Is it on the register, before the Senator leaves?

I welcome the Minister back to the Chamber. At the outset, I commend him on all the work he has been doing. I think he has made some of the most significant strides we have seen in trying to address the housing deficit in this country, possibly over the past 15 to 20 years. I commend him on his work and tell him not to listen to detractors and keep doing what he is doing because I think he is making real progress. We have certainly seen that in the first quarter this year. Notwithstanding that, we have to admit tha…

You give out about the DUP, but you are on the same side.

You are in government together.

Obviously, it has been a hugely difficult weekend for us all but I want to say at the outset how proud I was of the farmers. In the history of farmers, we are unique. Indeed, the National Farmers Union, NFU, predates both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in terms of political parties. Only Sinn Féin predates the NFU. We have seen down through the years how strong a force the farmers are. They are willing to go to jail and have gone to jail in the past. They are a powerful force and a force for good. On a personal level, I…

At the outset, I want to call out many in the general public who continue to propagate this myth that there is price-gouging among filling stations across the country. These filling stations are in many instances the last bastion, the last retail outlet in many of our small towns and villages. Typically, a good filling station will get 6% margin on its fuel and typically will pay €40,000 to €70,000 prepaid before they get their delivery of fuel. These people are price-takers. They are given the price from their who…

As the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and every member of the Government have pointed out, this is an initial suite of measures. Indeed, as the Minister of State said, Sinn Féin is very much taking its lead. It cannot do anything for a few months in the North. It has to wait until July to see how we are getting on. We will certainly advise and apprise it on how these measures are doing. When we need additional measures, we will follow suit. I have to take issue with Senator Murphy claiming I was engaging in the stock trade of…

-----for remarks he made about him. There is no secret-----

-----about your involvement in the illegal trade of washing diesel in Northern Ireland.

I will but I will defend Paul Quinn's reputation and name in this House as well-----

-----when other parties, including the Senator on the other side of the Chamber, sullied his good name and that of his family.

The Minister of State is welcome back to the Chamber. I welcome the motion. I might not agree with many of its tenets but I agree that it certainly merits a discussion. We have to acknowledge that we are still a relatively young country. We are just 100 years old, plus a couple of years. While it is hard to get everything right, when it comes to democracy and exponents of democracies, we are probably a benchmark for the rest of the world. We do democracy very well. We are a democratic country and have an open Parli…

I doubt it. The TDs might have been, but we would not. I listened this morning to Deputy Cathal Crowe discuss this motion with the eminent proposer of the motion. He said that back in the history of time, our parliament was based in Killaloe, County Clare. The Senator would get less mileage travelling down there. That might not be as meritorious for him. As I said, there is merit in this motion. The arbitrary rule of having a representative for every 20,000 or 30,000 people has worked well. Maybe it is not how it s…

The Minister of State is a calming influence.

The Camogie Association and the Ladies Gaelic Football Association are working towards merging into a single organisation by 2027, creating one association to ensure equal treatment for all players. The move is long overdue and will ensure equal access to funding facilities for all sports people, young and old, as many inequalities have evolved over the years. It also presents us with a chance to formally include Gaelic games, the actual games, and the unique history of the organisation as part of our primary schoo…

Horse Sport Ireland was back before the agriculture committee in January. While the issue discussed was primarily the issuing of passports, it failed to address the contentious issue of a new high-performance levy for our top athletes. In the face of outrage from the sector, the sporting body subsequently backed down on its initial €60 charge and instead implemented a new €45 fee. It is hard not to see this move as little more than a money-making exercise from our equine sports body. Arguably the most telling criti…

Senator Duffy and I have the same hairstyle. I too welcome the students from St. Louis school in Dundalk. As we listen to the debate, it strikes me that we ought to have students from St. Louis and other schools discussing this very important motion here today. I am particularly happy that we have said we will not ban social media for people aged under 16 in this country. From having three daughters, I have come to realise how important social media is to them. If we reflect on a time when I was growing up, we all …

Before moving on to the substance of what I want to speak about, I acknowledge what Senator Nelson Murray spoke about, particularly the death of young Mia Lily Keogh O'Keeffe. We could add also the names of Conor Quinn, John Guy, Laura Hoy-Henry, Kathleen Cunningham and Brian Frisby and Grace Elliott. At the weekend, we lost no fewer than seven lives on Irish roads on an all-Ireland basis. That is seven lives too many. We are past the point where we do not declare what is happening on our roads a national crisis at…

I will sound very inadequate now because I cannot quote Muhammad Ali or Churchill. I will venture on as best I can. I am delighted this topic is down for discussion today. The bedrock of this country has been volunteerism down through the years. That spirit of volunteerism is the one thing that sets us apart from every other country. Many people have rightly mentioned the issues with Garda vetting and getting people approved. The flip side of that is when we were not so strict on it, we can look at the sins of our …

Are we having a free-for-all or having amendments?