And camogie.

I echo Senator Gavan's words about Garda civilian staff. As has been said, the Minister has had discussions with them but what Senator Gavan has asked for today is reasonable, given the amount of time that has passed. In fairness to the work they do, their worries and so on have been articulated by Senator Gavan today and previously in meetings with the Minister. We support the call by Fórsa about this and welcome the Minister's contribution and more important, a date she may give in her contribution.

I join my colleague Senator Murphy in welcoming the Minister's announcement about the hot school meals programme yesterday. This is very positive and 28 schools in my own area of Kildare have now joined the list. This is a tremendous result for Kildare and in particular for the children for whom it will ensure a hot meal each day in primary school. There is also a knock-on effect that Bradbury's bakery in my home town of Athy is providing a lot of those hot meals and providing employment as another knock-on effect …

I join colleagues in sending condolences to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, on the sad loss of her mother. This Bill is important for many people. The Labour Party will support it and make sure it passes through this House as quickly as possible. However, I wish to raise a number of issues with the Minister of State. I will start with carers. The first issue I wish to raise is those who may now qualify from the welcome increase in the means test will have to wait until June 2024 before they receive that payment. Th…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. I call Senator O'Loughlin.

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I thank our Fianna Fáil colleagues, Senators O'Loughlin and Clifford-Lee, for introducing this important Bill, which the Labour Party supports. Notwithstanding what the Minister of State has said about the concerns she has raised and their implications for the provisions of this Bill, we hope they can be thrashed out and worked through in a very appropriate manner because this Bill, which has been introduced by Senator O'Loughlin tonight, is a very good one and could ve…

I too raise the "Prime Time" programme broadcast last night. When I left the House, I went home to watch it. I watched Sarah McInerney interview Niall Hodgins of the Garda Representative Association and it was an extraordinary interview. In his answers, Niall Hodgins informed all of us who were watching that, as my colleague has said, there was no plan. Garda members turned up simply because of WhatsApp messages being passed from garda to garda. He described it as chaos. I am sure that other colleagues in the House…

The Acting Chairperson summed it up well. There is not a family that has not been touched, unfortunately, by pregnancy loss. The Labour Party is proposing to put workplace leave to deal with that on a statutory footing, as the Minister of State said. It is important. I second what the Minister of State said regarding the work of my colleague, Senator Sherlock, on this matter. It seems to be a long time since we were in the Dáil Chamber when this was first discussed all those years ago. She has continued to highligh…

As no other Senators are indicating, I call on the Minister of State to reply.

The Minister of State without interruption, please.

The Minister of State without interruption, please.

The Minister of State without interruption, please.

There are two issues I wish to raise. Yesterday, the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence announced a detailed implementation plan for the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. It is very welcome and goes into great detail regarding the 130 or so recommendations from that particular report. I ask that the Leader would organise a debate with the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence on this report and the timelines involved. We are all aware of the crisis in retention that is, in the main, in our Defence Forces a…

All neighbours.

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I have raised sports funding in this House on a number of occasions. The last time the Minister of State was in the House we were debating a report from the sports and media committee when we raised sports funding as well. It is a vital conversation to have in this House. As has been mentioned a few times this evening, it is important for many people in this country. I start by acknowledging the sports capital fund. The Minister of State outlined this evening that since…

As I said, it is a separate club.

I will explain again because the Minister of State was on his phone when I last explained. There are five clubs in Athy and they are beholden to those five clubs to use the facilities. The problem in Athy, which is being replicated in other places I will mention, is that those clubs are at full capacity. The pitches they have they need for their own teams. That is why we are at capacity in Athy and it is not just Athy. I know the Minister of State travelled to Kildare recently on a number of occasions and one of th…

I welcome the Minister to the House. I begin by paying tribute to Teach Tearmainn, which provides a vital service for victims of domestic abuse and violence in my county of Kildare. Alongside emotional and informative supports, it offers refuge to women escaping horrific and traumatising situations in their homes. The work it does is commendable. As unfortunate as it is, its services are crucial in County Kildare but we need more organisations like Teach Tearmainn and we need to support them. It has been a long-sta…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I join my colleague, Senator Sherlock, in thanking Senator Moynihan for her considerable input into what we consider, as all Senators have said, the important Private Members' motion we are discussing. A lot of emphasis has been put on Dublin for obvious reasons. For someone from a more rural area who travels through a lot of rural areas to get to Dublin, I do not have to travel very far through towns, villages and even coming into Dublin to see dereliction and vacancy.…

I too welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this very important matter. It was in February of this year that I raised this matter previously with Deputy Collins's colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte. The issue is the need to find out what the waiting times for assessments of need are in the community healthcare organisation, CHO, 7 area, the area where I live, and to reduce them. On the day in question, I was presented with figures from the HSE which incl…