I thank the Minister of State and Senator Higgins. I am sure I speak on behalf of everybody in asking her to pass on our very best wishes to President Higgins for a speedy recovery.

Before I call on the Minister of State, I welcome Ned and Mary O'Hara. Ned is a former general secretary of the Irish Postmasters Union and did great work over the years. He is very welcome to Leinster House. I hope he and Mary enjoy their day. They are guests of Senator Carrigy.

I thank the Minister of State for taking Commencement matters this afternoon. We know he is busy and, as always, we appreciate his time. He is a frequent visitor to the House.

The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. I know he is taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. Clearly we would have preferred to have him here to deal with it but the Minister of State is an able replacement, to be fair. I raised this matter in February 2023. There are hundreds of people in County Clare, from Loop Head to east Clare to north Clare and in Ennis and Shannon. Some travel from east Clare to Galway for dialysis while some travel from nort…

The reply is positive but lacks one very important thing and that is timelines. What I need is dates. I am aware the role has been advertised externally and that there is interest in it. I am also aware there is a facility where the unit can be housed but we need dates. When can we expect this to happen? I am a little concerned the unit will support only 30 people. Many more than 30 in County Clare must travel long distances for dialysis. Perhaps the Minister of State will relay that to the Minister also. Perhaps t…

I welcome the announcement of the school transport review yesterday, but there will have to be a realisation that significantly more money will have to be invested in the provision of buses if we are going to extend the criteria in the manner that was proposed in the report. We are also going to have to create a culture of thinking outside the box. Where buses supporting the Ukrainian community are half empty, they should be able to bring schoolchildren to school. Bus Éireann should be able to bring children to sch…

I thank Senator Carrigy and commend him on the fantastic work he does in this area, particularly his work as Chair of the autism committee. It has made a fundamental difference in this House. Well done.

I welcome Liam and Breda O’Connor from Clogheen, County Tipperary, who are guests of our colleague Senator Garret Ahearn. I hope they have a wonderful day in Leinster House. We are dealing with Commencement matters, where people raise issues of concern to them. My mother is from Cahir, so I know Clogheen very well. I hope they have a wonderful day and I have no doubt that Senator Ahearn is looking after them.

I thank the Minister of State and I thank Senator Clonan for his constant advocacy on these extremely important issues. Before the next Commencement Matter, I welcome our guests in the Distinguished Visitors' Gallery from the Irish Wheelchair Association. They are very welcome to Leinster House today. They are guests of Senator Hackett. I hope they have a very enjoyable and informative day.

We await now the arrival of the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan. I also apologise to Senator Boylan about the running order of these Commencement matters. Her matter is fifth in this list also but clearly there was a breakdown in communications somewhere along the line.

I thank the Minister of State for his time in the Seanad this afternoon. It is much appreciated.

I too welcome Ambassador Gerasko to the House today. As other colleagues have said, it is quite unbelievable that we are talking about this war 24 months on. I remember very vividly, on the morning the invasion took place, listening to the ambassador on the radio. Vladimir Putin was of the view that it would only be a matter of days before he achieved his military ambition. Little did he know about the resilience of Ukraine. I do not believe Ukraine will lose; I just think that at some stage Putin will probably get…

I too would like to be associated with the many tributes to the late Michael O'Regan. When I was first elected to the House, Michael took an interest in my story and career. Every time I met him, he had an inquisitive mind about County Clare and its politics and would regale me with many stories of former legendary political figures in County Clare with whom he had engaged. His passing is too soon and his wisdom will be sorely missed. May he rest in peace. Like other speakers, I would like a debate on public transp…

I thank the Minister of State and Senator Daly. Our next Commencement matter is in the name of Senator Seery Kearney.

I thank the Minister of State. That is an extremely important Commencement matter. Everybody would like to see that work progress as quickly as possible.

I thank Senator Murphy for tabling this Commencement matter. I thank the Minister of State for taking all four Commencement matters today. We know she is busy and we appreciate her time in the Seanad as always.

Thankfully, in this country now when constructing a new building, one has universal design. By and large, there are lifts, tactile paving and it is accessible to people with disabilities. Yet we have introduced a brand new plastic bottle return scheme that is completely inaccessible to many people with disabilities. There are no tactile Braille facilities on the machines. Many of the machines are too high for wheelchair users to return bottles. There are no facilities for people with disabilities, carers or elderly…

The Minister of State is very welcome to the House. As his is a neighbouring constituency, he will understand where I am coming from on this matter. For the information of the House, the local improvement scheme, LIS, is where the State, through the councils, provides a certain amount of money to upgrade our roads. Local households also contribute. This usually involves a cluster of houses and farm entrances where, in many cases, people are elderly and there are young children and people with disabilities. In Count…

Yes.

I thank the Minister of State for his reply and his understanding of the importance of the scheme. I wish the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, all the best in her engagement with the Minister, Deputy Ryan, because that is what should happen. There needs to be a once-off block grant to each of the local authorities participating in the scheme. It is not every local authority in the country. It is only a certain number in rural areas. Even in County Clare, it is really north and west Clare from Ballyvaughan to Loop Head a…