I second Senator Sherlock's amendment to the Order of Business. The Rescue 116 families are confronted with the possibility of massive legal costs. I have raised the Rescue 116 incident several times here and the failure to deliver a report. It is outrageous that these families are being called upon to pay for their legal costs. I do not believe they were the people who initiated the review; that was the operator who has, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General, benefited from as much as €7 million in Stat…

We might organise a specific debate.

I advise colleagues that RTÉ's "Nationwide" programme at 7 o'clock this evening will feature a film on what it was really like to be at Jadotville. Everybody here should watch it. I will not say any more on that matter because it is sub judice . I am sure the Leader is aware that many of us are receiving emails concerning a statement she made in this House on 14 October. I fully support what she said.

We must have a national conversation about those who have decided, for whatever reason, that they do not wish to be vaccinated. The Government must step into the frame and provide the education and information required to deal with this issue of people who are genuinely afraid of vaccines. Early in the summer, I stated I was due to have an AstraZeneca vaccination and that I was uncomfortable with it because I was being told it was a case of take it or leave it. Like everybody else, I want to be safe. I said I was n…

The Minister is anxious. I do not agree with my colleague, Senator Higgins, because we should not put in anything that will constrain us because we do not know what will happen in the future. There has been a lot of talk about European armies and the like so this debate is an opportunity to convey that there is no possibility of a European army where there is not an independent European intelligence-gathering agency. I do not see a European army happening now or at any time in the future so I am not concerned about…

We saw how Ireland's ability to train with other armies around the world benefited us recently in Kabul. When our people went on the ground out there, they knew people on the ground there and were able to interact with them, and that is really important. I agree with certain restrictions on how troops might be used overseas, but Kabul is an example of how quickly things can change and a Minister and a government can find themselves in a crisis situation in which they have to get people on the ground quickly in a hu…

Force commanders have a certain amount of control over our troops on the ground but a senior liaison officer from the Irish Defence Forces is always on the ground, and if a force commander is trying to bring us into something in which we should not be involved, the senior liaison has a route straight back to the Minister's office and it can be stopped at that point. I am not, therefore, sure that people understand the limited control a force commander has. He or she does not have absolute control over all our troop…

I am a little concerned at what is being proposed. Force commanders, whether they are on a UN mission, EU mission or any other mission that has been jointly agreed, are constrained by the criteria set out in the mission. If, by some manner or means, we have a force commander who runs wild and decides to undertake something that was not in the mandate, then it falls to the senior Irish officer in the mission to get on to the Department and say, "Look, we are being ordered to do something here." Let us say there is a…

I concur with the sympathies expressed by the Cathaoirleach to the family of Sir David Amess. On Thursday evening, I called to my grandchildren - I know the Leader has young children - and the excitement in my six-year-old granddaughter’s eyes when she sat me down to tell me she was going to read me a story and, as she read me the story, the excitement in the four-year-old sat beside her, watching as her sister read, was something to behold. I missed a lot of that with my own kids, but it was really something else …

I welcome the addition of 800 gardaí announced in the budget and 400 civilian staff who are to be recruited by An Garda Síochána, however, this is in sharp contrast with the situation in the Defence Forces. The paltry €35 million allocation in the budget for the Defence Forces for next year will only cover the increase in salaries as result of the most recent round of public service negotiations. Last week, we were hosted in Haulbowline, Cork, the Naval Service depot, by the flag officer and his entire team. It is …

At the outset, I wish to remember Paddy Moloney, who sadly passed away earlier today at the age of 83. Paddy was a great ambassador for Ireland and for Irish music. Chinese aggression towards the democratic island of Taiwan is intensifying and should be giving rise to concerns that China will try to take over the island by force. We have already seen how Beijing used a heavy-handed approach to impose its authoritarian ways in Hong Kong. Ireland is a member of the United Nations Security Council and must speak out a…

The Leader needs to take a bow. As Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, she motivated and led her Department through what must have been the greatest crisis it ever faced. We must recognise that as well.

On 28 May of this year, I tabled a Private Members' motion on Ireland's search and rescue service. During the debate I raised a number of matters of great concern regarding the oversight and corporate governance of the current search and rescue, SAR, operator, CHC Ireland DAC. The recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General has completely vindicated my concerns. The report points out that in 2013, the Department of Transport paid €4.3 million to CHC Helicopter, the current operator, to ensure that its five…

I am a bit deaf, so you will have to speak up.

Everything I am putting out here is in the public domain.

I hate to say it, but I did not hear one word of what you said. I will have to plug myself in again.

I am fully aware of that. I am not referring to an individual; I am referring to a company.

I did not name him.

Okay, moving on. The next contract, the one to which I am now referring, was signed off at Cabinet at the last Cabinet meeting. The business case for that was put together by a company called KPMG, which is well known to us all. KPMG brought-----

Listen, a Chathaoirligh. I tried to get this through on a Private Members' motion. I came with a well-prepared piece and the reply that was given by the Department of Transport addressed none of my concerns. The tender is about to go out for SAR. The business case was put together with KPMG, advised by Frazer-Nash. The important thing here is that there are only three or four companies that can actually tender for Irish-----