I concur with Senator Murphy's comments on fuel. We seriously need to look at this. I have a small station and I got a delivery at 7.30 a.m. this morning. The price has increased by 5 cent a litre. It is only on an upward spiral. As Senator Murphy said, we will be looking at a price of €2 by St. Patrick's Day. This is having a serious knock-on effect on the transport industry. I have been speaking to people in the bus industry in recent days. They have been severely hit by it. They are day-to-day consumers. We have…

I want to offer my sympathies to both Senator Paul Daly and Senator Buttimer on their recent bereavements. I also support the comments of Senator Cassells. One thing about the GAA Congress is that either the uachtarán report or ard stiúrthóir report always makes some thought-provoking proposals. I look forward to working with Senator Cassells and, indeed, the GAA at Oireachtas joint committee level to progress the proposals, which are extremely important. I also support Senator McDowell's comments. It is important …

Like my colleagues, I would like to echo the comments on Ukraine and support the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, who is acting on behalf of everyone in Ireland. Senator O'Reilly referred to diplomatic relationships, and our Young Fine Gael branch passed a motion regarding diplomatic relations between the two countries. Russia has stepped across the line and it is something we should consider with regard to the ambassador for Russia in Ireland. I would like to like to raise the issue of ophthalmologist…

I fully support the Bill. I must point out at the outset that I am a national lottery agent. It has been in the family since it came out first. We were a ticket agent and when I took over my present business in 2007 I took on the full lottery agent. I want to clarify that the national lottery has a separate regulator. It is not going to be regulated the same as gambling. It is regulated completely differently and far more stringently. Only last week I did the compliance which I have to do on a yearly basis.

I just feel that the national lottery is actually more stringently regulated with regard to its agents.

On a yearly basis, we do compliance and we are the subject of twice-yearly checks to ensure that we are compliant with selling to over-18s. I think our policy is to sell to over-21s. We have maximum amounts on the number of tickets we are allowed sell to people. We have referrals, too, if we see that people are purchasing in excess of what we feel might be within their means. That does not happen in a bookmakers. Anybody can go in and purchase anything. The figure of 30% was mentioned. The national lottery was set …

I wish to make a quick point that I did not make previously. I know that there is a significant number of jobs in the bookmaking industry, but with regard to agencies, there are over 4,000 lottery agencies throughout the country, which are small shops, supermarkets and businesses. The knock-on effect is that a significant number, or tens of thousands of people working in that industry, will be affected. With regard to purchasing a similar product that the national lottery has, such as the Lotto 5-4-3-2-1, customers…

It is €4.

On Senator Davitt's point, it is a scheduling issue for RTÉ but I totally agree with what he said. It is something that should be looked at. RTÉ should take that on board and reschedule it. I have young kids and it frustrates me when it happens, but it is a scheduling issue. I agree with Senator Davitt that it needs to be changed.

The Minister of State is very welcome. Ireland has one of the highest rates of mental health illness in Europe, with approximately 18.5% of the population suffering. A study carried out by Mental Health Ireland reveals that in general women have a lower well-being score than men and those who are younger score lower on the well-being scale than those who are older. In the past ten years, and in particular the past two years, things have changed dramatically for young people. There is still the added stress of the j…

Today, I will speak again about the Phoenix Centre, which is located in what was the old Mount Carmel Hospital on the grounds of St. Joseph's Care Centre in Longford. The building was built in 1844. The rest of the buildings on the original site were demolished in the 1960s and a new purpose-built building, which is today called St. Joseph's Care Centre, was built. The building is being upgraded. The Phoenix Centre is located in the building and is the base for Disabled People of Longford, early intervention servic…

To be honest, this does not clarify the matter raised. It does not answer the question I asked. While I welcome the investment of €100 million for initiatives and I welcome the fact that there is significant funding into the CHO area, CHO 8 actually covers six counties - Longford, Westmeath, Laois, Offaly, Louth and Meath. The reality is that we are providing the previously listed services in a building that was built in 1844 and is not fit for purpose. As I said, we have a serious need of extra services in our cou…

I 100% support the comments of Senator Seery Kearney in support of our Leader, my party colleague, Senator Doherty's comments on "Morning Ireland" earlier. They were well said. I also wish to speak to the issue of third level education. I would like a debate with the Minister, Deputy Harris, to discuss the future. There are many plans and there are many changes to come in respect of third level education but the dramatic increase in the cost of living over recent years, and in the past 12 months in particular, is h…

The Minister of State is very welcome. I concur with the comments of Senator Garvey. We might be a small county in Longford, but we have always been to the fore in a lot of things and I was delighted to hear her mention Mr. John Crossan. On tourism, two weekends ago I spent some time in Center Parcs Longford Forest. It was probably the best weekend break I have ever had and was just 20 minutes from my own doorstep. I thoroughly recommend it for those of us in political life to get away from the heat and get back to…

I wish to raise a couple of issues. Senator Byrne mentioned Tesco, but the Irish Farmers Association, IFA, and all involved in the horticultural sector have been looking to engage with Dunnes Stores with regard to prices, especially the price of vegetables. We have seen over the past 24 hours the IFA holding a dispute at two Dunnes Stores centres. I call on Dunnes Stores to engage with the IFA and discuss these issues. We have seen, particularly in the pig industry and, as I said, the horticultural industry, that t…

The Minister is very welcome and I am delighted to get the opportunity to speak to the Bill at a time when people are facing real hardship in their lives with inflation and rising energy costs. These costs have led to many families spending a higher proportion of their income on food and fuel. Electricity prices have increased by 22%, gas prices have increased by 28% and the price of home heating oil has gone up by a massive amount in excess of 50%. I have a small business that includes a fuel court and we can see …

St. Patrick's Day parades will take place throughout the country in 2022. I have spoken to local parade organisers in Longford, including Ms Fiona Fenelon, the president of the local chamber of commerce, with regard to having a quiet street on the parade for those who cannot or have not been able to go to parades in recent years because of the noise, including sirens and music. I refer in particular to those in the autistic community who are not able to attend such events. Their needs should be taken on board. Para…

I welcome the package that was announced by the Government to make it easier and more affordable for homeowners to undertake home energy upgrades for warmer, healthier and more comfortable homes with lower energy bills. The measures address barriers to undertaking retrofits that have been reported by homeowners and those in the industry and reflect the step change in pace and scale that will be needed to achieve our target of 500,000 energy upgrades. The cost of these supports will be in the region of €8 billion of…

I, too, send my sympathies to Senator Buttimer and his family on their recent bereavement. It is apt that today is Safer Internet Day. I express my disappointment, as a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media which carried out pre-legislative scrutiny in this area for the best part of 2021, that this is not on the agenda, as it should be at the start of the legislative process. I look forward to the Minister spending significant time in the House to discuss the Online Saf…

I congratulate the Acting Leader on assuming the role. It is a great honour. A number of Senators mentioned the issue of credit unions and asked that the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming, come into the House. We should encompass the post office in that debate as well. It was one of the financial institutions that stayed open fully through Covid and provided vital services to our communities, not just in rural areas but in urban areas and our cities. It is important that it is supported in that. I thank the Ministe…