Ba mhaith liom aird an Aire a tharraingt ar scéal a foilsíodh an tseachtain seo caite ag Méabh Ní Thuathaláin ar tuairisc.ie. Deir an t-alt go bhfuil sé: "...deimhnithe ag Childline gur i mBéarla amháin a chuirtear a gcuid seirbhísí ar fáil in Éirinn i ndiaidh do Tuairisc.ie fiosrú a dhéanamh leo faoi chás inar dúradh le hoibrí deonach gan labhairt le páiste i nGaeilge". In no way do I wish to cast aspersions on Childline, its services, the extremely important work it does and the volunteers who work for it, but in…

I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak on this second substantive interim report of the Farrelly commission of investigation. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, as well for her opening statement. These reports make for extremely difficult reading. They are long, detailed and harrowing in the extreme. Amid all this information, sometimes it is the smallest details that affect us emotionally and key us into the wider context. Grace was born on 28 September 1978. She is just one year younger than …

On the point made by Deputy Ellis about making the wearing of helmets mandatory, it has been demonstrated in other jurisdictions - Australia is a case in point - that when we make the wearing of helmets mandatory, particularly with cycling, the participation rate drops. Dublinbikes is a great example of a micromobility solutions and much of that comprises incidental use. We really want people to feel comfortable stepping up to electric scooters or bicycles to use them. What we really need to focus on is making the …

I thank Deputy Naughten for suggesting that this debate should take place this week. On 14 November 2014, during Science Week as it happens, the Rosetta space probe lander module, Philae , made the first ever soft landing on a comet by a human-made object. The probe had been launched a full decade earlier and it slung itself off the gravitational pull of Mars to intercept the comet as it arced its way through the inner solar system. It was an unbelievable feat of maths, physics and aeronautics. The poor students of…

Deputy Harkin is sharing time with Deputy Connolly.

We return to Sinn Féin and Deputy Funchion to close the debate.

Deputy Leddin wanted to come in.

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to discuss this issue. It is topical. It was announced only on Tuesday of this week. I warmly welcome the announcement of a new technological university of the south-east which is to open its doors at the latest by May of next year. There are many people to thank in what has been a long and arduous process. I would thank the Minister for his work on it. He has brought an energy to the process. I want to thank particularly Professor Willie Donnelly of Waterford Institu…

I could not possibly expect the Minister to delve into the differences between an IoT and a technological university in four minutes. However, it does need to be an ongoing conversation. We need to make that clear and it needs to be more than words. It needs to be backed up by actions and by capital investment in particular. I did not touch on the issue of the headquarters of the new institution. I know that lies outside the Minister's gift but it is very important to the people of Waterford and I ask the Minister …

Thank you, Minister of State. You will have a further opportunity to come back in.

My question is about the KPMG report recently commissioned by the Department, which is to examine the trend towards plant-based diets or increasing the amount of plants in our diets. Will the parameters of that report allow us to examine ways in which Ireland can position itself to take better advantage of that growing market internationally?

One of the things that have driven me mad for years, particularly at this time of the year, is to walk past apple trees laden down with apples only to find New Zealand apples on the shelves of our supermarkets. Mick Kelly had a similar journey with regard to garlic when he set up GIY Ireland Limited. He was looking at Chinese garlic on the shelves when it is so easy to grow it in this climate. By the same token, I visited Grantstown Tomatoes, tomato growers and horticulturists in Waterford, last week. The owner has…

It is a massive opportunity for local and rural jobs, in particular. The horticultural sector is worth approximately €467 million per annum to the economy, and approximately 6,600 people are directly employed in it. There are many different sectors within it, but in field vegetables we have gone from 300 operators in 1999 to 140 operators now. The number has more than halved in that time. While the amount of produce arriving on the shelves is more or less the same, we have fewer producers because profit margins are…

I dtosach báire, mar gurb é seo an chéad deis atá agam, ba mhaith liom nóiméad a thógáil chun cuimhneamh ar bheirt dár mórfhilí a chailleamar le cúpla lá anuas – Brendan Kennelly agus Máire Mhac an tSaoi. Mar a tharlaíonn go minic, is iad focail na bhfilí féin is fearr chun ómós a mharcáil. Mar sin, i bhfocail Mháire Mhac an tSaoi ina dán “Finit”: Ag éalú i ndearúd le hiompú ráithe Gur dabht arbh ann duit riamh, ná dod leithéidse. Ach go mbeidh poirt anois ná cloisfead choíche Gan tú bheith os mo chomhair arís sa c…

Very good. I do not doubt the Minister of State. I note that Deputy Boyd Barrett has a copy of the same letter that I am about to reference. The Taoiseach would also have received a copy of the letter from the People's Vaccine Alliance Ireland concerning the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, TRIPS, waiver. Would that we were able to say that Covid is in the rear-view mirror in this country but unfortunately, it has caught up with us again. In a worldwide context, we are moving inexorably toward…

In her inaugural address in December 1990, Mary Robinson declared: "As a woman, I want women who have felt themselves outside history to be written back into history, in the words of Eavan Boland, 'finding a voice where they found a vision'". President Robinson was acknowledging that her landmark election owed a great deal to stalwarts of feminism like Eavan Boland and Máire Mhac an tSaoi, people who had been writing women back into history and the female experience back into Irish society. In a week when we have l…

In accordance with Standing Order 80(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time tomorrow evening, Wednesday, 20 October 2021.

A programme for Government commitment states that we will: "Immediately prioritise the drafting of legislation for the phasing out of fur-farming, publishing legislation in this area as soon as possible." In yesterday's budget, along with the welcome increase for ex gratia funding for the animal welfare organisations, I noticed a funding commitment to unwind fur-farming operations. That is right and appropriate if we are asking people to leave this practice behind; they should be funded appropriately in doing so. C…

At this point in the debate we have probably all filled in our debate bingo cards. We have the biggest spend in the history of the State on one hand; we have a missed opportunity on the other. We will hear "unprecedented" or "unambitious" depending on whom we listen to or whom we believe. We have had our lines filtered through our various focus groups. They are packaged and pushed out now on social media in their various sound bites. I am not sure, however, how much nuance I have heard during the course of the deba…

Ba mhaith liom i dtosach báire a rá go bhfuilim buíoch den Aire, an Teachta Catherine Martin, agus den Aire Stáit, an Teachta Jack Chambers, as an tiomantas a léirigh siad go dtí seo i leith na Gaeilge. Is cinnte go bhfuil obair na gcapall déanta ag an Aire Stáit, ag a Roinn agus ag Oifig na mBillí chun an mBille seo a thabhairt go dtí an pointe seo. Léirigh an tAire Stáit agus Cathaoirleach an choiste Gaeilge, an Teachta Ó Snodaigh, cé chomh uaillmhianach is atá siad maidir leis an mBille tríd an méid ama a chaith…