I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, for coming to the House. As she comes from a coastal county, as I do, she is appreciative of the work of the Coast Guard right around the country. From seeing it in action, I know the work of the Courtown-Arklow Coast Guard. The Coast Guard group based in Courtown Harbour is unusual in that it actually covers parts of two counties. It covers the area from Brittas Bay in County Wicklow down as far as Cahore, so it is a large area of sea. There is a crew of about 22 who…

It is but at the same time, this has been a really long process. For the crew that is operating there, it is about looking for basic facilities that the rest of us would take for granted. It is particularly the case because these people are going out and saving lives. I invite the Minister of State to visit Courtown Harbour and to inspect the facilities. The Minister of State said the station is on the priority list. However, there is always the question of how long the list is and how long it is going to take. I h…

Like my colleagues, I would like to welcome the ambassador, H.E. Aino Lepik von Wirèn, on this the Estonian national day and share with her our concerns around the unwarranted invasion of Ukraine by Russia and to make very clear from these Houses and this country that we stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. We have seen troops and military vehicles from Belarus entering Ukraine and it is now very clear that the dictators that are Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko do not respect the rule of law or i…

I start by welcoming to the House a good friend of mine and an active campaigner, Mr. Matthew McGrath, whose campaign about access to beaches I have raised before. He has been very active in this area. It is a privilege to have him here in Leinster House today. I know the view about increasing accessibility, generally, is shared by all within the Seanad. Following the discussion yesterday regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I wish to raise the impact this will have on global food security. Russia and Ukraine…

I thank the three MEPs who I know are working very hard on our behalf. I agree with Mr. Kelly on the commitment shown by our MEPs on human rights in particular. I really dislike the title of the programme, Fit For 55. It sounds like a seniors exercise class at my local gym. If there was one change possible, I would ask for that. Our MEPs work very effectively together at EU level particularly on certain issues as we have seen here. However, I want to raise the elephant in the room, which is the stance taken by cert…

I thank the Cathaoirleach for welcoming the representatives of the Uyghur World Congress and colleagues who attended the meeting to hear about the ongoing abuse of human rights in China. Since we last met and with the storms, we in Wexford lost a very valued employee of Wexford County Council, Mr. Billy Kinsella, who sadly died while out serving his community. He was working hard on behalf of the people his community. I hope Members would join with me in extending sympathy to his wife Rita, their son Conor and, ind…

I thank the Minister for coming in with this vitally important legislation. It is critical to how we define our society, culture and democracy. There has been much reference already to the Oireachtas Joint Committee Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media and the work it has done on this Bill. I have to say, along with Senators Cassells, Warfield and Carrigy, and our colleagues in the other House, we worked very closely in a collaborative way. We put aside our party differences and realised how important this work …

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, for taking this issue. As we know, during the past two years, among those who have been most heavily affected and impacted have been our artists, musicians and those who are involved in the events and creative sectors. It is not just because of a loss of income, but for many of them being unable to perform or engage in artistic works has impacted as well on their identity. It is important that this scheme is right. I know that it is a commitment of the programme for Go…

I might suggest by the response, and I appreciate it has been provided to the Minister of State by the Department, that if this was a drama, he was trying to lead up to the dénouement , because some of the language being used, such as "will be released shortly", "as she finalises the pilot scheme", "work on finalising is progressing well", "the policy is just concluding", and "has not yet been finalised but there will be an announcement in the coming weeks", provides us with these teasers that have been provided to…

I raise international students' health insurance. It was one of the first issues that I raised following my election to the Seanad. On 5 March 2021, I introduced a Bill specifically to deal with the issue. At the time, I was assured that the issue was being addressed. There is a problem at the Department of Justice where, as part of the visa requirements for non-EEA students who are here for more than one year, they must purchase a particular form of health insurance. The cost of that health insurance has increased…

Senator Ward will take Senator O'Loughlin there for lunch afterwards.

I join Senator Paul Daly and others in complimenting Deputy Cahill and the members of the committee he chairs on their work on the vital issue of forestry. In many ways, I will simply echo some of Deputy Cahill's points. Having looked at the recommendations, while they are ambitious in certain places, they are achievable. I know from speaking to those working in the forestry sector that this has been a very difficult period. They have communicated that to the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, clearly. The fact th…

I join Senator O'Loughlin. I have called in this House before for a debate on the future funding of higher education. We are no further along that track. While the announcement is welcome that will result in the reduction of fees for students at third level, it cannot be at the expense of core funding for higher education institutions. We need clarity on the future funding of those institutions. I raise the question of approximately 100 Tesco security workers. These are workers who are employed directly by Tesco. L…

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, into the House. I agree with Senator Higgins with regard to the public transport provisions. I am aware of the measure introduced by the Minister for reduced fares for younger people, which is very welcome, but it should go further. It represents a good start. I agree with Senator Higgins that if we introduce a 20% reduction in the cost of public transport, we should keep that reduction. I am not an expert on inflation, but if we reduce it by 20% now and then choose to inc…

It is good to see Senator Pauline O’Reilly in the Deputy Leader’s chair. I look forward to hearing her response to the Order of Business. I raise the question of the Winter Olympics, which are to open in Beijing tomorrow. They will be the most shameful Olympic Games to have taken place since those in Berlin in 1936. We all know about the ongoing human rights abuses in China, such as the Uighur genocide and what has been happening in Hong Kong. Today I raise, in particular given it is an often forgotten conflict, th…

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, for coming before the House to take this matter. He is aware we are in the middle of a period of radical technological transformation, where we are seeing a convergence of a range of new technologies from artificial intelligence to blockchain to 6G and the Internet of things. Today I want to talk about the metaverse, an augmented and virtual reality, and the extent to which the State is prepared to operate in such a sector. As there always is with new technologies and opp…

I hope that will be the case, although the evidence to date suggests it will not. Yesterday I spoke about the approach of the Central Bank, for example, to fintech and financial services companies. We saw the decision by Revolut to move its operations to Lithuania. Many fintech companies do not believe that the regulatory sandbox that is required to allow these companies to start is being pursued here. There are many problems with cryptocurrencies but we are moving towards the era of digital currencies. There is a …

I listened to the contributions of Senators Norris and O'Loughlin and they spoke about Joyce in Irish literature and how international Joyce is. We heard discussions about Zurich, Trieste and Paris. It is worth noting that Joyce was a UCD graduate and that the Museum of Literature Ireland, MoLi, as part of UCD, has programme plans for this year, including an interactive programme that needs to be acknowledged. Part of that international expanse of Joyce and his influence are the links MoLi have developed with the U…

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. As colleagues have said, none of us necessarily wants to be having this debate but I commend the Fine Gael group on putting forward the motion. It is an issue that has been raised in a cross-party way across the House. I commend the Minister and his officials on the efforts they have been making to address this. It is important to put on the record our appreciation of his work on a number of international issues in recent weeks. It is also important to acknowledge the work of his offici…

I could be outdoing Senator Mullen in no time. These were all periods of suffering. It seems that the approach of the Department of Foreign Affairs when it comes to first-time applications is that you are going to have to wait for 40 days and 40 nights before you have any chance of your passport being processed. If people think about it, that is 40 working days. We are talking about three months. If a family is looking for a passport now for a newborn baby, they cannot realistically consider travelling any time bef…