The Minister of State is very welcome. What a pleasure it is to have him here. He is very proactive in respect of this entire area. I am delighted to see him pick up the mantle and do what has to be done. I was particularly happy to see him sign an agreement with our colleagues in Finland recently. My colleagues and I met him to discuss training in the cyber area. I hope that, in the very near future, we will see the roll-out of a cyber range, available to those concerned about the security of their systems, throug…

I second the motion. How do I follow Senator Boyhan? Such is the generosity of my colleague that he pointed out Senator Lombard's input into this. Typical of Senator Boyhan, he has brought forward something that most people in the House and most people in the Oireachtas could agree with. Irish people will get behind a project if it is the right type of project, particularly now that there is a lot of interest in environmental issues. All we have to do is put a plan together and make sure there is a return on invest…

I second the amendment of my colleague, Senator Boyhan, to the Order of Business. My grandmother used to say to me "mind the pennies and the pounds will mind themselves". As the Cathaoirleach will be aware, I have spoken here and in committees about the contract for search and rescue which is currently being negotiated by the Government. The contract will cost somewhere north of €1.3 billion for five helicopters over four bases. Our colleagues in the UK have 18 helicopters over 12 bases for €1.6 billion. We will pa…

Thank God for whistleblowers

I wish all of the women of Ireland, including my eight sisters, my mother, my granddaughters, my wife, my daughter and my cousins, a great St. Brigid's day. I hope they really have a good day. I hope that we learn something from all of this welcoming of St. Brigid and Lá Fhéile Bríd, and all of this. I do not think we have over the years. Anyway, now to get down to the serious issues. I have mentioned Jadotville in this House for the best part of eight years. We have a report that has, largely, been rejected by the…

Last week, I spoke about accountability. At the weekend, we had another exposé relating to the HSE. Once again, Ministers' heads are on the chopping block, for want of a better description. The thought crosses my mind that when decisions like this are taken, Ministers operate on the advice given to them by their departmental officials. Because of the system of government we have in place, however, the person giving the advice is never called to account. Ultimately, the Minister of the day may end up having his or h…

We are all about accountability in this House and in Dáil Éireann. Last week and the week before, we had the spectacle of a Minister being held to account over election expenses going back to 2016. People stood on the high moral ground and pointed the finger of accusation but many of those same people have had to climb down off that high moral ground now and explain their own election expenses. I could not care less what political parties or individuals spend on their election campaigns. There is an organisation to…

I am meeting people all of the time who are asking me if we have nothing better to do. We have hospital overruns. I am blue in the face talking about the search and rescue service. We have problems in An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces. We have problems in education. What we should be talking about in here, and I would ask the Acting Leader to consider putting this forward for debate, is an amendment to the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924 through which we can start to hold people responsible for decisions …

I compliment my colleague on bringing forward the Bill. We are living in a society where it seems that anybody who puts their face into the public arena is fair game to have a go at, at any time or in any place. Recently I had a situation on Twitter. I am quite active on Twitter, as most people will know. I had put out a tweet on something or other and one of these bots came back and said, "We know where he lives; let's go to his house". The sad fact of the matter is that for most of us, our home addresses are well…

I congratulate the Cathaoirleach and the Leader on their appointments. The changing of the guard seems to have been seamless, which is great. I will see what I can do to disrupt that as time goes on. My colleague was speaking about An Garda Síochána. It is finding it extremely difficult to recruit people, as are the Defence Forces. The problem is the 2013 pension. There is no incentive for anybody to join either An Garda Síochána or the Defence Forces, leaving aside the pay and conditions and the assaults that take…

Hear, hear.

Is Senator O'Reilly recruiting?

It was wonderful to listen to the Cathaoirleach's speech this morning safe in the knowledge that this is the last time we will have to hear him make long speeches, particularly about Cork and looking towards west Cork as the enemy for him. I am delighted for him. I have travelled, worked, joked and argued with him. I believe he is the right man in the right place for the right time. I was delighted to hear two things in his speech. One was the Good Friday Agreement. We have allowed the Good Friday Agreement to wand…

Last Friday, a monument, if you could call it that, was unveiled in Custume Barracks in Athlone. The inscription on it read: "Honouring the unwavering support of the families of personnel of A Company 35 Infantry Battalion ONUC". Rarely have I seen anything that offended people to such a degree. Half of the families were not invited although I got an invitation. The Quinlans did not get an invitation until two days after the RSVP closed. The sole living officer from Jadotville got an invitation by phone call the da…

I move amendment No. 21. In page 9, after line 22, to insert the following:“ Report by the Minister 19. The Minister shall within 12 months of passing this Act issue a report to the Oireachtas detailing how public representatives, people who belong to the Class K PRSI bracket or an equivalent bracket can receive social protection. The report should address issues related to the lack of social protection available for public representatives once they leave office.”. Speaking about amendments being ruled out of order…

The Minister’s Department provides for voluntary contributions. If somebody comes in here on class S, the voluntary contribution is €500 per year. If they come in on class A, it is €5,000 per year. A person cannot opt to become a class S contributor when they come in here on a voluntary contribution. That is the first thing. Second, I am aware of a Deputy who lost his seat in this House who qualified for the old age pension just after he lost his seat. I am not sure what his career was beforehand. The impact on him…

I thank the Minister for her genuine response. There is a rapporteur's report on the issue in respect of county councillors which I will ask the committee to take on board. The report offers some insight into the historical background of the social protection system and benefits. The Minister has made an offer. We are right up against the wire for social protection and people are waiting for payments. We need to get the Bill passed. At this stage, with the consent of the House, I am willing to withdraw the amendmen…

To Terry's family, my deepest sympathies are with them. I did not know Terry like many of my colleagues in the House. I only met him in 2014 after a rather controversial by-election where I stole a Fine Gael seat. When I was moving into my office, Terry was one of the first people to come in and congratulate me. It was rather strange because I expected a bit of hostility and I found there was none. Politicians are odd people. When the battle is over, it is over and it is time to move on. I have one particular story…

He met me and told me, "If I knew what was going to happen, there is no way that you and I would have ever had that conversation. The divil blast you anyway. I lost my seat to you." He was a generous man and a decent man. I will always remember his big, warm smile. He was a lovely man. I am sure the family's hearts are broken. May he rest in peace.

When speaking about social welfare, it would be wrong to start without paying due respect to the staff in the Department. We have gone through two years of Covid and suddenly we are confronted with a Ukrainian crisis. The staff have performed exceptionally well. As for the Minister herself, she took on two Ministries and kept the ship floating in both the Departments of Justice and Social Protection. I acknowledge her commitment to the State and the work she has done through this pretty horrible time. We talk about…