It is in the public media.

I accept the Leas-Chathaoirleach's point. I know a number of elderly people who are sitting at home desperately waiting for their turn. Dozens of them live in the Sandyford area, yet this is what happens. What control is there? There was a load of spin about the matter on the radio this morning. It was not coming from the Government, but it was spin nonetheless. It is outrageous that this carry-on is allowed to take place. We are hearing about vaccine nationalism. Are we now getting down to the sectoral vaccine sys…

Hear, hear.

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I commend him and the Government on how they have responded to so many citizens since the pandemic started. They are to be commended on the speed of action and the compassion shown. That extends to every Senator. I would not set anybody apart. As Senator Buttimer said, we are all working together for a common cause and that is the way we have to proceed. The Bill will provide a great deal of confidence and support to those who are receiving the Department of Social Prot…

If the Senator wants to speak, he should speak through the Chair.

I would not dream of it. I am not sure that was a point of order. Various housing charities such as Threshold and Simon have pointed out there is a flaw in section 2, as has an eminent lawyer. Accordingly, I will accept that Senator Murphy did not say it; that is fine. I do not know whether the Minister of State can do anything about the 5 km rule at this stage but if he could reconsider it, I would appreciate that. I want to support the Bill and the Minister of State as he brings it forward. I will not vote for th…

I welcome the Minister to the House. I feel a bit bad standing up here today because the Minister has had so many demands made to him for funding and we are €239 billion in debt since Covid-19 hit the country. I am not sure how quickly the economy can bounce back. Certainly some parts can but others will not bounce back that quickly. With respect to the national broadband roll-out, I welcome the progress to date but I have some concerns. In particular, I am concerned about the ambition of National Broadband Ireland…

Guím Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan sona ar an gCeannaire agus ar gach bean sa Teach agus sa tír. At the outset, I compliment the Leader. I listened to her speaking about women in politics on RTÉ a few days ago. She is a powerful leader for women and a powerful example for them to follow. I want to put that on record today. It breaks my heart to come in here today and find myself again speaking about the Defence Forces. I read in The Irish Times this morning that the recommendations of the Chief of Staff on the return an…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire inniu agus guím Lá Idirnáisiúnta na mBan sona air agus ar gach duine eile anseo. Tá faitíos orm anois toisc gurb iad an tAire agus mé féin the only men in the room today. We say we choose to challenge. I want to talk about a woman called Maureen Quigley, who chose to challenge. She was born in 1924. Senators can search all the history books they wish, but they will not find her. She raised eight wonderful daughters to be strong courageous women who set about challenging life every day of…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire go dtí an Teach. Tá mo chuid Gaeilge uafásach ach is Seachtain na Gaeilge é agus, mar sin, caithfidh mé cúpla focal a labhairt as Gaeilge. Tá an-áthas orm a bheith anseo ag labhairt ar an ábhar seo. Tá fíorfhadhb ann leis an earnáil cíosa in Éirinn. It is clear that the rental sector in Ireland is dysfunctional. Back in the good old days, when money was flying around this country, we did away with bedsits. Many single elderly people would be very happy to be in a bedsit today rather than…

I rise this morning to ask whether industrial relations mean anything in this country. Have we any respect for the processes which have been put in place? The Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, and the Labour Court provide resolutions to industrial disputes and yet State run organisations, in particular, decide to totally ignore them. When I was the leader of a trade union, I took cases which had favourable adjudication at the WRC and the Labour Court. However, I had to go to the courts to have it implemented. Th…

I am sharing time with Senator Mullen. We will take three minutes each, if that is okay. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. He is welcome to the House. I compliment my colleague, Senator Wall, and his colleagues on bringing this important Bill before the House. We have heard about the Tidy Towns groups and various other groups that work really hard to keep our towns, cities, villages and rural areas clean and free from litter. I live right beside one of the busiest roads in Ireland, the M50. I walk every day now as…

The Minister is welcome. Like my colleague, Senator McDowell, I have serious reservations about legislation coming to this House and going through all Stages in two hours. This demonstrates a complete lack of respect for the democratic process and the function and role of this House. It is an emergency and, bearing that in mind, I am prepared to go for it. I cannot understand why we have not and are not considering putting checkpoints on the Border. If we restrict travel into the country through Dublin, Cork and th…

The Minister of State is welcome to the House. It is good to see a fellow county woman here. She will be aware that there are 143,000 people involved in the airline industry here. As my colleague, Senator Buttimer, said and as the Minister of State pointed out, the industry is now on its knees. Not unlike Senator Buttimer and, I am sure, others in the House, I have been contacted by everybody from suppliers, technicians, ground staff, airline pilots and travel agents with respect to the industry and where it is goi…

I support Senator Bacik and her party leader, who spoke at the weekend on Covid, because they were 100% correct in what they said. There was an extremely disturbing report in The Irish Times on Saturday about the relationship that exists between the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces. There is a new Secretary General in the Department of Defence. She has been active on the ground and I think she needs time to repair whatever relationship exists. However, the Defence Forces are on their knees in the contex…

I move: That Seanad Eireann: acknowledges: - the increased workload of city and county councillors since the passing of the Local Government Reform Act 2014, and the subsequent restructuring of local government in Ireland; - the willingness of councillors to take on additional duties, travel further across their constituencies and to fully engage with the reform process; - the number of representations made by city and county councillors to members of the Oireachtas since 2014, to have their representational paymen…

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I cannot say that I am not a little disappointed that the report in The Mirror newspaper was clearly inaccurate. Somebody leaked a report to the newspaper that Cabinet had already signed off on pay for councillors. I thank all of my colleagues for the respectful way in which this debate was conducted, which is a testament to all of them. Nobody here has the corner on councillors' issues. All of us are indebted, in some way or other, to the councillors who elect us and…

It is no secret that I was a member of Óglaigh na hÉireann. For a number of years I was stationed in the western command in Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa in Galway. I am very proud of my time in Óglaigh na hÉireann. On Monday of this week, I was contacted about the commemoration of an IRA bomber in London. Looking at Senator Fitzpatrick and the brave men that she referred to a few moments ago, I wish to say that these people who went to London and bombed places, bombed people out of their homes in Northern Ireland, and terrori…

Hear, hear.

I thank Senator Hoey and her party for once again being the voice of the working class in this country. Fair play to the Labour Party. It always puts the workers first. I also pay tribute to Phil Ní Sheaghdha and the executive committee of the INMO. Having been the president of a union myself, I can only imagine the pressure that has been on the executive of the INMO to take some sort of action to defend its members and its future members, namely, the students. They need our full support and backing. Fair play to t…