I will be sharing my time with my seconder, Senator Joe O'Reilly.

The Minister of State is very welcome. I am grateful for this opportunity to speak on this debate and before I start, I thank my colleagues in Fine Gael for putting forward the report as Private Members' business but I want to also thank the fellow members of the Joint Committee on Autism who worked so diligently on that report over a 15 month-period. I believe that the collaborative and considered approach we took in all of our engagements is reflected in this report. It is important to acknowledge the contributio…

I thank the Acting Chairperson for his kind words. Ultimately, this report is about giving every child the same chance in life and the opportunity to achieve their potential, whatever that may be. I have the report with me and one of the reasons I put the words of Fiacre Ryan in the foreword, which Senator McGreehan mentioned, is the quote sums up a lot: It only seems appropriate to give the same rights given to those without autism to individuals with it. Needing some type of assistance does not make someone less …

At 9.30 a.m. tomorrow.

I pass on my sympathies to the O'Rourke family on the death of Mary O'Rourke. I pass them particularly to Aengus whom I know quite well through politics. I also pass on my sympathies to the Naughten family, especially Breda and the kids, to Dennis and the siblings of John who was a colleague I have known all through my political life. He was nothing but a gentleman throughout any dealings I have ever had with him and that is what everyone has said about him; he was a gentleman. I attended the selection convention i…

I thank the Minister of State. My Commencement matter is in respect of a school building project at Ardscoil Phádraig in Granard, County Longford. It is a coeducational ETB school based in Granard just ten minutes away from where I live. There are 370 pupils on the enrolment across the six years, which has grown since 2017-18, when there were 253. It is at a maximum and has a waiting list for kids looking to attend. It has DEIS status and, similar to St. Brogan's College, it was actually the first post-primary scho…

I thank the Minister of State. Similar to the previous answer, this was sanctioned in February 2021. Three and a half years later, we get an answer that "at this early stage and particularly in advance of the necessary statutory approvals, it is not possible to provide a reliable date for when this school building project will be completed". I do not think it is acceptable three and half years later to be told it is at an early stage. Do we need to further resource the school building unit in the Department of Educ…

I wish to inform Members about an event I attended on Saturday in Longford. A community health awareness day was organised by Kiernan Structural Steel in memory of the late Andrew Jackson, a young employee of the company who tragically died 12 months ago. We thank Kiernan Structural Steel for organising the event, at which organisations such as sports organisations from throughout the county and further afield were represented and health awareness talks were given. It was a fantastic day not just for adults but als…

I agree with Senator Conway's comment that ISL should be part of the leaving certificate curriculum. It is important. We want to have a fully inclusive education system, and that is one way of doing it. I support the calls for supports for the tourism and hospitality sector, particularly small businesses in the sector that are struggling in every single town and village. These are difficult times. I have a small business myself so I understand the challenges that exist. I would like to see supports, particularly fo…

I welcome the Minister. Senator Garvey mentioned battery storage. Unfortunately, the reality is that there are currently no regulations or safety framework for battery storage under any of the county development plans. Recently in counties Cavan and Kildare, planning permission was given for battery storage, and I think both cases are now before An Bord Pleanála. The reality is that we do not have any safety framework to take into consideration when deciding on an application for battery storage. That is not correc…

The Minister is very welcome. I commend my colleague Senator Currie on her Private Members' motion and the work she has done over the past four years, especially in the area of childcare, in providing a report that sets out a new way and new model for childcare. It is important to acknowledge the significant investment by the Government in childcare to benefit every single family in the country. I am a father of three young kids. As a parent and a family, we receive support from the State. That is important to note…

I, too, support the amendment. It is a common-sense approach. All of us in our involvement in public life and our work in local authorities have come across situations where public representatives and the public are not made aware of licence applications. Section 254 of the 2000 Act list lists vending machines, town or landscape maps, hoarding, cables, wires, telephone kiosks or other appliances, apparatus or structures. Hidden under that is the reference to telecommunications structures. The section 254 licence wa…

I want to get confirmation from the Minister of State as regards the flexibility to withdraw something from being exempted development. We need to be cautious with it. It states, under section 9(3), that it shall not be exempted if an appropriate assessment of the development, and that has to be listed as being, say, a special area of conservation, is required. Unfortunately, the appropriate assessment does not involve the public, which would normally be part of the planning process. If a change is being made and e…

I congratulate my new colleague, Senator Bradley. I am delighted to see her here. I also congratulate her family. It is an honour to walk into the Chamber and an honour to walk in the front door of Leinster House every day. We are here to serve the people. As Senator Seery Kearney said, numerous Senators bring a lived experience and that is what we need on the floor of the House. It is how we can drive change. Every day I come in the door and look at the Proclamation, which is on the left-hand side as we come in. I…

I, too, would like to be associated with the expressions of sympathy on the death of former Senator John O’Mahony. I did not serve with John politically but I knew him for 20 years through my involvement in the GAA. One of the great days I remember was the all-Ireland final between Galway and Kildare in Croke Park in 1998. I also recall being in the canal end of Croke Park when supporting Leitrim in the all-Ireland semi-final in 1994. I remember one of the greatest days of Longford GAA, and we have had few, was whe…

The Minister of State is very welcome and I thank her for taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin. It is quite apt, given what has been in the news for the past 12 or 18 months, that we have been talking about funding models for a significant number of years and reforming the television licence. Indeed the joint Oireachtas committee, of which I am a member, launches a report today which proposes to abolish the licence and fully State fund services, which is something that …

I thank the Minister of State very much for outlining the funding that has gone into the sound and vision fund, which is very welcome, but personally I do not think it is sufficient. As I said, I feel it needs to be increased, expanded and widened out to those who can apply for it. However, there is an issue for the sound and vision fund in that it is for new content. It is for a new project, so it has to be reviewed every time. If people have been sanctioned to fund a certain project and want to continue that, the…

As the media spokesperson for the party on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media, along with Senator Malcolm Byrne, we have engaged with a lot of media in Ireland over the past four years. I totally disagree with Senator Mullen's comments. Our main public service broadcasting companies, our local radio stations and our national radio stations are trusted in my view. Social media is where the distrust is. We would all acknowledge that. I am fully supportive of whatever mechanism o…

The Minister of State is very welcome. I thank him for taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne. The reality is we do not have facilities that are of an equal standard throughout the country and across all sporting activities. Over the last number of years, and particularly since the 2020 campaign from the Federation of Irish Sport, we have seen a massive increase in female participation across the main codes, namely, GAA, rugby and soccer. As I said, the reality is that a si…

While I welcome the significant funding put in place, the large-scale infrastructure fund is for large-scale infrastructure projects. The GAA alone has 2,200 clubs across 32 counties. There are also rugby clubs and soccer clubs. These are the smaller club facilities where young girls start out playing the sport. The reality is that a high percentage of them do not have the facilities. I welcome that €250 million is set aside for the sports capital programme, but what percentage of that is to upgrade facilities for …