Are you planning to leave?

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that No. 113 be taken before No. 1. No. 113 is a motion regarding the accession of Georgia to the European Union. In the times we are living in, we need to support those countries that are living under the cosh of Russia. I join with my colleague, Senator Boyhan, in his remarks in respect of Councillor Noel Collins. May he rest in peace. I will also remark on the settlement that was reached yesterday on behalf of the victims of the Ballymurphy murders in Belfast. Whil…

I have not done so. I have said nothing that is not in the public domain.

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business to the effect that No. 113 is taken before No. 1.

The issue is that the European Council is meeting in the coming days and we would like this House to endorse Georgia when that meeting takes place. It has been a long time trying to get-----

I do not want to force a vote on it but I ask the Leader to reconsider accepting the motion.

Not yet.

In that case I will press the amendment.

I move: “That Seanad Éireann: supports: - EU enlargement policy for those countries that are guided by European norms and values, fulfil their commitments with the EU and deploy considerable efforts to advance their European integration; welcomes: - Georgia’s official applications for the European Union membership that has been submitted in the first quarter of 2022; recognises: - the rapid actions done by the Government of Georgia to answer and return the EU questionnaires to Brussels; recognising: - progress demo…

Our friends are welcome. The ambassador is welcome. The Hague Convention defines neutrality. I trust that the Cathaoirleach will forgive me for challenging neutrality at this point in time. Ireland only ever once defined neutrality, which was in Ireland's White Paper on foreign policy in 1995, Challenges and Opportunities Abroad, in chapter 4 on international security. Paragraph 4.5 states: In the strict sense of international law and practice, neutrality and its attendant rights and duties do not exist in peacetim…

There is a substantial amount of grain in storage which cannot be brought out of Ukraine to the rest of the world. As has been rightly pointed, famine is another tool being used by one of the belligerents in this war, namely, Russia. Introducing famine into places like north Africa destabilises the entire geopolitical system. Ireland is a member of the United Nations Security Council. I am on record as having no faith in the United Nations Security Council and very little faith in the United Nations. However, if we…

The Minister of State is welcome to the House. I do not intend to go back over what my colleague has so eloquently put together regarding Derrybrien. I visited the site, was driven around it and walked part of it. Even with the best will in the world, there is absolutely no way of returning Derrybrien to what it was pre-development. There is just no possibility of that. There are 25 km of roads there, fibre optic cables are running from turbine to turbine, and there is an entire information technology system that m…

I wish to make a couple of points. Senator Higgins made the point that sometimes people are not listened to. My understanding is that the planning officer who visited Derrybrien was highly supportive of the project. I did not speak to the lady myself so I cannot be 1000% certain of that but my understanding is that she was supportive, that she brought that view back to her bosses but that nobody was listening and nobody wanted to listen. The message came back that the environmental impact assessment had not been ca…

It is amazing how one’s mind works while sitting here listening to debate. I am not sure if the Minister of State is aware of EnergyCloud, which is operating in the north east at the moment, with the assistance of SSE Airtricity and a number of other electricity suppliers. EnergyCloud operates on the basis that wind turbines produce energy even when it is not required. In the north east, they have come together to provide free hot water by way of a retrofit to the water heating system of local authority houses. The…

I welcome the ambassador on behalf of the Independent non-aligned group and wish him a wonderful day. Greater love hath no one than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. On this day 23 years ago at 5.30 a.m., the 85th Infantry Battalion came under fire at post 642. Private Billy Kedian was awoken by the sound of mortars going off. In order that the people who were on duty could take care of the urgent work that needed to be done, Kedian ran from place to place waking colleagues to get them to go under cov…

No. My apologies. The citations have been written up but a medals board has not sat.

Hear, hear.

I welcome the Minister to the House. I disagree with the amendment. I look at the situation in Galway right now with Derrybrien. I believe we should be in the situation where we can review-----

I will sit down for a few moments to get my thoughts together.

I recently congratulated PDFORRA on its accession to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU. I have been informed that in order to be allowed to accede to associate membership of ICTU, the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, RACO, must go to the courts. This is a human resources issue, an IR issue, not a legal issue. I fail to understand why we are compelling RACO to go to the courts. I ask the Leader to engage with the Minister to have it dealt with through the conciliation and arbitration schem…