They will be moved. I cannot move them until we have disposed of amendment No. 12.

Amendments Nos. 16, 17, 21 and 40 are related and may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I thank Senator Conway. I welcome the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, to the House. This is my first time back in the Chair and it is very fitting, but purely by coincidence, that the first person I welcome to speak is my fellow re-elected Senator, Senator Maria Byrne.

I welcome the Minister. I was local councillor when he was a Deputy for Dublin South and we know each other well. It is not today or yesterday that he was talking about climate change or getting involved with things. He does not just talk to talk but he walks the walk. When I attended UCD in the early 1990s, he ran the bike shop at a time when bikes were not as fashionable as they are now. I often cycle to Leinster House and I cycle through the Minister's constituency, Dublin Bay South. We probably share the same c…

Next Tuesday.

I want to bring to the attention of the Leader an issue that is the direct opposite, although not intentionally, of what Senator Ruane has been saying. I have been speaking with the chair of the Licensed Vintners Association and I have been in contact with the chief executive of the Restaurant's Association of Ireland. Along with many other people who operate businesses in Dublin city, they are very concerned that certain parts of Dublin city are getting out of control at particular times of the day and on certain …

I thank the Minister of State. This is the first time that I, as a returning Senator, have been in the Chamber with her. I congratulate her on her appointment. Some of the first points that I made on my return were about Shannon Airport, which might surprise people. The mid-west region is well represented in the Seanad by Senators Dooley, Maria Byrne, Conway and Gavan. The Joint Committee on Transport and Communications also has a number of members from the mid-west, including Deputies Lowry, Kieran O'Donnell, Care…

I thank the Leader for outlining the Order of Business, which I certainly support. Unusually for Senators, I will talk about the Order of Business by acknowledging we are finally coming to the end of a Bill introduced in the previous Seanad by former Senator, Pádraig Ó Céidigh. I pay tribute to him, particularly, for the effort he put into bringing this Bill through that Seanad. I also acknowledge the contribution of the Regional Group, which brought it through the Dáil. It will, hopefully, be passed today. It is v…

I want to express my sympathies to the poor cyclist who was injured last night in a hit-and-run incident. That was the second hit-and-run in that particular area. I call on the Garda Commissioner to pursue what is happening in that area and to investigate it. Cars are being abandoned after accidents. That somebody was hit is bad enough. To do a hit and run and leave a person by the side of the road who is now in a critical condition, is wrong and needs urgent action. I also welcome the hospitality industry's slow, …

I thank the Minister of State. It is my first time to be in the House with him since his elevation to ministerial office. We served together on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and I am delighted to see him in his current position. I am delighted for him. Well done. If I wanted to have a trade union representative, I suppose I could look to Senator Craughwell who referred to those who lost their seats last year. I was one of those unfortunate Senators who lost their seats in the middle of a pandemic and, as th…

It is Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, of course.

I am not sure I would call it a coup. I am just looking around the Chamber and seeing colleagues I knew in UCD but also a councillor in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council - Senators Ward, Boyhan and Conway, who was in UCD with me. Ireland feels that bit smaller today than it ever did. It is my first opportunity to congratulate Deputy Browne on his appointment as Minister of State with responsibility for law reform. I have been appointed as Fianna Fáil spokesperson on law in the Seanad so that might be why I mana…

I was delighted to hear Senator Burke mention Swinford because, as he knows, that is the birthplace of my grandfather. I believe that every Horkan in the country originally came from there. I am delighted that the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Humphreys, is there today. I would be more than happy to speak about what happened at the weekend, which has been covered so often. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had a protecting upland and rural environments, PURE, policy relating to upland dumping in the mou…

My apologies because I had to attend a meeting of the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications and my slot has had to be rescheduled a couple of times. I wish to refer to the hijacking of an aircraft. Senator Dooley has briefly mentioned it and I am sure it was mentioned by a number of Senators yesterday. As a member of the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications, I welcome what happened yesterday at the EU Council and the imposition of sanctions on Belarus. We must, as a Parliament, insist that Mr. …

This is my first day as a returning Member in this Chamber and it is great to be here. I echo Senator O'Loughlin's remarks on Seán Lemass. I had already put a few words together, but she has covered most of them. It is important we remember he was really the driver of the opening up of Irish society to investment from abroad, to foreign direct investment which has provided so much employment and improved our living standards. He was also the Taoiseach at the time free education was being put through the Houses. Don…

Other than the Order of Business, this is my first opportunity since being re-elected to speak, so I am delighted to speak on education and that the Minister for Education is here to listen. I do not want to repeat many valid points made by other contributors. There is very little, if anything, I disagree with from any of the contributors. It is important we acknowledge how far we have come. I am in my 18th year on school boards of management and my 12th year as a chair of a board of management. A huge amount of wo…

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. I join with Senators McDowell, Ardagh and others in offering condolences on the sad death of Senator Mullen's father, who I know had been quite ill for a period. I acknowledge, as Senator McDowell did, the tremendous amount of care Senator Mullen gave to his father in his final few years. May he rest in peace. I was only returned to this Chamber last Friday and in the past week we have seen: a former Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Eoghan Murphy, resign his seat…

Thank you.

I may have been in this Chamber once or twice to hear Nancy Pelosi and another couple of speakers but I have never had the opportunity to speak in this Chamber. As Senator Boyhan said, people looking on may wonder whether we have been demoted, promoted or elevated. On 27 March last year, I did not think I would lose my seat and, when I did, I did not think I would be back less than 13 months later. I thank everybody here. It is a very strange experience, as a by-election candidate, and particularly one who happened…

We did it before anybody else and it worked very well. The Green Party started off with two councillors in 2014 and came back with six in 2019 so it did not have anything to fear from being in a governing arrangement. The other parties also did quite well and came back with a good number of councillors. It is great to be here. I thank everybody for their support. It is not a day on which to raise too many issues but I do want to reflect on the fact that, over the last 13 months, many people have lost loved ones and…