Does the Senator wish to speak to it?

Does anybody else wish to speak to it? No. Has the Minister any contribution?

Before I go to the Minister, are there any other Senators offering on this amendment? No. Would the Minister like to respond?

I will try not to go over the many points that have already been made but it would be remiss of me not to address some of the issues in relation to the Mercosur deal. The Opposition seems to take the position that the Mercosur deal is bad but the Opposition has never had to negotiate a trade deal. The success of Irish agriculture is based on trade deals made through the EU. We have a team that will negotiate a Mercosur deal, and it will be a good deal for Irish agriculture. Nobody sets out to get a bad trade deal. …

It is a starting point. With all due respect, the Senators will not decide the Mercosur deal here. It will be negotiated at a higher level. These things need to be looked at in the round. It was the Senator's party that said we should not go into the EU. If we had not gone into the EU, where would Irish farmers be now?

Sinn Féin did an about-face and accepted the EU after a while. The nitrates derogation is a big issue looming for farmers. In the agriculture committee of the previous Dáil, I said that there was an onus on us to engage proactively with the EPA. The biggest threat to our holding onto our nitrates derogation is the EPA not giving us timely information. Most of the water quality reports it was giving us were 18 months if not two years out of date. Significant progress has been made on water quality across the country…

I welcome the representatives from the International Police Association. I am glad the Cathaoirleach clarified who they are because when I saw all the uniforms, I thought it was a coup. I am reassured to know that there will not be a coup here today.

I call on the Leader to draw to the attention of his party colleague the Minister for education details of a bizarre case that unfolded in County Leitrim recently regarding a venerable and much-respected former school principal, who is 66 years of age and who dedicated his life to education and to rural Ireland. He was in the vanguard of the delivery of special education. I was shocked to discover that he has been brought before the courts. It was alleged, and he admitted, that the enrolment figure for his school f…

Unfortunately, Senator Craughwell is not here. I am not sure of his position on Fianna Fáil but not only did it introduce free school transport but it also introduced free schoolbooks and free school lunches. I am sure he will check the record because I know he likes to hear the virtues of Fianna Fáil. I am a bit alarmed as I am probably starting to sound like my colleagues from Labour and Sinn Féin, but I too have reached a point where I believe the school transport system we have now, albeit a Fianna Fáil creatio…

I thank the Minister for coming in today. Undoubtedly, one of the biggest challenges facing this State is the scaling of our infrastructure. I appreciate we have record levels of capital investment, but it is only reasonable and fair to say the national development plan 2025 to 2035 will be a defining one against the backdrop of rising population and bullish economic growth. It is vital we meet these challenges in the areas of transport, water and energy head on. It is just under €276 billion of capital investment.…

I agree with the spirit of Senator O'Reilly's comments but to reference Longford in relation to scamming is harsh. There was no need to reference the county where the bank account originated.

I have come from the committee on social protection, community development and rural affairs. We heard a prebudget submission from the public participation networks, PPN. The representative from Kildare PPN and Siobhan Cronogue from Longford PPN spoke eloquently about the phenomenal work they have done to support integration and community groups throughout the country. However, they also addressed an outstanding issue on the pay of the PPN co-ordinators. We thought we had made progress on this in the lifetime of th…

I wish to try to cover a few issues. One of the things we can come back to at the close is when the Minister of State expects to issue a new call for the sports facility fund and also the large-scale sports infrastructure fund. I have listened with interest to all of the speakers. During the lifetime of the previous Government we saw unprecedented investment in sport in terms of the sports facility fund. At the end of last year almost €250 million was invested in sport. Critical to that was incubating a culture of …

This is a Seanad Bill that has been amended by the Dáil. In accordance with Standing Order 159, it is deemed to have passed its First, Second and Third Stages in the Seanad and is placed on the Order Paper for Report Stage. On the question "That the Bill be received for final consideration", the Minister may explain the purpose of the amendments made by the Dáil. This is looked upon as the report of the Dáil amendments to the Seanad. The only matters, therefore, which may be discussed are the amendments made by the…

We move now to group 2 consisting of amendments relating to reference number 1 in Schedule 1, Part 1. This is the subject matter of amendments Nos. 2 and 7.

Group 3 consists of technical amendments and the subject matter of amendments Nos. 5 and 6.

When is it proposed to take Fifth Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

I thank the Minister and her officials for their work on this important legislation. I also thank Senator Boyhan for his very constructive input.

When is it proposed to sit again?