As the Fine Gael spokesperson on sport in the Seanad, I extend my party's sympathies to the Ó Muircheartaigh family. Mícheál was the voice of the GAA for me growing up. One memory popped into my head. It was during a Munster hurling match, although I forget which game it was, when Mícheál said a Rabbitte was chasing a Fox in his commentary. He brought the game to life, even over the radio. You could visually imagine the game in your head as you listened to his commentary. He will be deeply mourned. I raise an issue…

I welcome the Minister of State. I am back here for the fifth year in a row, with the same request for funding from the Department to cover the loss of rates revenue at Lough Ree power station. As the Minister of State knows, Lough Ree power station in Lanesborough - similarly to Shannonbridge in County Offaly - was due to close in 2027. However, both plants closed in 2020, seven years earlier than expected. The rates base of Lough Ree power station for Longford County Council is €1.25 million. A recommendation fro…

I thank the Minister of State for his positive reply and the commitment that the funding will be in the Estimates for 2025 and 2026. Am I correct that the figure will be similar to the €1.2 million provided in 2023 and 2024, respectively? Will he confirm that for me? I would appreciate it.

I thank the Acting Chairperson and welcome the Minister to the Chamber. As Senator McGreehan has highlighted the recent tragedy and we are discussing this issue, it is important that we convey our sympathies to the family of the young lady who was recently deceased. Over the last number of years a lot of young children have been mauled, disfigured, etc. and we are mindful of their plight. It is important for us to note the following. Last December, the Minister introduced increased fines and further funding for var…

I fully concur with the comments of Senator Currie. We need to have the opportunity for every child to be educated in his or her own community with his or her own siblings. I do not think it is acceptable that any principal in any school would not seek local support for a class to give every child the opportunity and the same chance in life. It is unacceptable for any school to fail to do that. I rise to speak about a school in County Longford, Lanesborough Primary School, which sought and strove to provide fully i…

That is no problem. I want to speak on housing in Longford, where I come from, which has a population of 45,000 people, and where we stand on housing. Since 2016, when Housing for All or Rebuilding Ireland policies were brought in by Fine Gael, nearly 1,000 houses have been completed in County Longford, nearly 1,000 new and refurbished social houses and more than 170 families have submitted claims to the help-to-buy scheme. On the most recent scheme brought in, the Croí Cónaithe scheme, more than 100 applications h…

The national enterprise awards take place in the Mansion House tonight. I wish well the representatives from my home county, Longford, namely Robert Higgins and Patrick McGivney from Harp Media. These two young lads have entered the TV industry and forged a name for themselves. In their home county, they filmed the notable film "Lakelands", which went on to receive international acclaim. They are moving on to bigger and better things. I wish them success this evening. At an Oireachtas committee meeting held yesterd…

I thank the Acting Chair for allowing me to speak. I support this legislation brought forward by Senator Malcolm Byrne. I have been through the judicial system because of threats on social media. I have also had people at my family home while I was putting my children to bed, and these were people from a political party represented in these Houses. We want to keep people in public life. We want people to be able to put themselves forward for public life. We want to know our family homes will be protected while we a…

I thank the Cathaoirleach. It would be remiss of me, as an avid GAA man, as the Cathaoirleach knows, not to congratulate Longford's under-17 team on its fantastic victory last night in Tullamore. We defeated Dublin to win our fifth Leinster minor title. It was a fantastic display which went to extra time. We stopped the capital city which was looking to win three in a row at that level. Longford is a small but proud county and we bat above our level on numerous occasions and last night was one of those occasions. W…

No, it was on TG4 but it is better to go and watch a match live. I also want to comment on the news emanating from Cabinet with regard to the setting up of a fund similar to the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, to support families who have to get an assessment of their child's needs and pay for services such as speech and language therapy or occupational therapy where the State is unable to provide them. This is something that I have been advocating for some time and have raised as a Commencement matter prev…

My Commencement matter this morning relates to a crucial issue that affects many parents throughout the country who have kids with additional needs. The simple act of a routine dental appointment is an overwhelming challenge and experience for these children, particularly those on the autism spectrum. The sensory overload from the lights and sounds etc. can induce stress in those children and is a daunting task for both the parents and the child. I recently met with a parent of a nine-year-old child who required a …

I thank the Minister of State. He stated few dentists who have specialist training outside of orthodontics or oral surgery are employed within the public health system, but there are dentists working in the private system who have that additional training to work with kids with special needs to make sure they are able to get treatment. I want to ensure that within the public system, there will be availability of dentists with that training in order that more families will not have to go private to get treatment for…

I take this opportunity to ask Senator Sherlock to pass on my sympathies to Senator Moynihan regarding the death of her mother. I wish to raise two issues relating to education. The first is in respect of Ballymahon Vocational School in County Longford and the application for additional temporary accommodation it has submitted. Perhaps a request could be passed on to the Minister for Education to ask for an update on that. I also have another concern. I worked with principals of the post-primary schools in Longford…

I have just a couple of issues to raise. I recently met representatives of the NARGC with regard to rural pursuits in Ireland. Several reports in 2021 recommended the setting up of a nature advisory committee and a national biodiversity forum. Neither has been set up. The firearms consultative panel, which was in place, has not been re-established. I ask for a discussion on that. We have given commitments to do it. It has not happened; it needs to happen. We need to re-establish the firearms consultative panel to h…

I also pass on my sympathies to the family of the late Michael D'Arcy. I will raise another issue that affects a significant number of parents of children with additional needs, which is the issue of getting a routine dental appointment. The reality is that a considerable number of parents cannot get a dental appointment because there are not dentists within the HSE system who are trained to see young children. I recently heard from the parent of a nine-year-old child with autism and sensory processing disorder. Th…

I welcome the Minister of State and our guests, some of whom I have known and met in my role as Chairperson of the Joint Committee on Autism. I commend the Bill and support it. Unfortunately, I must have missed the correspondence and did not get the opportunity to sign it or I would have done so months ago. When it came before the House a number of Government Members supported it to allow the Committee Stage debate today. It is important to put on record the work the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, has done in …

I have been in the Seanad for four years and I think Senator Clonan's was the best contribution I have heard here. Similar to the Senator, I have a young son and want to make sure he is looked after when I am gone. That is what drives me and what led me to my position here, the same as Tom, to advocate on behalf of kids with various abilities. We want as parents to make sure that, when we are gone, our children will be looked after. That is key. I just wanted to say that and to support Senator Clonan.

I welcome the town and village funding announced yesterday by the Minister, Deputy Humphreys. There are a number of projects in my home county such as a community park in Ballinalee and a project with a district development association in Edgeworthstown where a derelict building was purchased under the building acquisitions measure. We secured funding of more than €379,000 to develop a special needs-specific playground in Longford town. It is something I am passionately involved with, along with my colleague Counci…

I too want to lend my support and I compliment my colleagues Senators Dolan and Murphy for bringing this to the fore, which they do on a regular basis. As secretary of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party, I know that Senator Dolan brings the matter up weekly at our meetings and highlights it with the Taoiseach as an issue we need to get solved. Our role in politics is about helping people and making changes for the betterment of people's lives. Sometimes common sense goes out the window when we cannot do something th…

I compliment Senator Seery Kearney on her work on the motion and I welcome the Minister. I concur with the comments of Senator Cassells. I worked on the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act. When it started here in the Seanad, we had 27 hours of debate on it. The Minister, Deputy Martin, was here for 26 or 27 hours. There was no guillotine implemented. Every single amendment was debated and discussed and positive changes were made. One of the most significant changes made related t…