Will he answer?

No problem. He answered it without answering.

That is not-----

Senator Craughwell wanted to close the base.

Senator Craughwell identified someone in his contribution-----

-----and made a very serious claim.

We are not in the Wild West where we can say things and-----

Clearly, Senator Craughwell is not willing to respect them.

I hope Senator Gavan will take this in the good-natured way it is intended, but I think we have had a first in this House today with a Sinn Féin Senator commending the Fine Gael Seanad group. I thank him on behalf of the group and long may it continue.

I think Senator Byrne is stretching it a little bit there.

I thank the Minister for his attendance, which shows that he is taking this matter seriously. I acknowledge the commitment in his statement to increasing staff at the Passport Office to cater for the expected increase in passport applications to some 1.75 million this year. That is a staggering figure when one considers the highest number ever dealt with previously was around 1 million. There is a challenge there, undoubtedly, but the Government is responding to it by considerably increasing staffing levels in the …

Last week, "Prime Time" ran an excellent programme on the work being done in Waterford to tackle the issue of dereliction and vacancy. It highlighted the success of the repair-and-lease scheme, the buy-and-renew scheme and the council's utilisation of compulsory purchase orders, CPOs, to tackle something that everyone in this Chamber and across society gets rightly vexed about in the midst of a housing crisis. The Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage is examining this issue at length, but it wa…

I wish to raise an issue in respect of passport applications. My office has been inundated with queries on this, particularly where one or both parents are not Irish citizens but their child is, having being born in the State and having been living here for many years. That child is entitled to his or her Irish passport. One set of parents, originally from India, has been waiting since July last year for a passport for their child. It is unacceptable, particularly when we are coming out of Covid and when people are…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I echo many of Senator Paddy Burke's comments on the previous Government's foresight in proceeding with the national broadband plan roll-out. There are always reasons not to do things but a point comes when a decision has to be made to proceed. That said, as other colleagues noted, there is frustration with the slowness of the roll-out in areas throughout the country. The Minister of State will have a sense of that. In my home county of Waterford, 15,084 premises are du…

I would like to start by complimenting my colleagues seated to my right on bringing forward this Bill, and by complimenting Senator Wall, who brought forward a similar Bill last year on this issue. It is a very important issue. It is an issue which vexes a lot of people and rightly so, because dumping and illegal dumping is a scourge on society. It prevents people from enjoying the beautiful landscape, towns, villages and cities right across the country. While I appreciate that the Department is currently working o…

Last week on the Order of Business I raised local concerns about Rescue 117 and its base at Waterford airport. I said that I did not share the down-beat concerns while understanding the pressing need for clarity. I welcome that clarity and today's Cabinet decision that the four existing bases of Waterford, Sligo, Shannon and Dublin will be specified in the new tender document. I have been raising this matter with the Tánaiste for several months, as I am sure the Leader has been doing with regard to the Dublin base.…

I take the opportunity to speak about Rescue 117 and the search and rescue base at Waterford Airport. Since the pre-qualification questionnaire for the new contract was published prior to Christmas, there has been a considerable amount of speculation and an understandable concern expressed within the south east regarding the likely configuration of operations when the new contract is awarded. While the pre-qualification questionnaire is silent on the issue of bases, it does specify there should be a minimum of thre…

I stated on Committee Stage that everyone in this House supports good environmental practices, and in this case having protected marine life, but at the same time we have to acknowledge and be honest that delays occur as a result of challenges. It was indicated on Committee Stage by the Member on my left that he was already aware this legislation which we were still in the process of discussing would be challenged in the courts before we even concluded our business as Oireachtas Members, which was disappointing to …

That is accurate. I suggest the Senator check the record. The main point I am making is nobody is suggesting we restrict people's right to be able to take challenges. However, we need to be honest and upfront with the public as to the consequences of such challenges. We can all speak about meeting our targets in terms of wind energy, etc., but we cannot get to those targets if applications are caught up in process and in the courts. I have no issue with anybody challenging anything once he or she is upfront and hon…

I welcome the Minister to the House and this is a debate that many of us requested last week. I thank the Minister and the Leader for facilitating statements this evening on a critical topic. The Minister is aware the live theatre, arts and events industry has had what can only be described as a torrid 20 months. The impact of closures, curtailments, restricted audiences, social distancing and cancellations has been devastating for lives and livelihoods. This industry adds so much to the rich cultural and social ta…