It is a vetting process.

No.

Not on an issue like this one.

Three others were also.

The Taoiseach knows the reason.

I thank the Minister for her opening remarks. I noticed she mentioned the Still Here campaign. I will briefly say that the issue the Minister needs to deal with is still here. She needs to come in here and answer questions on how judicial appointments happen and what that process is. I am referring to the process she handles rather than the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board, JAAB, process. I invite her again to come into the Chamber at the earliest opportunity to answer questions and engage with the Oireachtas o…

I am pleased to be here to speak on rural development and rural Ireland in general. People often talk about rural Ireland being left behind and yet we are conscious that people who live in rural communities enjoy and treasure the communities in which they live because they feel supported and they have achieved so much, often in spite of investment rather than because of it and, likewise, often in spite of the way the Government has left them as an afterthought rather than because of what the Government has done for…

I am glad to speak on behalf of Sinn Féin on the issues of community safety and crime prevention. However, I will divert my attention for a moment to the issue of the week with which the Minister needs to deal. Members of the Dáil from almost all parties have asked the Minister to come into the Chamber to outline the process she used to make judicial appointments. Yesterday she clarified that she did consider the four names before her and then selected one candidate. Each time we ask about this the Minister, and in…

I understand that and I am sorry. I will move on now to speak about the issues of community policing and community safety. I spoke to someone today who works with many of the community drugs initiatives in the city of Dublin who said that at the core of all of this is having a police service that is rooted in the community. In order for that to happen, we need to see a greater effort to ensure that community police are visible on the streets and that they build up a relationship with local communities. I acknowledg…

I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire, who initiated this legislation during the term of the last Dáil. We are in a totally impractical situation in which court orders can be executed in a very heavy-handed manner. We have seen this in some evictions and other situations in which court orders were used to repossess property. It does not always have to be a person's property - it can be vehicles, business premises and so on. In very many cases, we see security firms operating in a very heavy-handed way. Their operatives often …

It is not agreed. Can I propose that sometime before the end of the week the Minister for Justice comes and gives a statement to the House on the advice that she receives from the Attorney General as to the crisis in the Judiciary? It is important that we build maximum consensus among all parties and groupings in this House to try to find a way forward through this. It would be appropriate also if the Taoiseach were to organise a meeting of the party leaders and the group leaders in order to brief everybody and ens…

As I am sure the Minister of State is aware, there have been difficulties with the local authority veterinary service in recent years. The county veterinary officers do much of the veterinary work in the counties around the country. Until now, they have been funded by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, FSAI, through a service level agreement with each local authority. In the past three or four years, there has been a reduction in the funding and a pull-back from the FSAI. Although the central funding going to th…

I thank the Minister of State. I was aware of most of what was in his statement and the proposals to upgrade and modernise the system to ensure that efficiencies can be brought in all seem well and good but we want to make sure that does not mean a reduction in the funding the veterinary services receive. Those kinds of terms are often a cover for a reduction in funding and we would be concerned about that. We are also conscious that we are facing Brexit and everyone knows that the amount of food that we import and…

I listened to the Minister's speech. She stated that her legislative measures would come into effect next September and that they would apply new regulations on school admissions, but I cannot understand why she said she needed a year for that to happen and that this Bill would somehow mess up what she was trying to do. There is nothing in it that contradicts the Act at all. Instead, it is complementary of the Act's objectives. I compliment Deputy Ó Ríordáin and the wider Labour Party on introducing this Bill. It g…

I understand that. I will come back to it, but it is all part of the same point. The point is that all of these issues are related to where we are in society. From the end of society I am talking about, I am referring to my experience in my area but I am looking at another Bill coming through the House, which is about looking at the opposite end of it. I refer to the fee-paying schools, the elite of the elite. Even at that, there is extra privilege added. Not only do people have to be able to pay to go to these sch…

I thank the Rural Independent Group for tabling this motion. That we had a similar debate last night reflects the importance of this issue to many people across the country. Yesterday, we spoke primarily about the difficulties in the Shannon region. The main issue is managing water levels on the Shannon and making sure that works are performed at the appropriate times and there is a body to oversee them and ensure they are done properly and in a co-ordinated fashion. I will use this opportunity to bring the Ministe…

I move amendment No. 1: To delete the words ‘9th day of June, 2021’ and to substitute the words ‘9th day of February, 2021’ therefor. I will be sharing time with Deputy Cullinane. Our amendment relates to the length of time for which the Minister seeks to extend these powers. We understand we are in the most unusual and unfortunate circumstances where extreme powers like these are required. At times that happens, but when extreme powers such as these are in place, they need to be revisited as often as possible to e…

This Bill aims to come up with a solution that will work for communities along the length and breadth of the River Shannon. I live in County Leitrim, and if we were there tonight, it would be possible to see that Lough Allen is full to the brim with water because it has rained for the past couple of weeks. A dam there can be raised and lowered, and that regularly happens. There is always pressure on the Office of Public Works, OPW, to do that, and the OPW and other bodies are engaged in doing that. The reality is t…

It is important to point out that the vast majority of people want to comply with the guidelines and do the right thing and that they are doing their very best to do so. Sometimes people make mistakes and step over the line without realising it, often in rural areas where the distance of 5 km is an issue for many people. It is important that the Government is very clear with people that they are not breaching the guidelines if their nearest shop or where they need to go to get something is 10 km, 12 km or 15 km awa…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." The issue we have here is with the definition of a development and what it means for the planning process. Large areas of planted land in forestry totally changes the landscape and is a permanent development that has a real impact on communities, the environment and local infrastructure, and it has a broader county and regional impact. Even the smallest development requires planning permission such as the change of use of a building, making a new entrance onto a ro…