I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I want to put on record my thanks to the Government for the increase in the grant. The Minister of State indicated that the grants have increased year on year since 2014, which is welcome for all the people I deal with on a daily basis. However, again today we are not hearing what is happening. I have people who are living in their sitting rooms and using commodes. They cannot access proper facilities for themselves and their quality of life is being affected. It is simp…

As we speak this morning, retained firefighters from all over the country are making their way to Connolly Station to join us here in about one hour's time. It is the second time in two weeks that I have had to raise the issue of retained firefighters in the Chamber. Last Monday, they were told there would be a very positive statement by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage during a debate on a motion tabled by Sinn Féin in the Lower House. The positive statement, as I read it, was that there wou…

I welcome the Minister. The Labour Party welcomes the opportunity to speak on this very important Bill. It has considerable implications for relations in and along the food chain and among those operating in our agricultural sector. It seeks to transpose the EU directive on unfair trading practices in the agriculture and food supply chain. The directive intends to improve transparency and rebalance the distribution of power in the food sector. It is not unfair to say that for too long, farmers and other primary pro…

Amendments Nos. 3, 8, 9, 10, 28, 29, 40, 47, 54 and 55 are related and may be discussed together by agreement. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I welcome the Minister of State. The Garda Reserve was launched by Senator McDowell, the then Minister, with a view to bolstering policing in the Republic. The intention, we were told at the time, was that unpaid reservists could aid full-time Garda members in carrying out their duties and, in some cases, free them up from the most basic of tasks, thus helping to boost front-line policing. Like other Senators, I acknowledge that Senator McDowell has raised this very important matter on a number of occasions in this…

I too welcome the Tánaiste to the House to discuss this important matter. I also thank the Fianna Fáil Senators, in particular Senators Blaney and McGreehan, for using their Private Members' time to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which the Labour Party supports in full. It is, of course, only right that we mark this important milestone on this island. The agreement brought an end to decades of bloodshed, suffering, grief and turmoil for many families. It ensured a generation could grow up i…

I support Senator Ó Donnghaile's comments about East Belfast GAA. The fact that the Cathaoirleach is taking that on board is most welcome. The first item I wish to raise is one I have raised a number of times in this House, namely, the Life Saving Equipment Bill 2017. This morning as I made my way to the House, I listened to my local radio station KFM where a local Independent councillor from Clane, Padraig McEvoy, spoke about the theft of nine lifebuoys from the waterways around Clane. Councillor McEvoy outlined t…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell. I welcome to the Visitors Gallery members of the 1916 Relatives Association, who are guests of Senator Fitzpatrick.

The Labour Party supports this Bill, as we did in the Lower House. The purpose of the Bill is to give legislative effect to the child benefit summer bonus of €100 for each qualifying child. That is very welcome. Many families are struggling. The Minister said that in her speech and she is recognising that by giving those families an additional €100. I wish to ask one question on child benefit. It is an issue that comes up to me through the constituency office on a regular basis. As we are aware, those who are 18 do…

I too welcome the Minister to the House this evening. The Labour Party welcomes the introduction of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022. This Bill is long overdue and will bring a number of improvements to our criminal law. I am particularly pleased to see proposed improvement provisions to help with domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, as well as provisions to tackle organised crime. Importantly, the Bill also includes new measures to address stalking and harassment. We have all read, …

I thank my colleague from County Kildare for the introduction. The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. I welcome the Bill, as does my party, the Labour Party. As has been said by colleagues, the Bill is long overdue given the importance of the Civil Defence to us all in our communities. This Bill will underpin an organisation that has been at the heart of community events in Ireland since the 1950s. As has been said, we are incredibly proud of the Civil Defence in County Kildare where Patricia McNeela i…

I welcome the Minister. Tourism is a major contributor to the economy. It is a key employer in our communities and adds to development in many of them, as does heritage. The Minister mentioned that tourism was worth almost €10 billion to the economy in 2019, which is very positive. She also mentioned the latest CSO figures, which are worth repeating. Irish residents took 13.3 million domestic overnight trips in 2022. These amounted to €2.9 billion in expenditure, which represents a 14% increase. This is to be very …

I congratulate the Kildare under-20s all-Ireland winning team. It was a tremendous day for any lilywhite who was in Cavan last Saturday and for all of those involved. I thank the team and management for creating such an atmosphere. Obviously, I offer my commiserations to Sligo but it was a great day to be a lilywhite. I want to talk about retained firefighters. There was a breakdown in negotiations last week between the National Retained Firefighters Association and Government agencies. Those of us who have retaine…

I too welcome the Minister of State to the House. This is a very important and timely discussion we are having. I also thank the members of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media for producing this report because it is a conversation we need to have. I will talk in my contribution about a conversation we need to have around the kitchen table in every house in this country. That is what we are trying to achieve here and something the committee has done very well in preparing such a report. Th…

I want to raise the Not our Fault campaign led by Sam and Odette Doran, which other Members have raised previously in this House. Each Wednesday Sam and Odette are outside Leinster House in respect of apartment defects. I was lucky enough to speak with them last week about their campaign and what they are hoping to achieve. There is an urgent need for a debate on this. Other Members have called for a debate on the issue. In fairness, the Government has brought forward a number of proposals to finance and rectify th…

I welcome the Minister of State into the House for this important Bill, which the Labour Party very much welcomes. We are told the sole purpose of the Courts Bill 2023 is to provide for the necessary legislative amendments to increase by 24 the number of judges in the District Court, Circuit Court, High Court and the Court of Appeal. That is very much welcome. We are told the Government proposal for this increase in judicial numbers arises from recommendations of the report of the Judicial Planning Working Group. I…

I welcome the guests in attendance today. I wish to thank the Cathaoirleach for the invitation to Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael, Larry McCarthy, to address the Chamber just over a week ago. One of the final things the uachtarán mentioned was the fact that GAAGO was available for €79. Unfortunately, since then, I have been contacted by a number people and, as Senator Keogan said, many people are unhappy with that service. They are asking how they can get access to their sport on national television. The major is…

There is one other issue I want to raise. I understand that the Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media with special responsibility for sport and physical education, Deputy Thomas Byrne, is meeting today with representatives of the three largest national sporting organisations. That is very important, and something I have raised before. We need a national campaign regarding the abuse of officials and referees. I know on Thursday that we will get a chance to speak ab…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House, and I look forward to his response to this very important Bill. I put on record the Labour Party's thanks to Senator Sherlock for her considerable work on preparing and bringing forward this Bill. As has been said, there has been a drop of more than 300 apprenticeship registrations, down from 8,607 in 2021 to 8,286 in 2022. To put it simply, the Government must do better. It is time those considering starting their working lives as apprentices receive fair pay. It is ti…

Senator Sherlock, without interruption.