Okay, go raibh maith agat.

Deputy, please. You are not listening. We are going to have Topical Issues.

Deputy, tá an t-am caite. We are moving on to Topical Issues.

I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case: Deputy Michael Cahill - To discuss rural planning guidelines, area plans and family homes. Deputy Séamus McGrath - To discuss driver licence reciprocal arrangements Deputy Eamon Scanlon - To discuss the daily transport charge for people with disabilities using day services in Sligo and Leitrim. Deputy Paul Lawless - To discuss the wastewater treatment plant i…

Ladies first, is it, Deputy Cummins?

I will point out to Deputy Ó Laoghaire that the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, was here and the Deputy was not.

The Deputy has made his point.

Ar aghaidh leat.

I also add my voice to the condolences for the great legend, Mick O'Dwyer, and offer my sympathies to his family and the GAA community. The GAA community does so much, as do rugby, soccer, boxing and all the different sports, to divert young people away from harmful behaviour. In my area we are lucky that the diocese of Waterford and Lismore provides a youth service that covers much of south Tipperary, and indeed the Cashel and Emly diocese does great work in youth services and is building in Tipperary town on the …

Ar an gcéad dul síos, gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach, an Teachta Ó Murchú, for allowing me to table this Topical Issue. I am disappointed that neither the Minister for Justice nor the Minister for Education are here. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, has responsibility for procurement, so she might be able to answer me. I refer to the whole situation of the procurement of hotels throughout the country, but especially in Tipperary. Racket Hall in Roscrea and Dundrum House Hotel are lan…

Much of what the Minister of State read out to me in that reply was simply untrue. Dundrum House Hotel - the famous Crowe family for generations has had that hotel - is the only hotel not only in Dundrum village, but in the whole west Tipperary community. That turns the Department policy on its head. We have the wonderful Cahir House Hotel in Cahir operated by Robert Scannell and David Walsh, its two co-owners. They provide a great service. They have often told me they could make a lot more of money out of this. Th…

Today is World Autism Awareness Day. Children with autism are being abandoned in south Tipperary. The HSE has confirmed that the waiting time for autism assessments is now in excess of two years. A total of 233 children are waiting for an autism assessment. Cara Darmody was told in the past that children could access assessments privately if the HSE continued to fail but that is not happening. Beyond that, I have repeatedly raised the difficulty of children with autism getting appropriate school places. At least 17…

Bansha National School.

As a person who nominated and voted for the outgoing Ceann Comhairle, Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl, who did a fine job, I accepted the democratic result when Deputy Murphy was elected Ceann Comhairle. The treatment she has been subjected to - it has been outlined by my two colleagues, so I do not have to repeat it - is nothing but shocking. I had a school group up last week; thankfully they were not here when this charade happened. Is this what the Opposition wants to call - as they have described it in the media and el…

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Cheann Comhairle. Déanaim comhghairdeas léi ar an vóta inniu. It is great to be able to talk as backbenchers on the first Private Members' debate for which we have time. Everybody should get time here. I am sharing with Government backbenchers, although Deputy Nolan and I are not in that category. I praise all the front-line staff, especially those in the ESB, outdoor council staff, the Civil Defence, the Red Cross, contractors, including agri-contractors and plant contrac…

What about Faugheen?

I wish the Minister and the Minister of State well in their portfolios. The explanations are very worthwhile given the discrepancies in costs. Some counties' totals are quite alarming. Obviously drainage and topography will mean a lot. I welcome the relaxing of the requirements relating to applications by individual households. The connectivity of the people in those houses on those little boreens out to the public roads is so important. These are the little people we always talk about. They are the people we repre…

I ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development to address the funding shortfall for Irish men's sheds, specifically following the loss of the IMSA sustainability grant, and to make a statement on the matter.

I am glad the Minister will meet with the Irish Men's Sheds Association, IMSA. It is a pity that when the Department reached out to it late last year, it was unable, but hopefully this will be sorted out and we will get proper, meaningful support for the many men's sheds throughout the country, especially in Tipperary. We have men's sheds in Clogheen, Carrick-on-Suir, Clonmel, Fethard, Mullinahone, Tiobraid Árann, Cashel and Thurles. They are tremendous organisations, and we cannot forget mná na hÉireann either. Th…

I thank the Social Democrats for allowing me some time on this important motion. I wish the Minister of State well in his position. He knows my position on this. My position is that the triple lock is sacrosanct. Our neutrality is sacrosanct. I was concerned about two years ago when the Taoiseach had a roadshow with hand-picked people to try to soften up the public for a change to our neutrality. The Taoiseach has also said that our neutrality is an outdated concept. I do not believe it is and I think the matter sh…