I believe this is my first opportunity to welcome my good friend and colleague, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to the House. He was the Leader of the Opposition in Seanad Éireann from 2011 to 2016 during which period he was constructive in the way he dealt with the role. His constructive approach will percolate right into his Ministry. We want to see problems resolved. Politicians are there to solve problems. If there were no problems, we would not be here. To get someone of his calibre to take responsibilit…

I very much look forward to what he will achieve. I know of his dogged determination and he will deliver. I echo what Senator Cummins said about this legislation. It is essential to continue the important work of local government and the process of passing county development plans. The pandemic has changed how we do business in the country. The Bill enables local authorities who are going through the development plan process to continue holding their public engagements, which they are statutorily obliged to do whil…

I wish to have a debate on health, specifically general health with regard to vaccines, and the flu vaccine in particular. It is regrettable to have a situation where there is mixed messaging emerging about the flu vaccine. We are told by the HSE and the Department of Health that there is an adequate amount of the vaccine, but the circumstantial evidence throughout the country is that there are difficulties. There are different stories emerging from different areas. There is different narratives depending to what g…

I move: "That Second Stage be taken now."

I welcome the Minister of State back to the House. This legislation comes before the Houses annually. I welcome the fact that we are not to see any increase in stamp duty, at least as it affects customers of health insurance companies. Health insurance has been an absolute blessing for hundreds of thousands of families over many years. By and large, the health insurance industry has served this country well in enabling access to high-quality healthcare for all people and all citizens who are in a position to afford…

On Thursday, 26 November 2020.

I, too, welcome the Minister of State to the House. This legislation is a culmination of a lot of work that was done to restructure, tidy up and ensure there was proper and appropriate governance of moneys within the credit union movement. Today, it is appropriate to salute and acknowledge, as other colleagues have done, the founding pioneering people who developed the credit union model in this country. I have an extremely close relationship with the credit union movement because I was born and grew up upstairs ov…

Next Monday.

I move: "That Second Stage be taken today."

On this important legislation I agree with Senator Buttimer that it is somewhat regrettable that we are dealing with many things in the context of Covid-19, but that is life. With regard to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, I tend to share some of the concerns expressed by Senator Sherlock in terms of the moving over and the fixed terms. However, some of the people on the council now would have helped chart us out of the previous difficulties and perhaps they are rightly placed. In many ways, we are dealing with a…

I also welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank him for his proactive approach to his Department. That is how he does his business. He gets things done. That is a great thing to be able to say about a Minister of State. There is a lot of work to do to deal with flooding. Many colleagues have outlined the challenges and difficulties in other parts of the country. I would like to mention the west coast of Clare. On 6 January 2014, significant damage was done along the west coast. I have to give full credi…

I echo Senator Cassells' comments and commend the documentary last night on television and, indeed, the "Documentary on One" programme. They did a great professional job of remembering this tragic period in our country's history. I congratulate the Burren Ecotourism Network on being the only tourism initiative from this country to be considered as part of the 30 great experiences in the Lonely Planet guide that was announced today. This is on top of other awards the Burren Ecotourism Network received in recent year…

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, to the House. It is good to have him here. I will put this Commencement matter in context because many people might not know what the visiting teacher for the visually impaired is. When I was a young boy back in County Clare with a visual impairment and attending mainstream schools, a visiting teacher used to come once a year. He was a very nice man by the name of Tim O’Connell from County Cork and he liaised with the…

I thank the Minister of State for delivering the reply from Deputy Madigan, but it does not commit to a review or an evaluation. I accept the work that was done by the previous review and it was appropriate that the service was transferred to the NCSE, but we need to evaluate whether the taxpayer is getting value for money from this particular service. The visiting teachers cannot be expected to be at the top of their game when it comes to ICT and the range of services that are there. Are there proper linkages and …

The Minister of State might just-----

-----request a timeframe of perhaps two weeks for a considered response.

The Acting Chairman is doing an excellent job in the Chair and well done. There are a number of issues connected to this subject. It is appropriate that Seanad Éireann is discussing Traveller accommodation. I commend Senator Flynn for putting this issue forward or ensuring it was put on the agenda. There is no point in putting a tooth in it. The Traveller community is the most discriminated against group in Irish society and whether people like to hear that or not, that is the truth. It is a wrong that has been per…

As the second male speaker on this matter, and now that I think of it the only Member of the House actually with a declared disability, I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, to the House and congratulate her in her new role. Having been around the Houses with the Minister of State for the past number of years I have seen her commitment to equality of opportunity for all people. The Minister of State's particular appointment to this role will be critical going forward because of her deep level of commitm…

I am sharing time with Senators Ahearn, Dolan and Seery Kearney. I do not believe in being unfair to people but I think what has happened in this situation is that this legacy has shone a light on the cash collecting that Sinn Féin has been engaged in for the past two decades. I remember seeing a video in a documentary by Ann McCabe, husband of the late Jerry McCabe, who was murdered by the IRA, where she secretly filmed a Sinn Féin fundraiser in New York where Gerry Adams in his opening remarks said he thanked the…

Like others, I echo the sentiments in respect of our new President-elect in the United States. RTÉ definitely did excel in its coverage of the event, not just on election day, with its montage and so on, but in the run-up to it, particularly the "States of Mind" podcast with Jackie Fox and Brian O'Donovan. It certainly gave a very light-hearted but yet very informative appraisal in the run-up to the election. I agree with the sentiments that have been expressed by others here in terms of the equality of pay day tha…