Before I call the Minister of State, I welcome some very special guests who are here in the Public Gallery today from the Bohermeen active retirement group. They are here with Senator Cassells. I wish them a very interesting and informative day in Leinster House. They are very welcome. I hope they have a wonderful day.

I thank the Minister of State. Senator Seery Kearney has constantly been highlighting this issue. I think I was in the Chair the last time she raised this as a Commencement matter. I say well done to her. All you can do is ask.

I thank the Senator for his constant advocacy on behalf of Monaghan hospital, which is duly noted.

We thank the Minister of State for his time. We appreciate how busy he is and thank him for taking Commencement matters this morning.

I also welcome our distinguished visitors. I have long admired the work that Ray McCord has done over the years. I wish him well and hope he has a fruitful day here in Leinster House. Yesterday, the National Council for the Blind of Ireland, NCBI, changed its name to Vision Ireland. It has made that name change after 91 or 92 years of existence to reflect changing environment when it comes to people with sight loss. The latest census alarmingly showed a 400% increase in the number of people who identified as having…

The Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, is very welcome to the House, as always.

I thank the Minister of State. I will pass on his interest in coming in for a wider discussion to the Leader. I am sure that would be facilitated and it would be very much appreciated. As always, I thank the Minister of State for his time. We understand how busy he is but he always makes time to come into the Seanad and we appreciate it.

The Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, is very welcome.

We all share our solidarity with the people whose properties have been so badly affected by what happened over the last few days.

I thank the Minister of State and Senator Cummins for raising an important Commencement matter.

I thank the Acting Leader for outlining the Order of Business. One important issue missing from the schedule this week is the substantial debate we should have on the flooding that has taken place over the last week or so. I am sure everybody will join me in expressing solidarity and support to the unfortunate people in Midleton, Waterford and other parts of the country who found that their homes and businesses had been destroyed as a result of floodwater. I commend the Government on putting a substantial and compr…

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to respond on this matter. I have experience, as, I am sure, the Minister of State, the Acting Chairperson and many other Members do, of dealing with older people and people with disabilities who apply for housing aid for older people and housing adaptation grants through local authorities. The amounts being given to people under these grants have not increased in recent years yet construction inflation has been off the Richter scale. The grants have remained st…

That is absolutely fantastic. I thank the Minister of State for his response, but I am looking for a circular to go from his office to the local authorities telling them to be a little more flexible and take construction inflation into consideration. Take a situation where somebody applied for a grant in 2022 that is only processed in quarter 4 of 2023, by which time he or she is getting a revised quotation that is 20% or 30% higher. If an application goes in for increased funding or an additional piece of funding …

Excellent. I thank the Minister of State.

Correct, absolutely.

It should be.

Hear, hear.

Colleagues will be glad to hear I am not going to talk about the President. The issue I raise is the development in recent years of what are known as designated activity companies, DACs. The local authorities are using these companies to develop tourism and other products. In Clare, for example, there are two DACs I am aware of and there probably are more. One is Ennis 2040 and the other is the Cliffs of Moher Experience. My problem with these tools for progressing tourism and so on is that they have a commercial r…

Senator Clifford-Lee would have a better chance than me. It is good to see the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. As always, she is very welcome to the House. She is a regular attendee here and when she addresses us it always makes great sense. I commend Senator Pauline O'Reilly on proposing this motion in Private Members' time tonight. It is extremely important. As a male I do not have a full understanding of the intricacies of menopause and all of its various consequences but it is clearly extremely important and …

I am probably more effective where I am. We need to have a health system that is functioning. It is never going to be perfect - I do not think there is a health system in the world that is perfect - but it needs to be properly funded. There should have been a minimum of €2 billion or €3 billion extra dedicated to health. The system has let down the health service by not funding it properly. Efficiencies need to be found, and I agree that to go €1.2 billion over budget is not acceptable and that there is a lot of wa…