In a future coalition arrangement, perhaps.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach agus ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh a athair freisin. Guím beannachtaí na Féile Bríde oraibh go léir. Ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a dhéanamh leis an Seanadóir O'Loughlin freisin agus í ag feidhmiú mar Cheannaire Gníomhach. I congratulate Senator O'Loughlin on the fact that it is her first day taking the Order of Business. It is St. Brigid's Day. The Acting Leader has campaigned strongly for its recognition and we will not be here in the Chamber this day next year. Today …

I am just glad Senator Craughwell did not have to fight the Russians.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach. I echo the calls of Senators Chambers, McDowell and others for the debate on our Defence Forces. What is happening at the moment exposes the fact that Ireland on its own cannot deal with this. I agree with comments made by Senator Craughwell and others that this is not a neutral country. We are a non-aligned country and I am very proud that we have a non-aligned foreign policy. We have to be very clear, however, because on issues such as human rights abuses and attacks on th…

With him at the head of it.

I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter. He will be familiar with the fact that last summer there were two very serious E.coli outbreaks, one in Ballymore Eustace, which provides much of the water supplies of Kildare and Dublin, and the other in my home town of Gorey. There were 52 confirmed illnesses, and potentially more, as a result of those outbreaks and the difficulties that happened at the time. There has been an examination by the Environmental Protection Authority, EPA, of what happened. My und…

I thank the Minister of State. I welcome his stance and that of the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. We were proactive in addressing this issue and we have seen progress from Irish Water as a result of the audit of those 26 water treatment plants. When will it be extended to all of the other water treatment plants, many of which serve smaller communities? I note that 35% of the population still has not experienced this audit. It is important for us to be able to guarantee to everybody in this country that they hav…

I will start by agreeing with Senator Kyne. Several of us have been calling for debate on the Passport Office. It is now becoming a matter of serious urgency, so if it could be arranged in the next week or two it would be appreciated. Yesterday, I referred to the appointment of the expert panel that is due to be set up to examine how an individual complaints mechanism could operate with the office of the online safety commissioner that is due to be established as part of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill.…

I am sharing my time with Senator McGreehan.

I thank the Minister, not just for coming to the House, but for all his work and that of his officials on this matter. At times he must be tearing his hair out because it can be very frustrating. Every time we seem to move one step forward, another challenge arises. Genuinely, his work in this area deserves much praise. I join colleagues in complimenting the Chair of our committee, Senator Chambers, and the team that pulled the report together. We worked in a very collaborative way. In addition to the recommendatio…

I move: "That Second Stage be taken now."

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I thank the Minister of State for taking the time to listen to the debate on this legislation. A lot of work has gone into this over more than a year. I put on record my thanks to the parliamentary legal service, the Data Protection Commission, with which I engaged, and the many councillors and local authorities around the country, particularly their environmental sections, that provided input in respect of this Bill. I also thank some of my own colleagues within F…

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. It was always intended to be collaborative legislation. In fact, there was almost a race between me and Senator Wall to see which of us could get legislation in first. I did not begrudge the fact that he was able to bring his legislation before this Chamber last March because the view we all expressed was that we did not care whose Bill it was; we just want to see the issue addressed. We do not care whether it is the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage or the Ministe…

Although I am tempted to say we should take it now, I propose that it be taken next Tuesday.

Tomorrow morning at 10.30 a.m.

Most in this House will agree that, in the words of the Taoiseach, Friday was a good day. The extraordinary vaccination programme and its success led us to where we are. There may be a few twists and turns yet but there is an air of optimism around the country. I know plenty of people who abandoned their plans for dry January over the weekend, after the difficulties that we have had. We have spoken often in this House about hospitality, tourism, the arts, live events and the entertainment sector. It is important th…

Is the Leader inviting us all to Coppers?

It is not an Oxford comma.

I thank the Minister for coming to the House. Like Senator Kyne, I compliment him on the work he has done since taking up his brief. In particular, I compliment him on listening to the voices of the farming community and visiting the marts around the country. The latter was a useful exercise. Farmers are front-line workers in the battle against climate change. What farmers are looking for is sustainability. They want to ensure that farm families can be sustained from a financial point of view but they are also comm…

Senator Mullen has been known for flogging several dead horses over the years. Maybe in this debate that was not a surprise.