Our group is concerned about the late hours for the staff. It is crazy and ridiculous to have that both nights this week. This is a distasteful game. It was hidden during the election three weeks ago. We saw the rush when the motion was proposed in late April to get it done by 9 May. That backfired and when people were getting it in the neck on the doors the motion was postponed. Disgracefully, the Government hid and buried it, and brought it back tonight. This is a further extension of that game and the deceit goe…

Not agreed.

The Ceann Comhairle knows well I have raised this for several weeks at the Business Committee, and the fact the Government deceitfully hid this pact until after the local and European elections. Now, we are debating a red herring here because it is already adopted in Europe, we are told. The Government has changed the wording of it. We need ample time to discuss this. Indeed, the Taoiseach promised us we would have ample time to debate it on the floor of the Dáil, as did the Tánaiste, Deputy Micheál Martin, and the…

Not agreed.

I too want to be associated, on behalf of the Rural Independents, with Deputy Ryan’s departure as party leader.

He was always courteous in debate, while I fundamentally disagreed with him in policy. I hope he did not find the coldest June too hot to handle. Maybe his climate change clock has gone wrong but I wish him well. While I thank the Taoiseach for meeting Cara Darmody today with her father, Mark, she should be in school today. She will be off for the summer shortly but she will be up here every week protesting while we are here and continuing to protest and to fight. I heard her say on the radio, and I am sure she tol…

Of course, they have.

I will talk about the same issues.

The Rural Independent Group and I are fundamentally opposed to the migration pact and have made our opposition known for several months. The Dáil justice committee wrapped up its discussions on the pact more than a month ago. Since then, the Government tactically postponed the debate and vote in the Dáil until after the local and European elections, and the dogs in the street know that. We saw in the referendums that the Government withheld vital information that should have been put into the public domain, and it …

On behalf of the Rural Independent Group, I wish Deputy Whitmore well and thank Martin for his sterling service over 22 years. He was always cordial and helpful. I have just come from a Business Committee meeting to be told that the EU migration pact, which was buried conveniently and in a deceitful manner for the election, will now be discussed in the House next Tuesday in a five-hour debate with a guillotine at the end of it. This is shocking. We have also been told today the pact has been ratified in Europe. The…

There is a guillotine.

It is being guillotined.

I compliment the members of the Regional Group on bringing forward this important motion. The EPA has released another report this morning. It is a disgraceful, discredited organisation because it will not look at municipal plants. The Minister of State knows this better than I do. I have put it to him previously. The EPA is discredited, comes out with fake news all the time, and demonises farmers and paints them as the baddies. Of course, farmers are mentioned in this morning's report as well, included with the mu…

An-chiúin ar fad.

When are the Taoiseach and his Government going to do something with Uisce Éireann? From the very initial constitution of that entity and the transposition of the infrastructure, the organisation never took over the combined sewers underneath and behind houses. Today, I speak about Cashel Road in Tipperary town. I mention the late Councillor Christy Kinahan, who is being buried tomorrow. A large number of older residents, living in houses that are up to 110 years old or even older, have a major problem with sewage …

I support the amendment relating to the national planning framework. Any issues with it or reviews of it should be debated in this House. The Government obviously has to look at it and bring forward proposals but they should be open to scrutiny in this House. That is what we are here for. Amendment No. 181 adds to the list of bodies to be consulted the national representative organisations of elected county councillors. Some have been freshly elected today. Some are still waiting. The vast majority are not. Those b…

I agree with Deputies Ó Broin and Danny Healy-Rae. The Minister does want to do this. He wants to take away the embarrassment from his own backbenchers and future Government backbenchers by supporting this kind of legislation. I will not be voting for this because it would be like turkeys voting for Christmas. With the Ceann Comhairle's permission, I will mention the case of Sean Meehan in Tipperary. He is not affected by the strict urban designated pressure areas. He is out in the country in a log cabin. He is fac…

We have a Bill of 750 or 800 pages we can hardly lift. Indeed, there is also a list of amendments, many of them tabled by the Minister. We are not operating in a silo here. I am speaking to amendments No. 195 and 196 in the group, in addition to other related ones. We are not operating in a silo. We have a housing crisis. We have a crisis with people emigrating. We have a shortage of nurses, teachers, construction workers and everything else. We think we can bring in this new planning Bill, but we have been waiting…

One hundred per cent.

I would say you are, all right.