Thank you, a Chathaoirligh.

On behalf of the Minister for Justice, Deputy O'Callaghan, I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and for his work in this regard. The Minister was in Cork last Friday and received briefings from senior members of An Garda Síochána. I assure the Deputy that the Minister and the Government are resolute in their support of An Garda Síochána. We want to build safe and secure communities, and a well-resourced policing service is critical to achieving that. In budget 2025, an unprecedented sum of €2.48 billion was a…

I thank the Deputy again on behalf of the Minister for raising this matter. The Minister's first priority is to get more Garda members on our streets, including through increased recruitment. As we see more people join the organisation, we will see more gardaí on the streets of our towns and villages throughout the country and of course in County Cork and in Cork city and all the surrounding towns. In 2024, 36 probation gardaí were allocated to Cork. The Minister was delighted to bear witness to 149 new recruits pa…

Hear, hear.

When the people of Ireland voted-----

-----they sent people to this House to work. What people have seen since is chaos, disruption and behaviour of the worst type. Since Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Regional Independent Group, and the Healy-Raes came together to form a Government, we have heard all these words such as "Lowry's lackeys", "underlings" and "a grubby deal". What is grubby about forming a Government? What is grubby about putting one's shoulder to the wheel and taking responsibility?

What is grubby about getting down to work for people? There is nothing wrong with that.

People think that if they keep repeating this, it will stick. I have news for them; they are wrong. Labour, the Social Democrats and the others, who are now firmly on the Sinn Féin leash, are being led like puppies with their new political master. If that is where they want to be, that is where they will stay. I would like to think that I have the finger on what is happening around the countryside, and last night, people in places such as Cahersiveen and Valentia Island were not impressed with what went on in the C…

You can be sure of one thing - they were not saying it was a good day for politics. I have confidence in the Ceann Comhairle. I have confidence in a young girl who left school when she was 15 years of age. I have confidence in a young woman who went to England and worked hard in multiple jobs. I have confidence in a young woman, who, at the age of 21, bought a truck and trailer and took to the road to make a living. I have confidence in a woman who became the first female Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil. I have confide…

All that the people watching this today want to see is the rubbish to stop and to see people continue their work.

I am glad to be able to respond on behalf of the Minister with responsibility for children. I thank the Senator for raising this important issue and offering me the opportunity to respond. The Government wants to acknowledge the trauma associated with sexual abuse in childhood, which continues into adulthood affecting many aspects of the victims-survivors' lives and the impact it has had on those victims-survivors. The Minister for children is clear that all of the recommendations in Dr. Geoffrey Shannon's report s…

I thank the Senator. The national safeguarding officer is conducting an audit of each of the 22 St. John Ambulance Ireland branches in respect of Children First compliance. This is a very important step. It will ensure that all local branches have an on-site designated child safeguarding officer, and that each branch has its own bespoke child safeguarding statement with adherence to the Children First legislation. It will also ensure that adequate child safeguarding training practices are in place. Furthermore, it …

I am grateful to have the opportunity to represent the Minister and give the response. We are all no doubt aware of the importance of online safety and I am happy to provide the Senator with an update on the status of the work in this area. Achieving online safety in the prevention of gender-based violence requires a cross-sectoral effort to coincide with efforts being made within the Department and the new media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, and at EU level. I acknowledge from the outset the collaborative work und…

As I outlined throughout my remarks, there have been a lot of developments in recent years with regard to online safety in a general sense, the prevention of gender-based violence and recommender algorithms. Further steps in online safety will come in July, with the application of Part B of the online safety code. There is also an upcoming evaluation of the EU's audiovisual media services directive, to which Ireland is contributing. This will further strengthen the area of online safety. Our efforts to achieve onli…

Nobody is looking to do that.

Leave up the nonsense so we can carry on with the work of the House.

I sincerely thank Deputy Quinlivan for raising this most important matter on the floor of the Dáil. Given that it is most important, the people of Limerick will rightly be grateful to him. I know about the matter at first hand because I have family members living in the city and am there a lot. What is going on is a disgrace. The Deputy is so correct to have done what he has done here today. While he has highlighted that what I would call blackguarding of the worst type is going on, he has also recognised that ther…

From 2015 to date, the Department has spent more than €2 million on urban horse projects. Last year, €6 million in funding went to 101 animal welfare charities throughout the country under the animal welfare grant programme. Of that figure, just over €3.4 million was awarded to charities involved in the care and welfare of horses. On a personal level, I will say that the Deputy has done a great service to the people of Limerick in raising this. It is not just today that he has done so. He has been in continuous con…

It is not only today that Deputy Cooney has brought this matter to the attention of the Dáil because he has been working diligently on the issue. The Deputy has worn a path to Agriculture House and has been on to me and my officials. I recognise that and his sterling work on behalf of his constituents. This is an important matter. It is also of grave concern to our colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, who has also been making representations about this matter. As Deputy Cooney correctly stated, the exis…

I thank Deputy Cooney. I like it when the Deputy says it is time for less talk and more work. To show the Deputy what work is going on, this is a matter that I am dealing with at the forest windblow task force, which met again yesterday morning. Subsequent to the meeting I and the Ministers, Deputies Heydon and O'Brien, had with the ESB last week, officials from the Department are exploring what we need to do to get on to the next phase, that is, the necessary legislation that might be required to allow this work g…