curragh. Sadly, he is the second from the Cadet School in recent times to lose his life. They are going through tough times down there. Last week, I spoke about the helicopter that was forced to land in Derry as a result of an emergency declared by the pilot. I got a reply from the Minister's office that tells me the area the helicopter flew into had already suffered turbulence. A Boeing 737 had experience…

We might put one in Castlebar

Over the last number of years, I have spoken frequently on search and rescue in this country. We lost four very good people when R116 crashed off the coast of Mayo. This morning, I received information that R117 from Sligo was flying off Derry on Sunday. The aircraft was overstressed, lost control and exceeded its maximum airspeed. The UK Civil Aviation Authority has impounded the aircraft to conduct a full investigation. I also understand that the operator's accounts for 2020 and 2021 show it is insolvent. It lost…

Yes. I am proposing an amendment to the Order of Business because of the seriousness of what I have just learned. I believe the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Chambers, is responsible for search and rescue. He needs to come to this House to deal with this issue as a matter of urgency today. This is, without doubt, the most serious incident since the loss of R116. The Deputy Leader will know the recommendations following the loss of R116-----

I want the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, to come to the House. First, I want him to advise us as to what happened when the aircraft was held in Derry airport from Sunday afternoon until Tuesday evening. I want to know the exact cause. Second, I want answers with respect to the number of qualified and licensed engineers who are operating at the company. Third, I wish to know whether the company is meeting all of its obligations under its contract. If not, we need to ground the aircraft as a matter of urgency.

Okay.

In light of what the Deputy Leader said, I will not press it.

Last Friday, I met a former community employment, CE, scheme supervisor who had retired. After 30 years of service, his lump sum was €17,000. It is unbelievable that someone who gave 30 years of his life to public service would finish up with that. That case brought me back to the issue of county councillors. Everybody in this Chamber, or at least 43 of us, has a strong interest in county councillors. I cannot understand why, when the allowance was increased, provision was not made for the lump sum to be calculated…