I thank the Leader.

I wish everybody a happy new year. I tabled a Private Members’ motion in May 2021 regarding the search and rescue contract. At that time, I warned that the procurement process was certainly questionable. Since then, I have sought for the business case to be released in order that we would understand how we have moved from four helicopters to three, and why a fixed-wing aircraft is now being included. I warned that the business case was put together by Frazer-Nash with KPMG. Frazer-Nash is a subsidiary of Babcock, w…

It is on the Order Paper and I will be talking about it next week.

As a former teacher I might say I admire the Leader’s leadership on this particular issue. She is to be complimented for it.

My heart goes out to Ashling Murphy's family. I was particularly mindful yesterday of the first class kids lining the street. I have two granddaughters, Ellie and Isabel. I cannot imagine what it would take to explain to either of them the brutality by which the woman died. It is now a matter for the courts and Garda, so I will say no more about it. I was delighted to hear Senator Cummins speak about search and rescue services. I am aware that 17 of the south-eastern representatives have come together on this. I wi…

I join with colleagues in wishing everybody in the Houses and all of the people who kept this country working over what has been the most difficult two years a very happy Christmas. I am particularly mindful of those who will be on duty over Christmas, such as members of the Defence Forces, the fire service and the ambulance service and hospital staff. I know that friends working in hospitals are really jaded and are suffering severe exhaustion after two years of constant working with PPE and Covid and in some case…

The Minister is very welcome to the House. I pay compliment to her and the Department on how quickly they reacted over recent years with the Covid-19 crisis. It cannot have been easy but by God they turned it around very quickly when they were asked to do so. On a personal note, when a member of the Cabinet needed maternity leave the Minister stepped up to the plate and took on two very difficult Departments. She is to be congratulated on this and I hope that in the near future proper legislation will be in place t…

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to debate this important subject. I am very sorry that the Government has chosen to put forward an amendment to this great motion. That amendment underpins the Government's approach, which is not to rock the boat when it comes to dealing with anything trade-related or commercial. I preface what I say by referring to Jonas Salk, who discovered the polio vaccine. When asked why he did not patent the vaccine, he said it was because he wanted to be a good ancestor. …

I welcome the fact that the long battle of the Miami Showband came to a conclusion yesterday. I listened to an interview this morning on "The Pat Kenny Show" with one of the members of the band. In many ways, I am sorry that the case did not go to a full hearing to allow us to get to the bottom of exactly what was involved. There is no doubt that most of us who wore a uniform on either side of the Border were decent, hard-working people who wanted nothing other than security, to protect vital installations and to s…

Senator McGahon gets things done.

I cannot wait for Senator McGahon's newsletter.

Hear, hear.

I begin by placing on the record my appreciation to the Minister for coming personally to the House to deal with the Commencement matter relating to the pay of our secretarial assistants. I would like to speak about the job that the Minister’s Department has done since the financial crisis. None of us likes the job that the Department does because it impacts everything we try to do, but it does the job for the public good and in order to keep this State going. It helped us get out of crisis. While I sometimes think…

I just want to say that I agree with Senator Buttimer. I do not believe we should divide the House on this. I do not believe that anyone on the Government benches in any way disagrees with the arguments that are being put forward. It would be wrong to force a vote on it. The message is being driven home loud and clear.

I read this morning of a partnership between Queen’s University Belfast and the Royal Air Force. The Leader will recall that the Royal Air Force protects our skies because we cannot do that ourselves. It is depressing that the Royal Air Force is investing in cybersecurity innovation systems in Northern Ireland and our Minister for Defence lives looking over at Haulbowline where seven out of nine ships are frequently tied up. Deputy Simon Coveney is a fantastic Minister for Foreign Affairs and I would never take awa…

I thank the Minister for coming to the House to take this matter. He clearly regards it as important. When I first took my seat in 2014, I was immediately aware of the job of Seanad secretarial assistant, SA, and that it bore little resemblance to the work that SAs actually do. That was confirmed in a survey in 2017, which showed that Seanad SAs do the same work as parliamentary assistants in the Dáil. They undertake research, speech-writing, preparing newsletters and briefing papers and preparing material for comm…

I thank the Cathaoirleach for his input. SAs will be aware of the fact that I am here and that this matter is before the House morning. If I am not misinterpreting what the Minister said, once the commission makes up its mind and comes to him with a proposal he will be willing to look at it and is anxious to have this matter resolved as quickly as possible. Going back to my time as a teacher, a union activist and the president of a union, it always annoyed me terribly that the State was the most difficult body of a…

I am a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport, as is my colleague, Senator Buttimer. We have been speaking to the Coast Guard in recent meetings and a number of serious issues have arisen, some of which I have forwarded on to the Garda, and I will speak with them about more issues today. Caitríona Lucas, may she rest in peace, was lost in Kilkee. There had been warnings around the time she was lost. Several issues have been brought to our attention concerning Rescue 116 regarding a failure to act on …

Is there a vacancy?

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. As this is the first time I have addressed him since his elevation, I congratulate him on that. At the outset, I thank Senator McDowell for giving leadership to our group in this area. Sitting here, listening to the debate this afternoon, the level of passion from all sides of the House and the excellent speeches that were made by all of my colleagues must surely drive home the message that we in Ireland need to wake up. In January, the European Parliament passed a reso…