I join other Senators in welcoming the news of €16.3 million in funding for maintenance and renewal of the road network in my county of Waterford, which is on top of the €13.8 million given last week by the National Transport Authority, NTA, for active travel measures. It is significant funding which will make a huge difference across our city and county and make the job of councillors in the coming weeks and months easier in devising the roadworks programme. I am particularly happy to see significant funds allocat…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy English, to the Chamber. I echo the comments of my colleague on Senator Currie and the fantastic work she did in this area before it was popular to do so. There is no doubt we are in an era of change. Covid-19 has probably accelerated the move towards remote work and remote learning. It has probably accelerated it by several years. It was going to happen but Covid has moved the process along. The possibilities are endless. We have probably seen a glimpse into the future of wh…

I join my colleagues in welcoming the Minister of State to the House. It is always good to have a constituency colleague in the hot seat. She has a challenging role and I wish her the best with it. There is no question that Covid-19 has had a devastating impact on individuals and families throughout our country. Attention has been paid to our elderly and our young people because they have been so visibly impacted by this disease. In the case of our elderly, obviously they are more vulnerable to Covid-19, though it …

I welcome the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to the House and thank him for taking this Commencement matter in person. I wish to acknowledge the interest and determination of the Minister in ensuring that Waterford and the south-east region finally achieve the long-held ambition to have a university of international standing. I wish to put some statistics on the record of the House to assist me in making my case. According to the latest data available from the Higher Edu…

I thank the Minister and appreciate his comments about wanting to expand the footprint of the campus in Waterford. That is an important commitment that he has put on the record of the House. I look forward to engaging further with him on that process. The Minister mentioned distributed leadership in the context of the headquarters and the new university, which is important. While I appreciate that, he will appreciate that there is considerable anxiety in Waterford about this issue. It would be helpful if he could a…

I put on record my thanks to the Minister of State, her Department and her staff for the significant work and commitment that they have put in, night and day. I know that from the communications that we have had. They have worked to get students with additional needs back to in-person learning in the classroom. I have worked in this area for many years as a secondary school PE teacher. We have made significant strides as a nation in integrating students with additional needs into the mainstream school setting. That…

I thank the Minister for his comprehensive statement on his Department's response to the unique challenges presented by Covid-19. I acknowledge the 100% commercial waiver he provided to local authorities across the country. The sum of €1 billion is unprecedented, but it is an acknowledgement of the challenges that businesses the length and breadth of the country are facing. The Minister has extended the waiver for quarter 1 of this year, but in light of the current circumstances and the likelihood that normal trade…

I would like to use my time this afternoon to talk about the construction sector and the impact the current closure of sites across the country is having not only on the industry as a whole but more specifically about the impact it is going to have on housing supply this year. As the Fine Gael Seanad spokesperson, I believe that a debate is needed on what essential construction actually is. While there is no doubting the fact that hard measures were and are required to ease pressure on our health system, the hidden…

I thank the Minister of State for coming here this afternoon for this very important debate on the Covid-19 vaccine programme. Like many other Senators, I put on record my appreciation for our front-line workers across the health system, particularly those who have taken up roles as vaccinators over the last month and who have worked many additional hours over weekends and, in many cases, extended their shifts. We now have an initial team of 1,700 vaccinators in place and more than 4,800 people have completed the t…

I compliment Senator Keogan on her contribution on foster parents. On 10 November, the Cabinet signed off on a massive €110 million investment project on the north quays in Waterford city. This was the culmination of years of very hard work by many in Waterford as well as the previous Fine Gael-led Government's policy on strategic development zones, SDZs. There is no question that this project will transform the city in the years ahead but there are a number of other projects in the pipeline for Waterford that will…

The Minister has outlined the protections for tenants in great detail. He referred to the time sensitivity of same give that the residential protections under the Residential Tenancies and Valuation Act 2020 will expire on 10 January. I take issue with Senator Warfield's comment that the vulnerability is one-sided. It is not always the case that only tenants can be vulnerable. We also have landlords who are in negative equity or may have lost their jobs and have no income. The Minister was correct that the aim here…

This is one of the areas I raised a concern about on Committee Stage in respect of the disapplication element. However, I am satisfied from what the Minister's officials told us in briefings, and what he has said just now, that the fact that it will be an offence for a landlord to make a false declaration under this is sufficient protection. Senator Moynihan will be happy to hear me say it is important that making a false declaration will be an offence for the landlord and not just for the tenant. That is right and…

I thank the Waterford hurling team and management. Although we were not successful in our 61-year wait and endurance, they brought great joy to every person in Waterford. Yesterday the interim report from the Central Bank on motor and home insurance was released. It found that dual pricing was widespread in the market, which will come as no surprise to anybody. When it comes to motor insurance renewal time, one will ring around alternative insurance providers and, more than likely, get a lower quote that sometimes …

I welcome the Minister to the House. This is my first time addressing her in her new role. I compliment her and her hard-working staff, as colleagues have done. What has been done throughout the pandemic by her Department has been truly extraordinary. The budget of €25 billion is colossal but it is needed in times of Brexit and Covid uncertainty. I was delighted a number of years ago when the Department's name was changed from the Department of Social and Family Affairs to the Department of Social Protection becaus…

I support Senator Ward's call to allow live music at weddings, which are already restricted to 25 guests. Common sense is needed, just as it was needed last week in regard to the performing arts sector, including dance schools. I am glad that in the Dáil last week the Minister clarified that the Sport Ireland guidance on individual and one-to-one training now applies to this sector, while the Arts Council devised its own guidance. However, some confusion still exists. Many within that sector refer to their practice…

I echo the comments of my colleagues to my right. I come from Waterford and Waterford Crystal is a large international company in our city, with a long track record of attracting significant numbers of international tourists. It is rightly concerned about the threshold set here. I support Senator Chambers's call to pause this proposal. I believe the proposed compromise of a €50 threshold, which would remove 40% of transactions and only 8% of sales is reasonable and should be given due consideration by the Departmen…

Today, large parts of the economy are reopening following a difficult six weeks of lockdown. However, several sectors are still not permitted to open which needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. I am specifically referring to the arts sector, theatres and venues across the country. In Waterford, the Theatre Royal opened successfully without cases when restrictions were eased during the summer. It can hold 90 audience members across three floors with 2 m social distancing in place. The theatre would be happy …

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I have not had any interaction with him before. I wish him the very best in his new role. I totally appreciate where the proposers of the amendments are coming from on this but perhaps the Minister of State will clarify in his response. I certainly do not believe there is any intention on the Department's behalf to restrict the consultation process as a result of what is being proposed here. I see it as additionality. I hear what Senator Boyhan is saying about the "and-…

I wish to pick up on a few points. It is unfair to the Minister of State to suggest that by his putting forward this amendment in some way he is not empowering citizens. As I said in my initial contribution on the Bill, while the chief executive has ownership of the predraft at that point, it would be a very brave chief executive who would not take on board what the elected members of the council would wish. I speak as a former planning strategic policy committee chair on Waterford City and County Council. Apart fr…

I will be brief because we have been around the House three times on this. For clarity, I was not suggesting for a second that if I, in my previous guise as chair of the planning strategic policy committee, SPC, in Waterford, were to ask the executive to attend a meeting that I organised, it would attend. I was saying that if I requested it to hold a public meeting, the council would do so. To return to the point Senator Fitzpatrick made, this is not about trying to stifle or truncate the process in this regard. It…