I ask the Leader to facilitate a debate with the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, on the HSE winter plan. The €169 million plan was announced yesterday, yet today we were told by Liam Woods from the HSE, who spoke on the national broadcaster, that the recruitment process to hire a consultant from beginning to end takes up to 40 weeks. We all agree that 40 weeks from today means it will almost be next summer before the relevant consultants are approved and appointed in our hospitals. As part of the deba…

What is the Chair proposing with regard to amendment No. a 4a?

Amendment No. a 4a relates to section 75 and amendment No. b 4a relates to section 76.

On Senator Craughwell's last point, enactment of this legislation can be facilitated by him right now and by not calling votes.

In the context of the debate on these two amendments, there is a lot of commonality, a shared goal and a collective objective. This week we saw from the documentary on Tuskar Rock that aviation safety is paramount, and I commend everyone who was involved in creating the documentary. In the interests of bringing everyone with us and to bring a shared commonality, and the Minister of State might derail me for my next comment but I do not mean to be confrontational or controversial, is there merit in amalgamating her …

I want to welcome the Minister of State's comments in her reply, especially around her commitment on a minimum number of meetings. That is a positive development. However, I am struck by two points. First, I was alarmed at the suggestion of three months and I do not know why it would take that long. To use an analogy, I could not see Michael O'Leary tolerating a three-month delay. I appreciate where the Minister of State is coming from and what she is saying but surely we could expedite that. Second, if we are deal…

To be fair to the Minister of State, she has gone with the discussion here and I think-----

The Acting Chairperson is impartial. In defence of Senator Doherty, she is raising some legitimate points. I hope that before Report Stage, the Minister of State and her officials will look at some of what the Senator is proposing that can make the legislation better, which is what we are trying to do.

Agreed.

On section 103, there were some concerns about dissolution. There was a concern about splitting staff and different part of the whole operation. Have those been rectified? I do not want to delay the Bill.

In light of the whole issue around EU scrutiny of legislation, what the Minister of State has read into the record is a very important insertion that we should not just dismiss as technical. It is very technical, but under the guise of the Cathaoirleach's Seanad reform programme, he might give consideration to those regulations being used as part of a wider conversation in the House that ties in with the communication piece around EU regulation, given the timely documentary shown on Monday about Tuskar Rock and giv…

Next Tuesday.

Tomorrow morning at 10.30 a.m.

I would like to welcome the students. The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth who is present is responsible for many aspects of their lives. The issue I am raising is to do with young children, specifically, the pre-school in the Morning Star National School, Ballyphenane, County Cork, and the fact the pre-school has not been reopened. I thank the Minister for being here. It is a testament to the importance of this issue that he is here. I accept it is not the Minister's direct respon…

I thank the Minister for being here and for his response. I accept there was an ongoing issue with some of the documentation. My understanding, however, is that all this has now been rectified. Issues were addressed in respect of fire safety and planning and all the requisite documents were submitted. From talking to the people involved, I believe all these aspects were addressed. I welcome the Minister's reply. Notwithstanding that, however, I ask if the application could be backdated to when it was originally sub…

I welcome our Acting Leader to the House. Yesterday, the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland held a briefing in Buswells Hotel for Members of the Oireachtas around the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill and the medium-term Future of Media Commission report. I think we all recognise that local radio plays a huge and important role in urban and rural communities across Ireland. I commend all those involved in local radio and ask that we as a House have a debate with the Minister on the future of local radio. We …

Did Senator Gavan acknowledge that the pensions issue has been resolved?

It was.

Wrong again. The Senator is misleading the House.

I welcome the Minister to the House and commend him on his stewardship of the Bill thus far, for his engagement and the quality of that engagement. I know Senator Horkan referred to the 2021 Bill, but the fact that the Minister brought amendments in the Lower House underscores the importance of this Bill. We are committed to this legislation. My friend and colleague, Senator Boyhan, raised issues we should tease out further. He spoke about public liability and insurance, which we should look at and discuss again. T…