I was thinking earlier about the term "the patience of Job", and I wondered what it meant, and who Job was. I googled it and found the following definition: "Job is presented as a good and prosperous family man who is beset by Satan with God's permission with horrendous disasters that take away all that he holds dear." I cannot help but think that some sort of analogy could be drawn with the patience that the Minister has shown in dealing with Brexiteers and the British Government, which seems to have a different p…

Before I call on the Minister of State, does anyone else wish to speak?

Yes, it was.

I find it astonishing that we have a serious debate on the reopening of our country's retail but the best Opposition that was ever going to be provided in the history of the State has not even bothered to turn up.

Was there anything wrong with what I said?

I will be mindful of it. While I will take the Acting Chairman's advice, with all due respect, they should be here. I am not sure if there are many committees sitting at this time on a Thursday. Perhaps the fact that there are no votes for the rest of the day means people skedaddled earlier. I can only assume and cannot make any real guesses about it.

Please, Acting Chairman. I have a limited amount of time.

With due respect to you, Acting Chairman, and to help you out in the Chair, I would say conventions are there sometimes to be broken. I like to break them every once in a while but to finish my point-----

Jesus, I have two minutes.

If I could just finish-----

Going back to the subject matter, which is not about the best Opposition ever provided in the history of the State, I find it is important that I personally turn up to all briefings about topics like this to ensure that I am well-informed so that when we debate specific matters, I can discuss them. That is what I am doing here. Retail has more or less been sorted this afternoon. However, GD Tours, a company based in Derry, last night proposed to take a bus load of shoppers from Derry on a round trip of 452 km to Du…

I want to focus on three issues in my remarks. The first is what I would describe as a public relations strategy that will combat vaccine scepticism. We have seen reports in the past week alone that one third of Irish people are wary about the vaccine. A total of 12% of people believe they will not take it. If a vaccine were to be introduced into Ireland that had, say, a 90% effective rate we will need 85% of the population to take that vaccine for it to have any sort of effect. It is very important that we make it…

I seek a discussion on the concept of the vaccine strategy and the roll-out behind it. There has been wonderful news every Monday for the last three weeks about the strength of the vaccines. Yesterday, the Taoiseach said that he wants to present the roll-out strategy to the Government on 11 December. Perhaps we should consider inviting the Minister to the House before Christmas for statements on the roll-out strategy. That is my request today. I believe it would be a good idea. There are a couple of things about th…

As there is no one from the Independent group, I call Senator Casey.

When is it proposed to take Committee Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Thank you for your condolences, a Leas-Chathaoirligh. My cousin Niall McGahon famously won an FAI Cup medal in 1958 with Dundalk FC at the age of 18 years, so I appreciate that. I submitted this Commencement matter today on urban regeneration funding because it is such an important issue for the north end of Dundalk town. The Bridge Street and Linenhall Street area has essentially been a neglected part of Dundalk for the past 40 years for various reasons. I live only a few minutes away from this part of the town an…

I thank the Minister of State for all his support for this application in recent weeks. While Dundalk is the largest town in Ireland, the Minister of State's home town of Mullingar has similar issues. He knows the issues at stake here, therefore. He is right to state that this is transformative funding. It has the potential to unlock previously unimagined ideas. Much urban regeneration funding has come into Dundalk in the past two years. The Bridge Street area is the final piece in the jigsaw. The application and s…

I thank Senator O'Reilly, the Fine Gael spokesperson on defence, for allowing me to lead in this debate on behalf of our party. Before I get into the merits of this debate and why I believe we should have these medals awarded, I pay tribute to individuals, like Senator Craughwell and former Senator Gabrielle McFadden, who were lone voices in the wilderness for so long. They are now being joined by a chorus of voices, from all political parties and none, in both Houses of the Oireachtas. One need only search kildare…

Five minutes is more than enough. I would just like to make a couple of points, my remarks will be brief. I spoke to some parents yesterday in preparation for and anticipation of this debate, to get a fuller sense of some of the issues they are facing. I will talk about some of the issues today. The common theme I got from a number of parents yesterday is, essentially, that every single child is unique and different, as we all are, with their own personalities, wants and needs. At times we have a tendency to take a…