Another point that has been made to me, and I think the Minister was alluding to it, relates to wraparound services. For example, one child in my constituency has had an operation but needs to see a urologist next. There are a number of other supporting services that are desperately required to address that child's ongoing needs. That has been a difficulty. I am trying to understand how the constituent parts of the hospital system, including Cappagh, the CHI, the Beacon, as the Minister mentioned, and other places,…

I welcome the Bill and I commend Deputy Carroll MacNeill on bringing it forward. The Government will be supporting it, as the Chief Whip has outlined. It is a very important Bill. What it does is put beyond doubt the availability of remote voting and remote participation, should it be passed in a referendum. That is a very necessary and crucial part of our response to the recent pandemic and to other matters. The Deputy has well described the family friendly situations and arrangements that may be assisted through …

I was due to substitute for Deputy Cowen with a question, but I will make a brief comment instead. My question was on when we will meet the 9,500 target strength in the Permanent Defence Force. I completely agree with the Minister about the synergies in terms of private sector employment people can take up after serving in the Defence Forces. People have an opportunity to serve their country, train and perhaps educate themselves and then go on into the private sector to contribute to their country in different ways…

I thank the Cathaoirleach for inviting me. I am delighted to be here on behalf of the committee to share a flavour of our report and give an update on this important report. I want to acknowledge the work of the Cathaoirleach, Senator Daly, in the innovation of bringing forward these types of sessions. This is something that the Seanad, as a strong second Chamber, can excel in. As someone who campaigned for the retention of this forum a number of years ago for exactly this purpose, I am delighted to see it being ve…

No offence taken.

A work in progress.

I thank the Cathaoirleach again for his initiative. I thank the Seanad for taking this item of business. We had a smile and there was a bit of confusion about my role on one or two occasions, but I think that is because this is a novel concept. It is something I absolutely commend. It gives ventilation to these committee reports and, as one Member said earlier, ensures that they are not left on a shelf but, rather, ventilated here and then scrutinised and returned to after the fact to see that they have stacked up.…

I want to ask about the recent elections in Russia. I am shocked and appalled at the increasing despotism of the Russian Government, and even more so of its premier, in the ongoing imprisonment and suppression of opponents, including Alexei Navalny; its support of puppet regimes in eastern Europe; its annexation of territory, including Crimea, on European borders; its interference with elections elsewhere; and its own elections now appearing to be discredited. What is the Minister's view on those events?

I am glad to hear the Minister's response and it is worth traversing some of those events. In St. Petersburg, not only did we see multiple buses coaching people who in many cases were unidentified to polling stations but we had the phenomenon of doppelganger candidates where the lead opposition candidate was suddenly shadowed on the ballot paper with two or three candidates of extremely similar names, which deliberately caused mass confusion. The Minister referred to the issue of election monitors being prohibited …

I am glad to hear the Minister is having those discussions with the Kremlin or its foreign minister. I am aware Russia is permanently represented on the Security Council. We have to use whatever influence we have. I appreciate we may get a deaf ear at times, but it is important we seize the opportunity on the Security Council to push that agenda as far as we can. The other point I will make as to what we can control is that it was especially shameful that Apple and Google - Telegram also, but perhaps it is a less o…

I am getting a little closer to home with this question. The Minister will be aware the deluge of applications for passports has rapidly increased since the summer months and since travel has been permitted again. Obviously, the Passport Office was closed for a period during lockdown. It became an impossibility to acquire a passport. My office and, I am sure, the constituency offices of all my colleagues around the House have been inundated with queries about applications. There seem to be significant delays, even …

I will yield to another Deputy as I have spoken already on this question.

I thank the Minister for his reply. First, I want to acknowledge that the Government has supported businesses extremely well through the lockdowns and for the past 18 months. As a Kildare representative, I acknowledge the additional supports given in the second lockdown that Kildare endured, which some counties did not. There were comments from Opposition Members a few moments ago noting that the budget and finances are under pressure. Of course they are. Deputy Tóibín has left the Chamber but I say to him and any …

Many businesses availed of the CRSS and previous schemes, but at one stage there was an issue in that an applicant had to be a rate payer to avail of it. I welcome that the schemes have been broadened since. Some businesses made a success of lockdown and managed to become continental in their outdoor offerings. In some businesses that was easier to do than in others. We all adapted to that. There were pop-up businesses all over my constituency, which thrived and did quite well, that may not have existed previously.…

Notwithstanding Deputy Brady's political assault on Fianna Fáil and other parties, which is irrelevant to the debate, it is important to put down some law around the subject and to consider the points. I am sympathetic to Deputy Mac Lochlainn's points about Rockall, which he made well. Section 2 refers to islands and amendment No. 1 seeks to redefine the definition of an island. I would query whether that is possible under international law. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, enacted in 1982…

I followed with interest the contributions from the previous Deputies and I want to come in on some of the points that have been made. It is quite interesting listening to the debate and I sympathise with some of the ailments Deputies identify from their constituencies where funding and various supports are needed. I also represent at least a partly rural constituency of Kildare North, including areas such as Carbury, west Kildare, Sallins, Kill, Bodenstown and beyond in Prosperous and Clane. We have any amount of …

The Tokyo Olympics commence on 23 July, which is in a couple of weeks, with 103 Irish athletes setting sail today. I believe the Minister of State was part of the team sending them off and well done to her for doing it. We wish them every success. It is Team Ireland and we hope they do us proud. One sport will not be represented at the games. Despite securing qualification in June 2019 at an event in Germany, the Irish dressage team will not send a team to compete. The team qualified but for various reasons the ori…

I thank the Minister of State. I listened with interest to his reply. This is a taxpayer-funded sport, and certainly the governing body is taxpayer funded. The selection process and the Olympic Games delegation would receive similar taxpayer funding. The coach, who is a resident of California I am told, is taxpayer funded. I am not sure how appropriate it is for someone who has not set foot in the State for 18 months to be selecting a team where the nominations closed a few weeks ago. I also appreciate that the Min…

The next question appears to be No. 91, in the name of Deputy Durkan.

Shortly after the Government was formed, one of the first Bills to pass through the Houses was the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill. As Chair of the justice committee I was delighted to prioritise its passage and ensure it got speedy progress and has since become law. I am sure the House will agree it is badly needed for cyberbullying and online harassment. Indeed, Coco's Law refers to the young lady who took her life as a result of such abuse, and the law was badly needed. However, I am…