I support my colleague, Senator Doherty, in her request about St. John’s Ambulance. People have complained to my office about not getting meter-read bills in recent months. I call on people to read their own meters and send in a proper reading because if the meters are not being read and the bills are being overestimated, then people will be charged at the higher rate. We know that rates will go down. To get the refund, people will need to make sure that they have their readings done properly and they are not overc…

I want to support Senator Cummins and it is important that we do regular reviews of Project Ireland 2040. There are too many schemes within that which struggle to get off the ground due to funding or whatever it may be. If a quarterly check was done on it in these Houses, we would see more schemes progressing. Any of us who watched "Prime Time" last night abhorred what we saw, namely, a situation where people are proclaiming themselves to be psychologists and carrying out assessments of need for parents who are str…

The Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, is very welcome as was the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, who was here earlier. Back in 2018, I was down in Sligo when Project 2040, the national development plan, was launched. After a significant amount of pressure by local representatives in the midlands and up into the north west, the N4 project was put back onto the national development plan. It had reached the emerging preferred route stage in 2008 when the economic crash came and there it remained. In his opening speech…

I acknowledge the support of the Leader and the Cathaoirleach with regard to the event on Thursday next in the Seanad, where we will have families and self-advocates of autistic persons coming into the Chamber to hear their views and the concerns they have with the lack of services and supports from the State. I acknowledge the support of both of them in allowing that to happen. I invite any Members of the Seanad, if they wish to be here. It would be important to support those families and autistic persons while th…

I support Senator Ahern's proposal to invite the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, to the House. I ask the Deputy Leader to add the issue of the heel-prick test to the list of matters to be discussed with him. It is an issue I have raised a number of times in the context of spinal muscular atrophy. A very small amount of money would be needed every year to prevent children from suffering so much. Yesterday an announcement was made regarding school transport fees for the next school year. The scheme will…

I will hone in on Senator Blaney’s point, which is the word “connectivity” and, in particular, the north west. Unfortunately, the north west and midlands are not served properly. We are the only area in the country that is serviced by our motorway. This is an issue I have raised with the Minister and it is disappointing that funding was not in place to progress the works with regard to putting in a proper, safe road that would continue from Mullingar and connect in with the works that were done farther west. We are…

I move: That Seanad Éireann shall take note of the Report of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media entitled ‘Working Conditions and Skills Shortages in Ireland’s Tourism and Hospitality Sector’, copies of which were laid before Seanad Éireann on 15th November, 2022. I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. I welcome the Minister and Deputy Niamh Smyth to the Chamber. Deputy Smyth was a very effective Chairperson of our committee. I look forward to a productive discussion on working conditions and s…

I wish to concur with Senator Murphy's comments about the announcement by Deputy Denis Naughten yesterday. I wish to put on record my thanks for the work he did on behalf of the people of County Longford. He represented County Longford for two terms and even since that has always been supportive of any projects, be it the just transition or gas. I have raised the issue of the N4. I met with Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, which describes it as a priority. That project from Mullingar to Rooskey, which service…

I concur with the comments of Senator McGreehan with regard to the sheep sector. I recently met with members of the IFA and its sheep committee in my home county. The message they gave to me, as a public representative, is very stark. There are average profits of €7 per ewe, with an average flock size of 75. That is a very small figure for the farm income of more than 35,000 farm families in the sheep sector. I support the Senator's comments. We need an intervention from the Minister and from Government to ensure t…

I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. Specifically in respect of the Bill and the element which deals with the post office network - as the House is aware I am a postmaster myself-----

-----I want to put on record on behalf of all of the members of the Irish Postmasters' Union my thanks to the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, and the Department, in particular, for the support in funding which has been put in place to sustain the network over, I believe, the next three years. The post office is at the heart of every single community, not just in rural Ireland, but in urban areas also, and it is important that it is supported. I thank the Government and my colleagues in the Seanad for having pas…

I thank the Acting Chairperson and the Minister of State. My request is quite simple. It is in the statement the Acting Chairperson just read out, that is, the provision of funding for a family resource centre in Longford town, specifically €180,000 for a senior staff member and two support staff to provide a resource centre for a town with a population of 10,000. That is not there at present. One might ask why Longford should have a resource centre. I will reference a document published only late last year, the Lo…

I thank the Minister of State. As she said, family resource centres have welcoming front doors, but unfortunately we do not have that front door for families. We need a commitment. Part of the Minister of State's reply referred to inadequacies and gaps in service provision being identified through Tusla's commissioning process which is carried out at local and national level. I would like to see a copy of the commissioning process and whether Longford has been identified. If it has not, those involved are not doing…

The Minister of State is welcome and I thank him for his comprehensive introduction to the Bill, which is a large piece of paperwork. It is important to note that we had not transposed the EECC by the deadline in 2020. We are well behind in that regard. We are looking at significant fines from Europe. It is important for this Bill to pass through the House quickly. The Title refers to the Digital Hub Development Agency. I put on record my thanks, in particular, to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, for the significant…

I thank the Business Committee for selecting this report for debate in the Dáil today. I also thank it for proposing, and the Dáil for agreeing, that I, as a Senator and Chair of the Joint Committee on Autism, could attend and be heard during these proceedings. I thank my fellow members on the committee for the work they have put into this report and Deputy Buckley, who sponsored the motion. The Joint Committee on Autism held its first public meeting on the 28 June last year. It was established with a view to produ…

I thank the Deputy. I thank the Deputies for their contribution to this important debate. I also thank the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, for the commitment she has given on behalf of the Government that changes will be made. I also welcome the comments of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte. The fact that both Ministers of State are in the House debating the issue, in addition to giving a commitment to implement the strong recommendations in our report, sends out a very strong signal to parents. That is ver…

I will speak on an issue I brought up yesterday regarding the communications Bill and the timelines for that Bill to go through the House. I am aware the Leader is doing work on that to perhaps tighten up the timescales on it but unfortunately, even with the current timelines, the funding that has been set aside in the agreement put in place last year will not be in place for the February payment, for example. I point out for the record that I am a postmaster myself but I have spoken to a number of offices, not jus…

Yes.

I welcome the Minister. I am speaking in support of my colleagues regarding what has turned out to be an extremely serious issue. It has been highlighted by the Senators from Tipperary, Clare and Limerick. Whatever has to be done should be done in order to address it. If I might digress for a moment, I wish to put a number of issues relating to my area on the record. Longford does not have a general hospital. The main general hospital that serves the people of Longford is located in Mullingar, where excellent care …

The issue of the communications Bill was raised by Senator Mark Daly. I am a postmaster myself so I know the effect this Bill not being passed is having on the nearly 900 post offices around the country. It would give legislative status to the proposal put forward last June with regard to subsidising the network. Unfortunately, while we were waiting for EU approval of that Bill, all of those offices have received significant reductions in their wages in January. If the legislative process in the Seanad goes over a …