Unfortunately, we do not have any all-stars this year from Longford, but we will be back. I concur with Senator Ward's comments on smoking and I support his call for a debate on it. It is a fantastic idea. The Taoiseach, when Minister for Health, introduced the smoking ban 17 years ago. We thought it would not work, but it did. As Senator Ward was speaking, I jotted down 10.20 a.m. on 31 July 2000, which was when I last smoked a cigarette. I previously smoked 30 cigarettes per day. Giving them up was one of the bes…

I have spoken many times in this Chamber since being elected regarding how seriously Longford in particular has been affected by the closures of operations at Mountdillon and Lough Ree power stations in Lanesborough. This has had a significant effect on families who worked there and the local businesses. As I have said previously, the shortfall in rates has been made up and I am glad that we recently got a commitment that there will be a process in this regard from 2023 onwards. A fund was made available in 2020 to…

Senator Murphy has outlined the case. I want to highlight that the contract for a just transition commissioner is due to end shortly. Kieran Mulvey is well known to us and for the work he has done. He is very well experienced in this role and knows the communities and people involved. I ask the Department to reappoint him for a further two years. As I have said, he knows the communities and projects and these projects have been slow in getting off the ground, so we need that continuity to ensure they are delivered.

I wish to raise an issue that was actually raised in a Commencement matter earlier by Senators Malcolm Byrne and Cummins. It is about supports for the pantomime and theatre industry following the announcement on Friday. A significant number of these groups are already booked out for the Christmas period and into January. A concert organised by Longford County Council under the live and local fund took place last night. Tickets had to be returned to people to make sure that the 50% limit was reached. Many pantos are…

I welcome the Tánaiste and I will read a short excerpt from his introduction. He said: Since the outbreak of Covid-19 here in March 2020, the Government has sought to save as many lives and as many livelihoods as possible....We have sought to keep workers connected to their employers and on the payroll. We have sought to help businesses survive through a robust and sustained programme of financial support from the Government. After 18 months going through Covid, that is what this Government and the previous Governm…

I welcome the Minister of State and thank her for outlining the Bill. Our job here, as public representatives, is to make decisions that protect citizens and make a better life for anyone who lives in this country. That is what I feel we have to do here today. However, it is important that legislation is balanced in terms of all citizens. As Senator Gavan has said, it is important that the Opposition has an input into making changes that might have a positive impact on the proposed legislation. What we propose toda…

I do not agree with Senator Craughwell's comments about the Minister, Deputy Simon Coveney. He has been an excellent Minister across any Department he was in. I have every confidence he will deal with the challenges ahead. I wish to speak to the just transition and the Premier Lakelands Food Hub in Longford. I am delighted Enterprise Ireland support the change in the plan to develop a food hub in Lanesborough in County Longford following the closure of the Lough Ree power station. There is €1 million in funding tha…

I welcome the Minister and acknowledge the work she has done since she came into her role. I acknowledge also her staff and the role of all teachers in our schools, whether primary, post-primary or third level, for the work they have done over the past 12 months. It is very important our kids are in school. My wife, Una, is a primary school teacher and I have three kids who are all in primary school. Indeed, I dropped them into childcare earlier on my way up to Dublin. My oldest lad is four years old, was wearing h…

I welcome the Minister. Before coming here to speak, I printed off a copy of the Covid restrictions and the new measures being introduced. Reading through the list, I saw that the vast majority of our society is open. Quite limited measures have been put in place. As Senator Buttimer said, much hysteria has been driven by certain groups, factions and political parties. They are causing angst in people, which is very regrettable when we are dealing with something as serious as this. I have a number of issues, partic…

I take exception to the comment that most of us who have put our names to this Bill are being cynical. I am not in any way cynical. I am here to represent the people of my area. That is the job of every public representative. I welcome the Bill and am delighted to have put my signature to it. I compliment Senators Gallagher and Doherty on their work on it. I am from Longford, which has seen the shutdown of the Lough Ree power station. A consequence of that was the closure of Bord na Móna's Mountdillon site, causing…

I will share time with Senators Lombard and Conway. I will be parochial and get straight to the point on the national development plan. I come from Longford and I have two major areas of concern with the NDP. It commits to a funding ratio of 2:1 for public transport versus road projects, which means there will be significantly less funding for roads projects over the next number of years. I want to highlight the extension of the N4 from Mullingar through Longford towards Roosky and Leitrim. Many Members of this Hou…

I echo the comments of a number of colleagues on pay for our secretarial assistants. Michelle who works for me - she worked for me even prior to my being elected here - does the work of a parliamentary assistant. I second Senator Ruane's proposal that we look at bringing forward a cross-party motion and that we push it and make sure it happens, long before our term finishes. Given the week that is in it, I ask eager shoppers to please shop local on Black Friday and in the run-up to Christmas. Green Friday Ireland i…

Shop local and make sure we have a green Friday and a green Monday, not a Cyber Monday.

I support the comments of Senator Ahearn on childcare. It is important for it to be treated the same and given the same backup as our school sector. I welcome the Tánaiste's comments yesterday clarifying the position of the country and refuting all the social media lies and mistruths out there. Yesterday, I spoke about businesses not knowing whether to purchase goods ahead of the Christmas rush and whether they would be closed or open. I am glad it was cleared up that that is not on the agenda. The incidence of pos…

I want to raise the issue of the messaging through all sources of media on a lockdown in the middle of December. It is having a serious effect, particularly on many people in the tourism and hospitality industry, including pubs and restaurants. My party colleague, Councillor Colin Dalton, works for a local cash and carry that covers the midlands. I spoke to him this morning. Businesses are afraid to order in advance for Christmas based on what is in the media. They are afraid of being left with out-of-date stock. W…

It has come to my attention in the past week or so that a number of college students with Covid symptoms who were feeling unwell have not had a PCR test and continue to attend class despite the guidelines. Colleges need to support us in tackling Covid this time around. I have been told of instances where professors and lecturers have refused to post notes online or have made it mandatory for students to attend lectures. It is fantastic that students can attend lectures once again and experience college life, which …

The Taoiseach is welcome. It is an honour for me to stand here as a Member of the Oireachtas addressing him. I want to raise a couple of local issues. I concur with the comments of Senator Murphy on just transition. Not enough projects have got off the ground. More funding needs to be made available. The local contribution – 25% – is becoming increasingly difficult to make due to increasing costs. That is an issue. Perhaps another meeting in the not-too-distant future with the party leaders, the just transition com…

My Commencement matter relates to the loss of commercial rates as a result of the closure of Lough Ree power station. On 8 November 2019, the ESB announced the closure of two peat-powered generating plants at Lanesborough and Shannonbridge, near the Minister of State's area. These plants stopped generating electricity in December 2020. This was a major blow to employment and local economic activity in the region. Counties Longford and Offaly were negatively impacted not only by the loss of commercial rates income f…

By way of figures, although not exact figures, our LPT base is more than €2 million, albeit we used to have a top-up from the equalisation fund. Based on the figures, more than 90% of our housing is in the lower end of the LPT market. We will not see a significant increase in our LPT uptake. I wish to highlight the fact that we were the first county to increase it by 15% and to use that funding to match funding for regeneration projects for our county. It has been very successful, and I hope it will be taken on boa…

I raise the issue of GP shortages throughout the country. In recent months, I have been receiving calls from people in my home county of Longford to see if I could assist them in securing GP services. They told me they had contacted GPs around the county and had been told by most of them that they are not taking any more clients. I have cases of people who are actually travelling to Dublin to see a GP as they are unable to register for one in their own home county, or even in the surrounding counties. As we can ima…