I will not delay the House for long. I wish the Minister the best of luck in her new position. If she is to leave a mark with the new Government, she has an opportunity to do so this evening. I ask her to listen to the previous speaker, Deputy McGuinness, and to read the amendments that have been tabled, whoever is able to get to whoever from the banking sector in the Department. This is phenomenal. There is no legislation brought in that can facilitate people who want to go through the Insolvency Service of Irelan…

First, I wish the Minister luck. I have not had the opportunity to do so before. As has been outlined, Castlerea is the second largest town in County Roscommon. An industrial relations dispute has been ongoing in recent years. There have been public meetings. I and many others have talked to people on all sides of the dispute to see whether it could be resolved. Unfortunately, it has not been. There is a report out now. Castlerea, in which the prison and factories are located, and surrounding areas such as Ballymoe…

In his reply, the Minister noted the problems that have arisen over recent years. As has been outlined, in the Castlerea area is the Harmac factory, the prison, a mart and various businesses. This does not only affect Castlerea. The service is needed not only for the town but also for surrounding areas. I live in County Galway but fire services go across borders in rural areas. Castlerea is 12 miles from my home. The next nearest station is 16 miles away. Everything is okay until something goes wrong. That is the b…

I compliment former Senator Pádraig Ó Céidigh on drafting this Bill. He is a business person who sees the torment of insurance claims at the moment. We should also mention Mr. Pat McDonagh, who has done a lot of work on insurance claims down through the years. I also compliment the Regional Group for bringing forward this motion. Do we want to solve this problem? There are many vested interests at the moment. If someone has a tip in his or her car, the insurance company will pay out even if someone was trying to do…

I join colleagues in wishing the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, the best of luck in her new role. I have dealt with her in several different Departments and she has a job of work to do in her new portfolio, first of all in the area of social protection. It is not the Minister's fault and no reflection on her, but I am saddened that rural affairs will not have a separate, independent Department. I am sure she will do her best in this regard, as she comes from a good rural area in Monaghan. It is important that we give …

Following up on that, up to ten people can meet in a house. Anyone who had a bull's iota about rural Ireland would know that in most pubs in rural Ireland during the week there might not be four or five people. To stop them from opening is a hammer blow. The Government should look at this again because these pubs need to get up and running not only for the survival of the businesses themselves but also for communities throughout the rural areas.

I wish the Minister the best of luck in his new portfolio and concur with the sentiments expressed earlier on land use and on the amendments. I refer to much of the land in the west, in particular. In my opinion the farmers are carbon neutral. They have cattle on two or three acres or a cow with two or three acres to herself for the simple reason that the quality of the land is not as good. Research needs to be done to make sure we know what we are talking about. I am worried about what the Minister spoke about in …

One thing the Minister needs to be mindful of when we speak about emissions and sequestration is that at present, as I told him during the talks on Government formation, we have a target in this country of 7,000 ha of forestry per year. I spoke to two sawmill owners yesterday. Next October, they will be out of timber. They are putting plans in place to bring timber in from Latvia. That is the reality when 1,500 cases are held up. We are talking about sowing a few trees here and there on farms. We need to get real a…

Yes, one other thing is all I have-----

The last point is on the carbon tax for rural Ireland. It is indiscriminate. Bring it in on aeroplanes. People in rural Ireland can decide whether they go to Majorca or Kerry for holidays but they have no decision when they have to go 30, 40 or 50 miles from A to B to work. Let us not discriminate against one part of Ireland just because there are buses and transport in other places.

I was shocked and saddened by the Taoiseach's actions yesterday evening in regard to Deputy Cowen. I think it was a trial by media. I wish Deputy Calleary the very best of luck. The ministerial map is at least being rebalanced a small bit for the west of Ireland. I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, whose mother hails from Castlerea, the best of luck, and likewise the incoming Minister of State, Deputy Fleming. The new Minister, Deputy Calleary, has a job at hand today. I think he will get support from ma…

I thank the Acting Chairman. I was talking to a person the other day, and as some of the so-called experts will say, one might be better renting. I saw a debate on the television a year ago where a person had paid €250,000 in rent and had nothing for it and still had to buy a house now. It just shows. I thank the Labour Party for bringing this motion forward. To the Minister, this is about supply and demand. If there is a tight supply of houses, landlords have a field day. At the end of the day, the Minister needs …

I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, well in his new role. I visited the site in Drumkeeran with Deputy Harkin and observed the damage she has described. I want to make clear that no turf has been cut on this steep blanket bog. The damage we are seeing has happened followed incessant rain and action must be taken to address it. I spoke earlier today to the CEO of Leitrim County Council, Lar Power, who has RPS Consulting Engineers doing up a report on the situation on Shass Mountain. If the bridge to which D…

I mean no disrespect to the Minister of State, but we were expecting this matter to be dealt with by the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW. I understand that the mountain is a designated special area of conservation, but there is a decision to be made. Are we going to sit and watch a bridge collapse - in fairness, bridges are neither the portfolio nor the responsibility of the Minister of State - if there is further rain and possibly more bog coming down the mountain with it? Are we going to stand b…

First, I wish the Tánaiste the best of luck in his new office. He has a tough job ahead with regard to the jobs issue, but by working together we can get through this. Last week, I spoke to the previous Minister, Deputy Humphreys, on the telephone about Aptar and, in fairness, she referred back to me about it. Can the Tánaiste confirm that the IDA is liaising with Aptar? Aptar highlighted that research and development is a problem in Ireland. It also spoke about insurance costs, electricity costs, rates and other m…

I wish the Minister the very best of luck. He has a tough job ahead of him but working together we can do a lot. I have a few quick questions. With regard to foreign travel and the Erasmus programme, colleges are telling people to travel. What is the Minister's view in that regard? Second, when is the deal with the private hospitals over? Third, Roscommon University Hospital has a shell in which more day case procedures could be done to take pressure off University Hospital Galway. It is looking for funding. Will t…

I thank the outgoing Taoiseach for his work in recent months and during the Covid-19 crisis. In fairness, for all politicians, much of the bickering went out the window and we rallied together. I also thank the people for the effort they have made. Today is an historic day. I wish Deputy Micheál Martin the best of luck. It is probably inevitable that he will be Taoiseach and, for the course of the next few years or however long it lasts, I wish him good luck in his journey ahead. Our group put together documents. W…

I congratulate the new Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, and I wish him and all the new Ministers well. I wish the Minister with responsibility for agriculture, Deputy Barry Cowen, well and there are a few pressing matters for him to address straight away, especially with regard to farmers under the new farm to fork initiative in Europe. The Minister comes from a fairly peaty area and there is an effort to block farmers from farming areas like that. The Minister will need to put the foot in straight away. I know hi…

Last Sunday, we listened to the words of a priest in Castlerea as he spoke of how, when word came through that a garda had been shot, he had pitied whoever would have to deliver the news to the family the following morning. There is shock and numbness in the community, not alone in Castlerea and Charlestown but right around the country. To hear people talk about Detective Garda Colm Horkan, if a person was in a pub drinking, he would bring that person home. He was a commonsensical person and was not bound by the no…

No, I am on my own. I will be brief enough. We need to acknowledge what clubs across the country have done. They have brought shopping to people who have been cocooning. This was especially the case for GAA clubs both in my area and right around the country. It is not only them however. Many other clubs have put their shoulder to the wheel and helped those people who were having a difficult time. We should acknowledge that and praise the work they did. I welcome what the Ministers have done with regard to the likes…