Now.

I welcome the Minister of State. It is a particular pleasure to do that, having served with him at the Council of Europe in the past. I salute how avant-garde he is and how much he is embracing this whole area, leading out on it and ensuring we are at the front in the area of regulating the use of AI both in the positive and controlling senses. I welcome our joining of the global partnership and the investment in the National Cyber Security Centre. I salute the Minister of State for all this. It is a great pleasure…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit agus tréaslaím go mór leis an méid infheistíochta in áiseanna spóirt atá déanta i rith na bliana. Chomh maith leis sin táim go láidir i bhfabhar na físe don todhchaí. I welcome the Minister of State. We are neighbours. I hope that will be reflected in the allocations to come and he will show a neighbourly touch in very much focusing on all the County Cavan clubs that have applied. I welcome the Minister of State's opening statement on behalf of the Government on where we are at. I …

I welcome the Minister to the House. The proposed legislation is very welcome and timely. He is to be congratulated on that. As this is Second Stage, I will make a couple of initial general comments before getting more specific. It is worthy of stating, and should be acknowledged, that we have made great strides in reducing cigarette smoking in the population and the culture of acceptance around it. That has all been very well achieved. It is appropriate to acknowledge the role of the Tánaiste initially in banning …

I join Senator Horkan in welcoming our dignitaries from the Czech Republic and wishing them and our Czech population here a good day. The budget has been revolutionary and radical in its improvements for children, a vulnerable section of our population that is the future of our country but that would not necessarily have a voice. A couple of radical things happened in the budget. The second reduction in the cost of childcare, bringing it down by 50% in two years, is extraordinarily radical. The doubling of child be…

At the outset, I welcome the Tánaiste and I thank him for his sure-footed, excellent handling of this sensitive issue. It has been a desperate issue over the past number of days. I will quickly acknowledge the presence of Ambassador Dana Erlich and Jeremy Wilmshurst from the UK embassy, with whom I have picked up a good friendship over the years. It has become ritualistic, but it is not insincere to say that it is very deep and real for all of us. It has to happen on every occasion that we condemn outright the acti…

Yesterday, we had healthcare workers from the private nursing homes across Ireland present at the Dáil and they have a very serious issue. There are approximately 1,000 of these people and I met some of them yesterday and I also met their leadership, one of whose officials is former Deputy Ruth Coppinger. I met them outside as a group, as a collective, together with some of their leadership executive. Their issue is very heartbreaking. Many qualified nurses from India and the Philippines, who have the normal qualif…

I second amendment No. 12, which, as the proposer stated, expresses our abhorrence at the attack on the hospital. It is an absolute low. The motion begins in a very balanced fashion by unanimously, or unambiguously, rather, condemning Hamas and the horrors of the attack on the concert, etc. It is like an equivalent to our Electric Picnic or whatever being similarly attacked. To go on to some of these substantive points I want to make, I could use a simple expression that we are all familiar with, which is that is t…

We were very proud as a nation last week, collectively and properly, of our Naval Service and how it dealt with the drugs haul. It certainly distinguished itself and made us proud. It brings into question the entire resourcing of our Naval Service, our Defence Forces in general and our Reserve Defence Force. There is a twin problem in our Defences Forces. First, there is the problem of recruitment and then there is the problem of retention. I do not have the figures with me - they are in my car - but I know there a…

I welcome the Minister to the House and recognise the fact, as Members do, that she is a particularly reforming Minister who takes a much broader perception of what the Department is about and a more holistic view of how things should be done. That has been visible in the area of domestic violence and so on and it is clear here today too. It is necessary. That is not to say that she strays from the core objectives - she does not - but it is important also to think outside the box a little. I welcome that. To turn t…

The media reports are spurious in that regard.

Next Tuesday.

I second the motion. I welcome the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. Senator Conway's exposition was of such quality that I cannot add to it. I will, therefore, formally second the motion.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Taoiseach. Tagann sé anseo go rialta agus bíonn sé réidh le ceisteanna a fhreagairt i mbealach cuimsitheach. Molaim sin. I will digress into a brief retrospective as a Border person to thank the Taoiseach for his management of Brexit and the avoidance of a hard border. Moving to the present day, I am very happy that child poverty is a priority for the Government and that the Taoiseach is personally committed to dealing with eliminating it. Obviously the free books are great initiative and the…

I want to join in the words of sympathy to the families and colleagues of Flor O'Mahony and Damien O'Reilly. In deference to the recommendation that we raise one issue, I will attempt to do that and stick to one. It is an issue that I intend to raise repeatedly until we arrive at some level of satisfaction on it. This very serious issue is question of where are we at with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, CAMHS. In other words, what levels of waiting lists are there? What are we going to do about res…

Yes, if the Leader could supply the information first and then we will do it.

I join the Deputy Leader in wishing colleagues a very good summer holiday and time for important recreation so as to be able to come back with renewed vigour in the next term. I wish the staff of this House, led by Mr. Groves and Ms Doody and who are excellent and so supportive of us all, a good summer holiday. I also wish the ushers of the House a good holiday. They make life around the Houses so easy, and we do appreciate that. In the context of wishing people a nice summer, it is worth mentioning that the summer…

The Senator is lucky to be immune from the commission's work.

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for welcoming those visitors. At the outset, I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, to the House. I acknowledge that he is bringing the same energy and competencies to this Ministry that he did to the area of finance. Before I get into the issue, I fully endorse the latter part of the Minister of State's presentation, which stated that it is his responsibility to increase the aid and keep the aid going. As he said, that postgraduate programme is very important. I salute all…

Tomorrow, at 9.30 a.m.