Surely that is not right and did not happen. Surely the Minister cannot stand over that and he will tell us it did not happen. That is not the professional force of which I know.

That is not the professional force we are talking about tonight.

The term "Defence Forces" is in the Title, in fairness, and that is what we are discussing.

I will leave it at that, a Chathaoirligh. I have said my piece on that particular incident and maybe the Minister can comment. If not, I ask him to revert to me afterwards. I thank Fianna Fáil and Senators Malcolm Byrne and Senator O'Loughlin in particular for introducing this Bill. The Labour Party fully supports it. I hope the Minister will be back before the House to discuss the very important report of the Commission on the Defence Fores. I again thank all the representative associations. I thank the Minister a…

On behalf of the Labour Party, I welcome Senator Clonan and his family to the House. I sincerely thank him for his work on the Defence Forces, in particular, over recent years. It is going to be very important in this House as we get to debate, we hope, the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, which we have been promised for a few weeks. I thank Senator Clonan for his work on that. I look forward to working with him on it. I also thank the Senator for his work on disability matters. It is with that that …

I, too, welcome the Minister to the House. There can be no doubt that the Irish tourism industry has gone through a devastating time. Covid-19 has had a profound impact on all sectors of it. In the past month or so, Fáilte Ireland presented the most comprehensive and robust research undertaken to date on staffing and skills in the tourism and hospitality sector. Thirty percent of businesses surveyed said they could face closure if recruitment challenges are not resolved. Fáilte Ireland's CEO, Mr. Paul Kelly, warned…

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, and thank him for coming to the House.

I will come back to the Minister after Members come in with their contributions. We will give him time at the end.

When is it proposed to take Committee Stage?

Is that agreed? Agreed.

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. Senator Martin is right. We can never have enough Kildare people in the one room at the same time. I thank my Fine Gael colleagues for placing this very important Private Members' motion before us today. It is an important issue and it is welcome that we get the chance to discuss it and ask some questions of the Minister of State and his Government colleagues. I stand here today in solidarity with the Ukrainian people. What is happening in their country is barbaric, wro…

I welcome the Minister of State and thank the Acting Chairperson for selecting this important matter. Like many public representatives, I recognise the importance of the housing adaptation grant, the housing aid grant and the mobility aid grant for many constituents. These grants can be, and for so many are, life-changing and they ensure many of our older population and those with a disability can continue to live in their homes in comfort, with the continued support of their loved ones. Nevertheless, I have been g…

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I am very much aware there is one form for the three different grants. That has helped about which there is no doubt. However, the problem at the moment is that I have to direct the majority of applicants with whom I am dealing to the community welfare service, which is another arm of Government, in order that they can complete their grants. The €8,000 limit is simply not good enough. To take the €30,000 limit as an example, the cheapest building costs the person could g…

I want to raise a number of matters. There has been a lot of talk in the past number of weeks about our Defence Forces and what future they should or might have within Europe and on the world stage. The desperate and unjustified attack by Russia on the sovereign state of Ukraine has concentrated many minds on this subject. I read yesterday that Cabinet is discussing increasing our defence budget to €2 billion from the current expenditure of approximately €1 billion. In any conversation about the future of our Defen…

I will first join with my colleague in congratulating Cross and Passion College in Kilcullen on becoming the first attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, friendly school in Ireland. It is a very significant moment for the school, which has wonderful staff, wonderful pupils and a wonderful school community. I have visited it on many occasions. It is very important that we acknowledge that it is the first school in Ireland to achieve this. I also congratulate the Irish Air Corps, as others have already done,…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am hoping to share time with my colleague, Senator Sherlock.

I thank my Labour Party colleagues for agreeing to this Private Members' business. I also thank the Leader for facilitating this debate, given the changes over the past two weeks. It is very much appreciated. I also welcome the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, to the House. I put on record once again my thanks to him for his leadership and commitment on this public health issue in bringing forward long overdue legislation in this area, which we look forward to debating in the coming weeks. However, tonight I…

I thank the Acting Chairperson for her kind words and encouragement. As Senator Cassells said, a number of Senators have spoken passionately over the past two years about gambling. Indeed, I have joined Senators Cassells, Pauline O’Reilly and Mullen on a number of podcasts on this important topic. Concern about this issue is cross-party and that message is loud and clear here tonight. As has been said, we have been waiting since the 1950s for legislation like that which is being proposed by the Government and like …

Next Tuesday.

I welcome the Minister of State. I thank An Garda Síochána for the work it does every day in all our communities. In recent days with St. Patrick's Day parades, etc., we have seen the work gardaí do in our communities and it must always be recognised. As Senator Craughwell has said, over 200 attacks took place in 2020, which indicates how much compensation we need to give to An Garda Síochána for the work its members do and how much thanks we need to give those members every time they put on that uniform and head o…