Will the Leader ask the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, to come to the House to address the matter of the Irish Athletic Boxing Association, IABA?

Following on from a conversation I had with a constituent with regard to renewal of car insurance, I want to raise the issue of car insurance. Despite no change in circumstances in terms of no penalty points and no accidents, the constituent's premium had increased. It is stated on the coverinaclick.ie website that the average motor insurance premium secured for customers at renewal is down, on average, 8.5% since June 2020 and 24.5% since June 2019. The decline in premium reflects the final premium paid, not the i…

It is disappointing that we are here today despite unprecedented attention on the forestry sector at the recent joint committee on agriculture. Like others, I have met with the IFA and other farmer organisations and with businesses. Senator Murphy mentioned Glennon Brothers in Longford. It is probably the largest timber manufacturing company in the country. It recently took over Balcas. It employs over 300 people in my own county. It is having a serious effect on them as the licensing crisis continues. There is a b…

I pass on my sympathies to our colleague and the Currie family on the death of Austin Currie. They can be very proud of the immense contribution he made to Irish life both North and South. Members will be able to see the badge I am wearing to support the Irish Heart Foundation promotional month, FAST, to highlight the signs of stroke: face, arms, speech and time. It is important we recognise that. I also highlight that it is four years since the HSE was asked to produce a national stroke strategy and it has not bee…

The Minister of State is welcome. I was not due to speak on this Bill today but I decided to do so in order to highlight that a large number of people do not speak their native tongue. I am ashamed to say that I am one of them. I would not have understood many of the statements made earlier in the debate. That is a failing on my behalf, but there is a significant number of people who do not have an understanding of our national tongue. There is an issue there. It needs more of a conversation. It would be important …

I support the request made by Senator Conway to have a debate on tourism. It is important and pertinent to the whole area of hospitality. Given the high numbers of Covid-19 cases that we are experiencing now, we must reinforce public health measures and the requirement for vaccination certificates to be sought by people in the industry. We have fallen away from doing that, and this message must be reinforced as we enter the Christmas period. I also highlight a boil water notice in force in my county. It is the Long…

I echo the comments of the Members about the excellent job the Minister of State is doing, in which I fully support her. I look forward to working with her. I have frequently spoken to her about autism services. She is planning to complete a non-statutory report into autism services. When the Oireachtas committee which we discussed is established in the near future, I look forward to speaking to NGOs and families to feed into that report and finally deliver for those families. I know this relates more to special ed…

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and this Bill from Senator Murphy. As a neighbour across the Shannon, I see first-hand the devastation the Shannon has done in the past along areas of both the Shannon and Lough Ree. In particular I think of areas of Cloondara, Killashee, Newtowncashel and Lanesborough within County Longford and Tarmonbarry in Roscommon. They have been severely affected by the Shannon. In my constituency in the recent past a significant number of houses in estates in Athlone were flooded…

I spoke on a proposal the Deputy Leader made to have statements with the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, on the future of forestry, which I endorse. I met with the Social Economic Environmental Forestry Association of Ireland, SEEFA, yesterday and there is a large group from throughout the country here this morning. It is important we have that sooner rather than later to address not just the logjam in the felling licences due to the objections, but the logjam in the planning applications for putting in more fo…

I welcome the motion from my colleague, Senator Kyne. I welcome the Minister of State to the House. It is important in a motion that is all about investment that it is not just investment into the major cities but into the regions. That is important to ensure connectivity and to ensure all corners of the country have access to our capital and major cities. In the past couple of days, the NTA announced extra funding and extra routes throughout the country. A number of these routes are to be in my county. There are t…

The Minister of State is very welcome to the Chamber. There is just one hospice bed for the whole of County Longford. I am raising this matter on behalf of all the people in our county and all the families who have been affected. I compliment Longford Hospice Homecare, a voluntary organisation that has been operating throughout my lifetime. People have done tremendous work in volunteering their time and fundraising for hospices. I also compliment the fantastic hospice nurses on the job they do. I raised this issue …

I am disappointed. The response stated "based on local need". The facts are there about the local need and the numbers. This year alone, until the end of October, 11 patients and their families looked for the palliative bed but it was not available. In some cases, the bed was being used and in others it was being held for someone who might have had a higher need. It is not the case that there was not a need there. The figures I have got for this year differ on the percentages in the response. I believe it is higher…

I concur with Senator Cassells's comments. I was on that committee, along with Senators Byrne and Hoey. It is among the most important legislation we will see over the coming years. I am delighted and look forward to seeing the 33 recommendations we put forward implemented. I also concur with the proposal from Senator Chambers on a discussion on forestry. It is a major issue and I welcome the recent acquisition by Glennon Brothers of Longford of Balcas, another large timber company, to turn it into one of the bigge…

I echo the comments in support of the Leader on the remarks she made last week. She is 100% correct and I fully stand by and support her comments. I also support Senator Ahearn's remarks with regard to rural regeneration projects. In my own county, projects have had to be redesigned because of rising costs. Even this redesigning to bring the projects in line with the funding approved comes at a cost. I support the Senator's comments. I welcome the funding announced for a project in Ballymahon. It is a major project…

I support Senator Murphy's comments on the River Shannon, which traverses both our counties. The Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, was established under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 to act as a service to mediate and provide dispute resolution between landlords and tenants. The board offers a free mediation service, not only for landlords and tenants but also to third parties directly affected by an issue - for example, an overhanging tree from a neighbour's property affecting one's own. This could be blockin…

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for his work in the Department. His passion for the job was highlighted by Senator Cummins and borne out in a recent television interview about the legal logjam that has resulted in the scheme to which Senator Murphy referred being held up. I welcome the motion put forward by Senator Garvey and other Green Party Members. It is a matter now of action. In my county, Longford, the county development plan is being discussed at a council meeting today. When the maps are look…

In the context of our debate yesterday on peat, a press release was issued by Friends of the Environment which stated that X number of tonnes of peat were exported out of the country. The purpose of that press release was to try and negate the debate we had yesterday. I remind Friends of the Environment that we live in the EU free market. We have the best quality peat in the EU. The reality is that we cannot stop it from being imported by other countries that purchase it. I want to clarify that is the reason that a…

I welcome the Minister of State to the Chamber. Throughout last year and this year, Growing Media Ireland and the Irish Farmers' Association, IFA, on behalf of horticultural peat producers, highlighted the many substitutes to peat, but said that, in 2021, there is not a sufficient quantity of alternatives available that are affordable, sustainable and of the quality required. They said that removing peat-based growing media would damage our food and horticultural sectors. They highlighted how the sector faces a shu…

It is important to note that this concerns a legal and a planning issue. Sometimes the media does not highlight that it was not a Government decision, but in fact a decision of the courts. Companies including Klasmann Deilmann - I spoke to Kevin Mahon outside Leinster House, and Ronan, Joe and others who have trucks and employees working at company on the Longford-Westmeath border - made an application for leave to apply for substitute consent and, 15 months later, they are no further along in the process. It would…

I tabled this Commencement matter in response to recent reports of a potential energy shortage in the next 24 months. This is very worrying for many house owners and businesses. We also had discussions on whether we should grant permissions to develop data centres which, in general, do not provide jobs, although many of the companies developing those centres employ thousands of people here. The large amount of energy these centres use has been discussed. We have also seen significant increases in energy costs. Only…