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As Senator Cassells said, we had a good debate on this sensible legislation and I welcome its passage. I look forward to visiting the National Concert Hall. I have not been to a performance there but I look forward to doing so in the near future.

I support Senator Currie's comments. A significant number of people still have not received their payment and it just needs to be dealt with, to be quite honest. I wish to raise a number of issues this morning. We need to review the temporary business energy support, TBES, scheme. The Government set aside €1 billion to help companies with increased energy costs but it is my understanding that only €20 million has actually been drawn down to date under that scheme. There seems to be an anomaly whereby some businesse…

I welcome and support the Bill. To follow Senator Hoey, we need to look at how people's private home addresses are put on ballot papers. We are all only after filling out our Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO, forms over the last few days and our home addresses are on those forms too. That this information is there for the public to know is unacceptable for those who put themselves forward for public life, to serve their community and their people. As Senator Craughwell said, their families are not electe…

As this is my first time to speak, I wish the Cathaoirleach well in his role. I also congratulate the Leader. I welcome the students from Ardscoil Phádraig in Granard. It is in my own local area and there are a number of students from my own local village. I see a number of students that I met at the young scientist exhibition last week in the RDS. I see Jack in the back row. I have been on the board of management of the school since I was first elected in 2009. It is an excellent school and educational institute. …

The Minister is welcome. I want to echo her comments about what has been a great day for the film industry here in Ireland when we see the nominations. I see that Paul Mescal has been nominated for a best actor award. One of his first films, “Drifting”, was filmed by two young lads from Granard in County Longford, Robert Higgins and Patrick McGivney from Harp Media. Their film, “Lakelands”, which was filmed at home in north Longford, won an award at the Galway film festival and it is featuring at the Santa Barbara …

Next Tuesday.

On behalf of myself and the members of Fine Gael in County Longford, and my fellow councillor colleagues on Longford County Council, I congratulate Senator Buttimer on attaining the position of Cathaoirleach. His appointment is more than well deserved. The first time I met Senator Buttimer was probably the 2011 Seanad election. I recall that we had a deep discussion and realised that we shared a deep love for the GAA. Like him, I have a similar involvement in underage GAA and I have been involved at county board le…

I support the proposal that Senator Mark Daly become Leas-Chathaoirleach. I wish him well in that role. I acknowledge my colleague, neighbour and friend, Senator Joe O'Reilly, who has served in the position of Leas-Chathaoirleach for the past two and a half years. To say the Senator is a gentleman is an understatement. We can say nothing but good things about Joe because he is a friend to us all. I wish him well and look forward to continuing to work with him over the next couple of years.

I echo the comments of my fellow Members and extend my sympathies to the family of the late Private Seán Rooney. I come from a constituency that used to have three barracks in Mullingar, Longford and Athlone, with Custume Barracks in Athlone being the main barracks. There is a very strong military history in the area. A lot of service has been given to the Defence Forces from people in my county. I extend my sympathies to his family, colleagues and those serving overseas, including my cousin who is abroad with the …

I concur with the comments of Senator Buttimer with regard to international surrogacy recommendtions which have been accepted by Government. Great praise has to go to our colleague, Senator Mary Seery Kearney. We would not be where we are today without the work that she has put in over the past 24 months. I want to say well done to her for her work on that. This morning, significant funding was announced under a town and village project, which I have been involved in for a number of years, to develop a skatepark. I…

Now.

The Minister is welcome. I concur with the comments of Senator Cassells on the recent meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport, Gaeltacht and Media, of which I am a member. The IHF painted an extremely stark picture. The Minister is well aware of this and is engaging with the stakeholders but a strong conversation will have to take place early in the new year or the tourism industry will be decimated. I come from Longford and was involved in the development of the Hidden Heartlands…

I commend the Bill. Any of us who read about or heard the story of the young lad who was mauled a number of weeks ago or heard his young brother could not but be touched by what happened. It is important we send our best wishes to young Alejandro. I hope he recovers. I come from a rural area and a farming community and have spoken to landowners, farmers and so on. I have seen what has happened with dogs going out at night and destroying and mauling young lambs and sheep. It is, therefore, timely that we address thi…

That makes sense. I apologise. The Bill deserves to be supported. We need to send out a strong signal that we cannot accept what has been going on in the past and that it is up to us as the Government to make the changes that need to be made. The changes proposed in the Bill are fairly simple so I am very supportive of it.

In recent months, the Joint Committee on Autism, of which I am Chairperson, has been meeting with parents' groups from all over the country. A theme that keeps coming up is the lack of therapy services. When we drill down into that issue, we find there are more than 800 posts that are fully funded by the Government across all therapy services, including speech and language, occupational therapy and psychology, but which are not filled because we do not have qualified people available to take up the jobs within the …

I concur with the Senator's comments. This is an issue we have raised with the Minister, Deputy Harris, and we compliment him and the Government for the investment in the third level education. However, I am slightly disappointed with the Minister of State's answer, to be quite honest. We have done expressions of interest in other areas, including dentistry and pharmacy, for the academic years of 2024-2025 or 2025-2026 yet we have not sought expressions of interest in respect of therapies. We are hoping to do so ne…

I welcome the Brennan family and Deputy Joe Carey and former Deputy Brian Walsh to the Chamber. I got to know Terry after I got elected in 2009, when I would travel to various events throughout the country. He was particularly friendly with what we in Fine Gael in Longford call the three amigos. Unfortunately, all three have passed away since. They were Councillor Gerry Brady, Councillor Paddy Belton and Councillor Victor Kiernan, who passed away just a number of weeks ago. They were particularly friendly with Terr…

I welcome the Minister. First, it is important to acknowledge the budget and the targeted measures that were put in place by the Minister across all sectors of society, particularly that comprising those who are most vulnerable. The extra supports that were put in place and the widening of the fuel allowances were provided to those who are most vulnerable in society. I compliment the Minister on the budget. It is an excellent budget that will support those who most need it. That is what is important. On the fuel al…