I acknowledge the community in Crossmolina. I attended a public meeting last night that was attended by over 200 people who are very dissatisfied with the proposals by Bord na Móna to build a route around the town of Crossmolina. Crossmolina has a vibrant, active community. There has been a lack of public consultation on this proposal. We all have experience of the different projects that are delivered by State or semi-State bodies. I checked my emails to see that the last correspondence I had with Bord na Móna was…

I would like to raise and support a proposal that Senator Nelson Murray previously raised in relation to the notification of passport renewals. It is a good proposal and a very good idea. As we know, all of our offices at certain times of the year are inundated with requests and frantic last minute attempts to try to get passports for people who need them for a holiday, family trip or even a family emergency. It causes a lot of stress and anxiety for families. It would actually be interesting to have a study on the…

I thank the Minister of State for being here for the Second Stage debate on this important legislation. I wish place on record my support for the Development (Strategic Gas Reserve) Bill 2026. In recent years we have seen the politicisation and weaponisation of gas, be it the supply we have coming in through the North or transatlantic threats off our coasts. In Ireland, we have 20% of supply coming from our own county of Mayo through the Corrib field and 80% coming from the North Sea, which comes in through Norther…

The Minister of State is welcome to the House.

Is that agreed? Agreed.

I thank the Minister of State for being in the House this evening for this important discussion. I put my support on the record for the removal of the passenger cap, notwithstanding the issues identified by the community. I acknowledge all the work of local representatives in the localities around the airport. We need to manage and have a balanced approach to development and economic growth, while also trying to bring as many people with us as possible in these localities and communities. Dublin Airport, as we know…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I compliment my colleagues, Senators Gareth Scahill and P.J. Murphy, for putting forward this very important Private Members' motion. While I agree that it is not a silver bullet in terms of addressing all costs for energy, I do think it is a matter of justice. I travel through the west of Ireland. I am from County Mayo, not far from Galway and Roscommon. I travelled through that area to get to this House during my Seanad campaign and drove through many countries, inclu…

No one is saying that.

I acknowledge and welcome the ambassador of Slovenia and his team to the Public Gallery. We had a discussion on the way in about extreme weather events. I want to raise the extreme weather events we are seeing across the Continent of Europe. While we love to talk about the weather in Ireland all of the time, obviously we are experiencing very high temperatures here. I am raising this in the context of the opportunity for tourism in Ireland during the summer months. While we have warm weather by our standards, it is…

I welcome the Minister of State. The immigrant investment programme, IIP, was launched in 2012. This programme benefited organisations and communities across the country to the tune of €1.25 billion following its introduction. It was closed in 2023. I understand that there are a range of issues pertaining to the closure and winding down of the scheme. We have seen a real impact on investment in County Mayo in particular. Westport United received €2.8 million in 2023. As the Minister of State will be well aware, Isl…

I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I am aware that he is here on behalf of the Minister for justice today, but the reply is disappointing, specifically because there is nothing comparable in terms of funding for sporting organisations, clubs or community groups at present. It is not as if the Irish State can match the programme or put something else in its place. We had the begging bowl out and had the programme as an incentive for people to invest and engage in Ireland when we were under economic and fin…

I will take the opportunity to highlight the commemoration celebrations of the birth of Admiral William Brown from Foxford, County Mayo. Members may be interested to know that he was the founder of the Argentinian navy. He was born in 1777 in Foxford and led an incredible life. He was very much inspired by the opportunity to help to achieve independence for Argentina, having left Ireland, which was under much oppression and political, economical and societal strife at the time. The impact he made is incredible. The…

I join other Members of the House in congratulating my friend and colleague Garret Ahearn on his promotion to becoming Leader of Seanad Éireann. I know it is a great honour and privilege for him and all his family. I acknowledge and welcome them all here this afternoon, Laura, Daniel and Jamie in particular. While it is not my job, I would like to suggest if there is homework this week that with a bit of support from colleagues it might be dismissed on this special occasion.

Better again. I also acknowledge Senator Ahearn’s father Liam. I know that his late mother, Theresa, would be immensely proud and I am sure she is looking down on him with pride. Senator Cathal Byrne spoke of the public service within the Ahearn family, through council chambers and both Houses of the Oireachtas. I know they all hold those values with great pride. I look forward to supporting Senator Ahearn in every way I can throughout his term as Leader. My colleague Mike Kennelly has done a lot of advocacy on the…

I support the community of Strade in County Mayo who are campaigning to have a bus route returned that is a vital link for their whole community. The 52 bus route connects Ballina and Galway. It always connected into Strade where two new bus stops were recently built. Unfortunately, however, Bus Éireann ceased the bus route, much to the dismay of everyone, including me. Thankfully, a public service obligation kicked in and Citylink took over the route. Sadly, the village of Strade was left out of this important rou…

This weekend in Ballina there will be two very big 40th anniversary celebrations for two very special organisations that I would like to highlight on the floor of Seanad Éireann. The first is the Ballina Arch Club, a voluntary social group for adults with special needs. It has been a brilliant source of joy down through the years for parents, family members and adults with special needs, bringing them together in social settings. It provides brilliant opportunities for people to hang out together, go to events toge…

I stand in support of the people of the Lacken-Ballycastle-Killala area and Erris in their opposition to two proposed wind farm developments that are being advanced in both of those areas. These are areas of scenic natural beauty, home to rural areas and people who have faced depopulation and many challenges down through the years. They are resilient communities. Both of these proposals totally contravene county development plans and the wind energy strategy. They contravene "Wild Mayo", which was a Fáilte Ireland …

Do not start it.

Out of order.

I acknowledge Members across the floor for putting forward this Bill. I know it is very well intentioned. I do not want to sound patronising but obviously, I support the Minister of State and the Government in terms of the practical reality of its implementation. From the Fine Gael side of the House, we will not be supporting the Bill. We see what is happening before our eyes and especially over the past number of years, it has been absolutely devastating. However, in the practical reality of implementing this legi…