On behalf of the Sinn Féin group, I offer our condolences to our colleague, Senator Currie, and her family on the passing of Austin Currie. May he rest in peace. The latest Daft rental report confirms what anybody who is trying to rent in this country already knows, which is that rents are continuing to rise. Munster, Connacht and Ulster are facing hikes of between 15% and 18% and, incredibly, the average monthly rent in Ireland is now €1,516. There is no doubt the rental crisis is continuing and the Minister conti…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Is éard atá á lorg ag Sinn Féin sa Bhille seo ná go mbeadh na cearta céanna ag Gaeilgeoirí in Éirinn is atá acu san Aontas Eorpach, na cearta atá ag daoine a labhraíonn an Fhraincis i gCeanada, a labhraíonn an Bhreatnais sa Bhreatain Bheag agus a labhraíonn an Bhascais agus an Chatalóinis ina dtíortha féin. When I heard Senator Maria Byrne talking about the European Parliament, it reminded me that when I stayed in Brussels bilingualism was normal at every level there. When one goe…

This is an incredibly important Bill that we are discussing tonight. I sincerely hope that it will be allowed to progress. I want to begin by commending the Together for Safety group which has tirelessly pursued the issue of safe access zones so that women can access the vital health services they are entitled to without harassment or fear. In response to constant anti-choice protests and activities outside the family planning clinic and maternity hospital in Limerick, Together for Safety was founded. It has meticu…

Hear, hear.

I welcome this opportunity to ask the Minister whether the Government will consider banning slug pellets containing metaldehyde from discount stores and garden centres so they are not readily available to households. Britain recently introduced an outright ban on metaldehyde that will come into effect in spring 2022. It did this following research carried out by an expert group on pesticides and health and safety, which found incontrovertible evidence that pellets containing this chemical are harmful to wildlife pe…

I really appreciate the response of the Minister of State from his Department and I would be happy to work with him on a public awareness campaign, as would the hedgehog rescue organisations with which I volunteer. I am disappointed we cannot get a commitment from the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine on putting a stop to them being sold in discount stores. I agree that farmers are trained on how to use these and they know when they should and should not be used. The incontrovertible evidence from the B…

It would be remiss of me not to mention the climate action plan that we are all awaiting sight of to see if it will live up to our expectations in terms of delivering on our legally binding targets. I am hoping that there will be an element of consultation around the climate action plan. We do not have a good reputation in this country of consulting with people, whether it is on planning matters, forestry or renewable energy. We seem to baulk at the thought of asking people for their opinions. This leads to us gett…

I commend Senator Murphy on the Bill and support it proceeding to Committee Stage. Flooding is an important issue and we have discussed it on numerous occasions in this House. It is going to become a more pressing issue as we face into the winter months and, in the longer term, more extreme weather events due to climate change. I recognise the devastating effects of flooding on the area around the Shannon lakes, especially around Carrick-on-Shannon, Leitrim village and the upper Shannon region north of Lough Ree. D…

I second the amendment.

With the leave of the House, Senator Gavan is on his way to second my amendment. Can I speak to it now, please, and move it.

Okay, that is fine. I will speak to it then. We welcome the debate on the national development plan, which contains many positive measures. We would like to see the MetroLink and DART+ progressed rapidly in order that people might be helped to get out of their cars. It is regrettable, however, that the 2027 completion dates for both the MetroLink and DART+ have been removed from the plan and that no dates at all are provided. While the western rail corridor and the Navan rail line are mentioned in passing, no firm …

Okay. I think all present know Sinn Féin's position on the carbon tax. I encourage the Minister of State to read the work of Professor Jessica Green, the policy analysis and carbon markets expert, who stated that her meta analysis indicates there is no robust empirical evidence to support carbon taxes.

I move amendment No. 4: To delete the fourth and fifth paragraphs under “acknowledges:”.

On today's Order of Business, there is a motion on the horse and greyhound racing fund, to be taken without debate. Regardless of people's views on greyhound and horse racing, I find it incredible that we would have no discussion in this House on the allocation of €70.4 million of public funding. It is not good enough simply to say we are going to refer this to the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Greyhound Racing Ireland's chair, Frank Nyhan, said in response to the budget allocation this year …

I will share my time with Senator Warfield. Is that agreed?

I welcome the Dublin MEPs. As the Leas-Chathaoirleach said, I am a former MEP-----

Yes. We will do it now. We can start the clock again.

I welcome the MEPs to the House. I know from my experience that it is incredibly hard to get anybody to pay any attention to the work they do. It often feels like being a hamster on a wheel. One problem is that although MEPs can attend the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs, which allows better scrutiny of European legislation, the timings never worked. If we have learned anything from Covid, we now know that we can do things remotely. We should certainly look at bringing MEPs to the European affairs committ…

I welcome the Minister. It is fair to say Ireland faces a perfect storm, if Senators will excuse the pun, in respect of energy security issues, with low winds, pandemic delays and two power plants going down. That said, it is critical we reduce the overall demand for energy. Current Government policies have been likened to trying to go down an escalator that is going up. We are an outlier when it comes to data centres. The EU average for data centres is 2% of energy demand whereas in Ireland they now account for 15…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Across the country, homes, schools, community buildings, farms and businesses are crying out to generate their own solar energy but, unfortunately, the restrictive planning framework for solar generation has undermined progress in this regard. Planning regulations currently require planning permission for all but the smallest of solar panel installations on homes or businesses which are exempt. This has had a major chilling effect in rolling out solar energy generation. The proble…