Eamon being the absolute gentleman that he is actually bought something in the shop. I was not going to mention it because many Ministers turn up to do an event and go. Eamon actually bought in the shop which was well-noted and is a testament to the man. As I do not drive because of my disability, being visually impaired, I get the train to Dublin all the time when I come to the Oireachtas. On occasion I have stayed in Maynooth. I listened to Senator Martin speak about extending the train services to other parts of…

In response to Senator Gavan, I note that I have publicly stated that Shannon Heritage should be moved to the Office of Public Works, OPW. A debate on the issue would be welcome. I stand today to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities. That day has been marked on 3 December for many years. It gives us an opportunity to reflect on what needs to be done and on what we have achieved. When I was first elected to this House in 2011, Ireland was marked by inequality. There have been many positive development…

Hear, hear.

I listened with great interest, as I always do, to our long-established and learned colleague, Senator Burke. I often think about what would happen if I lost my seat. The Houses of the Oireachtas have a duty of care to people who have given good service but through no fault of their own are not re-elected. There should be a significant retraining and education programme to assist those people. That point should be considered by the Houses of the Oireachtas. This is my first time welcoming the Minister of State to t…

Under his stewardship and that of the Minister, we will hopefully see another technological university in the mid-west. Ennis in County Clare has the capability, structure and character to be a university town. The Limerick Institute of Technology opening a campus in Ennis this time last year was a significant incremental step towards developing its potential. Ennis is famous for culture. Clare County Council appointed the first ever local authority arts officer in the 1980s or early 1990s. We have hosted the most …

I fully agree with Senator Ó Donnghaile about the Pat Finucane decision and the behaviour of the British Government. I think we may all have been laid into a space where we believed an inquiry would be announced yesterday. I certainly believed it would be and all the mood music suggested that, especially in view of the fact that the highest court in the UK had recommended it. What has happened is regrettable and, certainly, the campaign cannot stop. Let us hope that, eventually, the right thing will be done. Today …

I, too, welcome the Minister and commend him on the work he has done, not just in recent weeks but also in recent years, on Brexit. As we all know, Brexit is a serious, tricky and complex issue for Ireland. It challenges Ireland more than any other country. It is a daunting challenge and we are in uncharted waters. We do not know how it will affect us, but we know that it will. It is a problem and a difficulty. Like many other problems our small island has faced over the years, we will deal with it head on. It is o…

Hear, hear.

Welcome them with open arms.

The Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, is welcome to the House to deal with this important matter of sewerage schemes in critical villages in County Clare. There are four in particular, namely, Broadford, Cooraclare, Doolin and Carrigaholt. As the Minister of State knows from his many visits to County Clare, it is a big tourism county, which has hundreds of thousands of people coming to visit during peak times of the tourist season. Doolin has been waiting for decades for an upgraded sewerage system. Hundreds o…

I sincerely thank the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, for what I consider a positive update. A slice of that funding for Irish Water needs to be pulled back into the Department. A fund should be created in the Department, with each local authority being given the option of applying for one scheme per year under a new programme which would deal with these legacy wastewater and sewage systems. To be quite frank, I consider Doolin in County Clare to be a national tourist destination. It is visited by hundreds of thou…

Like others, I would like to pay tribute to "RTÉ Investigates" for the programme that was aired last night on Patrick Russell. I particularly commend Mr. Paul Murphy for his determination to expose not just what went on with this particular conman, but the failure of the institutions of our State to deal with him. The Revenue Commissioners have questions to answer about how it was allowed to escalate to the degree it did. An Garda Síochána also has questions to answer as to why this particular gentleman had not bee…

Now.

Now.

I welcome the Minister of State back to the House for the annual health insurance Bill, which is extremely important. On a positive note, we have to count our blessings in this country that we have health insurance which is affordable for the vast majority of the Irish people. We are also very fortunate there is community rating within health insurance. We are also very fortunate that risk equalisation exists because it means our elderly and vulnerable citizens will get health insurance at the same cost as younger …

That is okay, we must accommodate our senior seasoned representatives. In the first instance, like everybody else, I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy English, into the House. He has done a sterling job on late-night TV and radio selling the message of what we are trying to achieve here, which is to flatten the curve and try to live with this awful disease. He has done a remarkably good job in that regard. I wish to start my remarks by thanking the Irish people for their resilience, patience, determination and …

They should be here.

It was a point of fact.

It was a point of fact.

It is not appropriate that they are not here.