I thank Senator Conway. I do not think we have any more Senators offering to contribute, so before he responds, perhaps the Minister could indulge a few of my queries if he does not mind. As his Westmeath colleague, Senator Davitt, has pointed out, the Minister has delivered enough jobs to Athlone and Mullingar already. I ask him to update us on the plans for the IDA advanced manufacturing facility in Longford town. Will he confirm that it will be 30,000 sq. ft, as per the spec of other facilities that have been de…

Thank you, Minister. I was reprimanded for letting in Senator Davitt a second time but I knew it was a very important issue and that the Minister was keen to respond.

Yesterday was budget day, an important day in the life of any democracy. I assume many other Members, like me, were deeply troubled to see several streets in the perimeter of the Government buildings closed down. There was no protest, and no people were gathering. A small number of businesses on nearby streets were closed off. There were tourists looking at what was going on and wondering why. We have a new Garda Commissioner, Justin Kelly, and I wish him well. He has been enthusiastically welcomed by members of th…

I warmly welcome budget 2026. It is fair to say that no one budget can achieve everything a nation aspires to but this is a seismic budget in terms of what we are setting out to achieve on the single biggest challenge we have in the country, which is housing. We will have 10,200 social homes delivered in 2026 and 15,000 starter homes, through a variety of schemes, such as the first home scheme, vacant grants and affordable and cost rental properties, as well as the help to buy scheme. All in all, it is a positive b…

I welcome the Minister of State, my constituency colleague, Deputy Troy. I commend him on his very positive input into what is a progressive budget. We have spoken on many of the macro points in the budget but all politics is local and I want to look at it on a more micro level and highlight some of the issues as they continue to pertain to Longford. We would have preferred to see some indication on the continuation of the N4 project, in keeping with the ambitious €19 billion capital investment. However, I welcome …

The people of Ireland, almost in our entirety, are shocked at what is ongoing in the Middle East. Ireland has been very much in the vanguard when it comes to pressing the case for Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank. No country of our size has done more. We have dragged many of the larger European countries to the table and emphasised at European level, national level and at every opportunity that what is taking place in the Middle East is nothing short of wanton destruction and genocide. However, we are dealing with a…

I remind Sinn Féin of the impact that kidnapping has had on this country, in the main perpetrated by-----

-----Senator Ryan's party. Tiede Herrema was not given the opportunity to record a video before he was kidnapped. Jean McConville was not given-----

-----an opportunity to record a video before she was kidnapped.

Ben Dunne was not given an opportunity. Don Tidey was not given an opportunity. Paddy Kelly, an Army private-----

-----and Gary Sheehan, the Garda probationer, who were on duty that day in Ballinamore were not given an opportunity to record a video before they were shot dead by the IRA.

Thomas Niedermayer was not given an opportunity-----

-----to record a video either.

I have absolute solidarity for Senator Andrews but it is not kidnapping.

Tell Sinn Féin’s press office it is not kidnapping.

And detained, not kidnapped.

They are detained.

They are detained.

We are dealing with an amendment in section 4 in the names of Senator Nicole Ryan and Senator Patricia Stephenson. The Minister was in possession at the time. Does he wish to continue?

Does anybody else wish to speak to this amendment? No.