I thank the Minister of State. Merci beaucoup .

I welcome the fact that there has been some progress made but many of these, as the Minister says, are in the pipeline. The difficulty is it represents a challenge for schools. In terms of addressing some of the issues around native speakers who may be able to assist, that is something that will be important. I understand what the Minister of State is saying about the NCCA and the primary school curriculum, but he will remember we in the past had a programme around modern European languages at primary school.

I appreciate that.

This is not only about languages. It is about understanding cultures. This is a way of breaking down barriers, and also tackling racism which these Houses have a particular concern about. I welcome the Minister of State's personal commitment on this. The Government is committed to addressing these concerns. While I note that there is some progress, we have to be far more ambitious. In all languages, we have paid lip-service. In this case, we had a good strategy. We are being slow in implementing it.

In these Houses as well.

I agree with Senator Wall about us finally recognising the men of Jadotville. Members in both Houses have previously raised this matter. We should not allow it to be repeatedly discussed and raised here, as there is cross-party consensus. As Senator Wall mentioned local authorities, I note that two former members of the Army, Councillor Joe Malone in Kilkenny and Councillor Gary Laffan in Wexford, tabled motions on the issue with their local authorities as has happened across the country. The Defence Forces have a …

Like others have done, I welcome the Minister of State to the House. It is always good to have two Malcolms in a Chamber at the one time. I, like others, thank Senators Ruane and Higgins for bringing this discussion to the floor. The discussion this evening and the contributions from everybody are core to our democracy. These discussions are important and, as others, including Senator Fitzpatrick, have said, I would be worried if this gets bogged down in the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage…

Yesterday evening, we in the Gorey local electoral area in County Wexford discovered, having had a very low rate of Covid-19 infection, that we rocketed up to have one of the highest on the island. We now have an incident rate of about 533.8 per 100,000, which shows how contagious the virus is so people are worried and frightened. For any community where there is a sudden upsurge it causes a lot of problems. I welcome the fact that the HSE has now provided an emergency Covid testing centre in Ferns and increased th…

I thank the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, for coming in here. I echo the comments of Senator Cassells on the budget, in particular in terms of how it sets out the direction that this Government wants to travel. It was a very clear budget about investing in public services. It was also a very clear budget when it came to supporting small business and for the State to play its role in doing that, but also in tackling the big challenges. Those big challenges include housing and health, dealing with Covid and facin…

I join Senator Murphy and others in praising the Minister for how she has handled a very difficult situation and for doing it with transparency. At all times she put the student at the heart of the process. We must always ask of the Minister for Education and Skills that he or she is always thinking of the students. This is a discussion on leaving certificate 2020 and the decision to use a particular algorithm for decision-making. Senator O'Loughlin and others have various questions about procurement, but I think t…

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to address this issue. The Fianna Fáil Seanad group strongly supports the motion tabled by Senator Mullen. I certainly agree with the sentiment of the Minister of State that our foreign policy is pro-human rights and not anti-China and we want to develop strong and positive relations with China but the approach of the Chinese Communist Party, particularly to human rights and how it has treated the Uyghur people and minorities is nothing new. This is not somethin…

I join with the Cathaoirleach in commending Senator Flynn on her important contribution. Overnight, the US House Judiciary Committee produced a 449-page report on the monopolistic practices of Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google. While there is disagreement on what action is needed to be taken, clearly the case has been found that these companies are abusing a dominant position. They have engaged in practices that are anti-competitive and that, indeed, hobble some of their rivals. No doubt these companies have trans…

I welcome the Minister of State and I know she is passionate about this issue, particularly her concern about people's mental health and well-being over the coming winter. The winter plan addresses the role of GPs. GPs have been under pressure and working on the frontline has meant many of them are exhausted. GPs and their teams of nurses and other workers deserve a lot of praise. I agree with the concerns about the flu vaccine expressed by Senator Martin. We must ensure that there is an adequate supply. I know fro…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I had the good fortune to speak to her about ports this morning and am pleased to speak to her about airports this afternoon. I share some of my colleagues' concerns about us no longer having a stake in Aer Lingus at this crucial time. I would remind Senator Moynihan, however, that the Labour Party supported the sale of the airline. Indeed, the party lost its Deputy for Clare over the sale of Aer Lingus. Another issue at the time concerned the price that was paid. The v…

Luafaidh mé dhá rud le toil an tSeomra. The programme for Government commits to incentivising the shift to electric vehicles and in particular to the publication of an electrical vehicle strategy to ensure we have the necessary charging infrastructure and that it will stay ahead of demand. In Galway, Councillor Albert Dolan is leading the charge, if Members will pardon the pun, to try to get Galway to lead in this area of rolling out the infrastructure. This is, however, something that is needed at a national level…

The Senator's former constituency colleague.

I echo the Cathaoirleach's views and Senator Craughwell's with regard to Óglaigh na hÉireann and the Cathaoirleach's commendation of them. Similarly, I share the frustration of Senator Higgins, especially in the way in which the Executive has been treating the Legislature. I would ask, on behalf of all sides, that the Leas-Cheannaire would bring that back. There have been significant changes happening at the embassies of our two nearest neighbours. At the British Embassy, the ambassador, H.E. Mr. Robin Barnett, is …

If Senator Gavan wants to defend the Lukashenko regime, please do.

I do not think the Lukashenko regime reflects the views of this House or of most people in this country. If Sinn Féin and the hard left-----

-----want to continue to support that regime, they can go ahead and do so.